Практикум по английскому языку для студентов специальности «Государственное и муниципальное управление»

1. Performance measurement is the process whereby an (organization, company, firm) establishes the parameters within which programs, investments, and acquisitions are reaching the desired (results, success).

2. Behn 2003 gives (8, 9, 10) reasons for adapting performance measurements.

3. To Control-how can managers ensure their (subordinates, clerks, workers) are doing the right thing.

4. Organisation create measurement systems that specify particular actions they want execute- for branch employess to take a (particular, special, right) ways to execute what they want- branch to spend money.

5. Giving people significant (goals, tasks, purposes) to achieve and then use performance measures- including interim targets- to focus people’s thinking and work, and to provide periodic sense of accomplishment.

6. To Promote How can public managers convince political (superiors, legislators, workers, stakeholders, journalists, and citizens) that their agency is doing a good job.
3. Work as a class and match the following verbs with nouns:

Performance measurement is the process whereby an organization establishes the parameters within which programs, investments, and acquisitions are reaching the desired results.

Fundamental purpose behind measures is to improve performance. Measures that are not directly connected to improving performance (like measures that are directed at communicating better with the public to build trust) are measures that are means to achieving that ultimate purpose (Behn 2003).

Behn 2003 gives 8 reasons for adapting performance measurements:

1. To Evaluate how well a public agency is performing. To evaluate performance, managers need to determine what an agency is supposed to accomplish. To formulate a clear, coherent mission, strategy, and objective. Then based on this information choose how you will measure those activities. (You first need to find out what are you looking for).

2. To Control how can managers ensure their subordinates are doing the right thing.

Today managers do not control their workforce mechanically. However managers still use measures to control, while allowing some space for freedom in the workforce.

Organisation create measurement systems that specify particular actions they want execute- for branch employess to take a particular ways to execute what they want- branch to spend money. Then they want to measure to see whether the employees have in fact taken those actions. Need to measure input by individual into organisation and process. Officials need to measure behavior of individuals then compare this performance with requirements to check who has and has not complied.

3. To Budget Budgets are crude tools in improving performance. Poor performance not always may change after applying budgets cuts as a disciplinary actions. Sometimes budgets increase could be the answer to improving performance. Like purchasing better technology because the current ones are outdated and harm operational processes. So decision highly influenced by circumstance, you need measures to better understand the situation.

4. To Motivate Giving people significant goals to achieve and then use performance measures- including interim targets- to focus people’s thinking and work, and to provide periodic sense of accomplishment.

Performance targets may also encourage creativity in developing better ways to achieve the goal (Behn) Thus measure to motivate improvements may also motivate learning.

Almost-real-time output (faster, the better) compared with production targets. Quick response required to provide fast feed-back so workforce could improve and adapt.

5. To Celebrate Organisations need to commemorate their accomplishments- such ritual tie their people together, give them a sense of their individual and collective relevance. More over, by achieving specific goals, people gain sense of personal accomplishment and selfworth.

6. To Promote How can public managers convince political superiors, legislators, stakeholders, journalists, and citizens that their agency is doing a good job.

(National Academy of Public Administration’s center for improving government performance- NAPA 1999) performance measures can be used to: validate success; justifing additional ressources; earn customers, stakeholder, and staff loyalty by showing results; and win recognition inside and outside the organisation.

7. To Learn Learning is involved with some process, of analysis information provided from evaluating corporate performance (identifying what works and what does not). By analysing that information, corporation able to learn resons behind its poor or good performance.

However if there is too many performance measures, managers might not be able to learn anything. (Neves of National Academy of Public Administration 1986).

• Because of rapid increase of performance measures there is more confusion or “noise” than useful data.

• Managers lack time or simply find it too difficult to try to identify good signals from mass of numbers.

Also there is an issue of “black box” enigma (data can reveal that organisation is performing well or poorly, but they don’t necessarily reveal why). Performance measures can describe what is coming out of “black box” as well as what is going in, but they do not reveal what is happening inside. How are various inputs interacting to produce the output. What more complex is outcome with “black box” being all value chain.

8. To Improve What exactly should who- do differently to improve performance? In order for corporation to measure what it wants to improve it first need to identify what it will improve and develop processes to accomplish that.

Also you need to have a feedback loop to assess compliance with plans to achieve improvements and to determine if those processes created forecasted results (improvements).

Improvement process also related to learning process in identifying places that are need improvements.

Develop understanding of relationships inside the “black box” that connect changes in operations to changes in output and outcome.

Understanding “black box” processes and their interactions.

• How to influence/ control workforce that creates output.

• How to influence citizens/ customers that turn that output to outcome (and all related suppliers).

They need to observe how actions they can take will influence operations, environment, workforce and which eventually has an impact on outcome.

After that they need to identify actions they can take that will give them improvements they looking for and how organisation will react to those actions ex. How might various leadership activities ripple through the “black box”.
5. Answer the following questions.

1. What is performance measurement?

2. What reasons does Behn give for adapting performance measurements?

3. What do managers need to determine to evaluate performance?

4. What measurement systems can organisations create?

5. What is efficiency determined by?

6. What primary aim should be behind the measures?

7. What does celebration help to improve?

8. What do managers need to convince citizens their agency is doing good?
6. Complete the following sentences using the text.

1. Fundamental purpose behind measures is … .

2. Measures that are not directly connected to improving performance are … .

3. To evaluate performance, managers need to … .

4. Organisation create measurement systems that … .

5. Officials need to measure behavior of individuals then … .

6. Poor performance not always may change … .

7. Celebration helps to improve … .

8. To convince citizens their agency is doing good, managers need … .
Vocabulary

7. Read and remember the following words and word-combinations:

significant, measured, desired, outcomes, to minimize, assessed, valuable, important, to eliminate, meaningful, appraisal, evaluation, results.

declining, effective, useless, rarely, to pay attention, supervisors, improving, to ignore, the best, meaningful, the worst, meaningless, frequently, strategic, operational, subordinates, equilibrium, extremes.

ful – meaning, use.

al – operation, historic, distribution, structure.

ive – effect, correct, object.

All significant work activity must be measured.

• Work that is not measured or assessed cannot be managed because there is no objective information to determine its value. Therefore it is assumed that this work is inherently valuable regardless of its outcomes. The best that can be accomplished with this type of activity is to supervise a level of effort.

• Unmeasured work should be minimized or eliminated.

• Desired performance outcomes must be established for all measured work.

• Outcomes provide the basis for establishing accountability for results rather than just requiring a level of effort.

• Desired outcomes are necessary for work evaluation and meaningful performance appraisal.

• Defining performance in terms of desired results is how managers and supervisors make their work assignments operational.

• Performance reporting and variance analyses must be accomplished frequently.

• Frequent reporting enables timely corrective action.

• Timely corrective action is needed for effective management control.

If we don’t measure ……

• How do you know where to improve?

• How do you know where to allocate or re-allocate money and people?

• How do you know how you compare with others?

• How do you know whether you are improving or declining?

• How do you know whether or which programs, methods, or employees are producing results that are cost effective and efficient?

• Heavy reliance on summary data that emphasizes averages and discounts outliers.

• Heavy reliance on historical patterns and reluctance to accept new structural changes (or re-design of processes) that are capable of generating different outcomes, like measuring the time it takes them to do a task.

• Heavy reliance on gross aggregates that tend to understate or ignore distributional contributions and consequences.

• Heavy reliance on static, e.g., equilibrium, analysis and slight attention to time-based and growth ones, such as value-added measures.
13. Answer the following questions.

1. What kind of work activity must be measured?

2. Why cannot the work that is not measured be managed?

3. What must desired performance outcomes be established for?

4. How often must performance reporting be accomplished?

5. What is timely corrective action needed for?

6. What happened if we don’t measure our activity?

7. What are common problems with measurement systems that limit their usefulness?

1. All significant work activity must be … .

2. Work that is not measured or assessed cannot be managed because … .

3. Desired outcomes are necessary for work … .

4. Defining performance in terms of desired results is … .

5. Frequent reporting enables … .

6. How do you know whether or which programs, methods, or employees are producing results … .

7. Common problems with measurement systems that limit their usefulness are … .

Редактор Ю.Ю. Аптрашева

Компьютерная верстка – Т.А. Бурдель
ИД № 06039 от 12.10.2001 г.

Сводный темплан 2011 г.

Подписано в печать 12.04.2011 . Формат 60×84 ¹/₁₆. Бумага офсетная.

Отпечатано на дупликаторе. Усл. печ. л. 2,5. Уч.-изд. л. 2,5.

Тираж 70 экз. Заказ 283 .

_________________________________________________________

Издательство ОмГТУ. 644050, г. Омск, пр. Мира, 11; т. 23-02-12

Типография ОмГТУ