THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

Abstract

The performance of public services is a current and continuously expanding topic, debated both by academic researchers and practitioners, being a complex concept that can be defined from several perspectives, because a large number of activities must be managed, which to match users' interests. The concept of performance has gone through a remarkable evolution in the last decades, because, at the beginning, the definitions attributed to performance referred to financial indicators, but over time, non-financial indicators were also taken into account, which proved to be indispensable for good functioning of the organization, but, above all, for public sector institutions that must demonstrate social responsibility. The performance of services is viewed differently from public sector institutions, because there are different management, objectives, needs and costs. The increase in competitiveness between institutions, the decrease in funding from public sources and the pressure exerted by interested parties on public sector organizations led the management of institutions to the careful and periodic monitoring of internal processes and the results obtained. The definition of performance in the context of public institutions cannot be dissociated from the measurement process, being an activity of collecting, analyzing, reporting and using information regarding the inputs, outputs and results of the public institution. Demonstrating the assumed responsibility of the institution towards internal and external users is achieved with the help of the performance measurement process. Information on the performance of the public institution is provided with the help of financial and non-financial indicators, and the identification of the most relevant indicators for each activity is an important step. The reporting of information on the performance of services is a component of assumed public responsibility, through which the efficiency of management, the way of allocating public resources and spending public funds is demonstrated. The use of information on the performance of services helps to improve the processes of the public institution and to establish objectives. The present research is positioned in the public sector, in the area of public services, at the intersection of the fields of control, accounting and management, in a niche segment, less explored, namely the performance of public sector services. The research ends with the exposition of the main conclusions drawn from the scientific approach carried out and the own contributions brought to the state of knowledge for the studied field are presented, and at the end we have surprised the limits of the research and future research perspectives. The main objective of this paper is the theoretical analysis of the performance measurement process in the public sector, at the current stage of scientific research. The research ends with the exposition of the main conclusions drawn from the scientific approach carried out and the own contributions brought to the state of knowledge for the studied field are presented, and at the end we have surprised the limits of the research and future research perspectives.