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Performance measurement is intended to improve public decision making and organizational performance. But performance measures are by no means always rational tools for problem solving; rather, they are also political instruments. The central question addressed in this article is how performance measurement affects public policy. The aim is to conceptualize the political consequences of performance measurement, and of special concern is how performance systems influence how political decisions are made, the kind of political decisions that are conceivable, and how they are implemented. The literature on the utilization of evaluation and performance measurement is applied to analyse how performance measurement systems affect the political process of goal-setting and implementation. The article concludes that performance measurement may have intended and unintended effects and that it seems to have a retroactive impact on the political decision-making process, as the focus on performance goals entails a kind of reductionism (complex problems are simplified), sequential decision-making processes (with a division in separate policy issues), and short-sighted decisions (based on the need to achieve operational goals). Hence, the politics of performance measurement requires further study.

This article investigates whether the fiscal environment that politicians face influences their use of performance information. It poses two competing hypotheses, suggesting that fiscal austerity either increases politicians' use of performance information, because they are more concerned about keeping up good performance in times of austerity, or decreases their use, because balancing the books is more vital in times of austerity, and therefore keeping within the budget gains political emphasis relative to sustaining good performance. The link between fiscal austerity and politicians' use of performance information is tested using survey and documentary data from Danish municipalities. The article concludes that politicians who face high fiscal austerity use performance information to a lesser extent than colleagues who face less fiscal austerity, thus indicating the use of performance information is "the politics of good times."

This article investigates the differences and similarities between performance management systems across public services. We offer three propositions as to why the characteristics of performance management systems may still converge across policy areas in the public sector with different levels of task complexity amidst a lack of formal and overarching, government-wide policies. We advance our propositions from a case study comparing the characteristics of performance management systems across social services (eldercare) and technical services (park services) in Denmark. Contrary to expectations for divergence due to differences in task complexity, the characteristics of performance management systems in the two policy areas are observed to converge. On the basis of a case study, we propose that convergence has occurred due to 1) similarities in policy-specific reforms, 2) institutional pressures, and 3) complementarity between political needs and managerial needs. Finally, we discuss how our findings contribute to extant models of how performance management systems develop in the public sector.

AbstractThis article argues and shows that performance narratives affect how and for what purposes managers use performance information independently of other known drivers of performance information use, such as the external environment and individual intra‐ and interorganizational characteristics. Using a survey experiment on 514 Danish public school managers, we find an asymmetrical effect of "decline narratives" (declining performance) and "increase narratives" (improving performance). In line with expectations drawing on literature on negativity bias and blame‐avoidance, we find that "decline narratives" lead to higher internal use (learning and control purposes) of performance information. In contrast, "increase narratives" lead to higher external use (giving account and building support purposes) of performance information. Further exploratory analysis suggests that internal use is not affected by narratives when managers are skeptical of the performance measure. More skeptical managers are, however, willing to use performance information with an "increase narrative" for external use.

Les leaders transformationnels s'emploient à préciser une vision, à la partager avec leurs personnels et à la faire vivre à long terme, en vue d'améliorer la motivation de service public (MSP) des salariés, autrement dit d'accroître leur inclination à œuvrer pour le bien des autres et de la société dans son ensemble. En se fondant sur 48 entretiens approfondis menés avec 16 responsables et 32 membres du personnel d'établissements d'accueil de la petite enfance ainsi que sur des travaux d'observation effectués pendant 16 jours au sein de ces établissements, le présent article examine les liens existant entre leadership transformationnel et MSP. Lorsque les leaders précisent, partagent et font vivre une vision organisationnelle, les salariés sont davantage motivés pour œuvrer pour le bien des autres et de la société et cette motivation tend à être moins paternaliste et quelque peu plus axée sur la société. Il est donc pertinent de se demander si le leadership transformationnel améliore la MSP et de s'interroger sur la façon dont il influe sur les types de MSP. Remarques à l'intention des praticiens Les leaders pratiquent le leadership transformationnel lorsqu'ils s'attachent à élaborer une vision pour l'organisation, à la partager avec les personnels et à faire en sorte qu'elle suscite chez eux un intérêt durable. Il semblerait que le leadership transformationnel renforce la motivation de service public et rende les personnels moins paternalistes et plus enclins à apporter leur contribution à la société.

Professional quality is an important performance criterion in the public sector, but professionals can have very different understandings of what constitutes professional quality. Leadership is often emphasized as a key element in giving direction to employees, thus enabling the promotion of shared understandings of what professional quality is. Although several studies show a positive relationship between transformational leadership and performance, professional quality is seldom investigated, and too little is known about how transformational leadership is linked to shared understandings among employees and leaders. This article applies a qualitative multilevel comparative case design to investigate the transformational leadership–professional quality relationship for child care centers. We find that transformational leadership is positively associated with the degree of shared understanding of professional quality among professionals and that a shared understanding of quality is positively associated with high levels of professional quality. Moreover, transformational leadership seems to be more prevalent in medium-sized spans of control.

Transformational leaders work to clarify a vision, share it with their employees and sustain it in the long run, and this is expected to result in increased employee public service motivation (PSM), that is, orientation towards doing good for others and society. Based on 48 in-depth interviews with 16 childcare leaders and 32 of their employees combined with 16 days of observation in these childcare centers, this article investigates the association between transformational leadership and PSM. When the leaders clarify, share and maintain an organizational vision, their employees are more motivated to do good for society and others, and this motivation tends to be less paternalistic and slightly more society-oriented. This implies that it is relevant to ask not only whether transformational leadership increases PSM, but also how it affects the type of PSM. Points for practitioners Transformational leadership happens when leaders strive to develop a vision for the organization, share the vision with the employees and sustain the employees' attention to the vision. Transformational leadership seems to increase PSM and make employees less paternalistic and more focused on contributing to society.