Purpose – Governmental agencies are interested in improving the quality of their service delivery. One tool that has been used to manage their performance is performance based reward schemes (PBRS). The aim of this paper is to examine the degree to which a sample of these plans, used within...

To deal with financial constraints and increasing demand on accountability, government administrators have begun implementing modern management tools in their organizations. The balanced scorecard, a performance and strategic management system, has been adopted in for‐profit organizations with...

Purpose – To consider the extent to which regimes of performance measurement in the public sector are fit for purpose, and the likely outcomes for public services and public sector workers of such performance measurement systems. Design/methodology/approach – The article considers four key...

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to report on development and use of a survey instrument that captures qualitative, process‐related data from local authority officers in New Zealand, from which is derived a rigorous and parsimonious set of critical performance measures....

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to assess the state of performance management within the public sector and suggest areas for further research. Design – This is a theoretical paper based on a literature review. Findings – The expected improvements in performance, accountability,...

Purpose – This paper aims to identify what productivity means in the public sector, how it is measured and how it should be measured and improved, according to municipal authorities in managerial positions. Design/methodology/approach – The approach is both theoretical and empirical. The...

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the micro‐level (managerial) measurement of service productivity in the context of public services, in particular, the role of different output elements. Design/methodology/approach – Current knowledge on the issue is summarised based on the...

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to investigate the links and relationships between strategy and operations in local government improvement efforts under the umbrella of the Local Government Modernisation Agenda (LGMA) in England. More specifically, it explores the implementation of...

Purpose – The paper is set in the context of the impact of new public management (NPM) on the police service in the UK. Specifically, it aims to describe a modelling based approach to targeted police performance improvement within a specific area of measured operational policing namely...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess the social impact, i.e. the estimated return to the Australian community, of Australian Federal Police (AFP) drug law enforcement effort in general and the relative success of specific policy initiatives. Design/methodology/approach –...