Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore the export of new public management (NPM) to developing countries and to describe and evaluate the introduction of these initiatives in very different environments from their origins. Design/methodology/approach – The article traces the...

Purpose – The implications of new public management (NPM) have been studied from several theoretical perspectives. The present paper sets out to argue that there is a missing dimension to the theoretical debate regarding NPM reform – that of time and space. On the basis of two different...

The purpose of this article and of this symposium is to challenge the notion that simple performance tracking by itself is capable of improving performance. The claim of this paper is that in order to advance performance there is a need to manage performance rather than simply measure any given...

The delivery of public services in developing countries is over‐centralised. One of the reasons for this is the presence of centralised decision‐making apparatus, which distances power from communities. The centralised decision making reduces accountability among public sector employees and...

Presents, from a systemic perspective, an examination and discussion of performance measurement, performance indicators and associated improvement initiatives, as typically applied in public sector organisations. Such mechanisms are usually implemented as a causal loop which is established...

The linkage between strategic planning and daily activities within an organization is often obscure. Perhaps as a consequence, many well‐developed strategic plans fail to be implemented, and required goals and objectives are not attained. Strategy deployment processes link strategic plans with...

During the last two decades the public sector has come under increasing pressure to improve performance and demonstrate greater transparency and accountability. This pressure has resulted in public sector organisations facing shifts in ways of operating. Various corporate change strategies have...

With continuing pressures for transparency, accountability and value for money, measuring the performance of public sector organisations is attracting increasing academic and management attention. However, little attention appears to have been paid to the performance information needs of...

Purpose – This paper examines the actual and desired use of performance measures for management and external reporting purposes, as well as perceived impediments to their effective use. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 334 senior administrators in Canadian municipalities participated...