– The purpose of this paper is to expand the research into the “micro-level” of the effects of evidence-based activity on organisational change by focusing on an economic development agency's (EDA's) effort to spread the use of standardised measurements to improve accountability for the use of public funds.
– The authors interviewed 19 key managers and staff of a large British EDA. Participant comments revealed concerns deeper than the technical measurement issue the agency brought in to study. The authors reconceptualised these concerns using the notion of a centre of calculation.
– Although the EDA focused on standardised measurement as a technical issue, the authors find organisational issues such as the need to reconcile differing perceptions of the importance of measurement, a desire to improve organisational learning and a tension between analysts and project managers impeding accountability efforts and delaying agency growth.
– Findings are based on interviews at one agency. The experience, however, suggests these issues are common to public agencies.
– This model reveals technical concerns as part of more complex organisational issues – an understanding that may help public agencies better focus their accountability and development efforts.
– The model the author's introduced informs studies of evidence-based policymaking at the intra-organisational level by showing that the technical aspects of agency work are part of a larger social concern. It also shows how standardisation for the sake of accountability paradoxically helps build agency power.
