Performance measurement practices in Canadian government departments: a survey

This paper reports on a survey of performance measurement practices within a sample of Canadian government departments. The empirical findings indicate that performance measures were frequently used in the sample organisations and that these measures were, mainly, used to enhance programme effectiveness but the reporting was largely voluntary. Output measures were, mainly, reported to internal management although they were subjected to a verification process, mainly, by the auditor general. Overall, the elements of the new public management (NPM) have evolved to a large extent within the sample organisations while the results of the implementations are more conditioned by the understanding of the measures used than the availability of resources.