Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Public management scholars have made impressive strides in explaining managerial usage of performance information, a big question in public management. A follow-up big question is whether managerial usage of performance information makes a difference in organizational performance. Improving performance information is the ultimate objective of using performance information. There is limited evidence, thus far, on the effects of performance management, with one overview pointing to a small positive effect on performance (Gerrish 2016), and significant evidence that performance systems can generate perverse outcomes.

This paper examines, in the context of education, whether performance management practices – as opposed to reforms in place – make a difference to educational outcomes. The analysis, therefore, connects managerial self-reported behavior with objective downstream performance indicators.

Managerial use of performance data might improve performance via two pathways. First, managerial usage of performance information can guide and inform organizational decision making, leading to greater innovation or more efficient actions. Second, connecting performance information with personnel management and resource allocation can motivate bureaucrats to achieve better organizational performance. The paper grouped the managerial usage of performance information into four types: using performance information for strategic planning, using performance information for resource allocation, using performance information for advocacy, and using performance information for daily management and improvement.

Using multilevel data from Texas school district (districts and schools) from 2009 to 2012, the results show that principal’s usage of performance information for strategic planning was positively associated with school academic performance. However, other three types of performance information usage were not significantly associated with school academic performance. Contrary to the prediction, principals’ usage of performance information for daily management and efficiency improvement was not associated with organizational performance. The results remained robust in regressions based on matched samples generated from propensity score matching. The results also find that managers perceived that using performance information for daily management and improvement and for advocacy were positively associated with managerial perceived organizational performance, raising questions about how accurate managers are at assessing the efficacy of their actions on outcomes.