Targeting Commitment: Interagency Performance in New Zealand

(Paperback)

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Description

This book explores how and why the New Zealand government made progress and how the program was able to create and sustain the commitment of public servants and unleash the creativity of public entrepreneurs.

The authors combine case studies based on the experience of people involved in the change, together with public management research. They explain how ambitious targets and public accountability were used as levers to overcome the bureaucratic barriers that impeded public service delivery, and how data, evidence, and innovation were used to change practice. New Zealand experimented, failed, succeeded, and learned from the experience over five years. This New Zealand experience demonstrates that interagency performance targets are a potentially powerful tool for fostering better public services and thus improving social outcomes.

Reviews

In 2012, the New Zealand government attempted to solve its interagency coordination problem with a new approach. Specifically, it set strict interagency targets, focusing on outcomes instead of process or intermediary goals, to resolve ten difficult social and governmental problems. This book is a deep dive into how these performance targets aided interagency cooperation and led to positive, though not perfect, outcomes. The book begins with background on the government of New Zealand and a review of interagency coordination in the field of public administration before moving to a description of the program itself, from initial development through implementation and its current state.... This book is recommended to any student of public administration looking for a case study of the relationship between setting performance targets and reaching actual governmental outcomes. Recommended. Undergraduate and graduate students.

Author Bio

Rodney Scott is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Management at the University of New South Wales. He has a PhD in Public Administration from the University of Queensland and research fellowships at Harvards Kennedy School of Government and Oxfords Blavatnik School of Government. As Chief Policy Advisor at New Zealands State Services Commission, Rodney was responsible for the commissions research program.

Ross Boyd is an Adjunct Research Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government. As Principal Policy Analyst in New Zealands State Services Commission, Ross led thinking on the Better Public Services Results program, and was responsible for design, implementation, reporting, and evaluation.