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.

Performance evaluation is not a simple task in private enterprises and it is all the more complicated in public enterprises. This paper emphasizes three main points: (a) a public enterprise must be evaluated; (b) a public enterprise must not be evaluated like a private enterprise; and (c) a public enterprise should be evaluated by starting with private profit and making a series of adjustments to make it fair to the nation and to managers. This paper suggests introducing a signaling system which consists of three major components. The first is a performance evaluation system, in which national goals are translated into explicit enterprise objectives and quantified in a performance criterion. The second is a performance information system, in which actual achievements are monitored. The third is an incentive system, in which the welfare of managers and workers is linked to national welfare by a pecuniary or non-pecuniary bonus system based on achievement of particular target values of the criterion variables. The paper proposes a phased system of implementation stressing how performance evaluation must be the product of an evolutionary process involving both enterprise managers and government supervisors.

Confronted with rising citizen discontent, the Reinventing Government movement, and new technological challenges, public organizations everywhere are seeking means of improving their performance. Their quest is not new, rather, the concern with improving the performance of government organizations has existed since the Scientific Management Movement. Public Sector Performance brings together in a single volume the classic, enduring principles and processes that have defined the field of public sector performance, as written in the words of leading practitioners and scholars. Taken as a whole, this volume provides a performance compass for today's public managers, helping them to reconstruct the public's confidence in, and support of, government.Defined here as managing public organizations for outcomes, performance is examined in all its varied dimensions: organizing work, managing workers, measuring performance, and overcoming resistance to performance-enhancing innovations. The selected articles are interesting, thought provoking, and instructive. They are classics in that they have been widely cited in the scholarly literature and have enduring value to public managers who seek to understand the many dimensions of performance. The book is organized into three sections: Performance Foundations, Performance Strategies, and Performance Measurement. Excerpts from additional selected articles feature special topics and wisdom from performance experts.

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.

Combining practical experience with academic analysis this book explores the social and organizational dynamics of performance indicators. It moves beyond the technicalities of measurement and indicators and looks at how performance information is changing the public sector.