Private and public services: productivity and performance migration

Purpose – When comparing and contrasting features of the public service sector with those of the private service sector, the differences between the notions of customer and citizen, notable in the past, are now blurring. Whilst acknowledging the important differences that exist between the two service sectors, the authors seek to address the recent structural changes in the public service sector that aim to adopt best practices taken from the private into the public sector. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate on the important differences in public and private service delivery processes; with an emphasis on the need for improved definitions. Design/methodology/approach – The literature reviews undertaken were qualitative synthesis in nature. Content analysis was undertaken and applied in reviewing 39 literature of sub‐fields of public and private service delivery, published in English‐speaking peer‐reviewed journals. Findings – Based on the literature review, a promising approach for public sector productivity might be the disaggregated approach. Such an approach, focusing on the output components at a tactical level, could alleviate the problems related to public service productivity measurement (i.e. the problem of output definition). In particular, it could help define outputs at the operative level. Such measures could then percolate up to the strategic level (by aggregating the operative level results). Clearly this remains an interesting challenge for the productivity and performance management discipline and worthy of greater examination. Research limitations/implications – The authors compared and contrasted appropriate performance and productivity tools and highlight the challenges in adopting performance and productivity measures in the public sector in an attempt to become more efficient and effective. Until greater understanding is gained, there is little likelihood of successfully transferring models of productivity and performance management between the sectors or the development of appropriate models. Originality/value – To date, there has been inadequate attention given to identifying, comparing and contrasting the significant differences between the organisations that deliver the public funded services and those in the commercial private services sector. This work highlights specific areas for future research.