Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Subjective and objective measures of organizational performance: An empirical exploration
- 3 All measures of performance are subjective: More evidence on US federal agencies
- 4 A qualitative evaluation of public sector organizations: Assessing organizational performance in healthcare
- 5 Quantitative approaches towards assessing organizational performance
- 6 Consequences of goal ambiguity in public organizations
- 7 Performance control and public organizations
- 8 Bureaucratic red tape and organizational performance: Testing the moderating role of culture and political support
- 9 All that glitters is not gold: Disaggregating networks and the impact on performance
- 10 Network evolution and performance under public contracting for mental health services
- 11 The design and management of performance-based contracts for public welfare services
- 12 Outsourcing government information technology services: An Australian case study
- 13 International comparisons of output and productivity in public service provision: A review
- 14 Public management and government performance: An international review
- 15 What drives global e-government? An exploratory assessment of existing e-government performance measures
- 16 Public management and organizational performance: An agenda for research
- Index
- References
12 - Outsourcing government information technology services: An Australian case study
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Subjective and objective measures of organizational performance: An empirical exploration
- 3 All measures of performance are subjective: More evidence on US federal agencies
- 4 A qualitative evaluation of public sector organizations: Assessing organizational performance in healthcare
- 5 Quantitative approaches towards assessing organizational performance
- 6 Consequences of goal ambiguity in public organizations
- 7 Performance control and public organizations
- 8 Bureaucratic red tape and organizational performance: Testing the moderating role of culture and political support
- 9 All that glitters is not gold: Disaggregating networks and the impact on performance
- 10 Network evolution and performance under public contracting for mental health services
- 11 The design and management of performance-based contracts for public welfare services
- 12 Outsourcing government information technology services: An Australian case study
- 13 International comparisons of output and productivity in public service provision: A review
- 14 Public management and government performance: An international review
- 15 What drives global e-government? An exploratory assessment of existing e-government performance measures
- 16 Public management and organizational performance: An agenda for research
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Over the past two decades governments all around the world have been contracting out services as a key part of public sector reforms. Their objectives initially focused on simple cost-savings, but with experience, broadened to include access to better services and an enhanced capacity for managers to focus on the ‘core business’ of their organizations.
Empirical evidence on the effectiveness of contracting-out services such as refuse collection and cleaning in local government has been widely evaluated, but there is a scarcity of analysis with others. Notwithstanding this, it has almost become an article of faith that outsourcing government services saves resources and improves service quality. But what does the empirical evidence tell us about the outsourcing of major government information technology (IT) services?
This chapter looks firstly at the policy promises made when outsourcing IT services, and reviews the range of global evidence to date on the effectiveness of this technique in the context of the broader outsourcing debate. It then looks in detail at the outcomes of an $AUD1.5 billion outsourcing exercise undertaken by the Australian Federal Government. The empirical analysis of the exercise is contrasted with the political promises made and reasons why savings projections of 15 per cent were not achieved are explored. Finally, the chapter discusses a series of general lessons on the outsourcing of IT in the context of third-way governments increasingly intent on adopting private means for providing public sector services and infrastructure.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Public Service PerformancePerspectives on Measurement and Management, pp. 212 - 232Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
References
- 2
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