Risk and performance management: two sides of the same coin?

Academic research and practice literature show that risk and performance management are converging towards a common set of characteristics. On this basis, they are increasingly considered ‘two sides of the same coin’ (Van der Stede, 2009). But what is meant by ‘risk management’ and ‘performance management’? How can they be related? What are the implications of different approaches? This chapter reviews academic research, as well as a growing body of practice literature, to outline and discuss ways in which risk and performance management instruments and processes can be linked. The chapter starts by illustrating recent changes in the way in which risk and performance management are conceptualised. It then synthetizes existing literature to outline four different ways in which risk and performance issues can be addressed in an integrated way.