Factoring in the human factor: experimental evidence on how public managers make sense of performance information

Abstract

We conducted a randomized controlled trial with 902 public hospital department heads to investigate whether and how their perceived understanding and objective recall of performance information may depend on the way it is presented, specifically, the features of its graphical representation. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three alternative graphical displays of the same data, namely a target, a radar, or a pathway chart. We then measured both subjects' perceived understanding-i.e., how clear and understandable they found the performance metrics-and their actual information recall-as assessed by an objective test. Our analyses demonstrate that alternative visual representations of equivalent data may cause significant differences in public managers' ability to make sense of performance information. In the context of our experimental test, the pathway chart outperformed the other two in both perceived understanding and objective information recall, which suggests that public managers may have a good sense of which graphic information formats work best for them. We discuss how our findings can contribute to the advancement of behavioral public performance research.

Hybridity enabled: A research synthesis of the enabling conditions for hybrid professionalism in healthcare

“…Recent research in the field has shown indeed that information framing can be a powerful tool to align professionals’ behaviors towards common – typically patient-centered – goals. 78,79 With regard to management control, Macinati and colleagues 80,81 discuss also that the procedural factors can influence hybrids’ role enactement: participative budgeting practices can indeed enhance hybrid managers’ self-efficacy by supporting their belief to “have the capability and resources to perform successfully in managerial tasks”. 80…”

Information use in public administration and policy decision‐making: A research synthesis

“…Strengthening research into evidence-based information use in public decision-making beyond the study of performance information Furthermore, our research synthesis reveals a number of information features that can naturally connect two literature streams, namely the one that is concentrated on the use of information for public decision-making (Kroll, 2015a) to the one devoted to the application of behavioral science insights to public administration and policy challenges (Battaglio et al, 2019). In particular, features such as data availability, format, framing, purpose, or supporting evidence are variables that behavioral public administration scholars also study in depth because of their impact on judgment errors and decision variability (Ballard, 2020;Belle et al, 2022;. Even more telling for the establishment of a bridge between the two literature streams is the fact that about one third of the primary articles synthesized in our work explicitly employ a behavioral science lens to address information use issues.…”

The experiences of 33 national COVID-19 dashboard teams during the first year of the pandemic in the World Health Organization European Region: A qualitative study

“…As reported in other studies, the ways in which information is presented may affect not only the subjective perception but also the objective comprehension of the information. 11 , 70 , 71 Systematic approaches to exploring user needs and use patterns are necessary if dashboards are to bridge the gap between mere managerial tools and full-fledged public reporting devices.…”