Using performance measures in public organisations: challenges of Italian public administrations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the main challenges related to the use of performance measures in public organisations in order to identify the factors affecting the adoption and implementation of performance measurement systems. The empirical analysis is focused on the Italian Institutions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper is based on a two‐stage research process. First a systematic literature review has been carried out with the aim of identifying the factors enabling and hampering the adoption of performance measures in public organisations. Second on the basis of the results of the desk analysis a survey‐based investigation has been implemented involving Italian public institutions. Findings – The paper provides a twofold contribution. It analyses the factors affecting the adoption and implementation of performance measures in public organisations. On the other hand it presents the descriptive statistical results of the survey highlighting the position of Italian institutions with regard to the use of performance measures. This allows an assessment of the cultural, political and rational factors influencing the deployment of measures in Italian institutions. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual analysis has a general validity, whilst the empirical investigation is focused on the Italian context. The framework proposed in this paper allows the identification of the factors affecting the exploitation of performance measures in public organisations. It can be applied in any public organisational context. The empirical evidence is context‐specific and related, in particular, to the Italian local governments. Some main managerial implications are addressed that can support managers to apply performance measurement systems in public organisations. Originality/value – The paper sheds light on a fundamental issue related to the implementation of performance measurement systems in public organisations. It addresses what are the factors that matter in order to make sure that performance measures are effectively employed to run everyday working activities. Indeed in many public organisations PMSs are something nice to have, but with little practical application.