ABSTRACT
Performance measurement has a variety of purposes. First and foremost, it is a management tool intended to produce reliable, objective, relevant, and timely information on program or organizational performance. Once collected and reported, performance measures can be used to strengthen management practices and inform managerial decision making, which can ultimately improve performance. Harry Hatry, a long-time advocate and leading expert on performance measurement, uses a sports metaphor to explain the need for performance measures: “Unless you are keeping score, it is difficult to know if you are winning or losing.”
