In Pursuit of Performance: Management Systems in State and Local Government

Based on five years of extensive research by the Government Performance Project, this volume offers a comprehensive analysis of how government managers and elected officials use management and management systems to improve performance. Drawing on data from across the nation, it examines the performance of state, county, and city governments between 1997 and 2002 within the framework of basic management systems: financial information, human resources, capital and infrastructure, and results evaluation.

Key issues addressed:
• How governments strategically select elements of management to emphasize the role of leadership
• How those governments that aim to improve performance differ from those that do not
• What "effective management" looks like

Through this careful, in-depth investigation, the contributors conclude that the most effective governments are not those with the most resources, but those that use the resources available to them most carefully and strategically. In Pursuit of Performance is an invaluable tool for government leaders and the scholars who study them.

Patricia W. Ingraham is Founding Dean at the College of Community and Public Affairs, Binghamton University. She is the author of The Foundation of Merit: Public Service in American Democracy and coauthor of Government Performance: Why Management Matters, both published by Johns Hopkins.