The ‘logic of escalation’ in performance measurement: An analysis of the dynamics of a research evaluation system

Woelert, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.polsoc.2015.03.004

Cited by 15 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Many of the selected studies are consistent with the idea that the use of information necessary for decision making can be facilitated by developing innovative and advanced performance measurement techniques (Woelert, 2015;Tabi & Verdon, 2014;Hutchings, 2014). The need to comprehensively assess performancees of organizations operating in public sector and the importance traditionally attached to them, in fact, have gradually confined the scholars' attention not only on economic and technical aspects, but also on social and, especially in recent times, environmental ones.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Performance Evaluation and Measurement in Public Organizations: A Systematic Literature Review

Polese¹,

Troisi²,

Torre³

et al. 2016

IJBA

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The turbulence of the current competitive environment emphasizes the importance of the role played by performance measurement systems in generating an improvement of business results. Starting from this consideration, the work pursues a twofold goal: firstly, it tries to verify the existence and the degree of a research interest about this topic; secondly, it seeks to identify, in measurement and evaluation systems, which factors are capable of producing an effect on performances of public organizations. In order to well respond to the research purposes, the work begins with a systematic literature review, which highlights a growing attention of scholars on all those variables considered critical in conducting and managing public organizations. The study, highlighting the existence of six variables to be advantageously taken into account in managing public organizations, especially in light of the potential influence that they seem to exert on different types of business performances, could be considered as a useful tool for both practitioners (managers of public organizations) and scholars (professors, researchers, students, etc.) aimed at helping to become aware about the advantages arising from an adequate management of performances measures. The main research limitation is the lack of an empirical analysis of public companies performance plans, which should be thoroughly examined to allow a possible further generalization of the theoretical findings achieved.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Performance Evaluation and Measurement in Public Organizations: A Systematic Literature Review

Polese¹,

Troisi²,

Torre³

et al. 2016

IJBA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Årsagen synes at vaere, at intet enkelt målepunkt eller indikator kan indfange en sådan kompleksitet, ligesom der sjaeldent kan etableres en klar sammenhaeng mellem mål, målinger og praestationer. Dette betegnes som mushrooming eller logic of escalation (de Bruijn, de Bruijne & Steenhuisen 2008;Pollitt et al 2010;Woelert 2015).…”

Section: Ikke-intenderede Konsekvenser Af Resultatbaseret Styringunclassified

Resultatbaseret statsstyring af lokal kernevelfærd

Møller¹,

Andersen²

2017

Politik

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Results based management is an example of a management approach affecting policy implementation through specific policy tools. It is legitimized as a way to strengthen control with public expenses and to produce more effective welfare services.The article is based on a systematic literature review of results based state management of local welfare in three policy areas (primary school, employment and social service) and focuses on what happens when results based management is implemented in welfare organizations.The results from the review point to a range of non-intended consequences and the argument put forward is that they are related to a discrepancy between performance goals and welfare professional work. Besides theory on unintended consequences of results based-management, the article draws on frontline theory and sociology of professions. More specific, we use a concept of classification to explain what happens when results based management meets welfare professionals with a large room of discretion.

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“…Measuring performance has been at the top of the agenda for public management for several decades (Arnaboldi, Lapsley, and Steccolini 2015;Johnsen 2005) (Moynihan 2008) and is a particularly longstanding tradition in the healthcare sector (Smith 2005). Over time, the ever-increasing complexity of public services has been mirrored by a tendency to create performance measurement systems (PMSs) that have become more and more technically complex, thus leading to dynamics that have been referred to as the "logic of escalation" (Pollitt 2013;Woelert 2015). With the use of this logic, performance management may become increasingly control-focused and consequential (Pollitt 2013), based on a deterministic reliance on PMSs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Bellé

Giacomelli

Nuti

et al. 2021

International Public Management Journal

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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.

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The ‘logic of escalation’ in performance measurement: An analysis of the dynamics of a research evaluation system

Cited by 15 publications

References 33 publications

Performance Evaluation and Measurement in Public Organizations: A Systematic Literature Review

Performance Evaluation and Measurement in Public Organizations: A Systematic Literature Review

Resultatbaseret statsstyring af lokal kernevelfærd

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

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