Zoom link: https://aarhusuniversity.zoom.us/j/67298695295

On Monday 19 October 2020 at 10:00 via Zoom, Hanne Nørreklit will give a seminar entitled   

A comparative evaluation of performance management of the Covid-19 reality in Germany, Italy and the UK

Abstract
Some countries have been much harder hit by covid-19 than others (Worldometer, 2020). This article assesses the covid-19 event in three comparable countries (Germany, Italy and the UK) which exhibit such variation. It aims to scrutinize how different national approaches to the performance management of the virus may influence its impact. 

It is those with political power who have the authority and responsibility to act in response to the virus. As with senior management in any large organisation, their centralisation limits their ability to directly observe the reality of their situation. They have to have details of the virus’ nature and effects represented to them. Managing in such circumstances requires systems of performance management and control to gain knowledge of the virus and inform operational decisions (Rikhardsson et al., 2020). Without such knowledge presumptions and guesswork dominate. The grasp our leaders have on the reality of the virus depends on the quality of information and control tools available to them. Thus, relevant information availability and control approaches will influence the efficacy of each country’s performance management of the virus. 

To address this research issue, pragmatic constructivism (Nørreklit et al., 2010) is employed as a lens through which the performance management of each country can be examined and compared. It is a philosophy outlining how people can relate to their reality in a way that will support successful action. This lens can, therefore, be used as a diagnostic tool to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in the way different countries have reacted to covid-19. 

Our analysis reveals that one country proved superior to the others in all of the dimensions of pragmatic constructivism and their integration. This superiority has led to more successful actions to combat the corona virus and this is clearly reflected in the measurements of the virus’ impact on each country. The results are explained by the three countries very different traditions in new public management (NPM) and thereby at hand are different institutional facts, action possibilities, values and methods of communicative interaction. The  evaluation  of different national approaches to the performance management of the covid-19 reality is novel to the literature on performance management.