我国公共部门绩效评估的难点和对策

绩效评估是现代公共部门实现有效管理的重要手段和基本途径，但是，与企业和其他组织相比，公共部门绩效评估的难度要大得多。本文从政府与市场、管理科学化与管理民主化、定性与定量、内容和形式等角度分析了我国公共部门绩效评估存在的矛盾和难点，并在此基础上提出了当前改革和完善我国公共部门绩效评估应该着重注意的主要方面。     

论新公共管理运动对公共部门绩效评估的影响

20世纪80年代在西方兴起的“新公共管理”运动对公共部门绩效评估的理论与实践都产生了深远的影响。本文立足于分析新公共管理运动背景下公共部门绩效评估的发展历程,在此基础上探讨了新公共管理运动对公共部门绩效评估产生的影响,并进一步分析了新公共管理运动对我国公共部门绩效评估的借鉴意义。     

在公共部门推行“末位淘汰制”的困境与对策

末位淘汰制正被越来越多的公共部门所采用。这种以竞争为核心的管理制度是对传统人事管理模式的重大挑战 ,体现了当前公共部门改革的“市场化”趋向 ,但在实践中 ,它又受到绩效评估以及公共部门独特性等因素的限制 ,在实际操作中存在着诸多弊端。“末位淘汰制”在公共部门的推行是以完善的绩效评估系统为制度基础的 ,与此有关的几个瓶颈问题的解决 ,是决定末位淘汰制有效性的关键因素。     

在公共部门推进“末位淘汰制”的困境与对策

末位淘汰制正被越来越多的公共部门所采用。这种以竞争为核心的管理制度是对传统人事管理模式的重大挑战，体现了当前公共部门改革的“市场化”趋向，但在实践中，它又受到绩效评估以及公共部门独特性等因素的限制，在实际操作中存在着诸多弊端。“末位淘汰制”在公共部门的推行是以完善的绩效评估系统为制度基础的，与此有关的几个瓶颈问题的解决，是决定末位淘汰制有效性的关键因素。     

公共部门绩效评估的推动力、趋势及思路

公共部门的绩效高低已成为公共部门能力强弱、水平高低的重要标志。与之相适应,构建科学完善的公共部门绩效评估体系,对公共部门的业绩、成就和实际工作作出尽可能准确的考核评价,是公共管理面临的新课题。当前,开展公共部门绩效评估面临着前所未有的机遇,从而成为实现公共部门绩效评估科学化的推动力。因此,有必要了解公共部门绩效评估的发展趋势和建立科学的公共部门绩效评估体系的基本思路。     

美国公共部门绩效评估的实践及启示

20世纪70年代后,公共部门的绩效评估活动在西方发达国家蓬勃开展。了解美国公共部门绩效评估的一些实践情况,结合我国公共部门绩效评估中的不足,可以从中引出一些有益的启示,推动我国公共部门绩效评估走向制度化、科学化和规范化。     

公共部门组织变革与组织惯性的张力分析

为适应时代发展,满足公众需求,公共部门进行了深入的组织变革,以实现组织再造和绩效改进。但是这些变革都在不同程度上面临着组织惯性的严重影响,使现有的组织行为可能脱离了公共部门的新战略和新目标,背离了新战略实施的初衷,在变革与惯性之间形成张力。因此,正确认识组织惯性重要作用,充分发挥组织惯性对于公共部门变革的积极作用并削弱其消极影响,对于公共部门新战略的实施来说,具有举足轻重的意义。     

我国公共部门绩效管理存在的问题及对策

我国公共部门绩效管理目前尚处于起步阶段,还存在的一些问题,解决这些问题的对策包括:不断完善我国公共部门的绩效评估体系;更加明晰公共部门绩效管理项目;充分利用现代信息技术手段,建立一套完备的信息系统;提高公共部门领导者及工作人员的素质。     

客观评估抑或主观评估？公共部门绩效测量的一个论争

主观评估与客观评估孰优孰劣是绩效测量中的关键议题,二者之间的争论持续多年。在厘清主观评估与客观评估的概念与内涵、适用性及局限性的基础上,围绕焦点议题梳理有关文献,呈现了绩效评估方式研究的学术争论。国内外学者重点围绕主客观评估的契合度、效度与选择等议题展开争鸣,但这些问题尚未形成定论,甚至产生相反的结论。目前,主流的研究倾向于采用实证研究的逻辑分析范式,倡导以定量研究的形式展开,较少关注中层理论的延展。在未来研究中,公共部门绩效测量应该从"低质量"向"高质量"转变、从"实证单行"向"理论与实证并行"转变、从"定时评估"向"实时评估"转变、从主客观评估的分野走向融合。客观评估和主观评估各有优劣,探讨主观评估与客观评估的融合对于开展基于中国场景的绩效评估研究具有启迪意义。     

西方政府绩效评估：理论、实践及其启示

政府绩效评估是西方国家在新公共管理思潮影响下风靡起来的一项管理改革举措,旨在提高政府机构的效率和公信力。作为"重塑政府"活动的重要内容,政府绩效评估在英、美、澳大利亚和韩国等国都得到了很大发展,对完善我国的政府绩效评估有如下启示:首先,解决政府评估的4个基本问题,即4W;其次,确立绩效评估的法规制度;再次,建立完备的绩效评估指标体系和灵活的评估标准;最后,公共部门自我评估与民间机构评估应内外相结合。     

The role of the public sector in introducing operations research/management science within developing countries

This article examines the role the public sector has played in introducing operations research/ management science (OR/MS) in developing countries. To this end, some of the difficulties in applying OR/MS within the environment of a developing country in general, and within their public sector in particular, are briefly discussed, and the first applications of OR/MS in some such countries are reviewed. In spite of the fact that the application of OR/MS in the public sector is generally more difficult than that in the private sector, it is shown that OR/MS has, in most cases, entered countries through the public sector. Possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed and an assessment of the contribution of OR/MS to public sector decision-making is made.     

Building sustainable capacity in the public sector: What can be done?

Effective government performance is central to the creation of market-oriented economies, secure and productive populations, and democratic political systems in developing countries. Capacity building to improve public sector performance is thus an important focus of development initiatives. Several implicit assumptions underlie most such efforts: that organizations or training activities are the logical site for capacity-building interventions; that administrative structures and monetary rewards determine organizational and individual performance; that organizations work well when structures and control mechanisms are in place; and that individual performance improves as a result of skill and technology transfer through training activities. Each of these assumptions is called into question by the findings of research carried out in six developing countries and reported in this article. Our studies indicate designing interventions that most constructively address sources of poor performance must follow from an assessment of a relatively broad set of variables, including the action environment in which all such activities take place. We also found that effective public sector performance is more often driven by strong organizational cultures, good management practices, and effective communication networks than it is by rules and regulations or procedures and pay scales. Our case studies further indicate that individual performance is more affected by opportunities for meaningful work, shared professional norms, teamwork, and promotion based on performance rather than it is by training in specific skills. In this article, we describe a framework or conceptual map that emphasizes that training activities, organizational performance and administrative structures are embedded within complex environments that significantly constrain their success and that often account for training or organizational failure. When it was applied in the six case study countries, the framework proved useful in identifying capacity gaps and providing a tool for the strategic design of interventions that are sensitive to the roots of performance deficits. This allows us to conclude that the assumptions underlying many capacity-building initiatives may focus attention on interventions that do not generate the highest payoffs in terms of improved performance.     

THE DESIGN AND USE OF PERFORMANCE INFORMATION IN INDONESIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS UNDER DIVERGING STAKEHOLDER PRESSURES

Public sector managers in less developed countries are confronted with opposing forces. A lack of sufficient resources along with a tradition of corruption are obstacles for developing and using performance measurement systems. However, recent public sector reforms in less developed countries, including decentralisation and anti‐corruption programmes, stimulate the development and use of such systems. On the basis of a framework, which distinguishes different types of stakeholders, each with particular performance interests, we analyse how public sector managers are coping with the two opposing forces, given the relative power positions and the interests of their stakeholders. On the basis of four cases studies of local government agencies in Bali (Indonesia), we found that with respect to the annual performance reports, managers in these agencies focus more on fulfilling the formal requirements regarding the format of these reports and on their timely submission than on their contents, which are all symptoms of a symbolic rather than functional use of performance information. However, the reports include information on inputs that is linked to similar information in short‐term reports, which the managers use in a functional manner. These managers show a kind of juggling behaviour, in the sense that they partially try to serve conflicting performance interests. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance Measurement in the Public Sector in England: Searching for the Golden Thread

Despite the significant volume of studies on public sector performance measurement, a paucity of empirical research describes in detail the systems and processes used at different levels of government to measure and manage performance. This study focuses on the experience of Public Service Agreements in the public sector in England. In particular, the impact of a centralized, performance measurement‐driven approach on public service delivery is analyzed using case studies in a health care and a police organization. Despite efforts to introduce a “golden thread” to link different levels of the public sector hierarchy, in both cases, there was relatively low consistency in terms of performance indicators, targets, and priorities. Significant implications are evident for the design and role of performance targets and indicators, for the possibility to align frameworks at different levels of the public sector, and for the importance of feedback loops in measurement systems.     

Understanding the changing role of public sector performance measurement in less developed countries

This article develops a framework for understanding changes in the demand for and supply of performance information in public sector organizations in less developed countries (LDCs). New Institutional Sociology (NIS) is used to argue that pressures from specific stakeholders stimulate organizations to produce particular performance information. The article distinguishes three groups of stakeholders (i.e. funding bodies, statutory boards and purchasers), and elaborates on the performance dimensions these stakeholders are interested in. The group of funding bodies, with their interest in financial performance information, used to be the most important group of stakeholders. However, statutory boards and purchasers are gaining importance as a result of recent public sector reforms, which include decentralization, marketization and the implementation of anti‐corruption programs. As a consequence of pressures coming from these stakeholders, new performance dimensions, such as the quality and quantity of services and the political governance structure, will be added to organizations' performance measurement (PM) systems. Whether these and other—often more traditional financial—performance dimensions will be balanced and integrated throughout organizations depends on the power positions of the various stakeholders. The arguments presented in this article intend to stimulate public sector organizations in LDCs to design and redesign PM systems as a response to changing stakeholder interests. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国地方政府公共服务合同外包的发展现状——基于二手数据的分析

近年来,合同外包日益成为地方政府提供公共服务的重要机制。本文基于二手数据,在对地方政府公共服务合同外包发展状况(2000~2009)的概括性分析中发现,2000年以来,地方政府公共服务合同外包发展迅猛,其应用的广泛性和深入性均前所未有,并且逐步迈入法制化轨道。由于影响合同外包成效的因素相当复杂,政府显然缺乏相关操作经验,无论是在合同外包的决策当中还是在实施当中,"审慎"是最明智的策略。     

Administrative leaders as institutional entrepreneurs in developing countries: A study of the development and institutionalization of performance management in Ghana's public service

Performance management (PM) has become one of the most important reforms in the public sector in both developed and developing countries. Unfortunately, institutionalizing PM in the sector continues to be a major problem. Although a number of scholars continue to study the PM in the public sector from different theoretical perspectives, there has been paucity of research concerning the process of institutionalization. The few studies that have attempted to look at the process have done so from a “coercive isomorphism” perspective, especially through legislation. The lack of studies to examine the process of institutionalization has therefore created a gap, which needs to be filled. We therefore attempt to contribute to this discussion by exploring the role of institutional entrepreneurs and their impact on the development and institutionalization of PM in developing countries, with a particular focus on Ghana, a country obsessed with PM but was only able to institutionalize one in 2013 under the leadership of its Public Services Commission. How was the leadership of the PSC able to succeed where previous leaders could not? What characteristics did they display, and what strategies did they use to get things done? The research is a qualitative one.     

Public sector innovation in the Asia-pacific trends,challenges, and opportunities

Public organizations face a multitude of challenges that force them to innovate existing processes, policies, programs, and products. Indeed, in recent years, innovation has become a core topic of study in public administration. However, the vast majority of the public sector innovation literature stems from the United States and Western Europe. The lack of Asia-Pacific studies is particularly striking given that countries like Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan consistently rank high on public sector innovation. This special issue brings together state of the art empirical research on public sector innovation in the Asia-Pacific region that examines a range of drivers and outcomes of innovation, including studies comparing Asia-Pacific countries and countries in the East and the West. The findings show that public sector employees in the studied countries all seek opportunities to innovate, whereas cultural norms and values either constrain or enable innovative behaviour and affect the extent to which employees experience leadership support for displaying such behaviour.     

以公共价值为基础的政府绩效治理——源起、架构与研究问题

政府绩效管理兴起二十多年来,已由西方国家应对财政和信任危机、提高行政效率的工具拓展为各国政府改革和创新的重要内容,新公共管理的实践价值和理论优势在其中都得到了充分体现。但其理论缺陷和实践中的困惑,特别是在公共价值方面的冲突使学术界的探索从未停止过。本文通过对中国、美国、日本等国的实践案例考察,从制度变迁和公共行政学术史两个层面的质性研究,提出了以公共价值为基础的政府绩效治理理论体系框架。文章首先从"公共性"、"合作生产"和"可持续"三个方面对新公共管理背景下的政府绩效管理进行了反思,认为公共价值对政府绩效合法性具有本质的规定性。其次,初步论证了以公共价值为基础的政府绩效治理的两个基本命题——政府绩效是一种社会建构、产出即绩效;认为只有来源于社会的政府绩效才能获得合法性基础,也只有根植于社会的政府绩效才能产生其可持续提升的需要,这是政府绩效管理的根本动力;而在政府绩效价值建构基础上的科学管理,才能保证政府产出与社会需求的高度一致,充分体现科学管理的价值。再次,从这两个基本命题出发,以价值管理和管理科学理论为基础,构建起了以公共价值为基础的政府绩效治理模型,并对模型中政府绩效的价值建构、组织管理和协同领导系统等主要内容进行了阐述。最后,从模型如何"落地"、政府绩效管理的价值分析和研究拓展等方面提出了未来的研究方向。     

The contribution of international accounting standards to implementing NPM in developing and developed countries

In recent years, numerous countries have undertaken administrative reforms to implement New Public Management (NPM) postulates. The implementation of NPM involves new information needs for decision taking by public managers. In this context, public sector accounting plays a key role as an information system for the successful implementation of NPM. The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) is undertaking an international accounting harmonisation project to establish high‐quality public sector standards to meet the new information requirements under NPM worldwide. This article examines the capability of IFAC accounting measurement bases to meet information needs under NPM postulates, in both developing and developed countries, analysing the differences between these types of countries. The National Accounting Standard Setters (NASS) of 47 countries were asked about the usefulness and viability of Fair Value Accounting (FVA) to implement NPM postulates, especially those concerning improved efficiency, enhanced information transparency and benchmarking analysis. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.