What Makes Organisations Measure?
Hypotheses on the Causes and Conditions for Performance Measurement

Abstract

Public sector reforms regularly include a performance measurement dimension (Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2004). In doing so, performance measurement and the supply of performance information are taken for granted. Availability of performance measurement -the fundament of most New Public Management (NPM) reforms -is assumed, and reforms are built on this unsteady foundation. How realistic is this? In fact, performance measurement is a complex process that requires attention in its own right. A performance measurement policy is needed before a performance management policy may be set up.A good insight in the organisational characteristics that foster performance measurement is crucial in order to set up a performance measurement policy. Therefore, a theory of the factors that make organisations measure is needed. In this study, performance measurement is the dependent variable. Six hypotheses on why organisations measure are tested, based on a survey within the Ministry of the Flemish Community, Belgium. Organisational characteristics are related to the adoption and implementation of performance measurement.The article is structured along the variables and the hypotheses. Most of the theory therefore, is embedded in the discussion of the hypotheses. The first paragraph is a description of performance measurement. Performance measurement is a fuzzy concept, with different people adhering substantially different meanings to it. This section shows how the subject is dealt with in this article. Next, we shortly describe the methodology of the survey. Thirdly, the dependent variables are presented. The dependent variables are performance measurement adoption and performance measurement implementation. Fourthly, by bringing in the independent variables six hypotheses may be put. Finally, there is a conclusion with some implications for practice and theory.

Literature review and challenging research agenda on politicians’ use of accounting information

“…There are currently two dominant ones in public sector performance management research. The first is contingency-based research, which starts from the view that performance management practices depend upon certain contextual circumstances, such as the complexity of processes or environmental uncertainty (see, for example, Cavalluzzo and Ittner, 2004;Van Dooren, 2005;Moynihan and Pandey, 2010;Speklé and Verbeeten, 2014;and Kroll, 2015, for a review on the link between managerial performance information use and organizational performance). The second one is neo-institutional sociology, which highlights how performance management practices have become taken for granted due to certain pressures, and how these practices contribute to habitual types of actions (see Modell, 2009, for a review).…”

Comprehensiveness of a Strategy Execution Measurement System

“…A well-thought-out, coherent measurement system could, for this reason, support both a more detailed definition of development concept as well as separation of strategic and operational issues 32 . As some research results indicate, large enterprises conduct more regular measurements and do so more frequently 33 . On the other hand, results obtained are more difficult to interpret 34 .…”

Information Society and Library Evaluation Transitions in Portugal: A Meta-evaluation Model and Frameworks (1970–2013)

“…There have been many debates over the value of performance, measurement and its management, specifications of its components and their relationships and applications in different countries, characterized by a constructive period of consolidation and refinement of measurement approaches and instruments. Several performance issues have been researched -performance appraisal, policy planning, external reporting, performance based budgeting and audit -and the crucial question has been how to develop performance measurement in a usable and functional way as a tool for policy and management (Van Dooren, 2005). Another emerging approach is the discussion of theoretical insights into how information is processed and the reasons of its non-use (Van Dooren, 2011).…”

“…According to Van Dooren (2005), a performance measurement policy is the missing link in reforms, but, in general, cultural organizations have not developed advanced performance measurement systems that highlight both cultural/economic performances and their impacts. Bonet and Donato (2011) explain this attitude by different factors: the intrinsic difficulties in measuring a symbolic value; the frequent inability to define consistent performance measurement systems, which results from difficulties in setting the mission and the strategic goals; and the existence of governance systems that are less oriented to the stakeholders, resulting in less attention to the external communication of performances.…”