The final part of the book contains three contributions that both look to the future and explore some of performance measurement's enduring themes. Part V begins with a return to the classic question of whether pay for performance really motivates employees. It then continues by exploring how and why measurement works in some settings, even when it appears that it should not. The final chapter turns to the question of predictive performance measurement – exploring whether it is feasible to develop forward-looking measurement systems.

The first contribution, by Margit Osterloh and Bruno Frey, addresses the question of whether pay for performance really works. Osterloh and Frey review the literature and the results of a variety of field studies that explore whether intrinsic or extrinsic motivation is more powerful. They seek to develop a framework that allows practitioners to ensure that they achieve an appropriate balance of intrinsic and extrinsic methods of motivation. At the heart of their framework is the argument that “extrinsic motivation is sufficient when the work is routinized and performance is easy to measure, while intrinsic motivation is necessary when labor contracts are characterized by a high degree of incompleteness as well as ambiguity”.

The second contribution, from Rob Austin and Jody Hoffer Gittell, builds on Osterloh and Frey's chapter by identifying three basic premises that are taken for granted by most designers of measurement systems: performance should be clearly defined, performance should be accurately measured and reward should be contingent upon performance.