By: Richard Alfred, Nathan Harris, Kathryn Thirolf, James Webb

Hardcover

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Understanding performance requires asking fundamental questions about the nature and purpose of an organization: What is its business? Whom does it serve? What do stakeholders want and expect? What do they get? How does the organization conceive of and measure results? How do stakeholders feel about results the organization is generating? Answers to these questions require a framework for analysis comprised of three essential ingredients: stakeholders, results and improvement strategies. Organizational performance is given segmental treatment in literature and research. Numerous articles and books have been written on related topics such as outcomes assessment, organizational effectiveness, and cost-benefit analysis, but each approaches the subject from a singular perspective. In this book, organizational performance is viewed through multiple lenses so that its different dimensions can be understood and appreciated. The view is broad and far-reaching in the beginning and specific toward the end, where actions organizations can take to improve performance are described. Recognizing that performance is context specific, colleges and universities are used in this book as the medium for examining performance. This book is written for current and future leaders in profit and non-profit organizations who find scholarly books unimaginative, protracted, and detached from practice. Senior executives, while familiar with many of the basic concepts, will find exceptions to current conceptions of organizational performance and practices used to measure and report performance. Performance: The Dynamic of Results in Postsecondary Organizations will be particularly useful to: college and university administrators; corporate executives and managers; managers in non-profit, policy making and advocacy organizations; graduate program faculty and students; and management consulting organizations.

Producing and benchmarking high performance are essential for college leaders, from campus presidents to early career administrators. This book provides a road map for understanding the cognitive and behavioral elements of performance that are crucial for effective leaders. -- Michael Bastedo, University of Michigan School of Education Alfred and his colleagues offer a deep dive into understanding performance in organizational settings. Organizational performance is analyzed through multiple lenses: objective, subjective and cognitive. For those of us in higher education, the book offers a special and timely insight into how performance is and should be assessed in our unique world. The reader is left not only with a nuanced understanding of organizational performance, but with a guide to action: why leaders should think differently about performance and why it is imperative for leaders to operate simultaneously in three domains to enhance organizational performance. This book is a 'must read' for college and university leaders. -- Donna Randall president, Albion College Measuring performance in higher education is a complex but critically important task. Performance: The Dynamic of Results in Postsecondary Organizations offers thoughtful and helpful guidance for colleges and universities that, like the State University of New York, have chosen to engage in self evaluation for the ultimate betterment and strengthening of their institutions. -- Nancy L. Zimpher, Chancellor, State University of New York Richard Alfred has been a valued mentor to many higher education leaders, and his latest work in association with Nathan Harris, Kathryn Thirolf, and James Webb, Performance: The Dynamic of Results in Organizations, provides great insight on one of the most important and challenging issues facing all organizational leaders today. For education leaders, this book addresses the performance issue from a thoughtful, practical perspective. While centered on the higher education, it draws on literature, practice, and examples from across organizational contexts that makes this book a timely and valuable read for anyone interested in understanding and improving organizational performance. -- R. Scott Ralls, president, North Carolina Community College System

Foreword	p. vii
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xvii
Organizational Performance: Core Concepts	p. 1
What Is Organizational Performance?	p. 3
The Dynamic of Results	p. 27
Conceptions of Performance	p. 55
Multiplicity and Complexity	p. 57
Numbers and Performance	p. 75
The Tyranny of Value Added	p. 105
Competition and Winning	p. 123
Cognition and Valuation	p. 151
Thinking Differently	p. 171
Organizing for Performance	p. 173
Designing a Performance Canvas	p. 199
From Ordinary to Exemplary	p. 223
Index	p. 255
About the Author	p. 267
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9781442208339
ISBN-10: 1442208333
Audience: Professional
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 288
Published: 18th June 2012
Dimensions (cm): 23.6 x 16.0  x 2.6
Weight (kg): 0.544