Policy/Trends
Performance management covers a number of different concepts and its implementation has varied from country to country, yet common elements seem to be present in the analysis of the various reforms. Chief among these elements are the establishment of clear performance standards for service levels, the creation of methodologies for assessing performance, increased accountability for governmental operations, and the generation of a feedback mechanism that allows for continuous improvement. One common form of public performance management is performance budgeting which links success in achieving of targets to future spending allowance. Another important trend has been for governments to set fewer but more holistic outcome based targets and apply smarter measures.
This section provides documents containing a general overview of such performance management features and they way in which they have been applied.
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Better Outcomes (PDF) Cumming, Lauren; Dick, Alastair; Filkin, Geoffrey and Sturgess, Gary, 2009 2020 Public Services Trust This report proposes a new approach to maximise return on allocated resources: outcome commissioning. It requires government to design a system that incentivises the achievement of outcomes - the focus moves from how to what, paying for performance rather than processes. The paper provides a comprehensive examination of this approach: defining outcome commissioning and its key benefits; describing the processes and strategies required; assessing outcome commissioning in comparison to current performance; illustrating empirical success through case studies; proposing a four-stage process to implement outcome commissioning where desirable; exploring the transition challenges; and identifying areas where it could be most fruitfully applied. UK
'Managing by Numbers': the way to make public services better? (PDF) Hood, Christopher; Dixon, Ruth and Wilson, Deborah, 2009 Public Services Programme, University of Oxford This paper examines targets, benchmarks and league tables in public service management - assessing both their past performance and future relevance. UK
Performance Art: Enabling Better Management of Public Services (PDF) Gash, Tom; Hallsworth, Michael; Ismail, Sharif and Paun, Akash, 2008 Institute for Government A review of the ongoing impact of recently revised UK performance management frameworks, focusing on Public Service Agreements and Local Area Agreements. UK
Organisational Performance Management in a Government Context: A Literature Review (PDF) Mackie, Dr Bobby, 2008 Scottish Government Social Research
A summary of international organisational performance management literature, highlighting best practice in organisational performance management and its applicability in a central government context.
UKManaging Current and Future Performance: Striving to Create Public Value (PDF) Accenture Institute for Public Service Value, 2007 This report analyses some experiences of performance management initiatives in public organizations around the world. The report states some of the basic principles of performance management and highlights the recognised benefits that it brought to these organizations, concluding with an overview of some of its current limitations and challenges. UK
Performance-Based Arrangements for Senior Civil Servants OECD and Other Country Experiences (PDF) (PDF) Ketelaar, Anne; Manning, Nick and Turkisch, Edouard , 2007 OECD Working Paper on Public Governance A report which provides a practical framework to implement performance based arrangements for senior civil servants, within the context of a government's overall performance management framework. It also contains a summary of the performance based characteristics of some OECD countries such as United Kingdom, United States, Canada and France. UK
Notes on Public Sector Reform and Performance Management: Australia (PDF) Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia, 2007 A discussion paper containing a brief summary of the main reforms implemented in Australia during its transition to an outcome oriented public management system. This document also discusses the background to the reform, as well as addressing some of its results and implications. It also provides some useful examples of how Australia's government implemented the changes necessary to sustain such a transition. Canada
Public Performance Measurement: An Assessment of the State-of-the-Art and Models for Citizen Participation Holzer, Marc and Kloby, Kathryn, 2005 International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Volume 54, Number 7, pp. 517-532(16)
This article evaluates some of the most innovative public performance measurement systems in place in the USA. The study analyses the effects of introducing more sophisticated mechanisms and models which incorporate citizens' evaluations.
USATo the Point: A Blueprint for Good Targets (PDF) Targets Commission,, 2005 Social Market Foundation (SMF) This is a summary of a report into the Government's use of targets in four public service sectors: education, health, housing and criminal justice. It concludes that as a rule, observed empirical failures have been the result of specific design problems and not intrinsic; thus targets ought not be abandoned as a policy tool. Rather, well-designed targets can be a very useful tool in improving performance - and particularly when other forms of service improvement such as user choice are absent. The report concludes with a range of practical proposals to improve target-design in future. UK
Delivering Efficient Public Services Through Better Performance Management Frameworks (PDF) Kable , 2005 A report on the adoption of performance management tools by UK central and local government. It promotes the use of computer based programs in order to help public managers develop and measure performance indicators. UK
Public Sector Modernisation: Governing for Performance (PDF) Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2004 An OECD policy brief that describes the development of performance management reform in OECD countries, focusing on its achievements, strengths and limitations.
The Performing State: Reflection on an idea whose time has come but whose implemenataion has not (PDF) Schick, Allen , 2003 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development This essay details the principal problems that performance management and budgeting have suffered in their transition from theory to practice.
Reporting on Outcomes: Setting Performance Expectations and Telling Performance Stories (Web Page) Mayne, John , 2003 Office of the Auditor General of Canada A report detailing a practical approach to performance measurement in public management and what can be expected from performance reports. Canada
Outcome-focused Management and Budgeting (PDF)
Kromann Kristensen, Jens; Groszyk, Walter S. and Bühler, Bernd , 2002
Organisation For Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
A report providing a general overview of the conceptual framework of performance management. The study also provides a detailed summary of the key motives for moving to an outcome focus managerial system, the implementation challenges and problems and the actual approaches taken by a number of OECD member countries.
Quicker, Better, Cheaper? Managing Performance in American Government Forsythe, Dall (ed.), 2001 Rockefeller Institute Press A collection of reports which provide a comprehensive review of performance management issues raging from outcome measurement, performance indicators to critiques and debates based on empirical evidence drawn from the US Government experience. USA
Get Results through Performance Management: An Open Memorandum to Government Executives (PDF) Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government, 2001 A report written by a joint panel of former public servants, journalists and scholars with knowledge of public management issues that discusses common traits found in the most effective performance management systems in US Government. USA
Role of External Review in Improving Performance (PDF) Byatt, Sir I and Lyons, Sir M, , 2001 Public Services Productivity Panel This report addresses the issue of external review systems as mechanisms to further increase accountability and performance management in the UK. The study concludes with a series of recommendations to create an adequate framework for such evaluations to occur. UK
Addressing Attribution Through Contribution Analysis: Using Performance Measures Sensibly (PDF) Mayne, John,, 1999 Office of the Auditor General of Canada Discussion paper on the challenges of managing for results and measuring outcomes in the public sector in a cost effective way. Canada
Performance Measurement: An Important Tool in Managing for Results (PDF) General Accounting Office, 1992 A report on performance measures as a tool to improve performance and value for money. USA