The Public Productivity and Performance Handbook

A productive society is dependent upon high-performing government. This third edition of The Public Performance and Productivity Handbook includes chapters from leading scholars, consultants, and practitioners to explore all of the core elements of improvement. Completely revised and focused on best practice, the handbook comprehensively explores managing for high performance, measurement and analysis, costs and finances, human resources, and cutting-edge organizational tools. Its coverage of new and systematic management approaches and well-defined measurement systems provides guidance for organizations of all sizes to improve productivity and performance. The contributors discuss such topics as accountability, organizational effectiveness after budget cuts, the complementary roles of human capital and “big data,” and how to teach performance management in the classroom and in public organizations. The handbook is accompanied by an online companion volume providing examples of performance measurement and improvement manuals across a wide variety of public organizations. The Public Performance and Productivity Handbook, Third Edition, is required reading for all public administration practitioners, as well as for students and scholars interested in the state of the public performance and productivity field.

Marc Holzer has been a leader in the public productivity and performance field since the early 1970s. He is the founder of the National Center for Public Performance and the editor-in-chief of the international journal Public Performance and Management Review. His more than 600 scholarly publications address a wide range of strategic approaches to the measurement and improvement of public services. Dr. Holzer is distinguished professor at the Institute for Public Service at Suffolk University–Boston, and was the founding dean of the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University. He is a past president of the American Society for Public Administration.

Andrew Ballard is a research fellow and instructor at the Rutgers University–Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration and a contributing fellow at the Suffolk University National Center for Public Performance (NCPP). Andrew’s research focuses on the organizational and psychological barriers to the use of performance information in public organizations. He regularly teaches courses on performance management, applied research design, and public management. Andrew received his doctorate in public administration at the Rutgers University–Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration.