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hours) per unit of output or outcome. Examples include the resources — may be involved in changing the way following: agencies operate. Moreover, the use of performance measures may be perceived negatively by agencies who • Expenditures per 5100,000 of property protected worry about being held to performance standards that, in (Fire ) the case of outcome measures, may not be within their • Employee hours per crime solved (Police Services) direct control. • Number of to case - actions processed per worker (Publi stance) Managers' resistance can be overcome to a large extent • urred subsid per n cr Transit) by encouraging their participation in setting goals and y P g� performance measures, and ensuring that performance measures are used in agency decisions. Including These measures are used to determine productivity trends in qualitative information along with performance data can the provision of public programs and services. They are also help to alleviate resistance by providing departments with used to provide an indication of the cost-effectiveness of a an opportunity to explain deviations from program or program. service output or outcome targets. Finally, ongoing refinement of measures is necessary to instill confidence that appropriate measures will be used in policy and Obstacles to Measuring Performance decision making activities. (Glaser, 1991] Developing meaningful performance measures in the Outconte Measurement Issues. If resources are public sector is a complex task. Governments must to be allocated based on program results, reliable devise solutions to problems related to data organization, outcome data must be collected. Identifying, - resistance by managers and staff, and measuring program establishing, and evaluating indicators on program outcomes. Some of these issues can potentially be outcomes has been particularly difficult for state and addressed over time as jurisdictions gain more experience local governments. Often, there is no agreement among with setting performance goals and measuring results; various stakeholders as to what a program is trying to others are likely to be more intractable. achieve. For example, in providing a city bus service, operating a reliable, on -time service may be perceived as an Data Organization. Monitoring and reporting important objective. In order to preserve sufficient capital performance requires that the resources needed to funding to replace older, less reliable buses, the program provide a program or service be linked with its outputs or administrator may propose as a goal maintaining the growth outcomes, hence, data must be collected, organized, and in operating expenses at or below the rate of inflation. This analyzed by "cost center." Many jurisdictions lack cost objective, however, can be at odds with other desirable reliable cost and program data, or do not have budgeting and goals, e.g., to provide comprehensive service to assure that accounting systems set up to keep track of data in this low - income, elderly, or other key constituents are adequately manner. Agencies that administer several pograms may served. Unless consensus can be achieved on the primary have difficulty in deciding how to allocate commonly used goals of a program, there is likely to be ambiguity in resources (e.g., administrative overhead) to single programs. interpreting performance outcome data. • - Technological advances have made it easier to organize programs based on cost •accounting principles; A second problem with outcome measures is that nevertheless, initial attempts to do this by governments governments are often unable to establish conclusive links can still be very time - consuming and costly. In between a particular set of benefits and program activities. instituting a performance measurement system, An important objective of a police department is to prevent governments will need to strike an appropriate. balance crime, and policy makers may decide to allocate resources to between the benefits of a high - quality performance increase the number of patrol hours. However, they may also measurement system and the costs of data collection and provide resources to increase the effectiveness of drug organization so that performance measurement does not education programs, which also affects crime. If fewer become a drain on organizational resources. criminal activities are reported in the community, policy makers may find it difficult to determine which program is Resistance by Managers and Staff. Performance contributing to the desired outcome. measurement may also be resisted by program managers and staff. In agencies where policy or management A final problem is that measuring outcomes entails more of a - decisions are not tied directly to program goals and jurisdiction's resources. Governments find it easier to results, significant costs -- both in time and financial measure inputs and outputs, since they control how resources 4