Public Sector Performance

by Kearney, Richard C.; Berman, Evan M.

• ISBN13: 9780813368276
• ISBN10: 0813368278
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-05-01
• Publisher: Westview Pr

Summary

Confronted with rising citizen discontent, the Reinventing Government movement, and new technological challenges, public organizations everywhere are seeking means of improving their performance. Their quest is not new, rather, the concern with improving the performance of government organizations has existed since the Scientific Management Movement.Public Sector Performancebrings together in a single volume the classic, enduring principles and processes that have defined the field of public sector performance, as written in the words of leading practitioners and scholars. Taken as a whole, this volume provides a performance compass for today's public managers, helping them to reconstruct the public's confidence in, and support of, government.Defined here as managing public organizations for outcomes, performance is examined in all its varied dimensions: organizing work, managing workers, measuring performance, and overcoming resistance to performance-enhancing innovations. The selected articles are interesting, thought provoking, and instructive. They are classics in that they have been widely cited in the scholarly literature and have enduring value to public managers who seek to understand the many dimensions of performance. The book is organized into three sections: Performance Foundations, Performance Strategies, and Performance Measurement. Excerpts from additional selected articles feature special topics and wisdom from performance experts.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	xi
Introduction	1	(6)
Richard C. Kearney
Evan M. Berman
Part 1 Performance Foundations	7	(112)
Productivity and the Process of Organizational Improvement: Why We Cannot Talk to Each Other	9	(11)
Robert E. Quinn
``Five Pathways to Increased Efficiency,''	18	(2)
Q. Whitfield Ayers
William J. Kettinger
A Capacity-Building Framework: A Search for Concept and Purpose	20	(16)
Beth Walter Honadle
``Why Consultants Are Called In,''	30	(6)
Robert Rosenblum
Daniel McGillis
The Deadly Sins in Public Administration	36	(9)
Peter F. Drucker
``Bureaupathologies,''	43	(2)
Gerald E. Caiden
Humanizing Public Administration	45	(12)
C. Spencer Platt
``The Right Attitude,''	54	(3)
David S. Brown
Initiating Change that Perseveres	57	(8)
Chris Argyris
Turnaround at the Albama Rehabilitation Agency	65	(18)
James E. Stephens
Common Barriers to Productivity Improvement in Local Government	83	(18)
David N. Ammons
``A Legislative Perspective,''	95	(6)
Walter L. Balk
Recognizing Management Technique Dysfunctions: How Management Tools Often Create More Problems Than They Solve	101	(18)
Gerald T. Gabris
Part 2 Performance Strategies	119	(144)
Municipal Management Tools from 1976 to 1993: An Overview and Update	121	(12)
Theodore H. Poister
Gregory Streib
Putting a Powerful Tool to Practical Use: The Application of Strategic Planning in the Public Sector	133	(15)
Douglas C. Eadie
``Lessons from Strategic Planning,''	142	(3)
John M. Bryson
William D. Roering
``Suboptimization and Incrementalism,''	145	(3)
Arie Halachmi
Reorganizations and Reforms: Promises, Promises	148	(15)
Vera Vogelsang-Coombs
Marvin Cummins
MBO in State Government	163	(12)
Geroge S. Odiorne
``Practicing Management Theory at the Port Authority,''	172	(3)
Matthias E. Lukens
Motivational Programs and Productivity Improvement in Times of Limited Resources	175	(22)
John M. Greiner
A Technique for Controlling Quality	197	(7)
William R. Divine
Harvey Sherman
``Quality Circles,''	201	(3)
John D. Blair
Stanley L. Cohen
Jerome V. Hurwitz
Adapting Total Quality Management (TQM) to Government	204	(15)
James E. Swiss
``Who's Doing TQM,''	212	(7)
Evan M. Berman
Jonathan P. West
Computer Technology and Productivity Improvement	219	(11)
John A. Worthley
``IT: An Update,''	224	(6)
H. Brinton Milward
Louise Ogilvie Snyder
Organizational Decline and Cutback Management	230	(20)
Charles H. Levine
``Workforce Reduction and Productivity,''	243	(7)
Marc Holzer
An Empirical Study of Competition in Municipal Service Delivery	250	(13)
E. S. Savas
Part 3 Performance Measurement	263	(100)
Excellence in Public Service---How Do You Really Know?	265	(8)
David T. Stanley
The Self-Evaluating Organization	273	(20)
Aaron Wildavsky
Program Evaluation and Program Management	293	(11)
Harry S. Havens
Performance Measurement Principles and Techniques: An Overview for Local Government	304	(25)
Harry P. Hatry
``Difficulties in Measuring Human Services Performance,''	326	(3)
Paul Epstein
Measuring State and Local Government Performance: Issues to Resolve Before Implementing a Performance Measurement System	329	(12)
Gloria A. Grizzle
``Using Performance Measures,''	336	(5)
Philip G. Joyce
Developing Performance Indicators for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation	341	(22)
Theodore H. Poister
Index	363