ABSTRACT
Fairfax County, Virginia, is lauded by professional associations and institutions for its performance measurement achievements. In 2005 the International City/County Management Association, for example, bestowed on Fairfax County its highest performance measurement award, the Certificate of Distinction, in recognition of county efforts to incorporate performance data into decision-making, sustain the program through training and process improvement, and share lessons learned with others. Furthermore, research findings of the Government Performance Project (2001) of forty counties nationwide showed Fairfax as the highest-ranking jurisdiction in the areas of financial, human resource and capital management, information technology, and managing for results,
not to mention the countless references to Fairfax County in scholarly and practitioner-oriented publications. Fairfax County has been elevated to the status of an innovative and cutting-edge organization, with many practitioners seeking technical assistance and methods for replication.
