“A little bit of everything?” Conceptualising performance measurement in hybrid public sector organisations through a literature review

Lode De Waele,Tobias Polzer,Liselore Berghman,Arjen Van Witteloostuijn

doi:10.1108/jpbafm-05-2020-0075

Abstract

PurposeNumerous of today's public sector organisations (PSOs) can be characterised as hybrids. Hybridity is caused by different (at times conflicting) demands that stem from the institutional environment, which is likely to affect performance measurement in these organisations. This paper focuses on the relationship between hybridity and organisational performance, which has so far not been studied in detail.Design/methodology/approachBased on a literature review (final sample of 56 articles), the authors systematise performance dimensions alongside the pillars “economy”, “efficiency”, “effectiveness” and “(social) equity”. The article summarises results in a framework for measuring performance in hybrid PSOs. The authors outline strategies as to how public managers can tailor frameworks to the requirements and idiosyncrasies of organisations.FindingsSince hybrid PSOs combine logics from different administrative models (Weberian bureaucracy, market-capitalism and democracy), so need their organisational performance measurement systems. Potential synergies from and frictions between the different performance dimensions related to the four pillars are discussed.Originality/valueThis is the first literature review on performance dimensions and their application in hybrid PSOs. The distilled “hybrid performance measurement framework” can be scrutinised and further refined in future research.

Highlights

The context in which today’s public sector organisations (PSOs) operate has become increasingly complex over the last decades, not least because of competing demands stemming from the institutional environment
Results were reduced to articles in English and the research-area “public administration” for the reason (1) that the primary focus of the current paper is on the public sector, (2) that including other research areas resulted in a list of mostly irrelevant articles and (3) to ensure internal validity of the findings brought forward since the public sector differs greatly from the private sector in terms of performance measurement
We reflected on a number of potential synergies from and frictions between different performance dimensions that might come to the front in hybrid PSOs

Summary

Introduction

The context in which today’s public sector organisations (PSOs) operate has become increasingly complex over the last decades, not least because of competing demands stemming from the institutional environment In their responses to complexity, governments frequently employ strategies to accommodate and integrate these (sometimes conflicting) institutional demands, resulting in hybrid organisational forms (Mair et al, 2015; Pache and Santos, 2013, Vakkuri and Johanson, 2018). Such “hybrid organisations” are commonly referred to as instantiating what scholars refer to as “conflicting logics” within their organisational core (Battilana and Lee, 2014; Smith and Besharov, 2019).

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Conclusion