Management Practice Survey (MPS)

We are currently exploring the feasibility of a large scale Management Practices Survey (MPS). The objective of the survey would be to build a statistically robust evidence base that will facilitate the analysis of, and generation of causal hypotheses about, the relationship between specific management practices and economic performance. 

The survey would aim to provide evidence on the use of management practices in a number of functional areas and explore how these practices - both individually and collectively - are linked to organisational performance variables.

A group comprising representatives of ESRC, the business community, the Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM), the Work Foundation and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS - formerly Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills) has been overseeing a feasibility study which has looked at a number of key areas, including the potential for the survey to make an original contribution to our understanding of management practices and their impact on economic performance.

The feasibility study highlighted that although some disciplinary areas such as human resource management (HRM) and operations have explored management practices thoroughly, there is little work which crosses disciplinary boundaries. The survey would therefore provide an opportunity to gain unique insights into the importance and distribution of management practices in areas such as finance, strategy, operations, marketing and innovation. 

We intend to establish a development group to oversee the next stages of the development work, including producing the draft survey instruments, identifying questions for each of the practice areas and developing the final specification for the survey. The development group will also be responsible for initiating discussions with other potential co-funders including governments and government departments.

Further information