Approaches to Organisational Performance : An Integrative Perspective

The heavy emphasis on systems-level features that has characterised total quality management (TQM) view to performance management (PM) is not well suited to the current approach driving PM systems, a limitation that has not been recognised in the majority of TQM-driven organisations.

Such limitation arguably impedes the transition to a stable TQ environment, or even actively encourages regression to traditional ways. In response to this limitation, this paper discusses the main sources of variance in organisational performance, in a broader, more empirically-driven perspective on TQM’s system focus and HRM’s individual focus.

Furthermore, the aim is to show that performance management should be based on both systems-level features and contributions from individual employees, as these tend to complement each other, and, thus, to begin to address limitations in the way performance management has been conceptualised and applied across TQM organisations in the past.