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