Social Dimension and its Impact on Performance Management

Pages:181-183
R. Suresh Kumar and K.S. Prasad (Department of Business Management, Sardar Patel University, Anand, Gujarat)

The challenge arising from the ‘social dimension’ is that conceptually it is not prescriptive. It does not describe explicitly what to do. Instead, the notion of social dimension is normative. It sets out a lens from which to view the world. A social dimension is a holistic approach to improving the performance of work life. It postulates that there are intrinsic links among, social, environmental and economic and well-being (Torjman, 2000). Switch in any one dimension will have an influence upon the other dimensions. From a social perspective, consistent performance cannot be sustained without a healthy environment and is equally unlikely in the absence of a fool proof system. While the desired objective of human sound is clear, it is not easy to establish precisely which parts to include in the social sphere. Its relationship to the economic dimension, such as quality of work and level of income, are more prominent. But its relationship to the environment and the environment and economy together is more difficult to articulate (One could argue that environmental challenges are primarily social issues in that they are essentially a function of human behavior). Besides understanding the relations among the environmental, economic and social spheres, there are questions as to whether specific social actions are more consistent with the concept of sustainable development than others. While there are no definitive answers, there appear to be some key directions that arise from a studied interpretation of the concept.