Performance in Public Organizations: Clarifying the Conceptual Space

Performance in public organizations is a key concept that requires clarification. Based on a conceptual review of research published in 10 public administration journals, this article proposes six distinctions to describe the systematic differences in performance criteria: From which stakeholder's perspective is performance being assessed? Are the criteria formal or informal? Are the criteria subjective? Which process focus and product focus do they have, if any? What is the unit of analysis? Based on these distinctions, the performance criteria of existing studies used in an empirical review of management and performance are classified. The results illustrate how a systematization of the conceptual space of performance in public organizations can help researchers select what to study and what to leave out with greater accuracy while also bringing greater clarity to public debates about performance.     

Metropolitan Planning Organizations: Findings and Recommendations for Improving Transportation Planning

With the enactment of the Intermodal Surface TransportationEfficiency Act in 1991, metropolitan planning organizations(MPOs) became more important institutions for planning and fundingregional transportation systems. This study attempts to assessthe success of MPOs in four fast-growing areas- Dallas/Ft. Worth,Denver, Phoenix, and Seattle-in meeting regional transportationneeds. The research identifies the criteria that distinguishmore successful from less successful MPOs-effective leadership,staff competence and credibility, quality public involvement,development of a regional ethos, streamlined and efficient processes,cooperative relationships with the state DOT, land-use coordination,and accountability to members–and offers suggestions forimproving transportation planning.     

The Impact of Performance Management on Performance in Public Organizations: A Meta‐Analysis

Performance‐based management is pervasive in public organizations; countless governments have implemented performance management systems with the hope that they will improve organizational effectiveness. However, there has been little comprehensive review of their impact. This article conducts a meta‐analysis on the impact of performance management on performance in public organizations. It contributes to the current literature in three ways. First, it examines the effect of the “average” performance management system. Second, it examines the influence of management: whether beneficial performance management practices moderate the average effect. Third, it examines the effect of “time” on performance management. Using 2,188 effects from 49 studies, the analysis finds that performance management has a small average effect. However, the effect is substantially larger when indicators of best practices in high‐quality studies are included, indicating that management practices have an important impact on the effectiveness of performance management systems. Evidence for the effect of time is mixed.     

切实为基层和大多数人服务——全面提高深圳精神文明建设水平系列评论之三

在中国共产党走过的80年光辉历程中,密切联系群众、全心全意为人民服务,始终写在党的旗帜上。依靠人民群众,诚心诚意为人民谋利益,从人民群众中汲取前进的不竭动力,是改革开放和现代化建设取得辉煌成就的基本经验。进入新世纪,国内外形势发生了重大变化,改革和发展的任务更加艰巨复杂,党员干部队伍的建设也进入了新的发展阶段,这就要求我们必须站在历史和现实的高度,     

Strategic Management and Performance in Public Organizations: Findings from the Miles and Snow Framework

This article integrates the research evidence that applies Miles and Snow's strategic management framework to the performance of public agencies. Miles and Snow developed several strategy types, arguing that prospectors (searching for new approaches) and defenders (sticking with the existing pattern of services) are aligned with processes, structures, and the environment in ways that lead them to outperform reactors (awaiting for instructions from the environment), which have no consistent strategy or alignment. Six key lessons for the practice of strategic management in public organizations are provided based on a critical review. Findings point toward the importance of employing a mix of strategies in public organizations, contrary to Miles and Snow—a strong evidence base for the association between prospecting and defending and performance and for relationships between strategy types and processes and structures. However, no empirical evidence is provided for alignment across strategy, structure, process, and the environment. The findings, largely derived from the United Kingdom and United States, suggest that the most successful strategy recipe depends on the ingredients, and thus managers must pay attention to the connections between the outlined contingencies to generate the best results using the adopted strategy.     

Personnel Constraints in Public Organizations: The Impact of Reward and Punishment on Organizational Performance

In recent years, many public sector reforms have attempted to loosen personnel constraints on the assumption that more managerial flexibility will increase organizational performance. The authors mount an empirical study to test this assumption using data taken from English local government authorities. Personnel constraints are operationalized using Rainey's long‐standing measures of the concept. Statistical results from multiple regression analyses indicate that “difficulty in removing poor managers” is harmful to organizational performance, but “difficulty in rewarding good managers” has no effect. The authors delve inside the organizational hierarchy and find that attitudes toward personnel constraints vary by organizational level and managerial rank: for example, frontline managers feel more constrained overall, while senior managers’ perceptions of constraints are more closely linked to organizational performance but in some unexpected ways. The implications of these findings, including the fact that personnel constraints have varying impacts on organizational performance, are considered.     

提升乡村治理绩效的系统思考

提升乡村治理的制度绩效是一项涉及到理念、制度和结构的系统工程,主要包括:改变传统的对立型的国家与社会关系,以先进的"强国家-强社会"互强型国家与社会关系理念来指导乡村治理;改进和完善国家法律法规、省级地方法规、各级地方性执法规定以及村级规约,提高相关制度设计的质量和水平;优化乡村治理的结构,主要着眼点在于规范两委关系、乡村关系,提高村委会选举的质量,拓展村民代表会议的功能等.     

Improving Performance in New Zealand's Public Corporations: The Effect of Governance Practices

This article examines whether the corporate governance practices recommended by the New Zealand Securities Commission (NZSC) in 2004 have affected the financial performance of public sector corporate entities in New Zealand. The findings indicate that these entities have universally adopted the Securities Commission recommendations by establishing subcommittees for audit and remuneration, and having a majority of independent directors on the boards. The results show that leverage has a statistically significant positive effect on all performance measures. Both the Remuneration Committee and dividend payout have positive effects on performance when measured by sales to total assets. Board size and an Audit Committee have a positive effect on reducing agency cost. Results also show that entity risk and industry type also have a positive effect on performance and agency cost reduction. Entity size has a consistent negative effect across all performance measures.