Network governance and performance measures: Challenges in collaborative design of hybridized environments

Abstract

Measuring performance of public goals can be highly complicated considering that, in the achievement of those goals, governments are no longer directly involved in the delivery of goods and services. Hybridization of public functions, purposes and processes has created new challenges by fragmenting public bureaucratic functions into the hands of multiple players, thus complicating measuring and reporting performance outcomes. This article presents the results of a study that examined performance indicators across multiple public agencies in a large municipal county. The purpose was to assess whether performance measures link organizational collective goals. It specifically addresses the following question: How does the governance of multi-actor networks influence the design of performance measures? The study emphasizes a need for the design of interlinked performance measures in a large networked environment. The findings indicate that design of performance measures remains insular to the organization and does not reflect the hybridized collaboration between various entities.

Keywords:

• performance measures
• complex hybrid networks
• collaboration