Connecting the dots between performance management and red tape perceptions

Abstract

We know little about how performance management matters for red tape perceptions. Some argue that performance management will reduce burdensome rules, while others portray performance targets and registrations as sources of red tape perceptions. This article examines how performance management regime change—from external accountability to internal learning—matters for frontline staff red tape perceptions. Using a three-year trial set-up in Danish hospitals, we examine how a formal institutional reform of the performance regime affects the red tape perceptions of employees. We find no evidence of effect. In addition, the paper develops empirically grounded hypotheses about how performance management practices of supervisors matter for red tape perceptions. Our empirical exploration generates hypotheses for further testing about the relationship between performance information use for respectively learning and external advocacy and perceptions of red tape. Managerial practices are, hence, a promising avenue for connecting the dots between performance management and red tape.