ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the development of performance indicators in three organisations: British Rail, the Water Authorities, and BAA (formerly the British Airports Authority). They share a number of features in common, most notably for our purposes a long-standing and continuing interest in the development of performance indicators. Indeed, this interest has produced three sets of organisational performance indicators that are generally more sophisticated in design and attractive to use than other public sector systems. Yet it is important to point out that each organisation developed its system of performance evaluation while in public ownership, although subsequently BAA was privatised in 1987 and the water authorities were sold off in November 1989.
