Playing the Game of Outcomes-based Performance Management. Is Gamesmanship Inevitable? Evidence from Theory and Practice

Lowe, T and Wilson, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0469-1884 (2017) Playing the Game of Outcomes-based Performance Management. Is Gamesmanship Inevitable? Evidence from Theory and Practice. Social Policy and Administration, 51 (7). pp. 981-1001. ISSN 0144-5596

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/spol.12205

Abstract

This article presents the case for the need for a re-think in the prevailing orthodoxy of measurement approaches in the governance and management of public services. The article explores the simplification of complex reality that outcomes-based performance management (OBPM) requires in order to function, and the consequences of such simplification. It examines the evidence for and against the effectiveness of OBPM, and argues that both sets of evidence can be brought into a single explanatory story by understanding the theory of OBPM. The simplification required to measure and attribute ‘outcomes’ turns the organization and delivery of social interventions into a game, the rules of which promote gamesmanship, distorting the behaviour of organizations, managers and practitioners who undertake it.

Item Type:	Article (Article)
Peer-reviewed:	Yes
Date Deposited:	06 Dec 2024 11:32
Publisher:	Wiley
Additional Information:	This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Lowe, T., and Wilson, R. (2017) Playing the Game of Outcomes-based Performance Management. Is Gamesmanship Inevitable? Evidence from Theory and Practice. Social Policy & Administration, 51: 981–1001, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/spol.12205. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
Divisions:
Subject terms:	1605 Policy and Administration, 1606 Political Science, 1608 Sociology, Political Science & Public Administration, 4407 Policy and administration, 4409 Social work, 4410 Sociology
URI:	https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/637455
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1111/spol.12205
ISSN	0144-5596
e-ISSN	1467-9515

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