Suchergebnisse

PurposeThis paper aims to identify the specific problems faced by the Finnish public sector organizations in designing and implementing performance measurement systems (PMS).Design/methodology/approachAn understanding of the problems is obtained by examining three case organizations in practice. In order to support the analysis of the empirical findings, a review of prior literature on the private and public sector PMSs is carried out.FindingsThe design and implementation processes in the Finnish public sector organizations differ significantly from the way they are realized in industrial private sector companies. The four underlying reasons for problems in public sector organizations are the following: there are many stakeholders with conflicting needs; the end products and goals are undefined; there is a lack of property ownership and lacking management skills.Practical implicationsBy utilizing the results of the study, PMS design and implementation in the public sector can be carried out by taking into account and avoiding the evident pitfalls introduced in the study.Originality/valueA large portion of the prior research on public sector PMSs consists of surveys and conceptual studies. This paper describes three case studies and reveals new insights into the specific challenges faced by public sector organizations, especially in designing and implementing PMSs.

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to create a framework in which the behaviour of unit costs in public sector outsourcing situations can be analysed.Design/methodology/approachExplorative case study concentrating on theory building.FindingsPublic sector organisations have not concentrated on analysing or modelling the unit cost behaviour in outsourcing situations. The lack of systematic cost management tools seems to lead to poorly managed and non‐profitable outsourcing projects or ignorance of the possibilities of outsourcing.Practical implicationsBy utilising the results of the study, decision making regarding outsourcing in public sector could be based both on forecast cost development and on political judgement instead of relying only on political judgement without understanding cost behaviour.Originality/valueThe paper introduces a new framework to be used as a tool in practice and to be validated in further studies.