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The purpose of this paper is to show that in the last decades the globalization of economies together with the adoption of the new public management model have involved deep changes in the organization and management of public service organisations (PSOs). The need to increase their accountability and customer focus orientation has driven the implementation of performance measurement systems (PMSs) in order to improve efficiency and performance. Most of the PMSs are adopted from the private sector. However PSOs present specific issues that need to be addressed. In this paper some of the main challenges and trends are introduced as well as three papers focused on the relevance and challenges related to the implementation of PMSs.

This paper is mainly based on the results of a literature review as well as on the personal experience of the authors in the field. Its scope is to identify some fundamental research and practical practitioner issues to be investigated in order to improve the understanding and practice of the design and implementation of PMSs in public organisations.

The paper identifies the main issues related to performance measurement in the public sector.

This paper benefits both researchers interested to map the most important research area in the field of performance measurement in the public sector, and practitioners concerned with the obstacles to be overcome for an effective and efficient implementation of PMSs.

Presents the findings of a global survey, undertaken by the European Centre for Total Quality Management (UK), which was aimed at identifying the critical success factors for the “effective internal transfer of best practices”. Overall, 227 organisations took part in the study. Participant organisations came from 32 different countries, all involved in benchmarking. The participants represented a wide cross‐section of organisational sectors ranging from non‐profit and government agencies to environmental management services and auto parts manufacturers. The survey shed light on the process and methodologies used by organisations to identify and evaluate best practices, and the process used for post‐implementation evaluation to assess the benefits gained. The results have highlighted the importance of “involvement” (training, ownership, and open communication) of all employees for the effective transfer of best practices. Concludes with an overview of the future issues that are expected to influence the spread and application of benchmarking and best practice transfer.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possibility of using a metric to measure user acceptability of a system prior to its implementation.

Empirical research is carried within PISO^®, an existing process improvement method that harnesses the expertise of system users in redesigning systems. A metric called “warm glow” is trialled, designed to test the level of user acceptance to system change.

The paper finds that the “warm glow” metric was applied to a number of system redesigns applying the PISO method, to check user opinion of the existing system against the proposed system. It was found that use of the “warm glow” metric does give a measured approach to gauging acceptability. Two possible influences were considered during the study. The first was the Halo effect which suggests an optimal stage in the redesign at which to rate processes in terms of user opinion. Results in this case appeared consistent irrespective of time. The second was the Hawthorn effect which suggests that simply by being “singled out” to redesign the system, user opinions will be positively biased. Findings in this respect were inconclusive. The need is noted for further research into possible effects.

It is likely that such a technique could by used more widely than within the PISO method.

The paper provides a means of testing user acceptance to systems via rating of system processes.

The purpose of this paper is to validate the applicability of Strategic Quality Management (SQM) methods at a UK based manufacturing Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) for changing the organisational culture and improving the business performance results.

Action research was conducted in the form of a single company case study where an existing SQM methodology (Hoshin Kanri) was adapted and applied at the company.

The paper finds that this application of Hoshin Kanri is particularly innovative, as Western applications of this Japanese approach at SMEs are few as reported in the academic literature. This achievement represents a significant delivery of a cultural transformation to achieve business transformation by adopting a holistic performance measurement methodology.

The paper has limitations due to the single case study approach and possible influence of the researchers during the application. Further applications at other SME companies are required to verify the significant findings.

The discussion and conclusions from this paper are practical and have business relevance to both manufacturing and service sector organisations.

This paper focuses on UK industry, and is of value to both academics and practising managers at an international level.

Focuses on the performance planning value chain (PPVC). The PPVC is the latest thinking in the field of Performance Measurement developed by the Centre for Business Performance, Cranfield School of Management. It provides a systemic process for using data to enhance decision‐making, bringing together a vast array of tools to extract value from data and focus efforts on what will add real value to the organisation.

It is becoming increasingly clear that the engine for organisational development is not analysts, but managers and people who do the work. Without altering human knowledge, skills, and behaviour, change in technology, processes, and structures is unlikely to yield long‐term benefits. Managing business productivity has essentially become synonymous with managing change effectively. To manage change, companies must not only determine what to do and how to do it, they also need to be concerned with how employees will react to it. In this respect, the role of human resource management (HRM) is moving from the traditional command and control approach to a more strategic one, and studies have highlighted “employee empowerment” as one of its critical success elements. Introduces a study that aimed at identifying the current trends and best practices in employee empowerment by analysing case studies of pioneering organisations and validating the findings through a survey of leading UK organisations. Presents the findings of this survey and provides comments and a conclusion about the future directions in “empowerment”.

Benchmarking is the search for best practices that will lead to superior performance in some business activity. Benchmarking can provide organisations with various benefits in process improvement, culture and, in actual financial terms, benchmarking can provide tremendous leverage. The generic process of benchmarking consists of four main steps, namely: plan, collect, analyse and adapt. A major part of the “plan” step is the benchmarking partner selection phase. This is arguably one of the most crucial factors for success. It involves analysing various attributes ranging from technical issues to cultural aspects. Clearly, this complicates the decision process for practitioners, but if this step is not accomplished properly, the organisation is unlikely to achieve effective results from its benchmarking initiative. In order to improve the chances of successful partner selection for benchmarking, multi‐attribute decision‐making tools are recommended. Explains how to use graphical techniques in order to evaluate the best practice among the potential candidates for benchmarking.

The purpose of this paper is to explain current processes which are part of the eGovernment agenda in Dutch governmental organizations: these processes are part of a transformation of government organizations and municipalities towards networked organizations (“infocracies”). The paper also aims to show which difficulties municipalities are faced with, and how an instrument for measuring information quality and management can help municipalities cope with these developments that come with the transformation.

The paper analyses current developments and the challenges that government organizations are confronted with, and shows how a measurement instrument can contribute in helping government organizations cope with these developments.

The findings show that IT is an enabler for government organizations to transform towards networked organizations. In a municipal setting, this has led to the creation of authentic registrations as a crucial element of the networked organization. The main challenges for municipalities with regard to the implementation of authentic registrations are not technical but organizational of nature: there is a need for information sharing and cooperation, process and chain orientation and an awareness of the interdependencies which are inherent to authentic registrations. The EGEM Thermometer makes the challenges and obstacles, which obstruct the successful implementation of authentic registrations visible, and provides municipalities with a base to start the implementation thereof.

The Thermometer is currently based on a pilot project and a project that was the start of the Thermometer, which is made up of six municipalities.

The use of the EGEM Thermometer helps municipalities by creating insight, awareness, sense‐of‐urgency and a basis for organizational development.

The paper illustrates how measurement and feedback sessions can help organizations cope with IT challenges in relation to cooperation, service delivery, enforcement and information management.

The purpose of the paper is to explore an emerging challenge for large public‐sector bureaucracies: developing information and performance measurement systems that support anti‐corruption efforts.

The paper is an analytical framework linking functions and contexts of performance measurement to anti‐corruption requirements. The framework is used to explore a case study of the World Bank's ongoing efforts to strengthen anti‐corruption information systems in Indonesia.

The paper finds that a range of organizations are increasingly turning to performance measurement systems to fulfill several functions related to organizational integrity: to hold organizations accountable for reaching publicly stated standards of fiduciary responsibility and corruption control; to identify vulnerable operational points in multi‐faceted public enterprises; and to facilitate organizational learning regarding “what works”. Yet corruption is difficult to measure, and corruption vulnerabilities often arise from informal practices, insufficient incentives for enforcement or adherence to standards, and managerial blindspots. Enhanced information systems need to be coupled with effective and multi‐directional accountability arrangements in order for performance measurement to contribute effectively to corruption control.

The paper shows that improved information systems and a reassessment of managerial incentives and attitudes are both essential in order to reduce organizational vulnerability to corruption and to the public backlash that follows in the wake of corruption scandals.

The paper focusses on an emerging area of performance management likely to gain increasing visibility as large bureaucracies attempt to institutionalize public commitments to high anti‐corruption standards