What is a Results/Performance Based Delivery System?

This resource is an invited presentation to the European Parliament committee on regional development. It touches on the questions of what it means to have a results-oriented system; why this is important and what it involves; and how the EU Cohesion policy can move towards this. The presentation emphasises the fact that a results oriented approach is a new way of thinking and managing and necessarily involves placing the focus on outcomes rather than process in all aspects of management and planning. It discusses the appropriate use of indicators in a results-oriented system, while acknowledging their limitations and urging that effective results-orientation needs more than just indicators to be meaningful.

Excerpt

Dangers of misuse of performance indicators

  • Goal displacement.
  • Varying interpretations of definitions.
  • Distorted or inaccurate data.
  • Meaningless and irrelevant data.
  • Cost shifting to other areas vs. actual cost savings.
  • Critical subgroup differences are hidden.
  • Do not take into account the larger context.
  • Same limitations as other objective-based approaches to evaluation.
  • Useless, by themselves, for making decisions (e.g. do not provide information about the reasons forgiven findings).
  • Can result in less, rather than more, of a focus on outcomes.

(Perrin 2011)

Sources

Perrin, B. (2011, May 26). What is a Results/Performance Based Delivery System?. Invited paper to the European Parliament Committee on Regional Development (REGI), Brussels. Retrieved from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/201112/20111214ATT34149/20111214ATT34149EN.pdf