Abstract
The performance learning systems and how they do affect organizational behavior have been reviewed and discussed in this paper. The performance dashboards and balanced scorecards in an organization and the way, the managers or the leadership of the company can use them to get the best output of the firm through enhancement of employee behavior will be the gist of the research. The performance learning systems and tools that enable them to enhance the organizational behavior and the ways and means of using them formed the central theme of the research.
Introduction
The paper studies performance learning systems in an organization. While studying the nature of the organizations in the literature review, the tools like balanced scorecards and performance dashboards will be discussed. The discussion further consolidates into analysis and concludes that the performance tools will enable an organization to learn and to change according to the changes in the market.
Literature Review
In the above context, cultural and ethical considerations come to the fore. In this regard, Ayoko O., Hartel C., Fisher G & Fujimoto Y (2004, p. 157) mentions about increasing competitive pressure that is being placed on international firms to develop worldwide communication cutting across the cultural differences. Ayoko O et al further explain that communication skills are capable of bridging the cultural boundaries and thus are critical for employees as they can affect organizational behavior. This is because the diversity in different environments in an organization and to the ones, it is linked results in productive conflict. The productive conflict can be resolved by proper communication systems as well as performance dashboards (Ayoko O., Hartel C., Fisher G & Fujimoto Y; 2004, p. 157).
Connectivity and Assessment of Performance
Organizational connectivity is a necessary aspect in the era of globalization as the firms expand overseas involving the diversity in different environments of the same organization. Hence, generic international management issues are necessary for optimal HR practices, which are capable of creating benevolent organizational behavior. The first aspect could be the ‘operational integration through standardized technology’ (Sparrow P., Brewster C & Hilary Harris; 2004, p. 65), which prompts the use of information-based integration within the HR function. This further results in the functional integration of the organization (Sparrow P., Brewster C & Hilary Harris; 2004, p. 65). The integration is possible with information flows as well as on online real-time enterprise systems. The information available from the system may be financial or non-financial but should be prone to assessment with some sort of established system. In this regard, Alles MG., Kogan A & Vasarhelyi MA (2002) mention about balanced scorecard which is capable of giving a ‘strategic impetus to the development of real-time information gathering and decision support systems’ (Alles MG., Kogan A & Vasarhelyi MA; 2002). When the firms acquire the capability of recording transactions, both financial and non-financial real-time, the companies in the investment and real-estate sector could use them for marketing purposes as well as to enhance organizational behavior (Alles MG., Kogan A & Vasarhelyi MA; 2002).
In regard to organizational behavior, Eckerson WW (2011, p. 23) mentions business performance management quoting the ‘series of management disciplines, processes, and tools that enable organizations to optimize the way they execute business strategy’ (Eckerson WW; 2011, p. 213). Using business performance management, the organizations can integrate the disciplines to implement the common strategic and technical framework to make advance all sections of a firm ‘toward a common set of goals and objectives (Eckerson WW; 2011, p. 24). Hence, performance management or enterprise performance management can be done using a balanced scoreboard (Eckerson WW; 2011, p. 24). As the traditional management control has focused on financial measures only, the management control systems concentrated on non-financial issues also to concentrate on costs so that they can focus less on revenues. Moreover, Olve NG., Roy J & Wetter M (1999, p. 13) opine that the ideas like total quality management and business process redesign seldom come from accounting and financial departments, and hence the strategies like a balanced scorecard are necessary (Olve NG., Roy J & Wetter M; 1999, p. 13).
After a balanced scoreboard, business performance management comes to the fore for which tactical dashboards are necessary. The essence of BPM is an integrated performance management system that creates an agile organization that can adapt itself quickly to the changes in the global market (Eckerson WW; 2011, p. 24). In this regard, Chaudhuri S (2006) mentions business intelligence solutions. These solutions help federal agencies to use data quickly, which is embedded in isolated information legacy systems. Chaudhuri S in this regard talks about budget performance also and thus performance measurement is necessary. As the firm for which the paper is made is a real estate and investment company, there will be strategic and tactical business needs that underlie business intelligence. Hence, a tactical dashboard is necessary to integrate the budget and performance of the organization (Chaudhuri S; 2006).
Methodology
The methodology used in the paper is to review the business needs and performance management tools and analyze them in the analysis/discussion section to get a relevant conclusion. The authentic literature and its review are used in the literature review, and the same has been discussed in a broader or applicable sense in the analysis/discussion chapter so that it may have some practical thinking. The method of analysis is qualitative as the topic involves organizational behavior and performance assessment, which are more qualitative in nature, and the results of the quantitative analysis may not be universal. Hence, a more nuanced approach that finds and searches for the reason for the happening of the facts has been adopted.
Analysis/Discussion
Every tool and topic discussed in the literature review inherently mentions organizational readiness and performance dashboards. The ‘performance dashboards cannot take root in a hostile environment (Eckerson WW; 2011, p. 43). Eckerson WW further states that it is necessary to implement the balanced scorecard step by step for good results. The balanced scorecard involves four elements. They are 1. The financial issue about the way the shareholders see the organization, 2. Customer issues and how do they view the company, 3. Internal issues about the excellence of processes, and 4. Learning issue that decides the knowledge and enhancements (Milgate MA; 2004, p. 8). If these approaches in the balanced scorecard could be used in a methodological framework, the human capital and customer capital come to the fore. Human capital is about the human resources of a firm and customer capital is about popularity. Hence, the more the customer capital in a balanced scorecard, the larger is the popularity of the firm. If the human capital is more and customer capital is less, it can be understood that the human resources of the firm are not being used prudently to achieve the goals of the company (Bounfour A; 2003, p. 8).
After the readiness of the organization for performance management, technical readiness cannot be achieved soon. Hence, robust ‘BI infrastructure and development of internal skills and talent are necessary to support an effective performance management system (Eckerson WW; 20-11, 57). In this regard, Kleasen K (2007) mentions the use of Six Sigma as a management framework in Motorola Corporation. That usage has improved the methodology and simultaneously relied on statistical analysis. It evolved a system, which can be termed as a tactical dashboard that comprises of ‘broader management framework that addresses people issues, cultural change and leadership issues within organizations’ (Kleasen K; 2007). This can be applied to the real estate and investment firm also as a management framework as well as leadership and cultural issues play an important role in deciding the quality of output and selecting the investment destinations (Kleasen K; 2007). In doing so, information technology is important as it decides the functionality of the organization. Hence, business intelligence should decide the business requirements and in the context of the firm of the paper, the information technology should be designed in a manner that ensures the timely delivery of business intelligence as well as master data management and customer relationship management. One such aspect is to make use of computer networking with an accent on e-commerce. The real estate and investment firms can link themselves with the customers and other organizations through the internet and can change prospects into customers (Thierauf RJ & Hoctor J; 2003, pp. 159-160). In the next stage, various financial and non-financial measures of the organization come to the fore. Regarding the real estate and investment firm, issues like the selection of the land and customers matter, and monitoring the performance of the employees regarding the above issues using three dashboard metrics is necessary. They are customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and the cash index. According to Gjerde K.A.P & Hughes S.B (2007), the underlying feedback between employee and customer satisfaction should be monitored and information technology tools should be framed in such a manner that reveals that feedback (Gjerde K.A.P & Hughes S.B; 2007). This is possible when the dashboards are used in-depth in the organizations. According to Eckerson WW (2011, p. 105), these dashboards need to be used by frontline staff to control operations. Eckerson WW (2011, p. 126) explains the dashboards that create a call center so that the monitoring could be possible if that directly reports to the middle or top management. In this regard, Eckerson WW (2011, p. 139) explains the transformation in Arizona State University due to reforms implemented by Michael M. Crow. Mr. Crow has set up a system that can be termed as a dashboard, which ‘tracks research proposals, awards and expenditures by college, department and principal investigator every month’ (Eckerson WW; 2011, p. 139). This made possible the enhancement of research proposals as well as research and brought strategic dashboards into action (Eckerson WW, 2011, p. 157).
The balanced scorecard can be used to enhance the performance of employees as well as the organizational behavior keeping in view the shareholder’s and other stakeholders’ perceptions. Thus, by using this tool, the management of a company can find enhancements in the responses of its employees that can be perceived by the stakeholders who are not part of the organization’s daily activities. When the implementation of the balanced scorecard is done alongside performance dashboards, the communication between management-employees-customers-share and stakeholders will be enhanced, and the result will be the actions from the management to take care of production as well as marketing activities of the firm.
Conclusion
The paper concludes that the scorecards monitor the organization’s behavior, and dashboards monitor the performance. When implemented tactically the organizational behavior could be shaped in such a manner to enhance performance and also to increase customer satisfaction.
Reference List
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