Counting, Control and Calculation: Reflections on Measuring and Management. Power, M. Human Relations, 57(6):765–783, June, 2004.
Counting, Control and Calculation: Reflections on Measuring and Management [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
This article explores fundamental issues in performance measurement systems broadly conceived. Three key moments or themes are identified. First, the foundations of measurement in counting practices, and their inherent reductionism, are considered. Second, the relations between measurement and technologies of monitoring and control, such as auditing, are discussed. Third, first- and second-order measurement (meta-measurement) are distinguished, respectively as particular institutions of counting and data production, and as related dense networks of calculating experts operating on these numbers within specific cultures of objectivity. Finally, arguments about the consequences of performance measurement systems are evaluated, contrasting democratic enthusiasm for performance measurement control technologies with the view that they are some kind of ‘fatal remedy’. In place of a simple dichotomy of trust or distrust in numbers, the development of performance measurement instruments is argued to be a cycle of innovation, crisis and reform, which continually expands into new regions of social and economic life, and which expresses varying degrees of commitment to precision.
@article{power_counting_2004,
	title = {Counting, {Control} and {Calculation}: {Reflections} on {Measuring} and {Management}},
	volume = {57},
	issn = {0018-7267},
	shorttitle = {Counting, {Control} and {Calculation}},
	url = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726704044955},
	doi = {10.1177/0018726704044955},
	abstract = {This article explores fundamental issues in performance measurement systems broadly                 conceived. Three key moments or themes are identified. First, the foundations of                 measurement in counting practices, and their inherent reductionism, are considered.                 Second, the relations between measurement and technologies of monitoring and                 control, such as auditing, are discussed. Third, first- and second-order measurement                 (meta-measurement) are distinguished, respectively as particular institutions of                 counting and data production, and as related dense networks of calculating experts                 operating on these numbers within specific cultures of objectivity. Finally,                 arguments about the consequences of performance measurement systems are evaluated,                 contrasting democratic enthusiasm for performance measurement control technologies                 with the view that they are some kind of ‘fatal remedy’. In                 place of a simple dichotomy of trust or distrust in numbers, the development of                 performance measurement instruments is argued to be a cycle of innovation, crisis                 and reform, which continually expands into new regions of social and economic life,                 and which expresses varying degrees of commitment to precision.},
	language = {en},
	number = {6},
	urldate = {2018-12-23},
	journal = {Human Relations},
	author = {Power, Michael},
	month = jun,
	year = {2004},
	pages = {765--783},
}

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