Putting Communication and Soft Tools into Managerial Scoring Scope: Hurdles and Opportunities for Combining Communication and Managerial Insights (KPIs)

This chapter takes a critical look at the use of quantitative indicators, operationalised in tools such as a Balanced Scorecard (BSC), in public sector management. The selection of information on which to manage an organisation is a difficult question for any organisation; however, this is particularly difficult in the public sector. Where most private organisations ultimately have one unambiguous goal, public organisations’ objectives are more complex. Using a case study of the public services division of the municipality of Amsterdam, the chapter explores the way in which quantitative data are used, and uncovers five challenges in the management information cycle, focusing on (1) the limited scope of insights that can be expressed in quantitative data, (2) steering or accounting for the performance of an organisation, (3) the social goals that are inherently part of public organisations’ objectives, (4) the ethical dimension of the ever larger body of information that can be measured and (5) the acknowledgement of the difference between regular and custom services. Based on these findings the chapter works towards a new structure for management information (and communication), looking to overcome the above-mentioned challenges.