Institutional Logics in Police Performance Indicator Development: A Comparative Case Study of Spain and Finland

Abstract

Police performance is not easily measurable and the organization and circumstances of police work vary among European countries. Further, police work is surrounded by multiple pressures to make it both economical and effective. Consequently, there are multiple institutional logics in decision-making which may affect the selection and the use of police key performance indicators (KPIs). The KPI selection and use processes reflect the institutional logics, though KPI use may also sometimes influence the institutional logics of police work. In this study, we analyze the KPIs and institutional logics in police work in Finland and Spain. A comparative case research approach is used in order to highlight the differences in institutional logic emphases and in circumstances. Data from semi-structured interviews, internet reports, project work, and discussions are used. Both similarities and differences in the KPIs and in the institutional logic emphasis are found between the Finnish and Spanish police. Understanding the partly general and partly locally constructed nature of institutional logics may facilitate the development of police work performance measurement. We also suggest ways of coping with multiple institutional logics. For example, risk analyses and selecting KPIs against the current institutional logic may facilitate organizational developments.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Salvador Carmona, Markus Granlund, Robert Scapens, Louise Kloot, Roger Smith and the two anonymous reviewers for their most valuable comments and support. In addition, we would like to thank the interviewees for their helpful answers.

Notes

¹Wittgenstein (1963, p. 85e, paragraph 217) notes that when explicit justifications (decision-making rationales) for following a rule have run out, there is only the tacit area of taken-for-granted (i.e. institutionalized) ways of practical behaviour left: ‘This is simply what I do.’ Bourdieu (1990, p. 11) notes that ‘logic of practice can only be grasped through constructs which destroy it’ [it is no longer tacit and the concept may be inaccurate]. However, by making the institutional logics in police work visible we may facilitate learning and improve managerial decisions, performance and its predictability. The different institutional logics of police work are for example based on the different education, interests, and priorities of police officers, managers, politicians, and other stakeholders and can affect KPI selection and use.

²For example, the city of Madrid was the biggest project participant, see http://www.femp.es/Portal/Front/ContenidoDetalle/_N1w1oXtNSY0yhZhONawjegNOR9ZAAkyj-XeD-dOaxcQ.

³In Finland there was no common KPI pilot project with the police and the researchers. Telephone discussions, emails, and reports were used to gain an understanding of police work and KPI developments.