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When Performance Measures Backfire: Campbell’s Law and the Implications for ESG Metrics

Kathleen Locklear

Journal of Knowledge Management Practice2025https://doi.org/10.62477/jkmp.v25i6.585article
ABDC C
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

According to Campbell’s Law, when a quantitative measure is used as a performance target, that measure becomes susceptible to corruption pressure. When this happens, the metric distorts the process it was intended to measure. This paper applies Campbell’s Law as a lens for examining these dynamics in the context of ESG (environmental, social, governance) metrics. The vulnerabilities of ESG metrics are identified, discussed and linked with specific risks. The result is a proposed, preliminary taxonomy which is relevant to a range of stakeholders. Theory and practice understanding of ESG are extended through the proposed taxonomy and its accompanying, suggested mitigation strategies.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.62477/jkmp.v25i6.585

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@article{kathleen2025,
  title        = {{When Performance Measures Backfire: Campbell’s Law and the Implications for ESG Metrics}},
  author       = {Kathleen Locklear},
  journal      = {Journal of Knowledge Management Practice},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.62477/jkmp.v25i6.585},
}

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When Performance Measures Backfire: Campbell’s Law and the Implications for ESG Metrics

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.