Page 26 - Psychological Management of Individual Performance

4 performance concepts and performance theory
INTRODUCTION

Individual performance is a core concept within work and organizational psychology.
During the past 10 or 15 years, researchers have made progress in clarifying and extend-
ing the performance concept (Campbell, 1990). Moreover, advances have been made
in specifying major predictors and processes associated with individual performance.
With the ongoing changes that we are witnessing within organizations today, the perfor-
mance concepts and performance requirements are undergoing changes as well (Ilgen &
Pulakos, 1999).
In this chapter, we summarize the major lines within performance-related research.
With this overview we want to contribute to an integration of the scattered field of
performance-related research. First, we briefly discuss the relevance of individual per-
formance both for individuals and organizations. We provide a definition of performance
and describe its multi-dimensional and dynamic nature. Subsequently, we present three
different perspectives on performance: the individual differences perspective, the situ-
ational perspective, and the performance regulation perspective. Finally, we summarize
current trends in the nature of work and discuss how these trends may affect the perfor-
mance concept as well as broader performance research and management.

RELEVANCE OF INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

Organizations need highly performing individuals in order to meet their goals, to de-
liver the products and services they specialized in, and finally to achieve competitive
advantage. Performance is also important for the individual. Accomplishing tasks and
performing at a high level can be a source of satisfaction, with feelings of mastery and
pride. Low performance and not achieving the goals might be experienced as dissatisfy-
ing or even as a personal failure. Moreover, performance—if it is recognized by others
withintheorganization—isoftenrewardedbyfinancialandotherbenefits.Performanceis
a major—although not the only—prerequisite for future career development and success
in the labor market. Although there might be exceptions, high performers get promoted
more easily within an organization and generally have better career opportunities than
low performers (VanScotter, Motowidlo, & Cross, 2000).
The high relevance of individual performance is also reflected in work and organiza-
tional psychological research. To get a clearer picture about the importance of individual
performance in empirical research we conducted a literature search in the twelve of the
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major work and organizational psychology journals. These journals cover a broad range
of individual, group-level and organizational-level phenomena. Based on this literature
search we located a total number of 146 meta-analyses within the past 20 years. Among
these meta-analyses, about a half (54.8%) addressed individual performance as a core
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construct. In the majority of these meta-analyses, individual performance was the de-
pendent variable or outcome measure (72.5%). In about 6% of those meta-analyses that
included individual performance measures, individual performance was the independent
or predictor variable. Twenty-one per cent of the meta-analyses addressed performance
appraisal and performance measurement issues.
The widespread use of individual performance measures in single studies and meta-
analyses shows that individual performance is a key variable in work and organizational