Measurement Myopia

The overall purpose of this chapter is to correct what we believe is “measurement myopia.” As organizational decision makers, we all get so entrenched in our functional responsibilities that we often fail to see the forest from the trees. Through the case studies discussed here, it should be obvious that we all are quick to laud our efforts without pausing and confirming our hypotheses. Marketing managers feel happy when customer satisfaction scores improve. The fact that these could come from generally benevolent times, departure of the most profitable customers, or other causes does not seem to faze them. Some such managers might also relentlessly pursue perfection in customer satisfaction scores, without estimating the return on such investments. Similarly, human resource managers might be relieved about improvements in employee engagement scores, without validating if such improvements are showing the desired benefits of higher employee productivity and tenure, or superior customer experiences. No—we all feel that such evidence is not necessary, and in fact, if the search for such evidence leads to a contrary observation, then the joy might be short-lived.