If you are not content to merely declare performance goals in mission statements or to rest your hopes on performance measurement to bring about change, find out how to lead an active strategy to push your organization toward improved performance. Leading Performance Management in Local Government walks you through a brief overview of performance measurement, and then delves into successful performance management practices. This collection of readings on performance measurement and management is packed with strategies and guidance from noted experts on leadership in government. Book jacket. ICMA Press is a leading publisher of books, reports, survey research, training materials, and other resources used by local government management professionals, municipal and county associations, and colleges and universities. Book jacket.

Managing Local Government: An Essential Guide for Municipal and County Managers offers a practical introduction to the changing structure, forms, and functions of local governments. Taking a metropolitan management perspective, authors Kimberly Nelson and Carl W. Stenberg explain U.S. local government within historical context and provide strategies for effective local government management and problem solving. Real-life scenarios and contemporary issues illustrate the organization and networks of local governments; the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of city and county managers; and the dynamics of the intergovernmental system. Case studies and discussion questions in each chapter encourage critical analysis of the challenges of collaborative governance. Unlike other books on the market, this text’s combined approach of theory and practice encourages students to enter municipal and county management careers and equips them with tools to be successful from day one.

Silver Winner of the 2009 Excel Award from the Society of National Association Publications (SNAP) This could very well be one of the most valuable books in your collection¿it¿s packed with more than 70 exclusive case studies featuring successful performance management practices from local governments that belong to ICMA¿s Center for Performance Measurement (CPM). This information is not available from any other resource. Written by CPM staff, the case studies in What Works: How Local Governments Have Made the Leap from Measurement to Management illustrate how performance measurement promotes positive change in 15 different service areas in local government. Cases are one to three pages long, making them a convenient, quick read.

Provides a comprehensive theoretical and practical framework for informing budget decisions based on the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery. The authors enliven the text with references to their original research and personal experiences with performance measurement, citizen satisfaction surveys, and financial management practices. This edition includes increased coverage of cost accounting procedures and of citizen participation in performance management.

Ammons (public administration, U. of North Carolina) put together this guide to benchmarks for mayors, city council members, city managers, department heads, management analysts, and citizens who want a measuring rod for local government services. He includes national standards, engineered standar