Title: Designing a performance measurement system to support outsourcing decisions in a Finnish university

Authors: Aki Jääskeläinen; Antti Lönnqvist; Harri I. Kulmala

Addresses: Department of Industrial Management, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 541, FI-33101 Tampere, Finland ' Department of Business Information Management and Logistics, Tampere University of Technology, P.O. Box 541, FI-33101 Tampere, Finland ' Lappeenranta University of Technology, P.O. Box 20, FI-53851 Lappeenranta, Finland

Abstract: In recent years, the role and importance of performance measurement in public organisations has been much emphasised. However, the discussion on the issue so far has been on a rather general level. This paper aims to understand the challenges faced by public organisations in developing performance measurement systems (PMSs) for a specific managerial purpose, to support outsourcing decisions. The objective of the paper is approached with a literature review and a single qualitative case study carried out as an action research. The case study introduces a detailed description of a PMS development project carried out in the support services of a Finnish university. A framework developed in prior research is utilised to analyse the impacts of two typical characteristics (conflicting stakeholder needs and undefined objectives) of public organisations in a PMS design project. The contribution of the paper is to extend the existing understanding about public sector PMS especially regarding two key points: 1) to understand the impact of different purposes for measurement (in this case the outsourcing context) on the PMS development process; 2) to understand the need to align the PMS system with the organisational culture and other managerial control systems in order to achieve desired performance outcomes.

Keywords: Finland; outsourcing decisions; performance management; performance measurement systems; PMS; public sector; productivity; support services; university decision making; higher education; stakeholder needs; undefined objectives; organisational culture; managerial control.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPSPM.2015.067814

International Journal of Public Sector Performance Management, 2015 Vol.2 No.3, pp.237 - 252

Published online: 05 Mar 2015 *

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