Calling Attention to the Nature of Professional Knowledge and Its Impact on Perceptions of Performance Measures

Author:  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

E-ISSN: 1532-4265|38|6|397-409

ISSN: 0190-0692

Source: International Journal of Public Administration, Vol.38, Iss.6, 2015-05, pp. : 397-409

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Abstract

Public administration literature pays little attention to public employees’ perceptions of performance measures. The present article studies the nature of their professional knowledge and its impact on the perception of performance measures. A multilevel regression confirms that Danish high school teachers relying on interpretive knowledge traditions perceive performance measures more negatively than teachers relying on science-based traditions. Since we have no reason to question the transferability of this finding, we argue that research needs to take the nature of employees’ professional knowledge into consideration if we are to fully understand the effects of performance measurement in the public sector.