We define PM participation as the substantial impact
of one or more employees on the content of the performance
measures by means of which one (in this study a
department) is measured. This may include any aspect of
the performance measures distinguished by Neely et al.
(2002): the name; the purpose; the target; the formula;
the frequency of measuring; the source of data; and the
responsibility. By actually participating in the development
of performance measures, employees’ ideas about performance
measures are taken seriously (Nørreklit, 2000). The
goal is manifestly practical—to make performance measures
useful for the involved employees in their everyday
work. Of course, participation will not be a completely
autonomous affair. For example, there may be guidance
in the form of strategic priorities, constraints regarding
the timely availability of resources for this developmental
process, and project deadlines that the employees have
to consider. PM participation may provide positive effects
to the organization if it creates better quality performance
measures (Abernethy and Bouwens, 2005).