March 3, 2008

Book Review - Transforming Performanace Measurement

Transforming Performance Measurement: Rethinking the Way We Measure and Drive Organizational Success
Dean R. Spitzer
HD 58.9 .S68 2007

Spitzer asserts that you get what you measure. If you measure the wrong things, they will lead you increasingly further away from your organization's mission and goals. Spitzer does not focus on the mathematics of measurement, but instead discusses the softer social factors of performance measurement. He encourages readers to consider how their performance measure reflect their organization's business model and how they are used to create and drive organizational strategy. He asserts that continuing to ask questions like these prevents performance measurement from becoming a competition between individuals or organizational subgroups or from being one focused on data and technology. The book also includes plans which suggest accepted and emerging measures to consider using in common business areas such as marketing, human resources, production, knowledge management, information technology, and other areas.