Current accounting forum focuses on several issues related to performance management mechanisms in public sector organizations. The speaker for this forum was Prof. Zahirul Hoque, an established and reputaed Professor in management accounting and public sector accounting from La Trobe University, Australia. The moderator for this event is Surya Raharja, Ph.D. lecturer from Department of Accounting, Universitas Diponegoro.
Prof. Hoque discussed several important issues including modern public administration paradigms, new public management reforms, hybrid organizations, accountability forms, public sector governance, outcomes based approaches to performance management and some reflections on the issues and challenges that were faced by the researchers in the area. Regarding outcomes based approach, it is expected that national goals should be aligned with operational level objectives. On the other hand, a framework for eliminating the overlapping and redundant programmes must be provided and thus may yield a basis for better integrated monitoring and evaluation systems. However, he also added that outcomes based approach takes the focus off measuring what’s been done to what’s been achieved. Furthermore, it is a challenge for government agencies because it requires a very strong support and very specific skill for the people involved.
After more than 2 hours of discussions and followed with questions and answers from the audience, Prof Hoque concluded the seminar with the issues and challenges faced by the use of outcomes based approach in performance evaluation. The issues include the presence of methodological uncertainties, risk and measurement and management, quality and integrity of public spending and the difficulities measuring the integrated processes, whereby inputs, processes and outputs are interlinked.