Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Evaluation
This Article
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zapico-Goñi, E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Matching Public Management, Accountability and Evaluation in Uncertain Contexts

A Practical Suggestion

Eduardo Zapico-Goñi

Evaluation Unit, DG Budget of the European Commission, zapicobenavides{at}telefonica.net

Whenever policy logic and outcomes are uncertain, the traditional public management reform model, focused on efficiency and effectiveness, seems to be weak. Uncertainty requires not only devolution and follow-up information on results but also the encouragement of an appropriate management approach. Incentives from accountability and performance assessment may facilitate or impede management improvement if they are not coherently oriented. These systems need to be consistent with public managers' roles and circumstances, so that their feedback encourages a management role adequate to contextual characteristics. Uncertainty pressures management to be focused on innovation.This may be reinforced by positive oriented accountability and participatory evaluation. Beyond a conceptual proposal these notes might be a very useful suggestion for public management reform proposals.The example of fighting labour accidents in Spain shows that the model proposed is more pragmatic and feasible than it may sound in theory.

Key Words: management in uncertainty • participatory evaluation • positive accountability

Evaluation, Vol. 13, No. 4, 421-438 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1356389007082130


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?