Improving Local Government Performance Through Benchmarking
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Publishing:29th Apr '25
£145.00
This title is due to be published on 29th April, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£39.99(9781032730974)
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.
“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.”
Étienne Charbonneau, Canada Research Chair in Comparative Public Management, École 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
ISBN: 9781032738277
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
308 pages