Performance measurement within a management control package

In this chapter, we examine the role of five different performance measurement systems (PMS) within a management control package in a case study of a large multinational organization in the Asia-Pacific region. We explore how the PMS relate to each other, to other management controls, to strategy, and to activities. The case illustrates how the company managed its multiple and at times conflicting objectives (i.e., being ambidextrous), through the use of a package of controls, by establishing high levels of interdependencies between the incompatible objectives and specific PMS, and then ensuring these PMS had no relationship to each other. Further, our case demonstrates that despite an apparent design flaw in the organization’s PMS design, it did not lead to dysfunctional outcomes because the PMS and other forms of control acted in a compensatory manner. We conclude by suggesting avenues for further research.