ABSTRACT
I. Introduction.............................................................................................................. 44 II. Organizational networks and organizational management.................................... 44
A. The influence of changing technology on organizational form and function ............................................................................................................. 44
B. Management challenges posed by organizational networks.......................... 45 C. Performance management ............................................................................... 46 D. Performance management and contracting out .............................................. 46 E. Performance management and information needs ......................................... 47 F. The use of performance measurement systems to respond to network
management problems...................................................................................... 48 G. Performance measures and IT .......................................................................... 49
III. Measures of performance ........................................................................................ 49 IV. Case studies of efforts to utilize performance measurement systems to
manage contracted operations ................................................................................ 51 A. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation ..................................... 51
V. Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 57 VI. Acknowledgments.................................................................................................... 57 References.......................................................................................................................... 57
Government officials are looking to contracting out and privatization as means to create a public sector that works better and costs less. This new approach to public service delivery is evident in the welfare to work reforms of the 1990s, low-and moderate-income housing construction and management, homeless services, economic development and job training, and the charter school movement. Contracted services require a whole new set of skills for government workers, including contract design, negotiation, monitoring, and evaluation. Sophisticated information systems are crucial to performance management and evaluation systems that are essential to effective contract management. This chapter explores the theory and practice of performance measurement and information technology (IT) in the context of outsourcing public service delivery. It discusses the use of government strategic planning and information-based performance management to plan and manage private contractors performing public tasks. While information systems are critical to the management of in-house organizational units, we believe they are even more important in managing the work of contractors.
