The Organisational Measurement Manual

Citation

Russell, A. (2002), "The Organisational Measurement Manual", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 168-169. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj.2002.23.3.168.3

David Wealleans’ book is a very useful manual that is clearly presented, providing a thorough and comprehensive guide to those uninitiated in the difficult area of the measurement of organisational performance – it is pitched at a target audience of managers, supervisors and team leaders within any function. It also provides a potential reference point for those who are more experienced and knowledgeable by helping them develop, implement and make effective use of performance measurements at a team, process or organisational level.

The author’s orientation and perspective on the field of organisations is systematic and logical, drawing on an engineering and scientific background. Nevertheless, the book is pragmatic, recognising the complex, chaotic nature of the real world of organisations and measuring their performance. Useful tips and end of chapter summaries and examples are all valuable additions to the presentation of the approach to corporate and process measurement.

The first part of the manual provides a good basic coverage of the concept of measurement. The essential message I took from this part of the manual was the need to think about measurement; what, why, who how etc., what you do with the measures and what action should be prompted by the measures.

The manual explores the background to measurement, the difference between direct and proportional measures and their respective benefits and downsides. The book presents a continuum of measurement from detailed process measurement to the high‐level strategic measures. The first part concludes with a reminder of the critical message of the need for top‐level commitment from management to any approach to corporate and process measurement.

In presenting the approach to measurement, a step‐by‐step guide to the design of a set of measures is presented:

• •

  achieve clarity amongst the top team on the strategic objectives for the organisation;

• •

  identify all the activities aimed at achieving the agreed and identified objectives;

• •

  identify measures of successful completion and progress associated with each of the activities; and

• •

  make use of the data presented by the measurement systems, taking prompt management action.

Links are made onto the area of process measurement. The basic definition of process is covered and some of the important practical drawbacks with measurements systems are identified, in particular:

• •

  use of unnecessary measures that are not used by managers;

• •

  measures that are not understood by the individuals that need to make sense or derive meaning of what is happening;

• •

  costly data gathering process for the measurement set that negates the benefit of measurement;

• •

  stagnation, with familiarity, the onset of boredom and lack of management attention to the measurements.

In terms of implementation of measurement, the manual identifies the importance of recognising that those charged with responsibility for the measures may not be wholly responsible for the outcomes. It is often the case that both known and previously unknown external causes affect any strategic and process measures. Furthermore, the reporting of the measures should be open to all those individuals and teams that can make a difference or impact on the measures identified. In conclusion, the pilot implementation of any measurement system at corporate and process level is appropriate and can help with the process of getting the measures right before any large‐scale, organisation‐wide implementation.

The primary focus of the second part of the manual is the customer, and working to ensure that both the process and its measures are designed with the customer requirement centre‐stage.

The chapters explore processes, the internal customer/supplier chain, the need to link customer requirements to characteristics of the process, that are then measured. A number of useful practical examples and analysis frameworks are presented. The quality control tools e.g. run‐charts, tally charts, fishbone diagrams etc., and their role in understanding measures and deciding on action are discussed and explained. Perhaps the best part of this section, and indeed the book, is the discussion on what makes for good measures.

The book ends with a brief review of the relevant ISO standards, i.e. 9000 series and 14000, combined with a discussion on the merits of quality costing. In my view this section is not core to the essential messages of the book, but potentially useful to some readers.

In conclusion, a useful introduction and guide to setting and using measurements systems at an organisation and process level.