Manufacturing change: The role of performance evaluation and control systems

This paper reports on research currently being undertaken into change in performance evaluation and control systems. Case study research involving the use of repertory grids, in‐depth interviews and observation has been undertaken to examine the impact of these systems on behaviour and the potentially problematic nature of change in performance evaluation and control systems. This contrasts with previous research which has often assumed that such systems can be treated almost as easily manipulable independent variables. The case study illustrates the ways in which performance evaluation and control systems provide a formative context which means that change can be difficult to achieve and requires an understanding of the cultural assumptions underpinning both current and desired systems.