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Since several high-profile companies announced that they were radically redesigning their performance management systems and processes (PMSPs), commentators and scholars argue that these changes represent a trend that many companies are following, and even more are considering pursuing. The present paper aims to provide an overview of these redesigns and their rationales from the companies' point of view and theoretically reflect on their organisational value.

The analysis is based on a review of articles from journals, professional magazines and the business press that describe how nine high-profile companies from the debate changed their PMSP design.

The PMSP redesigns are directed towards what in the literature has been referred to as people PMSPs. The authors identify five organisational challenges to which the people PMSPs are exposed and specify the design elements that the companies have changed to meet these challenges. Finally, the authors outline a set of theoretical propositions that demonstrate some of the trade-offs involved with the redesigns.

The paper contributes to researchers and practitioners by providing more insight into why and how companies have redesigned their people PMSPs. Answers to these questions are vital in understanding the trends and redesigns that practitioners are currently considering. Furthermore, since the empirical research of the effects of these redesigns is still limited, we outline a set of theory-based propositions helpful for future empirical investigations.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Questions about effectiveness of performance management systems have prompted many leading companies to redesign elements of the performance management systems and processes (PMSPs). Changes to key aspect of “people” PMSPs can help meet challenges, although need some trade-offs can also be possible.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

This paper aims to organise, in a general typology, the different purposes of performance management systems and processes (PMSPs) that are discussed across the performance management literature in different functional areas.

The typology is developed based on a traditional review of the performance management literature from three types of functional areas, represented by operations and production management, management accounting and human resource management.

The cross-functional typology illustrates how the different types of purposes discussed in the literature can be organised in a hierarchical structure. In this way, the basic purpose of organisational value creation for PMSPs can be decomposed into two layers of sub-purposes, the first specifying the domain and the second outlining the specific managerial use of PMSPs.

The presented typology may help managers across different functional areas map the purposes of their PMSPs; this mapping will not only provide the basics for understanding a PMSP's potential value for an organisation but also serve as an important input for PMSP design.

The presented typology has a broader scope than existing typologies of purposes in research and, consequently, better interrelates and tracks the various types of purposes discussed across different functional areas. This contributes not only to our understanding of performance management as a cross-functional field but also to research on the use and design of PMSPs in organisations.