ingly, there are macro and micro measures; macro measures relate to very high level
activities and include things such as the rate of inflation, the balance of payments
figures, and the government‘s revenue. Micro measures relate to smaller and more
specific activities, such as the turnover of one bank, stock exchange trading for one
day and sales of one commodity. The performance measure is the result of the col-
lection process in terms of the raw data collected. Examples here include the num-
bers of pupils in a primary school, the numbers of hospital beds in a hospital or the
number of civil servants in a ministry.- Performance indicators/measures. These are the products of the analysis and compa-
rison of performance data. They are the indication of trends and changes in perform-
ance. For example, there may be a policy objective to introduce universal primary
education. A performance management system could be introduced to measure the
achievement of this objective. The measure of performance would be the number of
pupils in primary education in a given year. A Performance indicator is the com-
parative analysis, which can be derived from the performance measure. - Continuous improvement. This is a management culture that is based on the belief
that improvements in performance can be achieved each year, and standards and
targets are adjusted for each year accordingly. This may not be appropriate or realis-
tic in many public sector environments where the demand for services is open end-
ed, but resources are finite. - Results oriented management. These are names of particular techniques, which are
used to introduce performance management methods to a process or activity. They
are based on defining the levels of desired performance and output.
Benefits of performance measurement
The benefits of introducing performance management are:
- It encourages rigorous objective and target setting.
- It ensures regular performance review and detection of areas for improvement.
- It can identify problem areas or poor performance and intervene in time.
- It provides a basis for resource allocation based on targets, activities, outputs, and
outcome priorities. - It provides evidence for the appraisal of individuals; that is, was what expected to be
achieved actually realised? - It can demonstrate whether value for money is being achieved and indicates what
measures should be taken. - It focuses on outputs rather than inputs. The results are more important than what
went into the inputs and the process of production or service delivery. - It increases awareness of production or service delivery and also increases greater
participation in policy choices in areas where performance can be measured. - It can help to inform policy decisions by demonstrating the impact of different
choices. - It improves accountability for the resources, power, and authority granted to
perform.