Cranfield School of Management

Current Research Areas for Centre for Business Performance Faculty 

Mike Bourne

Mike’s research has focused on the design, implementation and use of performance measurement and management systems. More recently, he has been engaged in understanding how performance measurement systems are used in the management of organisations and the circumstances under which they create (and destroy) value. He is current particularly interested in and researching: -

• What drives business performance (from a measurement and HR practices perspective)?
• The leadership characteristics of CEOs who have demonstrated high and sustained levels of performance in their organisation
• How risk and performance should be managed in organisations?
• How performance information is used and should be used in management and decision making?

Andrey Pavlov

Andrey’s primary research interests focus on understanding the phenomenon of organizational performance and on the task of managing performance in its organizational complexity. More specifically, Andrey’s current work focuses on the following areas:

·         The definition of organizational performance. This work, undertaken with several Cranfield colleagues, aims to clarify the concept of organizational performance and to arrive at a workable generic definition that reflects the nature and complexity of the phenomenon of performance. 

·         Performance Management Reviews. This work is the continuation of Andrey’s doctoral research, which examined the mechanism that makes Performance Management Review meetings effective. 

·         Narrative Reporting of Performance. Organizational performance is a complex phenomenon, and the extent to which numbers can fully communicate this complexity is questionable. One of Andrey’s areas of interest is the way in which performance measurement can incorporate narrative reports and rely on the use of language.

Jutta Tobias

Trained as a social psychologist, Jutta researches the contextual/situational factors affecting performance and organisational health. Jutta currently has two active lines of research. One of these relates to behavioural and relational enablers of performance, in particular how behaviour change theories inform organisational performance improvement, and to what extent emotional elements of decision-making and negotiation impact performance management. Jutta also studies the psychological components involved in stimulating entrepreneurship and economic development, e.g. by investigating what types of soft skills training are particularly effective in helping generate more successful and resilient entrepreneurs. 

Pietro Micheli