ABSTRACT
In this book we have provided a framework in which performance indicators
may be related to one another in a causal pathway; developed a series of
performance indicators for local use in social care for older people; and
examined processes of effective implementation of a local performance
culture. Many of the conclusions to be drawn from such an exercise mirror
those of other commentators who have studied the growth of performance
indicators in other areas of public sector activity (for example, Pollitt, 1984;
Flynn, 1986; Jowett and Rothwell, 1988; Carter et al., 1992). Some of the models
and processes we describe have also been reviewed from a US perspective
(Anthony and Herzlinger, 1980; Martin and Kettner, 1996). The need is for a
system of indicators that can review important aspects of a social care
organisation’s work in a meaningful way. At issue, however, are wider debates
concerned with who defines performance, and the criteria to be used in
measurement. There have been political, conceptual and technical arguments
associated with the analysis of performance indicators, and we have drawn
attention to many of these throughout this book.
