Page 37 - iimv-news-Vol-2-e

IMPRESSIONS

As a ratio of output / input, efficiency improvements could be brought about through:
Same input; Higher output;
Lower input; Same output;

Lower input; Higher output.

“If something cannot be measured, then it does not really matter” said William Thomson, the Rt. Hon.
Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), the well-known Scottish Mathematician and Physicist, who gave us the Absolute
Scale of Temperature.

“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you can't measure
something, you can't understand it. If you can't understand it, you can't control it. If you can't control it,
you can't improve it” wrote H. James Harrington, Corporate Leader, Management Professional, Interna-

tional Quality Adviser, and prolific Author.

Robert Anthony and Vijay Govindarajan in their book on “Management Control Systems” give us the frame-
work of performance measurement when they write:
What counts, gets measured;

What gets measured, gets done;
What gets done, gets rewarded;

Thus, inherent in the Output stage is the function of “Controlling” viz. measurability

Outcomes

Outcomes depend to a fair extent, on the Outputs. Outcomes are the result, impact and effect of the Out-
puts and reflect the extent to which Objectives are realized. While the Outputs (based on the resources
allocated) may have been produced in the most efficient and productive manner (comparing favourably
with competitors/role-models), it’s the Outcomes that prove the effectiveness of Outputs. From the above

illustration, even assuming efficient production of Outputs, the pertinent questions would be:
Has the disease burden in the service-area come down?
Have the maternal mortality rates come down?

Have the infant mortality rates come down?
Have the birth-weights of children improved?
Have the nutrition levels in the beneficiaries gone up?

Has the incidence and spread of epidemics in the region decreased?
Have the overall health indicators in the region improved?

And, if the answers are not in the affirmative, efficiency of Outputs does not really count or matter.

Any gaps between Objectives and Outcomes should lead to corrective action in the form of further
improvement or development, another important function of management.

Thus, the ‘Objectives to Outcomes’ virtuous cycle could be a good tool of performance planning, measur-

ing, monitoring, management and control.

Note: This article was earlier published on the LinkedIn page of Prof. M Chandrasekhar, Director, IIMV.

35 VOL. / ISSUE /MAY AUG