Performance Measurement in the Public Sector in England: Searching for the Golden Thread

Abstract

Despite the significant volume of studies on public sector performance measurement, a paucity of empirical research describes in detail the systems and processes used at different levels of government to measure and manage performance. This study focuses on the experience of Public Service Agreements in the public sector in England. In particular, the impact of a centralized, performance measurement‐driven approach on public service delivery is analyzed using case studies in a health care and a police organization. Despite efforts to introduce a “golden thread” to link different levels of the public sector hierarchy, in both cases, there was relatively low consistency in terms of performance indicators, targets, and priorities. Significant implications are evident for the design and role of performance targets and indicators, for the possibility to align frameworks at different levels of the public sector, and for the importance of feedback loops in measurement systems.

An era of governance through performance management – New Labour's National Health Service from 1997 to 2010

“…For example, the paper illustrated that (a) 'technologies' (Dean 2010, 42) shifted from an internal market based on a purchaser and provider framework towards a 10 year NHS Plan with strategies and detailed lower level plans that aimed to form a golden thread throughout the entire healthcare system (Department of Health 2000;Micheli and Neely 2010). This was combined with an increased use of targets and standards (Department of Health 2000, 2001a, 2001b, 2002c, 2002d, 2008, 2008aHealthcare Commission 2005.…”

“…The identity affected (d) 'visibility and control' (Dean 2010, 41), which shifted from a focus on competition, trading accounts and accounting ratios to a golden thread of performance management through plans, targets, rankings and league tables (Department of Health 2000;Micheli and Neely 2010). These worked alongside budgets, cash controls and PbR (Department of Health 2000, 2001c, 2004b to discipline staff into a culture of 'targets' (Bevan and Hood 2006) and, on occasions, 'terror' (Propper et al 2008).…”

La evaluación ciudadana de la Administración Local: “La escala multidimensional jerárquica” como instrumento para medir la calidad de los Servicios Locales

“…Aunque la mayoría de los autores reconocen hoy la necesidad de dotarse de un sistema de evaluación del desempeño administrativo, el acuerdo desaparece cuando se propone incorporar la evaluación subjetiva del ciudadano como medida del rendimiento organizacional. En efecto, desde los primeros intentos por obtener sistemas de medida para monitorizar la acción administrativa, algunos autores han visto con recelo la utilización de las encuestas como sensores del rendimiento administrativo (Stipack, 1979, Brown y Coulter, 1983Parks, 1984;Hoogland DeHoog et al, 1990;Lyons et al, 1992;Poister y Streib, 1999;Bouckaert y Van de Walle, 2003;Roch y Poister, 2006;Howard, 2010;Micheli y Neely, 2010). Howard (2010: 80) critica la utilización ingenua que se hace de las encuestas al ciudadano canadiense «Citi-zen First» y que no tienen en cuenta la complejidad de las interacciones entre satisfacción y realidad del servicio.…”

Managing Performance in the Defense Sector: Cases of the Italian Army and Us Navy Surface Warfare Enterprise

“…To begin to manage performance, Italian Army personnel mapped the organization's main internal processes and activities related to operational expenses 3 . IA managers determined outputs for each activity, using the Goal Question Metric approach [37], selected applicable metrics (performance targets based on outputs; expenses for output units; amounts of outputs provided and impairment thresholds) and indicators, which are combinations of metrics (for details, see Sarcià 2010 [38]).…”

“…Government leaders have shown increasing interest in the measurement of performance to obtain better results [3] in terms of output and outcome. The paradigm of new public management (NPM) inspired this wave of reform [4].…”