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Meaning, mission, and measurement : how organizational performance measurement shapes perceptions of work as worthy

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Beer, Haley, Micheli, Pietro and Besharov, Marya L. (2022) Meaning, mission, and measurement : how organizational performance measurement shapes perceptions of work as worthy. Academy of Management Journal, 65 (6). pp. 1923-1953. doi:10.5465/amj.2019.0916 ISSN 0001-4273.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/amj.2019.0916

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Abstract

A compelling organizational mission can contribute to employees’ sense of work as worthy and thereby meaningful. Yet realizing this potential depends on whether and how the mission is conveyed to employees and connected to their day-to-day work, with organizational performance measurement practices playing a critical but poorly understood role. To develop empirically grounded insights into how measurement practices shape individuals’ perceptions of work as worthy, we leverage a qualitative, inductive study of two UK social enterprises. We find that employees’ encounters with measurement practices both affirm and challenge perceptions of work as worthy by influencing whether employees can accomplish their work tasks, see the impact of their work, and have a credible and valued voice in their interpersonal interactions. Building on these findings, we develop a model that theorizes practical, existential, and relational pathways through which measurement encounters create ongoing expansions and contractions of work worthiness. Taken together, our findings and model broaden understandings of the sources and processes of meaningful work, develop a dynamic conception of meaningfulness, and point toward a more agentic view of organizational performance measurement processes.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Warwick Business School
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Work , Work measurement , Employee motivation, Performance standards, Employees -- Rating of , Employment (Economic theory), Organizational effectiveness -- Measurement, Organizational behavior
Journal or Publication Title: Academy of Management Journal
Publisher: Academy of Management
ISSN: 0001-4273
Official Date: 15 December 2022
Dates:
DateEvent
15 December 2022Published
3 November 2021Available
1 November 2021Accepted
Volume: 65
Number: 6
Page Range: pp. 1923-1953
DOI: 10.5465/amj.2019.0916
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Copyright Holders: © Academy of Management Journal
Date of first compliant deposit: 8 November 2021
Date of first compliant Open Access: 3 November 2022

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