Performance Measurement in Local Sustainability Policy

Organizing and Institutionalizing Local Sustainability

“…While performance is often considered within strategic management research, it is rarely given equal weight or modeled as a driver of subsequent actions (George, Walker, and Monster 2019). For instance, studies of performance information use in city sustainability have relied on cross-sectional surveys and cannot adequately explain why specific types of performance information are collected or how they are used in decisionmaking (Deslatte 2020b;Opp, Mosier, and Osgood 2018). Many of the sustainability performance indicators local governments rely upon are also factors beyond their controlor, extremely slow-moving social and environmental outcomes .…”

“…The Indianapolis experience illustrated a design process called outcome identification, whereby managers collected performance metrics that conform to organizational goals, made sense of confounding or contradictory results, and framed performance to keep partners engaged and supportive of the objectives. These three heuristic-based subroutines correspond with a nascent performance management literature in sustainability (Deslatte 2019;Opp, Mosier, and Osgood 2018). Performance management can be challenging due to the highly contextualized nature of city sustainability efforts (Deslatte 2020b), the need to constantly refine the vision for what sustainability efforts can accomplish (Elgert 2018), and the necessity to frame gains and losses to the public and elected officials in ways that maintain or build support .…”

“…Sustainability scholars have noted some performance metrics play a more "headline-grabbing" role while other technical indicators or benchmarks may be useful for internal management but less so for external legitimacy-seeking (Ji and Darnall 2018;Niemann and Hoppe 2018;Opp, Mosier, and Osgood 2018). Thrive attempted to strike some balance between these information types, although it ultimately offered less-then-desired guidance for the performanceminded staffers tasked with implementation.…”

“…For two decades, planning, policy, and public administration researchers have studied sustainability efforts in local governments. Cumulatively, these literatures have focused on the drivers of policy adoption (Krause 2011;Mazmanian and Kraft 2009;Portney 2013), implementation and management challenges Zeemering 2018), and the barriers to performance gains (Deslatte and Swann 2020;Opp, Mosier, and Osgood 2018). Despite this attention, important gaps remain in integrating these various policy commitments, activities, and outcomes.…”

Pursuing Sustainability: A Case for Regional Approach

“…Besides the global realization about the need to promote sustainability, it is an important concern in the United States as well. Citing devastating incidents such as the Flint water crisis, hurricanes Irma and Harvey, and high levels of poverty in states such as California, Florida, and Louisiana, scholars argue that sustainability is an important concern for all Americans (Opp, Mosier, and Osgood Jr 2018). According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "Everything that we need for our survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural environment."…”