Is Decentralisation Compatible with the Application of Performance Management? The Impacts of Minimum Service Standards on the Motivation of Local Government to Improve Service Delivery in the Indonesian Decentralised System
Journal Title: Journal of Regional and City Planning - Year 2018, Vol 29, Issue 2
Abstract
The extent to which decentralisation is compatible with effective performance management that is able to influence the motivation of public sector bodies has been a subject of limited attention in the academic literature. This paper contributes to that limited debate by investigating the extent to which minimum service standards (MSS), a performance management tool directed at local government service delivery, influences the motivation of local governments in highly decentralised systems, such as that in Indonesia. The two research questions are: (a) what influence does MSS have on the motivation of local governments to improve their service delivery performance, and (b) to what extent does decentralisation influence the implementation of performance management. The information used to answer these questions is taken from semi-structured interviews with eighty-three respondents from central government, district and city governments, and the non-governmental sector. The results of this study show that MSS, with its characteristic minimum thresholds, can lead to different patterns of motivation in local governments to improve service delivery. However, MSS only motivates better performance amongst those local governments whose current performance falls just below the required standard. It does not appear to motivate those who are well above or well below the standards. This study also showed the limitations of centrally led performance management systems like MSS to improve performance. They are constrained by the decentralised nature of the system, wherein the autonomy of local governments has to be respected. This implies that decentralisation is, to some extent, not compatible with effective performance management and attempts to improve local service delivery, which requires strong enforcement and effective incentives. However, this does not mean that MSS has no impact at all. Although the impact is limited, MSS, to an extent, helps to improve central-local dialogue in service delivery. This could be a good starting point for the improvement of public services in districts and cities in the future.
Authors and Affiliations
Mohammad Roudo
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP548021
- DOI 10.5614/jrcp.2018.29.2.5
- Views 152
- Downloads 0
A Dynamic Model for Sustainable Tourism Village Planning Based on Local Institutions
Regional development involves optimizing the utilization of the region’s resources in an integrated and harmonious way. This regional development is realized through a comprehensive approach that includes physical, econo...
Social Ties and the Migration Decision of Temporal Migrant Workers
Social capital is a multi-faceted concept and is connected to all human interactions. We have simplified human interaction among three agents (young, adult, and old) and tried to develop an economic approach between soci...
Consideration of Tourism Riverfront Development Elements for Pekanbaru City Transformation
Pekanbaru is the capital of Riau which is well known as a business city with a strategic location between the trade routes of Sumatera. The city obviously has Siak River as its tourism potential. However, the river, whic...
A Critical Review of Indonesia’s Agrarian Reform Policy
Inequality in the agrarian structure in Indonesia remains a serious problem. Agrarian reform efforts have been the spirit of Indonesia since the enactment of the Basic Regulations on Agrarian Principles Act (UUPA). Howev...
Analysis and Design of a Human Resources Performance Measurement System for the Nutmeg Oil Agro-industry in Aceh
This article aims to develop a model of human resources (HR) performance measurement for the nutmeg oil (Myristica fragrans) agro-industry in Aceh based on the Human Resource Scorecard (HRSC) method. The study uses the R...