The Professional Researcher as Change Agent in the Government–Performance Movement

Abstract

Although academic and professional publications give the impression that performance measurement is a growing government practice, in actuality the use of this technology is not as deep or as widespread as it may appear. Even when performance measures are used, governments rarely integrate them into planning, budget, personnel, and other management processes. Most professional researchers located primarily in academic institutions, but also in research and government organizations, approach performance measurement as though governmental officials, elected or otherwise, are already sold on its usefulness. Instead, they need to function as “change agents,” using a variety of strategies to gain acceptance and understanding of the strengths and limitations of performance measurement. This article draws on the authors’ experiences with the Community Benchmarks Program of the Maxwell School in Onondaga County and a review of the current literature. It suggests guidelines for professional researchers who want to increase the use of performance measures by governments at all levels.

Factors Influencing the Use of Performance Data to Improve Municipal Services: Evidence from the North Carolina Benchmarking Project

“…Th e limited use of measures for much beyond public reporting -some detractors would even say, the nonuse by most adopters -has led some public offi cials and employees to question the net value of collecting measures in the fi rst place and some scholars to note the gap between rhetoric and reality ( Berman 2002 ;Bouckaert and Peters 2002 ;Coplin, Merget, and Bourdeaux 2002 ;Dubnick 2005;Grizzle 2002;Kelly 2002;Poister 2003;Streib and Poister 1999 ;Weitzman, Silver, and Brazill 2006 ). 3 Even several of the presumed leaders in performance management enjoy reputations that they admit are somewhat infl ated.…”

La caractérisation et le management des déviances organisationnelles liées à la mise en oeuvre d’une démarche de performance publique : application au contexte public local français

“…La non adhésion ou le rejet de certaines composantes (qu'elles soient de type méthodologique, instrumental ou paradigmatique) de la démarche est dès lors perçu comme un comportement illégitime, irrationnel, et donc comme une déviance négative. Dans le cas du management par la performance développé au sein des organisations publiques, les déviances constatées prennent généralement la forme d'une non implication des agents et des services, d'un rejet du concept même de performance (Galera et al, 2008) ainsi que de comportements attentistes ou immobilistes (Coplin et al, 2002), et s'assimilent de fait à des résistances au changement. Les concepts de déviances négatives et de résistances au changement ont ici tendance à se confondre (Pesqueux et Triboulois, 2004).…”

Challenges of Appraising Intangible Outcomes with Unclear Objectives: Performance Management Issues in Local Government in Ontario

“…Literature reports that most local governments may collect data that is used for performance measurement; however, they do not have a system in place in which those data are part of decision-making process for performance enhancement and integrate into corporate strategy of local government (Coplin et al 2002). In a study done in 1997 by the National Academy of Public Administration of the United States, it finds that even most states in the US have legislatively or administratively mandated systems of performance measurement on local governments, the extent to which these systems are actually infused into management performance and incorporated into long-term strategic planning is much less clear (Melkers and Willoughby 1998).…”

“…Second, the current top-down performance management approach is deemed as a source of legitimizing the provision of public services rather than as a means of organizational response to the needs of society in general, and the service users in particular (Coplin et al 2002;Sanderson 1998). A pluralistic approach should be used to involve different stakeholders of local governments in setting up the goals, means, and ways of delivering the performance management system.…”

“…Similar to the principle of community collaboration, the involvement of local government employees in the performance management system development and implementation help to have them to be committed, empowered and enabled to make evaluation work for the organization. Otherwise, there is a danger that performance management and review will degenerate into a mechanistic process (Coplin et al 2002).…”