Constraints in the implementation of performance management systems in developing countries: The Ghanaian case

International Journal of Cross Cultural Management

Volumn 9, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 109-132

  Ohemeng, Frank Louis Kwaku ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA   (Canada)

Author keywords

Administrative reform; Culture; Developing countries; Ghana; Performance management; Public sector

Indexed keywords

EID: 64549120335     PISSN: 14705958     EISSN: 17412838     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1470595808101158     Document Type: Review

References (111)

1. Adei, S. and Boachie-Danquah, Y. (2003) 'The Civil Service Performance Improvement Programme (CSPIP) in Ghana: Lessons of Experience', African Journal of Public Administration and Management XIV (1 and 2). 10-23.
2. Bailyn, L. (1988) 'Autonomy in the Industrial R&D Lab', in R. Katz (ed.). Managing Professionals in Innovative Organizations: A Collection of Readings. New York: Harper-Collins.
3. Batley, R. and Larbi, G.A. (2004) The Changing Role of Government: The Reform of Public Services in Developing Countries. Hampshire: Palgrave.
4. Batley, R. and Larbi, G.A. (2006) 'Capacity to Deliver? Management, Institutions and Public Services in Developing Countries', in Y. Bangura and G.A. Larbi (eds). Public Sector Reforms in Developing Countries: Capacity Challenges to Improve Services, pp. 99-130. Hampshire: Palgrave.
5. Berman, E. and Wang, X. (2000) 'Performance Measurement in U.S. Counties: Capacity for Reform', Public Administration Review 60 (5). 409-20.
6. Bissessar, A.M. (2002) 'Introducing New Public Management in Caribbean Bureaucracies: A Case of Direct Coercive Transfer', in A.M. Bissessar (ed.). Policy Transfer, New Public Management and Globalization: Mexico and the Caribbean. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
7. Boachie-Danquah, Y. (2003) 'What Kind of Public Service Does Ghana Need for National Development?', paper presented at the Workshop on Effectiveness of Public Organizations, 3 December, Accra, Ghana.
8. Boateng, D.S. (1997) Speech Delivered at the Third Celebration of Africa Day of Administration and Civil Service, Accra, Ghana, June.
9. Booth, D., Crook, R., Gyimah-Boadi, E., Killick, T., Luckham, R. and Boateng, N. (2005) What Are the Drivers of Change in Ghana? CDD/ODI Policy Brief, No. 1. London: Overseas Development Institute.
10. Bouckaert, G. and Halligan, J. (2008) Managing Performance: International Comparisons. London: Routledge.
11. Bouckaert, G., Peters, B.G., Verhoest, K. and Verschuere, B. (2002) 'Government and a Decentralized Public Sector', paper presented at the Maxwell School GPP Conference, Washington, 3-4 October. Available at: http://soc.kuleuven.be/io/eng/, accessed 23 September 2007.
12. Briscoe, D.R. and Claus, M. (2008) 'Employee Performance Management: Policies and Practices in Multinational Enterprises,' in A. Varma, P.S. Budhwar and A. DeNisi (eds). Performance Management Systems: A Global Perspective, pp. 15-39. London: Routledge.
13. Bruijn, H.D. (2007) Managing Performance in the Public Sector, 2nd edn. London: Routledge.
14. Caligiuri, P.M. (2006) 'Measurement Performance in a Cross-cultural Context', in W. Bennett Jr, C. Lance and D. Woehr (eds). Performance Measurement: Current Perspectives and Future Challenges. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
15. Callahan, K. (2007) Elements of Effective Governance: Measurement, Accountability, and Participation. New York: Taylor & Francis
16. Cammack, P. (2002) 'Neoliberalism, the World Bank, and the New Politics of Development', in U. Kothari and M. Minogue (eds). Development Theory and Practice: Critical Perspective, pp. 157-78. Hampshire: Palgrave.
17. Carroll, B.W. (2000) 'Some Obstacles to Defining and Measuring Results', Optimum 31 (1). 1-15.
18. Carroll, B.W. (2006) 'An Overview on Performance and Performance Reporting', paper presented to the IPAC National and Hamilton Regional Group Seminar on New Frontiers in Public Sector Performance Reporting (February), Oakville.
19. Carroll, B.W. and Dewar, D.I. (2002) 'Performance Management: Panacea or Fool's Gold', in C. Dunn (ed.). The Handbook of Canadian Public Administration, pp. 400-29. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
20. Christensen, T. and Lægreid, P. (eds). (2007) Transcending New Public Management: The Transformation of Public Sector Reforms. Aldershot: Ashgate.
21. Codjoe, H.M. (2003) 'Is Culture the Obstacle to development in Ghana? A Critique of the Culture-development Thesis as It Applies to Ghana and South Korea', in W. Tettey, K.P. Puplampu and B.J. Berman (eds). Critical Perspectives on Politics and Socio-economics in Ghana, pp. 335-63. Boston, MA: Brill.
22. Commonwealth Secretariat (2002) Current Good Practices and New Developments in Public Sector Service Management. London: Commonwealth Secretariat.
23. Conteh, C. and Ohemeng, F.L.K. (2007) 'The Politics of Decision Making in Developing Countries: A Comparative Analysis of Privatization Decisions in Botswana and Ghana', paper presented at the Conference of International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) (April), Potsdam, Germany.
24. Debrah, Y. (2001) 'Human Resources Management in Ghana', in P.S. Budhwar and Y.A. Debrah (eds). Human Resource Management in Developing Countries, pp. 190-208. London: Routledge.
25. Deleon, L. (2005) 'Public Management, Democracy, and Politics', in E. Ferlie, L.E. Lynn Jr and C. Pollitt (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Public Management, pp. 103-30. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
26. DeNisi, A., Varma, A. and Budhwar, P. (2008) 'Performance Management Around the Globe: What Have We Learned,' in A. Varma, P.S. Budhwar and A. DeNisi (eds). Performance Management Systems: A Global Perspective, pp. 254-61. London: Routledge.
27. Dobuzinskis, L. (2006) 'From Positivism to Post-positivism: An Unfinished Journey', in T. Lynch and P. Cruise (eds). Handbook of Organization Theory and Management: The Philosophical Approach, pp. 555-93. New York: CRC Press.
28. Dodoo, R. (1997) 'Performance Standards and Measuring Performance in Ghana', Public Administration and Development 17 (1). 115-21.
29. Dolowitz, D. and Marsh, D. (1996) 'Who Learns from Whom: A Review of the Policy Transfer Literature', Political Studies 44 (2). 343-57.
30. Dolowitz, D. and Marsh, D. (2000) 'Learning from Abroad: The Role of Policy Transfer in Contemporary Policy Making', Governance 13 (1). 5-24.
31. Douglas, M. (1985) 'Introduction', in J. Gross and S. Rayner (eds). Measuring Culture: A Paradigm for the Analysis of Social Organization. New York: Columbia University Press.
32. Epstein, P., Coates, P.M., Wray, L.D. and Swain, D. (2005) Results that Matter: Improving Communities by Engaging Citizens, Measuring Performance, and Getting Things Done. San Francisco, CA; Jossey-Bass.
33. Gardiner, K.M. (1996) 'Managing in Different Cultures: The Case of Ghana', in B. Towers (ed.). The Handbook of Human Resource Management, 2nd edn. Oxford: Blackwell.
34. Goodsell, C. (2003) In Defence of Bureaucracy: A Public Administration Polemic. New Jersey: Chatham House.
35. Government of Ghana (1992) Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. Accra: Government of Ghana.
36. Government of Ghana (1997 a) Civil Service Performance Improvement Programme. Accra: Government of Ghana.
37. Government of Ghana (1997 b) Ghana - Vision 2020: The First Medium-term Development Plan, 1997-2000. Accra: National Development Planning Commission.
38. Government of Ghana (2003) Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy, 2003-2005: An Agenda for Growth and Prosperity, Vol. 1. Accra: Government of Ghana.
39. Halamachi, A. (2002) 'Performance Measurement, Accountability, and Improved Performance', Public Performance and Management Review 25 (4). 370-4.
40. Halamachi, A. (2004) 'Performance Measurements, Accountability and Improving Performance', in M. Holzer and S.H. Lee (eds). Public Productivity Handbook, pp. 333-53. New York: Marcel Dekker.
41. Halachmi, A. (2005) 'Performance Measurement: Test the Water before You Dive In', International Review of Administrative Sciences 71 (2). 255-66.
42. Harmon, M.A. (2006) Public Administration's Final Exam: A Pragmatist Restructuring of the Profession and the Discipline. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
43. Heikkila, T. and Isett, K.R. (2007) 'Citizen Involvement and Performance Management in Special-purpose Government', Public Administration Review 67 (2). 238-48.
44. Heinrich, C.J. (2002) 'Outcomes-based Performance Management in the Public Sector: Implications for Government Accountability and Effectiveness', Public Administration Review 62 (6). 712-25.
45. Heinrich, C.J. (2003) Improving Public-sector Performance Management: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back ? Madison: University of Wisconsin-Madison LaFollette School of Public Affairs and Institute for Research on Poverty.
46. Heinrich, C.J. (2007) 'Measuring Public Sector Performance and Effectiveness', in B.G. Peters and J. Pierre (eds). The Handbook of Public Administration, pp. 24-36. London: Sage.
47. Hofstede, G. (1981) 'Motivation, Leadership, and Organization: Do American Theories Apply Abroad?', Organizational Dynamics 9 (1). 42-62.
48. Hood, C. and Peters, G.B. (2004) 'The Middle Aging of New Public Management: Into the Age of Paradox?', Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 14 (3). 267-82.
49. Hughes, O. (2008) 'What Is, Or Was, New Public Management ?, paper prepared for the XIIth annual meeting of the International Research Society of Public Management, Brisbane, Australia.
50. Hutchful, E. (1995) 'Why Regimes Adjust: The World Ponders Its "Star Pupil"', Canadian Journal of African Studies 29 (2). 303-17.
51. Hutchful, E. (2002) Ghana's Adjustment Experience: The Paradox of Reform. Oxford: James Currey.
52. Katz, N.R. (2002) 'Incentives and Performance Management in the Public Sector', available at: www.ksg.harvard.edu/visions/performance-management/katz- incentives.htm
53. Kelman, S. (2006) 'Improving Service Delivery Performance in the United Kingdom: Organization Theory Perspectives on Central Intervention Strategies', Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice 8 (4). 393-419.
54. Kettl, D. (1994) Reinventing Government: Appraising the National Performance Review. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
55. Lachman, R., Nedd, A. and Hinings, B. (1994) 'Analysing Cross-national Management and Organisations: A Theoretical Framework', Management Science 40 (1). 40-53.
56. Larbi, G.A. (1995) 'Implications and Impact of Structural Adjustment on the Civil Service: The Case of Ghana', in R. Batley (ed.). The Role of Government in Adjusting Economies. Birmingham: University of Birmingham.
57. Larbi, G.A. (2006) 'Applying the New Public Management in Developing Countries', in Y. Bangura and G.A. Larbi (eds). Public Sector Reforms in Developing Countries: Capacity Challenges to Improve Services, pp. 25-52. Hampshire: Palgrave.
58. Larmour, P. (2002) 'Conditionality, Coercion, and other Forms of "Power": International Financial Institutions in the Pacific', Public Administration and Development 22 (3). 249-60.
59. Loxley, J. (1988) Ghana: Economic Crisis and the Long Road to Recovery. Ottawa: The North-South Institute.
60. Lunnan, R., Lervik, J.E., Traavik, L., Nilsen, S., Amdam, R.P. and Hennestad, B. (2005) 'Global Transfer of Management Practices across Nations and MNC Subcultures', Academy of Management Executive 19 (2). 77-80.
61. Lynn, L.E. (2000) 'Globalisation and Administrative Reform: What Is Happening to Theory?', paper presented at the Fourth International Research Society of Public Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 10-11 April.
62. McAdam, R., Hazlet, S. and Casey, C. (2005) 'Performance Management in the UK Public Sector: Addressing Multiple Stakeholder Complexity', International Journal of Public Sector Management 18 (3). 256-73.
63. Masson, A. (2005) The Role of NGOs in International Democratic Development: Perspectives from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada. Montreal: IRPP.
64. Mayshak, N. (2005) Improving Ghana's Policy Management and Decision Making System: Public Sector Management. Montreal: IPA C.
65. Meier, K.J. and Hill, G. (2005) 'Bureaucracy in the Twenty-first Century', in E. Ferlie, L.E. Lynn Jr and C. Pollitt (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Public Management, pp. 51-71. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
66. Mendonca, M. and Kanungo, R.N. (1990) 'Work Culture in Developing Countries: Implications for Performance Management', Psychology and Developing Societies 2 (2). 137-63.
67. Mendonca, M. and Kanungo, R.N. (1996) 'Impact of Culture on Performance Management in Developing Countries', International Journal of Manpower 17 (4 / 5). 65-75.
68. Meyer, J.W. and Scott, R. (1992) Organizational Environments: Rituals and Rationality. London: Sage.
69. Moynihan, D.P. (2008) The Dynamics of Performance Management: Constructing Information and Reform Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
70. Mupazviriho, P. (2003) 'Understanding Performance Management in the Public Service', African Journal of Public Administration and Management xiv (1 and 2). 1-9.
71. Niskanen, W.A. (1971) Bureaucracy and Representative Government. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine de Gruyter.
72. Nkrumah, S.A. (1991) 'Towards an Effective Performance Appraisal System in the Ghana Civil Service', Journal of Management Studies, 3rd series Jan-Dec: 30-5.
73. Norman, R. and Gregory, R. (2003) 'Paradoxes and Pendulum Swings: Performance Management in New Zealand's Public Sector', Australian Journal of Public Administration 62 (4). 35-49.
74. Oecd (1995) Governance in Transition: Public Management Reforms in OECD Countries. Paris: OECD.
75. Ohemeng, F.L.K. (2006) 'Getting the State Right: A Contingency Theory of Administrative Reforms in Ontario and Ghana', unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Political Science, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
76. Osborne, D.E. and Gaebler, T. (1993) Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector. New York: Plume.
77. Osborne, D.E. and Plastrik, P. (1997) Banishing the Bureaucracy: The Five Strategies for Reinventing Government. New York: Plume.
78. Osborne, S.P., Bovaird, T., Martin, S., Tricker, M. and Waterston, P. (1995) 'Performance Management and Accountability in Complex Programs', Financial Accountability and Management 11 (1). 19-37.
79. Otley, D. (1999) 'Performance Management: A Framework for Management Control Systems Research', Management Accounting Research 10 (4). 363-82.
80. Owusu, F. (2006) 'Differences in the Performance of Public Organizations in Ghana: Implications for Public-sector Reform Policy', Development Policy Review 24 (6). 693-705.
81. Polidano, C. (2000) 'Measuring Public Sector Capacity', World Development 28 (5). 805-22.
82. Pollitt, C. (2006) 'Performance Management in Practice: A Comparative Study of Executive Agencies', Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 16 (1). 25-44.
83. Pritchard, R.D. and Diazgranados, D. (2008) 'Motivation and Performance Management', in A. Varma, P.S. Budhwar and A. DeNisi (eds). Performance Management Systems: A Global Perspective, pp. 40-54. London: Routledge.
84. Rauch, D. (2006) 'Institutional Fragmentation, Institutional Engineering and the Development of Elderly Care and Childcare in Sweden', Scandinavian Political Studies 29 (4). 285-307.
85. Radin, B.A. (2006) Challenging the Performance Movement: Accountability, Complexity, and Democratic Values. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
86. Robert, N.C. (2002) 'Dialogue and Accountability', Public Administration Review 62 (6). 658-69.
87. Romzek, B. (2000) 'Dynamics of Public Sector Accountability in an Era of Reform', International Review of Administrative Sciences 66 (1). 21-44.
88. Romzek, B.S. and Dubnick, M.J. (1987) 'Accountability in the Public Sector: Lessons from the Challenger Tragedy', Public Administration Review 47 (3). 227-38.
89. Rubiensak, A. and Bovaird, T. (1999) 'Performance Management and Organizational Learning; Matching Processes to Cultures in the UK and Chinese Services', International Review of Administrative Sciences 65 (2). 251-68.
90. Schwartz, A. (1999) Performance Management, Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Education Series.
91. Seel, R. (2000) 'Culture and Complexity: New Insights on Organizational Change', Organizations and People 7 (2). 2-9.
92. Stevens, M. and Teggemann, S. (2004) 'Comparative Experience with Public Service Reform in Ghana, Tanzania, and Zambia', in B. Levy and S. Kpundeh (eds). Building State Capacity in Africa: New Approaches, Emerging Lessons, pp. 43-86. Washington, DC: Work Bank.
93. Stiglitz, J.E. (2003) Globalization and Its Discontents. New York: W.W. Norton.
94. Swank, D. (2001) 'Political Institutions and Welfare State Restructuring: The Impact of Institutions on Social Policy Change in Developed Countries', in P. Pierson (ed.). The New Politics of the Welfare State, pp. 197-237. New York: Oxford University Press.
95. Talbot, C. (2005) 'Performance Management', in E. Ferlie, L.E. Lynn Jr and C. Pollitt (eds). The Oxford Handbook of Public Management, pp. 491-517. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
96. Terry, L. (2005) 'Thinning of Administrative Institutions', Administration and Society 37 (4). 426-44.
97. Therkildsen, O. (2006) 'Elusive Public Sector Reform in East and Southern Africa', in Y. Bangura and G.A. Larbi (eds). Public Sector Reforms in Developing Countries: Capacity Challenges to Improve Services, pp. 53-81. Hampshire: Palgrave.
98. Thynne, I. and Wettenhall, R. (2004) 'Public Management and Organizational Autonomy: The Continuing Relevance of Significant Earlier Knowledge', International Review of Administrative Science 70 (4). 609-21.
99. Tsebelis, G. (1995) 'Decision Making in Political Systems: Veto Players in Presidential, Parliamentarianism, Multicameralism and Multipartyism', British Journal of Political Science 25 (3). 289-325.
100. Tullock, G., Seldom, A. and Brady, G.L. (2002) Government Failure: A Primer in Public Choice. Washington, DC: Cato Institute.
101. Turner, M. and Hulme, D. (1997) Governance, Administration and Development: Making the State Work. West Hartford: CT: Kumarian.
102. Vance, C.M. (2006) 'Strategic Upstream and Downstream Considerations for Effective Global Performance Management', International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 6 (1). 37-56.
103. Varma, A., Budhwar, P.S. and DeNisi, A. (eds). (2008 a) Performance Management Systems: A Global Perspective. London: Routledge.
104. Verhoest, K. (2003) 'Autonomy, Contracting and Competition: What Is their Effect on the Performance of Executive Public Organizations?', paper presented at the EGPA 2003 Workshop for Governance: What Do We Know ?, available at: http://soc.kuleuven.be/io/eng/, accessed on 23 September 2007.
105. Verhoest, K., Peters, B.G., Bouckaet, G. and Verschuere, B. (2004) 'The Study of Organizational Autonomy: A Conceptual Review', Public Administration and Development 24 (2). 101-18.
106. Whitfield, L. and Jones, E. (2006) Ghana: Economic Policymaking and the Politics of Aid Dependence, The Global Economic Program. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available at: www.http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/ papers.php, accessed on 15 September 2007.
107. Wholey, J.S. (1999) 'Performance-based Management: Responding to the Challenges', Public Productivity and Management Review 22 (3). 288-307.
108. Wolf, C. (1993) Markets or Governments: Choosing Between Imperfect Alternatives, 2nd edn. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
109. World Bank (1995) Bureaucrats in Business: The Economics and Politics of Government Ownership. New York: Oxford University Press.
110. World Bank (1996) From Plan to Market: World Development Report. Washington, DC: The World Bank.
111. World Bank (2000) 'The Ghana Governance and Corruption Survey: Evidence from Households, Enterprises, and Public Officials', available at: www.worldbank.org/wbi/governance/ghana/pdf, accessed 30 October 2007.