Performance Management Systems - British Oxygen - Case Study Example

The paper 'Performance Management Systems - British Oxygen" is a good example of a management case study. The expression "performance management" (PM) appeared in the late 1980s and can be regarded as an extension of "performance appraisal"--a practice used to evaluate an individual employee's past performance. Today, however, performance appraisal is considered as one of several key elements of PM, the others being the communication of company strategy through individual objective setting, links to training and development planning, and possibly compensation Performance Management deals with the formulation and putting into practice strategies and policies the sole aim of which are to Performance employees justly, equitably and in perfect harmony and consistently with respect to their value and worth to the organization and further, to assist the organization to reach its strategic targets (Berry,2004).

ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW

With changing business environment and competition BOC (British Oxygen) needs to be a more competitive player in the market. With respect to this vision, BOC requires a cost-efficient and productive operating model that would enhance its potential to capture the market. Due to the ad-hoc practices and lack of future vision, many issues have come up in the PG&P distribution network, which is adding to its costs and making it inefficient.

At present, there are seven different channels through which our products reach the consumer. There is a lack of standardization of procedures. There are no set criteria as per agreements with the distributors. Each distributor has an exclusive contract with BOC and it is difficult to keep track of various clauses that exist. The policies and procedures are silent about the ownership of goods once it changes hands in this distribution network. This raises various accountability issues in case of accidents and mishaps as well as commercial controls.

Another issue is the variable retail prices. There are instances where different distributors charged consumers differently for the same product.