Attending to Mission-extrinsic Public Values in Performance-oriented Administrative Management: A View from the United States

In the United States, the academic fields of public administration and public management are diverging. Public management focuses primarily on the orthodox values of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, favorable benefit–cost ratios, and performance measurement. It is also concerned with the “tools” of public management and the key elements of contemporary collaborative governance, including outsourcing, designing contracts, managing and monitoring contractors, and steering within the framework of networks. It views accountability from the perspectives of obtaining results (outcomes) and creating value for money. Results are overwhelmingly defined in terms of core mission objectives and the operations that are ancillary to their achievement, such as deploying financial, human, and other resources efficiently and cost-effectively. Public administration is also interested in all of the above. However, it retains the field’s historic interest in public values and processes. This analysis contends that although mission-extrinsic public values can be difficult to measure, a balanced scorecard approach is feasible. Moreover, failure to incorporate such values into contemporary performance-oriented public management risks impeding their attainment and adversely affecting the quality and character of government and administration.