Reviewing performance: an analysis of the structure and functions of performance management reviews

This article proposes an analytical framework for conceptualising performance management reviews (PMRs). Drawing on multiple literatures, the article applies Pettigrew et al.'s (Pettigrew, A., Whipp R., and Rosenfield R., 1989. Competitiveness and the management of strategic change processes. In: A. Francis, and P.K.M. Tharakan, eds. The competitiveness of European industry: country policies and company strategies. London: Routledge) framework to develop our understanding of the context, process and content of PMR. The process elements of PMRs are the levers for managerial intervention as they determine the immediate outcome of PMR. They accomplish this task by acting on the content elements, transforming the subject of PMR into specific outcomes. The scope of the intervention, however, is constrained by factors in the organisation's context. This framework sheds light on various functions of PMRs, most notably strategy implementation.