Performance Evaluation and Measurement in Public Organizations: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The turbulence of the current competitive environment emphasizes the importance of the role played by performance measurement systems in generating an improvement of business results. Starting from this consideration, the work pursues a twofold goal: firstly, it tries to verify the existence and the degree of a research interest about this topic; secondly, it seeks to identify, in measurement and evaluation systems, which factors are capable of producing an effect on performances of public organizations. In order to well respond to the research purposes, the work begins with a systematic literature review, which highlights a growing attention of scholars on all those variables considered critical in conducting and managing public organizations. The study, highlighting the existence of six variables to be advantageously taken into account in managing public organizations, especially in light of the potential influence that they seem to exert on different types of business performances, could be considered as a useful tool for both practitioners (managers of public organizations) and scholars (professors, researchers, students, etc.) aimed at helping to become aware about the advantages arising from an adequate management of performances measures. The main research limitation is the lack of an empirical analysis of public companies performance plans, which should be thoroughly examined to allow a possible further generalization of the theoretical findings achieved.