| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 288.02 KB | Adobe PDF |
Authors
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
There has been a growing interest in research on performance measurement and
management practices, which seems to reflect researchers’ response to calls for the
need to increase the relevance of management accounting research. However, despite
the development of the new public management literature, studies involving public
sector organizations are relatively small compared to those involving business
organizations and extremely limited when it comes to public primary health care
organizations. Yet, the economic significance of public health care organizations in the economy of developed countries and the criticisms these organizations regularly face from the public suggests there is a need for research. This is particularly true in the case of research that may lead to improvement in performance measurement and management practices and ultimately to improvements in the way health care organizations use their limited resources in the provision of services to the
communities.
This study reports on a field study involving three public primary health care
organisations. The evidence obtained from interviews and archival data suggests a
performance management practices in these institutions lacked consistency and
coherence, potentially leading to decreased performance. Hierarchical controls seemed
to be very weak and accountability limited, leading to a lack of direction, low motivation and, in some circumstances to insufficient managerial abilities and skills.
Also, the performance management systems revealed a number of weaknesses, which
suggests that there are various opportunities for improvement in performance in the studied organisations.
Description
Keywords
Management in health centres