Performance Measurement in European local governments: a comparative analysis of reform experiences in Great Britain, France, Sweden and Germany

Kuhlmann, Sabine

doi:10.1177/0020852310372050

Cited by 84 publications

(78 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The CPA was replaced by the Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) that went beyond just the local authority organisation to consider cross partner working arrangements (Kuhlmann, 2010). This was, again, heavily underpinned with management accounting information such as key performance indicators.…”

Section: Rulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The hybridising of financial and service expertise in English local authority budget control

Ahrens

Ferry

Khalifa

2018

QRAM

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This article is c Emerald Group Publishing and permission has been granted for this version to appear here http://dro.dur.ac.uk/23928. Emerald does not grant permission for this article to be further copied/distributed or hosted elsewhere without the express permission from Emerald Group Publishing Limited Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Structured abstractPurpose -This paper traces the hybridising of financial and service expertise in English local authority budget control in order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the contexts that gave rise to hybridisation than do previous accountability research frameworks.Design/methodology/approach -Using practice theory this paper interprets findings from a field study of Newcastle City Council and a review of relevant local authority regulation for England, stretching back to the 1980s.Findings -The hybridisation of financial and service expertise has entailed major changes to the practices on which local authority management depends, fuelled by a changing societal role of local authorities. Frequently, local authorities are no longer providers of public services but enablers who purchase services and manage arms-length contracts. This paper identifies some of the ways in which three structural elements that underpin local authority management practices have evolved to give rise to novel practices.Research implications/limitations -Even though this paper's research into changing regulatory frameworks, rules, and evolving local authority financial practices is based on institutional changes in England since the 1980s, the fieldwork element which fleshes out certain implications for local authority practices has focused on Newcastle City Council. Future research could fruitfully examine these issues in other local authorities.Practical implications -The hybridisation of financial and service expertise has contributed to reshaping local government beyond the rules that are put in place for regulating the sector by giving rise to new practices. Recent key developments include new service delivery arrangements, for example, through council-owned subsidiaries or third sector organisations. It is important that, in an austerity context, new risks to 'off the books' service quality is matched by new control and audit arrangements. Moreover, the professional bodies that service local government should recognise the new forms of hybridisation of finance and service expertise, and ensure arrangements for the changing skill sets of those...

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Section: Rulesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The hybridising of financial and service expertise in English local authority budget control

Ahrens

Ferry

Khalifa

2018

QRAM

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“…Four levels (very good, good, enough, not enough) which were defined by the central government and calculated by private cooperation are chosen as the performance indicators (Kuhlmann, 2010). External decisions of local governments" main service performance are affected from the CPA results (Walker and Boyne, 2006).…”

Section: Englandmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, performance measurements are absolute, unalterable, and public; and the information about performance is too transparent; however it is thought that these applications do not have positive influences under the process of learning and development (Kuhlmann, 2010). It can be remarked that the change of systems and processes is not enough for the success of the program of The Best Value and the adoption of appropriate culture in terms of evaluation and learning by the local governments is necessary (Sanderson, 2001).…”

Section: Englandmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, as seen from the applications of the municipalities, performance measurement has started from bottom to top voluntarily and the organization of performance measurement occurred internally and vertically (between the centralized government and decentralized public authorities or inside the municipal administration, between the centralized authority unit and the inferior unit). In this system, where the performance criteria are related to resources, costs, number of services and quality of services, the results and the procedure indicators are barely used (Kuhlmann, 2010).…”

Section: Francementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Germany, where local governments have a high autonomy in terms of constituting their own missions (Goldsmith, 2002) and the state does not perform much in this area, Local Government Administration Union has created 66 performance indicators in areas such as the waiting time of the operations for ID or tax cards, rate of service costs (Kuhlmann, 2010).…”

Section: Germanymentioning

confidence: 99%

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State Experiences in the Application of Performance Management in the Context of Differences between Administrative Cultures

Çelik¹

2017

EJSS

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As a result of welfare state policies in the 20th century, public institutions grew, diversified, and the field of public administration expanded considerably in terms of public services. This has brought about cumbersome, resource waste, paperwork and similar problems in public administration. But especially after the economic crisis of the 1970s, the debate about public administration's fundamental change and transformation has been intensified. These debates, which also constitute the foundations of the New Public Management, led to a re-questioning of the public administration and a radical transformation. Changing systems have foreseen a state that provides faster and more efficient services and the state has to adopt a structural transformation that limits its activities to provide efficient services instead of operating in every field. In this transformation process, it is being argued that the private sector and the public sector are not different from each other and that the techniques successfully applied in the private sector can also be implemented by the public administration. In this context, the most important tool that comes out to provide effective and efficient service in public administration is performance concept and performance management process. But management tradition and culture have a great influence in the implementation and success of this technique. AngloSaxon state tradition, which attaches importance to organizational understanding and practice, is more inclined to adapt modern management techniques to public administration; Continental Europe state tradition seems to be more distant from these techniques by giving more importance to theory and public institutions.

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Performance Measurement and Management in the Public Sector: Some Lessons from Research Evidence

Gao

2015

Public Admin & Development

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SUMMARYDuring the past decade, there has been an explosion in the literature on performance-oriented reforms around the globe. What are the major topics discussed in this literature? What can scholars and practitioners learn from it? This study provides an overview of the major themes, strategies, challenges, and outcomes of performance measurement and management reforms by reviewing the literature produced during this period. It shows that useful strategies and tools have been developed for public sector organizational performance improvement. Apart from continuing efforts to examine the role of measurement per se, there has been a shift in focus from performance measurement to performance management in this literature. Nevertheless, research evidence from both developed and developing countries shows that most reforms achieve only mixed results, with both costs and gains and with daunting challenges, such as gaming, remaining. The paper concludes by discussing issues that deserve attention from future research.

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Performance Measurement in European local governments: a comparative analysis of reform experiences in Great Britain, France, Sweden and Germany

Cited by 84 publications

References 15 publications

The hybridising of financial and service expertise in English local authority budget control

The hybridising of financial and service expertise in English local authority budget control

State Experiences in the Application of Performance Management in the Context of Differences between Administrative Cultures

Performance Measurement and Management in the Public Sector: Some Lessons from Research Evidence

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