A search for theory: Performance management to improve transportation safety

This dissertation responded to a big, two-part question in public administration. First, can public managers use performance information to improve performance? Second, to what extent do societies know that public institutions are producing desirable results?;Constant comparative analysis identified high level concepts and themes of a theory of performance based management. Department of Transportation's (DOT) widely praised approach to implementing the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) to improve transportation system safety outcomes was the source of the theory. Different contextual conditions presented different challenges to five operating administrations using performance information to achieve a common outcome. The elements of the underlying theory of DOT's approach to using performance information to improve safety outcomes were: (1) Systems thinking focused inquiry on both social and technical dimensions of problem solving. (2) Top-down direction supported by bottom-up goal setting, strategy development, and implementation facilitated organizational commitment. (3) Reflection on why implementation strategies did not achieve goals facilitated learning as the principal use of performance information. (4) Collaborative processes that included stakeholders and government managers facilitated learning from the individual level to the institutional level. (5) Partnerships among government and non-government organizations facilitated diffusion of knowledge to improve outcomes at federal, state, and local levels.;Performance information was also used to improve accountability, to improve internal management, to increase public confidence in the capability of the federal government, and to improve congressional decision making.;Application of the theory of DOT's approach suggested a less linear process model than recommended by the U.S. General Accounting Office. Also, uses for performance information would be continuous and reflective rather than proceeding through the sequential action steps in the current model. Leadership and facilitation activities at the departmental level would be coupled with collaborative and systematic learning in organizations. Institutional as well as organizational measures of performance would reflect the complex constitutional, societal, and managerial conditions for performance based management at the federal level.;Additional research is needed to more fully explain how each of the theory's elements influences performance outcomes over the long term.