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Managing Performance in a Volatile Environment: Contrasting Perspectives on Luck and Causality
Author(s) -
Parnell John A.,
Dent Eric B.,
O'Regan Nicholas,
Hughes Tim
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
british journal of management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.407
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1467-8551
pISSN - 1045-3172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2012.00815.x
Subject(s) - luck , causality (physics) , context (archaeology) , rationality , positive economics , causal inference , business environment , marketing , psychology , business , economics , political science , epistemology , law , philosophy , physics , paleontology , business administration , econometrics , biology , quantum mechanics
Performance management is an increasingly perilous and challenging activity for many firms, and involves understanding the drivers of performance as well as its measurement. Academics tend to see performance in terms of rationality, whereas business leaders tend to interpret drivers of overall performance in a broader context. When global crises and high uncertainty confound causal links to performance, practitioners often invoke the notion of ‘luck’ as a prospective explanation. Academics are less inclined to do so because they tend to conceptualize luck differently. This paper considers the academic/business gap and how M ode 2 research into luck and causality could produce findings that are more meaningful to practising managers in both understanding and affecting performance. It concludes by identifying ways to encourage greater academia‐practitioner congruence to meet the challenges of a volatile operating environment.