An introduction to performance measurement: The beneficial effect of performance measurement

In recent years, management techniques from the private sector have penetrated deep into professional public sector organizations such as hospitals, universities, courts and schools. One of these techniques is performance management. The idea is that these professional organizations, like companies, provide products and services and that their performance – their output – can be measured. A court can be assessed by the number of judgements it passes, a police force by the number of fixed penalty notices it issues and scientists by the number of publications in scientific journals. A professional organization that manages to define its products can demonstrate its performance, which may improve its effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy.1