Developing Performance Monitoring In Public Sector Organisations

A host of promising public sector reform efforts are underway throughout the world. In governments challenged by budget deficits and declining public trust, these reform efforts seek to improve policy decisions and public management. Along the way, program efficiency and effectiveness help rebuild public confidence in government. Whether through regular measurement of program inputs, activities, and outcomes, or through episodic one-shot studies, performance monitoring plays a central role in the most important current reform efforts. Monitoring Performance in the Public Sector, now available in paperback, is based on experiences derived from comparative analysis in different countries. It explains why there is interest in perfor!mance monitoring in a given setting, why it has failed or created uncertainties, and identifies criteria for improving its design and use.One of the challenges this book offers is the need to consider dimensions of performance beyond the traditional ones of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness. With an increasingly diverse, interdependent, and uncertain public sector environment, for some stakeholders meeting objectives fixed some time ago may not be as important as the capacity to adapt to current and future change. In this vein, the contributors address a number of themes: the criti!cal importance of organizational support for performance monitoring and making it consistent with the organizational culture, the need for active and effective leadership in defining criteria and implementing practical performance monitoring, the value of linking ongoing measurement with more than the traditional, strictly quantitative aspects of public sector performance.As we gain experience with performance monitoring and its uses, such systems should become more cost effective over time. This book will be of deep interest to public managers, government officials, economists, and organization theorists, and useful in courses on p

This timely Handbook examines performance management research specific to the public sector and its contexts, and provides suggestions for future developments in the field. It demonstrates the need for performance management to be reconceptualized as a core component of business both within and across organizations, and how it must be embedded in both strategic decision-making and as a day-to-day leadership and management practice in order to be effective.

Tackling the key topics of reform and modernization, this important new book systematically examines performance in public management systems. The authors present this seminal subject in an informative and accessible manner, tackling some of the most important themes. Performance Management in the Public Sector takes as its point of departure a broad definition of performance to redefine major and basic mechanisms in public administration, both theoretically and in practice. The book: situates performance in some of the current public management debates; discusses the many definitions of ‘performance’ and how it has become one of the contested agendas of public management; examines measurement, incorporation and use of performance information; and explores the challenges and future directions of performance management. A must-read for any student or practitioner of public management, this core text will prove invaluable to anyone wanting to improve their understanding of performance management in the public sector.

Monitoring and ensuring effective, efficient, and economic use of resources in the public sector is addressed in this critical analysis. The importance of tracking performance for good governance is considered, as are the benefits of designing a departmental and human performance management system. Particular attention is paid to the difficult task of measuring worker performance in the public sector, where a wide array of unquantifiable variables must be examined. Various performance models, such as the Excellence Foundation and the Balance Scorecard, provide an invaluable resource of concepts, considerations, and challenges for improving public sector performance.

New edition of a classic guide to ensuring effective organizational performance Thoroughly revised and updated, the second edition of Managing and Measuring Performance in Public and Nonprofit Organizations is a comprehensive resource for designing and implementing effective performance management and measurement systems in public and nonprofit organizations. The ideas, tools, and processes in this vital resource are designed to help organizations develop measurement systems to support such effective management approaches as strategic management, results-based budgeting, performance management, process improvement, performance contracting, and much more. The book will help readers identify outcomes and other performance criteria to be measured, tie measures to goals and objectives, define and evaluate the worth of desired performance measures, and analyze, process, report, and utilize data effectively. Includes significant updates that offer a more integrated approach to performance management and measurement Offers a detailed framework and instructions for developing and implementing performance management systems Shows how to apply the most effective performance management principles Reveals how to overcome the barriers to effective performance management Managing and Measuring Performance in Public and Nonprofit Organizations identifies common methodological and managerial problems that often confront managers in developing performance measurement systems, and presents a number of targeted strategies for the successful implementation of such systems in public and nonprofit organizations. This must-have resource will help leaders reach their organizational goals and objectives.