Improving Local Government Performance through Benchmarking
1st Edition
Published on 12. May 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
300 pages
978-1-032-73097-4 (ISBN)
Description
Improving Local Government Performance through Benchmarking sets the record straight on benchmarking and its value for performance improvement in local government.
Benchmarking is a widely adopted public management reform of recent decades; yet, it is often misunderstood by city and county governments; viewed too narrowly; or underappreciated by managers, elected officials, and students of local government for its potential as a tool. This book helps students of public administration and practitioners in local government-municipal and county government executives, department heads, program managers, and management analysts-to better understand the two major types of benchmarking in use by local governments in the US and beyond (metrics benchmarking and best practice benchmarking) and the promise and limitations of each type as tools of performance improvement. It lays out strategic decisions in the design and management of benchmarking projects and highlights common errors to avoid- preparing managers and analysts for greater benchmarking success.
Written in an easy-to-read style, this book will provide practical assistance to local government officials and students of public administration who aspire to become practitioners in the future.
Benchmarking is a widely adopted public management reform of recent decades; yet, it is often misunderstood by city and county governments; viewed too narrowly; or underappreciated by managers, elected officials, and students of local government for its potential as a tool. This book helps students of public administration and practitioners in local government-municipal and county government executives, department heads, program managers, and management analysts-to better understand the two major types of benchmarking in use by local governments in the US and beyond (metrics benchmarking and best practice benchmarking) and the promise and limitations of each type as tools of performance improvement. It lays out strategic decisions in the design and management of benchmarking projects and highlights common errors to avoid- preparing managers and analysts for greater benchmarking success.
Written in an easy-to-read style, this book will provide practical assistance to local government officials and students of public administration who aspire to become practitioners in the future.
Reviews / Votes
Ammons has delivered a remarkable analysis of performance improvement. Improving Local Government Performance Through Benchmarking identifies dozens of concerns that must be addressed if a measurement effort is to produce performance improvements, as promised to the community. His volume is a tour de force, an unrivaled resource that is the missing link between comparative performance measurement and service improvement. It is every local government's best investment.Marc Holzer, Distinguished Research Professor, Suffolk University, and founder of the National Center for Public Performance
This book is an evidence-based how-to guide to benchmarking. Its engaging writing is informative and replete with inspiring examples. Ammons distills academic research into actionable insights, blending pragmatism, experience, and wisdom.
Etienne Charbonneau, Canada Research Chair in Comparative Public Management, Ecole nationale d'administration publique (Montreal, QC)
Professor David Ammons, who could be called Doctor Benchmarking for his esteemed career in the field, has peeled back another insightful layer in the search for improved government performance. By spotlighting best practice benchmarking (versus metrics benchmarking), he parallels the evolution of performance measurement into performance management and encourages us to use best practices to actually make improvements!
Michael Jacobson, Deputy Director of the King County (Washington) Office of Performance, Strategy, and Budget and National Academy of Public Administration Fellow
Dr. Ammons delivers an exceptional book arguing the value of benchmarking for helping administrators and elected officials improve their public services. The book will appeal to public management students while the lessons and examples will also aid managers looking for steps they can take to integrate these practices into their normal operations.
David Swindell, Director of the Center for Urban Innovation in the School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University, and Director of Valley Benchmark Communities
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Academic, Postgraduate, Professional Practice & Development, and Undergraduate Advanced
Illustrations
9 s/w Zeichnungen, 11 s/w Tabellen, 9 s/w Abbildungen
11 Tables, black and white; 9 Line drawings, black and white; 9 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
485 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-73097-4 (9781032730974)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
David N. Ammons
Improving Local Government Performance through Benchmarking
Book
05/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€206.90
Shipment within 10-20 days
David N. Ammons
Improving Local Government Performance through Benchmarking
E-Book
05/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€55.49
Available for download
David N. Ammons
Improving Local Government Performance through Benchmarking
E-Book
05/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€55.49
Available for download
Person
David N. Ammons is Albert Coates Professor Emeritus of Public Administration and Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. He has written and taught about benchmarking, performance measurement and management, and productivity improvement in local government. For 25 years, he served as a faculty advisor to the North Carolina Benchmarking Project. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and has served on the National Performance Management Advisory Commission and the North Carolina Governor's Advisory Committee on Performance Management. He is a member of the Credentialing Advisory Board of the International City/County Management Association.
Content
1. Introduction Part I: Benchmarking Overview 2. Benchmarking as a Management Concept 3. Benchmarking in Local Government Part II: Metrics Benchmarking 4. Strategic Choices: Tensions/Decisions at Play in Metrics Benchmarking Initiatives 5. Responses to Metrics Benchmarking Data: Managers, Politicians, and Citizens 6. Metrics Benchmarking Results Part III: Best Practice Benchmarking 7. Vanilla Is Not Benchmarking's Only Flavor 8. Best Practice Benchmarking in Action Part IV: Issues in Benchmarking 9. Learning, Yes, but also Unlearning 10. Common Preference for Benchmarking with Similar Organizations 11. What's the Objective? A Management Report Card or Performance Improvement? 12. Defensiveness in Response to Benchmarking Scores 13. Benchmarking as a Defense Mechanism 14. Is Isomorphism a Threat? 15. Recognition Programs as Quasi-Benchmarking 16. Misapplication of the Benchmarking Label Part V: The Leadership Imperative 17. Leadership for Benchmarking 18. Conclusion