David N. Ammons

Improving Local Government Performance through Benchmarking sets the record straight on benchmarking and its value for performance improvement in local government.Benchmarking is a widely adopted public management reform of recent decades; yet, it is often misunderstood by city and county governments; viewed too narrowly; or underappreciated by managers, elected officials, and students of local government for its potential as a tool. This book helps students of public administration and practitioners in local government—municipal and county government executives, department heads, program managers, and management analysts—to better understand the two major types of benchmarking in use by local governments in the US and beyond (metrics benchmarking and best practice benchmarking) and the promise and limitations of each type as tools of performance improvement. It lays out strategic decisions in the design and management of benchmarking projects and highlights common errors to avoid— preparing managers and analysts for greater benchmarking success.Written in an easy-to-read style, this book will provide practical assistance to local government officials and students of public administration who aspire to become practitioners in the future.

This book guides readers to the mastery of a wide array of practical analytic techniques useful to local governments. Written in an easy-to-read style with an emphasis on providing practical assistance to students, local government practitioners, and others interested in local government performance, this updated third edition features analytic methods selected for their relevance to everyday problems encountered in city and county governments.The authors outline a variety of practical techniques including the simplest that the fields of management, public administration, policy analysis, and industrial engineering have to offer. Each analytic technique is introduced in the context of a fictitious case presented over a few pages at the beginning of that technique’s chapter. Contents include demand analysis, work distribution analysis, process flow-charting, inflation adjustments, annualizing capital costs, staffing analysis, identifying full costs of a program or service, present value analysis, life-cycle costing, lease/buy analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, benchmarking analysis, and more.This updated third edition features a dramatic expansion of Excel-based applications, plus templates and exercises accompanying many of the chapters and available online. New chapters prepare readers to:• use statistical tests to identify significant differences in performance averages;• construct Pareto charts;• develop cause-and-effect diagrams;• prepare control charts;• detect possible discrimination in hiring and appointment practices; and• present analytic evidence more effectively.This book is an essential resource for students and instructors of public administration courses on analysis, methods, evaluation, productivity improvement, and service delivery.Online resources for this book, including Excel templates, are available athttps://toolsfordecisionmaking.sog.unc.edu

This book guides readers to the mastery of a wide array of practical analytic techniques useful to local governments. Written in an easy-to-read style with an emphasis on providing practical assistance to students, local government practitioners, and others interested in local government performance, this updated third edition features analytic methods selected for their relevance to everyday problems encountered in city and county governments.The authors outline a variety of practical techniques including the simplest that the fields of management, public administration, policy analysis, and industrial engineering have to offer. Each analytic technique is introduced in the context of a fictitious case presented over a few pages at the beginning of that technique’s chapter. Contents include demand analysis, work distribution analysis, process flow-charting, inflation adjustments, annualizing capital costs, staffing analysis, identifying full costs of a program or service, present value analysis, life-cycle costing, lease/buy analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, benchmarking analysis, and more.This updated third edition features a dramatic expansion of Excel-based applications, plus templates and exercises accompanying many of the chapters and available online. New chapters prepare readers to:• use statistical tests to identify significant differences in performance averages;• construct Pareto charts;• develop cause-and-effect diagrams;• prepare control charts;• detect possible discrimination in hiring and appointment practices; and• present analytic evidence more effectively.This book is an essential resource for students and instructors of public administration courses on analysis, methods, evaluation, productivity improvement, and service delivery.Online resources for this book, including Excel templates, are available athttps://toolsfordecisionmaking.sog.unc.edu

The new edition of this practical reference book gives municipal officials and citizens the benchmarking tools needed to assess and establish community standards for their operations and delivery of services. New to this edition: -Updated charts and data throughout -New chapters "Management Services," "Parking Services," "Risk Management," "Social Services," "Streets, Sidewalks, and Storm Drainage," Water and Sewer Services," "Fleet Maintenance," "Gas and Electric Services" -Expanded coverage including newly adopted performance targets and updated standards for emergency response times for fire, police, and emergency medical service.

Improving Local Government Performance through Benchmarking sets the record straight on benchmarking and its value for performance improvement in local government.Benchmarking is a widely adopted public management reform of recent decades; yet, it is often misunderstood by city and county governments; viewed too narrowly; or underappreciated by managers, elected officials, and students of local government for its potential as a tool. This book helps students of public administration and practitioners in local government—municipal and county government executives, department heads, program managers, and management analysts—to better understand the two major types of benchmarking in use by local governments in the US and beyond (metrics benchmarking and best practice benchmarking) and the promise and limitations of each type as tools of performance improvement. It lays out strategic decisions in the design and management of benchmarking projects and highlights common errors to avoid— preparing managers and analysts for greater benchmarking success.Written in an easy-to-read style, this book will provide practical assistance to local government officials and students of public administration who aspire to become practitioners in the future.