Factors that play a role in “managing through measures”

Organisations devote time and effort to the development of strategic performance measurement (SPM) systems. Many articles have been written on how to design and implement this type of system. However, few studies have addressed the issue of why some organisations are better able to “manage through measures” than others. Why do some organisations struggle to ensure that action follows measurement, whilst others systematically use their metrics to inform their decision‐making processes, and their subsequently actions? Specifically, it is unclear what critical factors play a role in enabling organisations to effectively use their SPM system. To gain an understanding of these factors, 24 practitioners were interviewed. This paper presents the analysed evidence from those interviews and its implications for practice.