Abstract:
Performance Measurement (PM) has been received an increasing attention over the past 20 years in
the hotel industry. It is critical for the development of strategic plans and for evaluating the
achievement of organisational objectives. A growing understanding of the limitations of financial
measures has led the development of integrated systems and frameworks. Among the conventional
models, Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is widely accepted and implemented in organisations. However,
identification of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and formation of BSC model into a practical context
is based on several assumptions that could lead to failures. Tacit knowledge addresses the value of the
expert’s knowledge and specifies techniques to capture current context and changing needs of the
organisation. However, the extent of literature on PM has failed to incorporate tacit knowledge into
the PM models using any of the externalisation techniques due to several reasons.
Therefore, this study explored the method to incorporate expert’s tacit knowledge for PM in the Sri
Lankan hotel industry. The research problem was approached through a single case study with an
action research phase in a five star hotel that successfully practice Performance Measurement System
(PMS) in Sri Lanka. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among the experts in the hotel and
combined three methods namely; archival analysis, ethnographic analysis and experts’ participation to
extract expert’s knowledge in to CSFs identification process.
The case study findings revealed that hotel staff subconsciously carries out activities for externalising,
preserving and developing their tacit knowledge. However, there is no evidence of considering tacit
knowledge in the process of CSFs identification for PM in Sri Lankan hotel industry. Action research
phase affirmed, at minimum, either the ethnographic or the interactive method could be used along
with archival analysis method to represent both the explicit and tacit knowledge of the organisation to
produce an effective PMS. The approach used in this study for incorporating tacit knowledge into
performance measurement is adaptable to Sri Lankan hotel industry.
