Anatoli Bourmistrov, Toomas Haldma, Kirsi-Mari Kallio, Inger Johanne Pettersen and Matti Skoog
The purpose of this article is to assess the continuing relevance of Olson et al.’s (1998) four primary concerns regarding the future development of New Public Financial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to assess the continuing relevance of Olson et al.’s (1998) four primary concerns regarding the future development of New Public Financial Management (NPFM) in public service organizations. A particular focus is on understanding changes in the formal systems governing the performance management of universities across different “soft-NPFM” national contexts as well as the identification of successful strategies to mediate those four concerns.
Design/methodology/approach
Changes in the formal systems governing the performance management of universities in three European countries – Estonia, Finland and Norway – are reviewed in their historical contexts. Methodologically, this article is based on a content-driven analysis of documents, reports and scientific literature, supplemented by the collective memory of the co-authors.
Findings
“Warnings” have materialized quite differently in the three countries due to unique “national filters.” These filters are represented by different understandings of how universities are defined in terms of their governance and ownership, such as whether the universities are agents of the state or independent accounting entities with their own legal rights. These “national filters” seem to affect how NPFM is translated into the formal systems governing the performance management of universities.
Originality/value
This article contributes to the literature by examining how some countries and their governments manage to achieve “selective complementarity” of different reforms and trends. This complementarity helps to avoid the “dysfunctional effects” and “extremes” of NPFM.
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The purpose of this paper is to study more deeply the use of performance information (PI) in the context of the administrative-territorial reform, e.g. amalgamation in the local…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study more deeply the use of performance information (PI) in the context of the administrative-territorial reform, e.g. amalgamation in the local governments (LG) with an example of Estonian LGs.
Design/methodology/approach
The case study method is adopted, using data from publicly available documents and interviews with the politicians and officials at the five merger cases of Estonian LG units. The data are interpreted and analysed using attribution theory.
Findings
The results show that amalgamation patterns do have an influence on PI use – in particular, the authors see that PI is reported to be used more frequently in cases of voluntary mergers, which may be related to the different motivations to make attributions in cases of voluntary and compulsory mergers.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the debate on the importance and usefulness of different types of PI, as financial as well as non-financial information and for different information users in the light of LG reform in Estonia as being a Central and Eastern European country.
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Kertu Lääts, Toomas Haldma and Klaus Moeller
The purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics of the usage of performance measurement (PM) methods and indicators, and this usage's influencing factors in service companies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics of the usage of performance measurement (PM) methods and indicators, and this usage's influencing factors in service companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on the contingency theory framework and focuses on PM patterns. The sector, company size, and market environment dynamics, which are these patterns' primary determinants, are analysed. The study uses empirical survey data gathered from the 61 largest companies in Estonia. The study has a dynamic focus, explaining the changes in PM practices as in 2004 and 2007.
Findings
The research shows the increasing use of more balanced PM tools combining financial and non‐financial, market‐related and internal process dimensions. Nevertheless, the findings demonstrate that the companies predominantly used traditional cost accounting and reporting methods, as well as financial indicators for their PM. The findings highlight the similarities and differences between the PM patterns in service companies and manufacturing companies.
Research limitations/implications
The general limitations of survey‐based research have to be considered. The findings on the PM indicators and methods explain the usage's intensity, but not the effects of this usage on the performance. The study also analyses only a limited number of drivers that influence PM practices.
Originality/value
The research findings have two main implications. First, the paper contributes to the scarce knowledge about PM practices in service companies. Second, the paper considers the changes in PM patterns, concentrating on the dynamics of PM practices.
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Lourdes Torres, Vicente Pina and Caridad Martí
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how local governments implement non‐mandatory performance measures (PM), the types of PM employed, the degree of their usefulness in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse how local governments implement non‐mandatory performance measures (PM), the types of PM employed, the degree of their usefulness in decision making and/or accountability, and their outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The information was collected through a questionnaire sent to the expert managers in charge of developing PM for Spanish local governments with more than 50,000 inhabitants. In addition, data sources were triangulated through an analysis of the performance indicators published in the notes to the local governments' financial statements and in their web sites.
Findings
The implementation of PM in Spain follows a top‐down approach in which each local government can choose whether to implement PM, how to implement them, and what information to disclose. Implementation features a high degree of involvement on the part of managers and little involvement on the part of medium‐ and street‐level staff. PM are used primarily for budgetary and strategic management planning and long‐term decision making.
Practical implications
The paper will be useful to academics and practitioners to enable better understanding of the problems associated with introducing and using non‐financial, non‐mandatory PM. The Spanish case is similar to that of most continental European countries, in the leeway their local governments have in implementing their own PM systems.
Originality/value
The paper sheds light on the application of an interesting aspect of public sector management accounting and contributes to the literature by analyzing the application of a non‐mandatory PM system in a non‐Anglo‐American context.
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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of innovation capability and to show how the linkage between innovation capability and performance measurement can be formed.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the concept of innovation capability and to show how the linkage between innovation capability and performance measurement can be formed.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on current literature of innovation capability and performance measurement and matching these two to find out how the measurement of innovation capability should be organized.
Findings
The paper describes the concept of innovation capability and presents a performance measurement framework for the measurement of innovation capability and its effects. As a result, a conceptual framework with five perspectives for measuring the relationship between innovation capability and business performance is presented. Also, the link between innovation capability and an organization's business performance is disclosed.
Originality/value
The paper shows a way forward of how to define measures of business performance in such a way that they are led from the development of innovation capability.
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Kristi Ploom and Toomas Haldma
The purpose of this study is to investigate ways in which the performance management at different school management levels contributes to the performance of public schools in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate ways in which the performance management at different school management levels contributes to the performance of public schools in the Estonian general education system.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on the balanced performance management approach and focuses on performance management patterns in Estonian general education schools. At the individual, operational, and strategic performance management levels, the primary performance determinants are analysed. The study uses empirical survey data gathered from 164 schools providing upper secondary education in Estonia.
Findings
The research shows that a pupil's academic performance as the most common indicator of a school's performance influences individual goals, such as satisfaction with the quality of education and teaching in the school and the pupils' further choices and opportunities in education. The satisfaction of other interested parties such as teachers and parents is influenced by the school's strategic as well as operational performance management measures. Therefore, a school's performance management system must operate as a balanced system integrating the individual, operational and strategic performance management levels of the school.
Research limitations/implications
The general limitations of survey‐based research have to be considered – the study is static in nature, although the longitudinal approach would allow assessing the dynamic aspects of performance management in public schools. In addition, it is necessary to further explore a wider set of individual, operational and strategic performance management indicators and their interconnections in the implementation of performance management in public schools.
Originality/value
The research findings have two main implications. First, the paper contributes to the limited knowledge about the implementation of performance management practices in public schools. Second, due to the fact that the Estonian education system is firmly based on approaches that have proven to be performance‐enhancing, the analysis provides an overview of and information about the countries that have not gone to such lengths in the restructuring of their education system.
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The purpose of the paper is to report the findings of a study of the relation between perceived environmental uncertainty and the abandonment of traditional annual budgets.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to report the findings of a study of the relation between perceived environmental uncertainty and the abandonment of traditional annual budgets.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on the use of data from a survey among the largest Danish companies. The hypothesized relationships are tested by the use of logistic regression.
Findings
The results show no sign of a relationship between perceived environmental uncertainty and the abandonment of traditional annual budgets. Instead, the results show a positive relationship between competition in the environment and the adoption of rolling forecasts.
Research limitations/implications
Instead of focusing on the budgeting system in isolation, future research should, to a larger extent, focus on management control systems as a package.
Practical implications
The results indicate that a competitive environment could be handled by retaining budgets but supplementing them with rolling forecasts.
Originality/value
This paper is among the first to investigate the relationship between environmental uncertainty and the abandonment of traditional annual budgets.
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Johan Christiaens, Jan Rommel, Allan Barton and Patricia Everaert
In recent years, accrual accounting has become increasingly popular in many governments. Yet some questions remain unresolved. Previous literature questioned whether all…
Abstract
Purpose
In recent years, accrual accounting has become increasingly popular in many governments. Yet some questions remain unresolved. Previous literature questioned whether all governmental assets should be capitalized. Whereas those studies mostly focussed separately on a limited number of assets, such as infrastructure, military assets or heritage assets, the purpose of this paper is to expand these views by taking a holistic approach to their treatment.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on a literature review combined with archival data, being the IPSAS (International Public Sector Accounting Standards).
Findings
The analysis distinguishes between the business and government sectors of the economy and argues that business accounting for assets cannot be applied to the public sector without significant modification. Secondly, within the public sector, it is argued that “businesslike assets” (such as normal buildings and equipment) should be distinguished from “specific governmental assets” (such as art galleries), where the latter should be reported off balance sheet as community assets held in trust by governments for community enjoyment.
Practical implications
The current paper presents a solution for recognizing capital assets in different situations.
Originality/value
The paper reveals some basic differences in points of view between the governmental dimension versus a businesslike dimension in considering capital assets.