ABSTRACT

A productive society is dependent upon high-performing government. This third edition of The Public Performance and Productivity Handbook includes chapters from leading scholars, consultants, and practitioners to explore all of the core elements of improvement. Completely revised and focused on best practice, the handbook comprehensively explores managing for high performance, measurement and analysis, costs and finances, human resources, and cutting-edge organizational tools. Its coverage of new and systematic management approaches and well-defined measurement systems provides guidance for organizations of all sizes to improve productivity and performance. The contributors discuss such topics as accountability, organizational effectiveness after budget cuts, the complementary roles of human capital and “big data,” and how to teach performance management in the classroom and in public organizations. The handbook is accompanied by an online companion volume providing examples of performance measurement and improvement manuals across a wide variety of public organizations. The Public Performance and Productivity Handbook, Third Edition, is required reading for all public administration practitioners, as well as for students and scholars interested in the state of the public performance and productivity field.

chapter |14 pages

Introduction

part Section I|114 pages

What Works, What Does Not, What to Avoid

chapter 1|31 pages

Three Parallel Movements to Improve Government Decision-Making

Performance, Evidence, and Behavioral Public Administration

chapter 2|20 pages

Approaches to Improving Performance in Government

Making Sense of Where We’ve Been and What’s Next

chapter 3|6 pages

Public Performance

Some Reflections and Lessons Learned

chapter 5|8 pages

Launching and Sustaining a Performance Management System

Some Suggestions

chapter 6|9 pages

Performance Management

Back to Basics

chapter 9|5 pages

Performance-Informed Management

Lessons Learned

chapter 10|8 pages

Learning from Performance Improvement

The New Zealand Experience and Insights on How a Performance System Survives

part Section II|97 pages

Managing for High Performance

chapter 11|6 pages

Sustaining Performance in the Public Sector

The Roles of Managers

chapter 12|13 pages

Management Things We Never Tell

chapter 14|22 pages

Accountability

What Does It Mean, Constructively Managing It, and Avoiding the Blame and Claim Game

part Section III|59 pages

Measurement and Analysis to Guide Performance Programs

chapter 17|7 pages

Evidence-Based Practice and Performance

You Can’t Always Get What You Want, but Sometimes You Get What You Need

chapter 19|11 pages

The Psychology of Information

Pitfalls and Potential in the Use of Performance Data

part Section IV|98 pages

Financing Performance

chapter 21|17 pages

Organizational Effectiveness after Budget Cuts

Disentangling the Effects of Performance Measurement and Performance Management

chapter 22|14 pages

Performance Budgeting

Linking Administrative Strategies to Budgetary Outcomes

part Section V|40 pages

Managing Human Resources for Peak Performance

chapter 25|13 pages

Harnessing Human Capital for Peak Performance

How Emotion Work Strengthens the Citizen–State Encounter

part Section VI|46 pages

Applying Twenty-first Century Organizational Tools

chapter 28|17 pages

Public-Private Partnerships

Promises, Productivity and Performance Lessons from Infrastructure Technologies

chapter 29|18 pages

Applying Competencies

State Capability Enhancement Project (SCEP)

part Section VII|38 pages

Accessing and Adapting Best Practices

chapter 31|11 pages

Best Practices

Adapting Award-Winning Performance Innovations

chapter 32|9 pages

Teaching Performance