Performance Measurement & Accountability Flashcards

An agency collects large amounts of performance data but rarely uses it in management decisions. This situation is best described as:

Answer: Compliance-driven measurement dysfunction

Collecting data solely for compliance without integrating it into decisions is a common dysfunction that undermines the value of performance measurement systems.

What does 'attribution' refer to in the context of public program evaluation?

Answer: Determining how much of an observed outcome was caused by the program versus other factors

Attribution addresses the challenge of isolating a program's causal contribution to an outcome from other external influences.

A manager notices that since implementing a new complaint-resolution metric, staff are closing cases faster but citizen satisfaction has dropped. This phenomenon is known as:

Answer: Gaming or perverse incentives

Gaming occurs when employees optimize for the measured metric in ways that undermine the program's actual purpose.

In an integrated performance management system, strategic goals should cascade down to:

Answer: Individual employee performance plans aligned with unit and agency goals

Cascading goals link agency-level strategy to unit plans and individual performance, creating line-of-sight accountability throughout the organization.

Which statistical concept helps a manager determine whether a change in a performance metric is a true improvement or just normal variation?

Answer: Statistical process control / control charts

Statistical process control charts distinguish between common-cause variation (expected fluctuation) and special-cause variation (a real signal of change).

A public agency uses citizen survey data as a key performance measure. The most important validity concern is:

Answer: Whether the survey instrument actually measures what it is intended to measure

Survey validity ensures the instrument captures the construct it is meant to measure, such as actual satisfaction rather than familiarity with the agency.

When a legislature requires an agency to submit a performance report, the primary accountability relationship being fulfilled is:

Answer: Upward accountability to elected overseers

Reporting performance results to a legislature fulfills upward accountability, where public managers answer to elected representatives on behalf of citizens.