PA 412: Performance Management Theory and Practice

Module 1 (Defining Performance Management)

Asst. Prof. Aaqib Zahid Department of Public Administration,

University of Dhaka
Roadmap and Recommended Readings

• Defining Performance
• Defining Management
• Defining Performance Management
• Defining Public Performance Management
• Setting the Boundary of the Course
Defining Performance

• According to Bates and Holton (1995 in Armstrong, 2009: 30), performance is a multidimensional
construct, the measurement of which depends on a variety of factors.
• According to Bernardin et al. (1995), ‘Performance should be defined as the outcomes of work
because they provide the strongest linkage to the strategic goals of the organization, customer
satisfaction, and economic contributions.’ Thus, Bernardin et al. (1995) had a result orientation to
performance.
• However, Oxford English Dictionary's defintion (Armstron, 2009: 31) adds a new dimension to
Bernardin et al.’s definition (1995). It defines Performance as the accomplishment, execution,
carrying out, working out of anything ordered or undertaken. If seen closely, this definition refers
to not only outputs/outcomes (accomplishment) but also doing the work to achieve the result.
Performance could therefore be regarded as behaviour by which an organization/ team/
individual gets work done.
Defining Performance

• Similarly, Bumbach (1988 in Armstrong, 2009: 31) argues that Performance means both
behaviours and results. Behaviours emanate from the performer and transform performance from
abstraction to action. Not just the instruments for results, behaviours are also outcomes in their own
right – the product of mental and physical effort applied to tasks – and can be judged apart from
results.
• In Bambach's (1998) definition, the author also emphasizes the role of personal skill and capacity
in achieving the result and suggests that the result and behaviour/skills/capacity can be measured
or benchmarked.
• Similarly, Campbell et al. definition (1993) put more focus on the measurement or benchmarking
of performance. They argue that performance is behaviour or action relevant to attaining the
organization’s goals that can be scaled and measured.
Defining Performance

TAKEAWAYS:
• Performance means achieving results
• Performance means doing the work
• Performance depends on the individual skills
• Performacne can be measured
Defining Management

• Management is a dynamic, complex, flexible, and rational process of setting and accomplishing
goals through the select use and coordination of human, technical, and financial resources within
the context the environment(s) is in which the organization is embedded (Burlea and Mahon, 2013).
• In simpler terms, management refers to the process of planning, organizing, leading, and
controlling resources—whether human, financial, or material—to achieve organizational objectives.
It involves aligning individual efforts with collective goals and ensuring that tasks are completed
efficiently and effectively (SSBM, 2025).
Defining Management

TAKEAWAY:
• Management is goal-oriented.
• Management focuses on the efficient use of human, financial, and material
resources.
• Management is a dynamic or continuous process that adapts to changing
social, political, and economic environments.
• Management relies on leading and motivating individuals within the
organization.
Defining Performance

• Performance management is a systematic process for improving organizational performance by

developing the performance of individuals and teams.
• It is a means of getting better results by understanding and managing performance within an
agreed framework of planned goals, standards and competency requirements.
• Processes exist for establishing shared understanding about what is to be achieved, and for
managing and developing people in a way that increases the probability that it will be achieved
in the short and longer term.

• According to Bariscoe and Claus (2008): Performance management is the system through which
organizations set work goals, determine performance standards, assign and evaluate work,
provide performance feedback, determine training and development needs and distribute
rewards.
Defining Performance
• Armstrong and Ward (2005) argue that Performance management has the potential to improve
the performance of organizations and act as a lever to achieve cultural change. A focus on
performance can bring real rewards for organizations. Performance management can be the key
space or mechanism for dialogue in an organization. An organization’s choice of where to focus its
attention in relation to performance management may in part determine its future and can
certainly guide its culture.
• Performance management is often referred to as the ‘Achilles heel’ of HRM. All modern
organizations face the challenge of how best to manage performance. That is, they must determine
the best ways to set goals, evaluate work and distribute rewards in such a way that performance
can be improved over time. While all firms face similar challenges, the way a firm responds to
these challenges will depend on where the firm is located and the context within which it is
operating. Differences in culture, technology or simply tradition make it difficult to directly apply
techniques that have worked in one setting to a different setting.
Defining Performance

TAKEAWAYS:
• Performance management is systematic/sequential.
• Performance management follows agreed-upon frameworks/standards.
• Performance management works both at the individual and organizational
levels.
• Performance management focuses on enhanced efficiency.
• Performance management can lead to cultural change within the organization.
• Performance Management Process is ongoing/continuous.
Focus of the Course and Application in the Public Sector

• Public management studies conceptualize public service performance as organizational and

societal outcomes (Van Dooren et al. 2010 in Leisink, 2021). Similar to the outcome focus of
performance, but it lacks comprehensiveness.
• Performance management systems are managerial tools through which policy makers and/or
managers set goals and performance indicators for the organization, define expected standards in
relation to benchmarks, and apply tools to incentivize managers and employees to meet the
expected standards (Andrews 2014; Boyne 2010; Hood et al. 2001 in Mizrahi, 2017).
• Performance management in the public sector may increase the accountability and transparency of
government outcomes. For instance, elected officials and public managers may realize the
“symbolic benefits” of creating an impression that the “government is being run in a rational,
efficient and result-oriented manner” (Moynihan 2008:68 in Mizrahi, 2017)
Focus of the Course and Application in the Public Sector

• Public Performance can work as an input for agenda setting as well as policy change. Berman and Hijal-
Moghrabi (2023) suggest that performance is about keeping public organizations up-to-date, vibrant,
connected, and relevant to society; it is about ensuring that policies and programs connect with important
challenges and the purposes that people, communities, and nations seek.
• Public performance is about ensuring effective results, such as regulatory agencies ensuring the safety and
availability of that which is regulated, such as airplanes, food, or medicine. Governments need to help their
economies and jurisdictions grow in sustainable ways, identifying new opportunities and addressing the
barriers. Producing results that are effective and have an impact is of utmost importance. But there is also
interest in ensuring that different population groups are equitably served and that programs are equitably
available. It is important that programs use management methods that produce results at the lowest cost and
with good speed. A dollar saved in one area is another dollar available to achieve other organizational
goals. (Berman and Hijal-Moghrabi, 2023). Here the authors are trying to connect Public Performance in
achieving the 4Es of Public Administration (Effectiveness, Efficiency, Economy and Equity). Let us unpack them
further.
Focus of the Course and Application in the Public Sector

• Effectiveness: Effectiveness is defined as the level of results. Measures of effectiveness are further
distinguished between outputs and outcomes. Outputs are defined as the immediate results of
agency activities or efforts, such as the number of students graduating from schools and colleges,
or the number of fully completed inspections of a work crew. Outcomes are measures of the extent
that organizations attain their goals (or ultimate purposes). For example, in the above examples,
the outcome of schools and colleges might be the extent that their graduates get good jobs and
incomes, and the outcome of work crews might be the quality of that which is inspected (e.g., road,
internet, airplanes). Though outcomes are the ultimate purpose, outputs also matter, often greatly.
Outputs provide important and timely feedback on activities that may affect future outcomes, and
organizations may have more control over their outputs than outcomes. The reason for distinguishing
between outputs and outcomes is that many public sector outcomes take several years to
accomplish, and one needs measures for intermediate and leading performance along the way
(e.g., Bouckaert and Van Dooren 2009; Moynihan 2008; Van Dooren et al. 2015).
Focus of the Course and Application in the Public Sector

• Efficiency: Efficiency is defined as the ratio of outcomes (and outputs) to inputs (O/I). Efficiency is a ratio of
the resources used (inputs) to achieve accomplishments (outcomes or outputs), or O/I. Efficiency is crucial
because it helps budgets stretch further and thereby allows organizations to be more effective; it may also
help address some taxpayer’s concerns about waste. Efficiency is sometimes called productivity (Berman and
Hijal-Moghrabi, 2023).

• Equity: Equity, in terms of performance, is defined as equality with regard to performance or service access
for all groups. Equity addresses the central interest that all groups are treated without favor or bias in the
distribution of services and their outcomes. Many public services and policies are intended to have equal
treatment and outcomes, and equity is thus often measured as equal use or outcomes (Berman and Hijal-
Moghrabi, 2023).
• Economy: economy refers to making cost savings or spending less. While performance emphases are usually
on the above, concerns about meeting decreased budgets while maintaining performance, or rooting out
waste, may make this important in ensuring public performance (Berman and Hijal-Moghrabi, 2023).
Focus of the Course and Application in the Public Sector

• The application of performance management differs in the public sector from the private sector in
several ways. Managers in the public sector usually face different challenges and dilemmas than
those in the private sector. Private organizations are usually smaller in size, have fewer
responsibilities, and engage in fewer activities than governments and public organizations (Meier
and O’Toole 2011; Miller 2005; Wood 2010). They have more flexibility to design and enforce
explicit contracts, including the terms aimed at motivating their employees. Managerial autonomy is
greater than in the public sector and so is the mobility and flexibility of the workforce. (Mizrahi,
2017)
Focus of the Course and Application in the Public Sector

TAKEAWAYS:

• Public performance has a social focus and an organizational focus.

• Although it follows the toolkit of the public sector, its working area is broader and its
way of working is comparatively rigid.

• Public performance management is likely to promote transparency and accountability

in the public sector.

• Public performance management provides inputs in the policy process.

• Public performance ensures the 4Es of Public Administration.

Cheers!