1. Institute of Local Government Studies Performance decline and turnaround in public organisations: A theoretical and empirical analysis 17 February 2005 Pauline Jas & Chris Skelcher http://www.inlogov.bham.ac.uk/research/recoveryresearch.htm

2. Institute of Local Government Studies Components of CPA Service performance Available information: inspection reports, i.e. Best Value Corporate assessment or ability to improve Trying to achieve Delivering priorities Achieved to date Lessons learnt

3. Institute of Local Government Studies Research design 3 year evaluation + action-learning 5 in-depth cases + 10 overview cases Cases pre-defined by CPA 3 rounds of interviews, observations, surveys, etc. Specific research investigations – interim managers, political mentors, outsourcing/partnerships etc. Dissemination to policy and academia

4. Institute of Local Government Studies Process of theory building Highly iterative Within case analysis – cross case comparison Shaping hypotheses – evidence, logic, explanation Enfolding literature – conflicting, similar Theoretical saturation (Eisenhardt, 1989)

5. Institute of Local Government Studies Proposition 1 Public organisations typically exhibit fluctuations in performance achievement over time. This is explained by inertial effects within the organisation, accentuated by the conditions of publicness to which it is exposed. ‘Success breeds failure’ Avoiding public U-turns Holding on to out-dated best practice

6. Institute of Local Government Studies Proposition 2 Organisations defined as poorly performing at the aggregate level exhibit a range of performance levels across their individual functions. This is due to loose coupling between the service functions and the corporate centre. Internal variation Departmentalisation Accidental rather than systemic good management

7. Institute of Local Government Studies Proposition 3 Performance decline is associated with a judgement about a public organisation’s alignment with institutional norms in its environment. ‘Institutional fit’ Perception, reputation Prescriptive best practice

8. Institute of Local Government Studies Performance trajectories High Low Time Performance Disjunction between normal turnaround and permanent failure

9. Institute of Local Government Studies Proposition 4 In times of performance decline, turnaround will be self- initiated to the extent that the organisation’s political and managerial leadership is (a) cognisant of poor performance, and (b) has sufficient leadership capability to address the need for change. Awareness of actual performance Balance political/managerial leadership

10. Institute of Local Government Studies Proposition 5 Cognisance of poor performance is limited by (a) weaknesses in the feedback mechanisms, and (b) particular characteristics of political leadership Performance management systems Contact with peers, residents, partners Democratic system

11. Institute of Local Government Studies Proposition 6 The ability to act on performance information is dependent upon leadership capability to (a) overcome the motivational investment in the status quo, and (b) resolve collective action problems in the organisation Reluctance to change Defence mechanisms Groups with divergent interests

12. Institute of Local Government Studies Proposition 7 Turnaround in permanently failing organisations will be effective to the extent that external pressure is able to facilitate an orientation towards creating leadership capability for improvement ‘stress inertia’ Steer in the right direction Engagement rather than intervention

13. Institute of Local Government Studies Implications Differentiated improvement strategies vs. normative model Performance trajectories – organisational ecology Political mechanisms – electoral processes, external pressure of one level of democratically elected government over another