The politics and consequences of performance measurement

Abstract

Performance measurement is most often considered as the apolitical application of the use of information, collected and used to demonstrate effectiveness against a set of criteria. In reality, many complexities are hidden behind this seemingly rational and technical enterprise. This paper establishes a conceptual framework for the collection of articles in this volume. It examines the politics of performance measurement - who decides what should be measured, how, and why - and its consequences. It analyses why performance measurement is important, outlines its explicit and implicit purposes and the fundamental assumptions underpinning it, and describes its problems, paradoxes and consequence..