Offers a collection of articles previously published in journals sponsored by the American Society for Public Administration, selected for their enduring value and their frequent citations in the literature of the field. Chapters also include boxes with excerpts from other, less well-known articles. Articles discuss the process of organizational improvement and impediments to its success, examine specific performance management strategies, and address issues of performance measurement. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
"Confronted with rising citizen discontent, the Reinventing Government movement, and new technological challenges, public organizations everywhere are seeking means of improving their performance. Thei"
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 Performance brings 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.
This volume provides a performance compass for today's public managers, helping them to reconstruct the public's confidence in, and support of, government. It examines specific performance management strategies, including those dealing with quality, employee motivation, and privatization.
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 ``Whos 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
Richard C. Kearney is professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at East Carolina University. He has served as director of the Institute of Public and Urban Affairs and master of the public affairs program at the University of Connecticut, and was a faculty member at the University of South Carolina and the University of Northern Iowa. Evan Berman is a faculty member in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida. He has previously taught at the University of Miami, and has served as a policy analyst for the National Science Foundation. Richard C. Kearney is professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at East Carolina University. He has served as director of the Institute of Public and Urban Affairs and master of the public affairs program at the University of Connecticut, and was a faculty member at the University of South Carolina and the University of Northern Iowa. Evan Berman is a faculty member in the Department of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida. He has previously taught at the University of Miami, and has served as a policy analyst for the National Science Foundation.
