Developing and validating an instrument to assess performance of public sector organisations: a case study of Malaysian schools

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the procedures followed in developing and validating a context specific instrument to measure the performance of public schools in a Malaysian setting. Design/methodology/approach – The paper adopted the mixed methodology, qualitative and quantitative. The qualitative approach was used at the initial stage of item generation for the instrument while the quantitative method was predominantly used to empirically establish the psychometric properties of the instrument. Findings – The paper finds that the context‐specific instrument is psychometrically sound. The reliability index for all the dimensions are well above 0.75 and the various empirical analysis provide evidence of convergent, concurrent, and discriminant validity as well as dimensionality. Practical implications – The paper provides detailed information on developing and validating a new context‐specific instrument. The method and procedure can be a good reference for researchers interested in developing instruments. Originality/value – The soft system methodology intervention enhances holistic discussion in relation to the focal at the item generation phase. This allows a greater amount of creative debate resulting in a comprehensive list of indicators to be used the instrument.