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This paper illustrates how soft systems methodology (SSM) was used in undertaking an audit of an analysis method—Micro-Analysis—for improving effectiveness and efficiency in a particular area of policing known as ‘protective services’. The authors were asked to support the Regional Project Director tasked with exploring options for collaboration between North Yorkshire Police, South Yorkshire Police, West Yorkshire Police and Humberside Police. SSM was used to develop a reference model relevant to protective services which, together with information categories for each of the SSM activities and conceptual measures of performance, was used to analyse the efficacy of Micro-Analysis by comparing and contrasting information content. The paper further explains the importance of the use of other techniques and tools to overcome the information richness and to meet the need for flexibility of data representation. Finally, the paper reflects on the deliverables and achieved outcome of the project and suggests some further application of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction, to the following set of four papers, discusses the origins of performance indicators as used as a tool to promote police accountability. It discusses different ways of conceptualising what police officers do and how it should be measured. It describes the use of community surveys and other new ways of measuring what the police do and discusses some of the problems inherent in trying to measure performance. The paper provides some examples of how performance indicators are being used in the developed world, and then transitions to how they are being used in some developing countries as well and introduces the four case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Candidate and Officer Personnel Survey (COPS) (Guller & Guller, 2003) was developed as a predictor of job performance in public safety candidates. Three studies were conducted to collect normative data for the COPS, to evaluate the reliability of the scales, and to investigate the concurrent validity of the instrument. Reliability coefficients were generally fair to excellent. Concurrent validity was quite good for the discrimination of promotional versus problematic officers. The results suggest the COPS's potential as a predictor of public safety officers' performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While evaluators have considered accountability pressures and examined the consequences of performance measurement for organizations, they have paid less attention to the accountability relationship in which their work is used. Drawing on theoretical literature and empirical data, this article shows how these accountability relationships drive the use of evaluative frameworks, like performance measurement, and shape the consequences for the organizations involved. The article argues that in settings permeated by accountability concerns, evaluators need to understand these accountability relationships that so significantly shape their work, especially if they hope to improve accountability systems or create the space for evaluation to serve other important purposes. This article provides evaluators with a set of questions and points of analysis that they can use to examine accountability relationships and expand what is possible for evaluation in settings where accountability is the dominant concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the method to enhance user's job performance in relation to the use of tangible reward as motivation for accurate scheduling performance. This assesses the possible impact and development on user's task valuation when motivation is uploaded. This is undertaken relevant to the inaccurate performance of users to reach actual runtime schedule. In particular, the study deals on the grid high-performance computing environment, highlighting the user-provided job script containing essential configuration information. Furthermore, information that aims to improve accuracy and completeness of users performance, despite the less impact of reward is undertaken.

Health care policy-makers and researchers need to pay more attention to understanding the influence of motivation on professional behaviour. Goal setting theory, including two hypotheses – the business case and the pride case – dominates current attempts to motivate professionals. However, the predominance of goal setting theory stifles other approaches to conceptualizing professional motivation. These approaches include other cognitive theories of motivation, such as self-determination theory (concerned with how to use extrinsic rewards that enhance intrinsic motivation), as well as content, psychoanalytic and environmental theories. A valuable opportunity exists to develop and test such theories in addition to possible hybrids, for example, by elaborating goal setting theory in health care. The results can be expected to inform health policy and motivate individual professionals, groups, organizations and workforces to improve and deliver high quality care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]