Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34326069›Full record

ArticleBMJ global health2021

Performance management in complex adaptive systems: a conceptual framework for health systems.

Tom Newton-Lewis, Wolfgang Munar, Tata Chanturidze

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ global health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Retrospective analysis of a surgical service in a rural district hospital in the Eastern Cape.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2026
    Article
  2. Review
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  5. Evaluation of the performance of telephone triage service.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025
    Article
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  10. Cultivating leaders for primary health care: A revised approach for transformative development.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2024
    Article
  11. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Tom Newton-LewisFreelance Health Systems Consultant, Oxford, UK tomnewtonlewis@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-8488-5226
Wolfgang MunarDepartment of Global Health, George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9234-987X
Tata ChanturidzeHealth Practice, Oxford Policy Management, Oxford, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1675-5849

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Existing performance management approaches in health systems in low-income and middle-income countries are generally ineffective at driving organisational-level and population-level outcomes. They are largely directive: they try to control behaviour using targets, performance monitoring, incentives and answerability to hierarchies. In contrast, enabling approaches aim to leverage intrinsic motivation, foster collective responsibility, and empower teams to self-organise and use data for shared sensemaking and decision-making.The current evidence base is too limited to guide reforms to strengthen performance management in a particular context. Further, existing conceptual frameworks are undertheorised and do not consider the complexity of dynamic, multilevel health systems. As a result, they are not able to guide reforms, particularly on the contextually appropriate balance between directive and enabling approaches. This paper presents a framework that attempts to situate performance management within complex adaptive systems. Building on theoretical and empirical literature across disciplines, it identifies interdependencies between organisational performance management, organisational culture and software, system-level performance management, and the system-derived enabling environment. It uses these interdependencies to identify when more directive or enabling approaches may be more appropriate. The framework is intended to help those working to strengthen performance management to achieve greater effectiveness in organisational and system performance. The paper provides insights from the literature and examples of pitfalls and successes to aid this thinking. The complexity of the framework and the interdependencies it describes reinforce that there is no one-size-fits-all blueprint for performance management, and interventions must be carefully calibrated to the health system context.

Indexed as

Government ProgramsHumanshealth policyhealth systems

Identifiers

PMID34326069
PMCPMC8323386

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.