performance measurement and management- the achilles' heel in administrative modernization

8/18/2019 Performance Measurement and Management- The Achilles' Heel in Administrative Modernization

1/5

!"#$%#&'()" +"',-#"&"(. '(/ +'('0"&"(.1 23" 4)3566",7 8""6 5( 4/&5(5,.#'.59"

+%/"#(5:'.5%(4-.3%#;,%-)?'"#. '(/ >@ =-A !"."#,B%-#)"1 !-C65) !"#$%#&'()" D +'('0"&"(. E"95"FG H%6@ IJG K%@ L ;M-(@G INNI


2/5

PERFORMANCE

MEASUREMENT

AND MANAGEMENT

The Achilles' Heel

in

Administrative

Modernization

GEERTBOUCKAERT

KatholiekeUniversiteitLeuven

B.

GUY PETERS

Universityof Pittsburgh

erformancemeasurement ndmanagement

s an

indispensable lement

n

modern-

izing the public

sector

(Bouckaert,Ormond,& Peters, 2000; Organization

or Eco-

nomic Cooperation

and

Development[OECD],2000), although

t

is

certainlynot new

(Bouckaert, 1995a). However,the issue of emerging performancemanagement ys-

tems, partly

defined as the

development

and

integration

n

policy

and

management

of

performance

measurement

ystems,

has

been a

main

focus

in

the recent

processes

of

modernizing he public sectorduring

he

past 20 years (Christensen& Laegreid,2001;

Pollitt & Bouckaert,2000). Performance

measurement

s

more

extensive, more inten-

sive, and more external.The performance

unction

mplies

a focus on

actors, mple-

mentation strategy, development

of

a

measurement

system,

an

objective setting,

relatedand adequate

audit

systems,

and

a

performance-oriented anagement ystem.

Even

if

all these elements were sufficientlyrealized,paradoxes,dilemmas,contradic-

tions, and tradeoffsemerge during mplementation.

Performancemeasurement

nd

management

an

resolve certain

problems

but also

can

create

new

problems.Having

a

range

of

new

managementpractices

n

place

with

inadequate

or

even counterproductive erformancemeasurement

and

management

systems may

be worse than

having

had no

reform

at

all.

Implementing

an

inadequate

system

of

performancemanagement

an

provide

a

false sense

of

security

and accom-

plishment

and

in

the

process

will

misdirect resources and activities.

Paradoxically,

therefore, nadequateperformancemanagement

an

become

the Achilles' heel of

the

modernization

process

itself.

Dilemmas

and

Issues of

Performance-Based Management

The

virtues

of

performance

measurement

and

performance-orientedmanagement

are

well-known,

but

they

do not solve all

problems

and also

createnew

or

exacerbate

Public

Performance

&

ManagementReview,

Vol. 25 No.

4,

June

2002 359-362

?

2002

Sage

Publications

359


3/5

360 PPMR June 2002

existing problems n governance.Some of these potentially

adverseconsequencesof

adoptingperformancemanagement re mentionedbelow. These

are not necessarily

reasons o abandon erformancemanagement, utrather aveats or anyone nterested

in adopting his style of management.This is a ratherdaunting ist

of potentialprob-

lems, but it is important o be awareof these potentialpitfalls n

advance.

1. There is a conviction that

performance-oriented anagementhas significant

advantages

or

politicians, administrators, nd citizens. However, there are costs.

There

s

a marked symmetry

f

the information

n

costs and

benefitsof performance

measurement ndmanagement.Benefitsaccrue rom he use

of

informationn differ-

entprocessesandaredifficult o calculate.Costsarespread

n

time and

depend

on the

accounting ystems available.Also, costs

are ncurred

irst

and

benefits

are

supposed

to emerge later.This makes costs more visible than the sometimesinvisible and

expected orhoped or)benefits romperformance-based

anagement,

with

attendant

political problems.

2. New publicmanagement ocuses on morevisible performance t lower evels of

analysis.

At

higher levels

of

analysis,

like

consolidated

sets

of organizationsand

crossorganizational olicy

fields

and consolidatedpolicies

in a

societal field where

severalactors private ndpublic)areactive s less visible in new publicmanagement

approaches.However, here

s a riskof

having he

illusionof

controlling

he

morecon-

trollableand

having

better

performance

or more

detailed

matters ather hanfor

the

more mportantocietalmatters.A helicopter iew s competingwithadetailedand

sometimes

myopic frog

view for

a

performancemanagement pproach.

3. Performance uestionsareshiftingfromquantity o

quantity

and

quality.

The

tension

that

arises as a result

of

this

change

is that

qualityalways

is

related o

price/

quality radeoffs,

whereas

quantity

ends o have

a

stable

relationship

withcosts.

Thus,

measuringqualitymay

face a difficult

political

battlewhen

presented

with

theoption

of

providing

more

(i.e., serving

more

clients/voters)

with lower

quality

service.

4. Thelinkbetweenperformance ndresources s animportant

ssue.

If

moreper-

formance esults

n

more

resources,

here

may

be

a

question

of

dividing

he

efficiency

yield.

If less

performance

esults

n

fewer

resources,

here

s a

question

of

maintaining

the

bottom

ine. The

question

of

marginal tility

of

resourceallocation nterfereswith

the discussionof motivationwithin

an

organization.Also, political

primacymay

con-

flict

with

the

linkbetween

performance

ndresources.

Finally,

n times

of

an

emphasis

on

budgetsavings,performance

s

a

conflicting

ndicator

n the

processes

of

resource

allocation.

5. The creation

of

a bestpractice withprize

winnersand

charter

marks)

an

havea

motivational ffect.

However,

t

is not feasible for all

organizations

o achieve best

practice.

Best

practice riggers

he

question

of the

acceptability

f the diffusion

prac-

tices

being

associated

with

variance

of results n bottom

ines,

and

in

the

end

may

be

demotivatingor some organizations nd individuals.

6. Performance

nd

its

practices rigger earningcycles

for

organizations.

Trans-

ferringknowledge,practice,

and attitudes

may happen

between

countries,

between

levels

of

government,

and between

types

of services. Performance

management

requires

an

assessmentof communalities.

7. Overall

ocietal

performanceequires

more han

consolidating

ts

components

r

layers;

t is

more than the sum of the

performance

f

hierarchies,

markets,

and net-


4/5


5/5

362 PPMR June 2002

focus on

minutiae

ather

han

he

fundamental oals

of

their

organizations.Most, f not

all,

of the

problems

dentifiedherecan

be overcomeby carefuldesignand mplemen-

tation of the performancemanagement ystem.Withthe necessary evel of under-

standing ather

hanbeing

an

Achilles' heel, performancemanagement

may become

thecentral eature f reform, ncouraging ublicorganizationsocontinue oimprove.

References

Bouckaert,G. (1995a).The historyof the ProductivityMovement.In M. Holzer& A. Halachmi

Eds.),

Competent overnment:Theory

and

practice.

Thebest

of

Public

Productivity

&

Management

Review

1985-1993(pp. 361-397). Burke,VA:ChatelainePress.

Bouckaert,G. (1995b). Improving erformancemeasurement.

n

A. Halachmi& G. Bouckaert Eds.),The

enduring hallenges npublic management: urviving nd excelling n a changingworld pp.379-412).

San Francisco:

ossey

Bass.

Bouckaert,G., Ormond,D., &Peters,B. G. (2000).

A

potentialgovernanceagendafor Finland

Research

Report

No.

8). Helsinki,

Finland:

Ministry

of Finance.

Christensen,T.,

&

Laegreid,

P.

(2001). (Eds.).

New

public management:

The

transformation f ideas and

practice. Aldershot,UK: Ashgate.

Organization

or Economic

Cooperation

nd

Development. 2000). Government fthefuture.Paris:Author.

Pollitt,C.,

&

Bouckaert,

G.

(2000).

Public

management eform:

An

international

omparison.Oxford,

UK:

OxfordUniversityPress.

Geert Bouckaert

is a

professor

at

the

Department of

Political Science and the

director of

the

Public Management Institute of

the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. Con-

tact: [email protected]

B.

Guy Peters is a Maurice Falk Professor of American Government at the

University

of

Pittsburgh and a senior researchfellow at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium.

Contact:

guy.peters

@soc.kuleuven.ac. be

performance measurement and management- the achilles' heel in administrative modernization

Documents