Performance management and management control: evaluated managers' point of view

On the borderline of management control (MC) and human resource management (HRM) systems, this article investigates the question of performance evaluation criteria, where both systems overlap. The perspective is interpretative, with a focus on the individual perceptions of evaluated persons. The article develops a framework for thinking and studying these criteria and discusses the findings of an empirical study showing that managers working in a highly comparable environment (i) have very different representations of the number and type of criteria that are used for evaluating their performance; (ii) perceive in different ways the contribution of MC-sourced criteria as an evaluation basis; and (iii) sometimes develop significant representations associated with self-presentational strategies. These findings suggest a refinement of typologies of organizational control and, more generally, that behavioural MC research could fruitfully be developed from the interpretative perspective. Practical applications may also be derived, such as the relevance of cross-functional performance management.