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Performance Management in Public Sector Organizations: A Bibliometric

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International Journal of Organizational Leadership 12(First Special Issue - 2023) 115-141
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF
ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP
WWW.CIKD.CA
journal homepage: https://www.ijol.cikd.ca
Performance Management in Public

Sector Organizations: A Bibliometric
Analysis
Sandeep Roy1*, Prakash C Bahuguna2, Neeraj Rawat3
1,2,3
School of Business, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES), India
ABSTRACT
Keywords: The field of performance management in public sectors has witnessed substantial growth
Performance management; in its literature, indicating the need for a systematic literature review. Over time,
Performance measurement; scholars have employed diverse approaches to reviewing this body of work. Previous
Public sector; Bibliometric systematic reviews conducted in 2004 and 2014 have shed light on the changes in
analysis research and practice that have occurred since then. In order to explore the most
recent advancements in performance management in the public sector, bibliometric
Received analysis of the research papers indexed in the Scopus database are reviewed and
30 July 2023 presented in this paper. This study aims to identify emerging research directions in this
Received in revised form field by performing content analysis on relevant articles. In recent years, bibliometrics
25 August 2023 has gained significant traction as a prominent area of research. Scholars have increasingly
Accepted turned to literature reviews and keyword analysis to synthesize and integrate the vast
09 September 2023 body of work accumulated over the past three decades in this field. By employing
bibliometrics techniques, the aim is to explore the trends and patterns prevalent in
literature. Following the study's objectives, the authors conducted a comprehensive
*Correspondence: literature review using relevant keywords to capture the breadth and depth of research
[email protected] in the field. Using Scopus, a well-established academic database, 868 documents were
initially identified. However, after applying strict exclusion criteria, the list was refined to
209 documents, ensuring the selection of the most relevant studies. To further refine the
selection and focus on articles with a strong academic standing, the research papers of
journals having Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) ranking of B and above were
considered. Consequently, a subset of 88 articles emerged as the final sample for detailed
analysis using VOS Viewer, a powerful tool for conducting thorough bibliometric
investigations. The findings of this study present a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of
the available literature on performance management in public sectors. While conducting
a systematic examination of the available research, this study presents the major
thematic clusters within the performance management domain in public sectors.
Additionally, the analysis sheds light on the research fronts, providing valuable insight
into the current research areas in performance management in public sectors and a
roadmap for future research.
©CIKD Publishing
116 Roy et al.
Introduction
India is becoming one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and to sustain this
momentum, organizations need to perform effectively. The most important factor
contributing to the performance of an organization is its human resources. Human resources'
individual and collective contribution grows multi-fold through an effective performance
management system. Performance parameters for different types of organizations may vary.
However, the relevance of performance management is unquestioned whether it is a business
for-profit or not-for-profit, in the industry, services or agriculture sectors, traditional or new
age, education or research, or any ownership. Performance management is relevant to any
business where we can think of a product, service, or customer and where human effort is
involved.
An effective Performance Management System (PMS) enables organizations to provide
direction to their employees in alignment with their strategic objectives through efficiently
utilizing resources, systems, and processes. Regular review and feedback of these systems
provide early alarms to the managers of any possible issues or roadblocks for them to take
immediate corrective action and avoid any pitfalls.
Most competitive enterprises have established effective PMS. For example, GE's CEO
Jack Welch was successful in transforming his organization and taking it to much greater
heights mainly because he could provide direction to all the GE employees to work towards
the same objective and to their best efforts, resulting in achieving their top performance
(Amernic et al., 2007). A similar quote from Henry Ford also describes the same sentiment:
'Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; and working together is a
success.'
Despite the importance of effective PMS, it still needs a relook in several organizations.
One part is that such organizations need help to perform efficiently. The other critical part is
that they need more agility to respond to technological advancements, market changes, or
ensuing competition (Carpi et al., 2017).
The first principle for an effective PMS is, 'what gets measured gets done.' (Wilson et al.,
2006). The performance of all employees and teams of an organization must be measured
objectively and accurately. In order to achieve this, each individual and team should have a
clearly defined job description reflected in key result areas, objective targets, and
measurement standards for each job role. They should be aligned from top to bottom with the
organization's strategic objectives. Actual performance should be reviewed against respective
targets periodically by the managers, and any deviations, especially on underperformance,
should be discussed for implementing corrective action. It is equally important that
overperformance is duly acknowledged and periodically rewarded.
India's public sector organizations contribute around 14% of the gross domestic product.
Large capital-intensive infrastructure projects developed by public sectors attract
investments, create employment and other opportunities, and strengthen the economy. Public
sector organizations began as envisaged in the second five-year plan (1956-60) and industrial
policy, 1956, focusing on building the economy through industrialization.
Public sectors in India have grown from 5 numbers in 1951 to 389 numbers in 2023,
which forms a large profitable setup of central and state government organizations and their
International Journal of Organizational Leadership 12(First Special Issue - 2023) 117
subsidiaries (BSE PSU website). In order to maintain and enhance performance on a

sustained basis, public sectors need to learn how to assign targets, measure, evaluate, and
suitably punish or reward employee performance. The public sector must also deal with these
performance management challenges like any other private organization since they are under
continuous pressure to demonstrate improved performance year-on-year.
Public sector employees have much longer tenure in the organization than private sector
employees, who change jobs every 3-4 years. This is because the public sector recruits only
at the junior level and employees are internally promoted till the senior level with very
limited lateral recruitments, only for specialized roles. Moreover, the public sector is
governed by the policies formulated by a government that are uniform across all public
sectors; salary structure, promotion policy, increments, and other perks and benefits are fixed
and predefined. Even policies related to performance management are administered by the
government, e.g., implementation of a bell curve in rating while evaluating employee
performance, vacancy-based promotions, no rewards, etc. This leaves little room for the
public sector to improve performance management systems.
Additionally, public sectors have an obligation towards society, for which certain projects
are undertaken purely for the benefit of society, without getting into a cost-benefit analysis.
Still, the public sector has to compete with the private sector, which puts additional pressure
on the performance of public sector employees. Hence, performance management challenges
and methodologies are completely different in the public sector vis-à-vis the private sector,
and identifying factors contributing to performance management specific to the public sector
is of utmost importance.
Though the challenges faced by all public sector organizations are similar, there is no
standard model or technique to address these in different types of organizations, different
geographies, cultures, sizes, and nature of business or use of technology by these
organizations (Pulakos et al., 2008). Academicians and industry have put forth diverse forms
and models of PMS that have evolved over the years. There are numerous concepts, opinions,
theories, and practices; therefore, there is a need to review the literature on performance
management in the public sector.
Though authors have earlier reviewed the literature in this field using systematic or
narrative review methodology or paradigm funnel approach (Schleicher et al., 2018), the
number of publications on the topic has been increasing since then. Today, more efficient
approaches like bibliometric analysis can handle large amounts of data (Ramos et al., 2004).
Bibliometric analysis is conducted for voluminous contents, using statistical tools and
visual analytics to depict the topic overview and carry out a study using scientific methods
(Donthu, Kumar, Mukherjee et al., 2021). A study of many publications spread over a long
period is best conducted using bibliometric analysis (Baker et al., 2021; Cuccurullo et al.,
2015). Rodríguez-Bolívar et al. (2018) conducted a bibliometric analysis of the last 5-year
publications in JCR journals to study e-Participation research's evolution and analyze its
impact using science mapping.
The trend of publications for the last 30 years has been analyzed for their citations,
methodological preferences, intellectual structure, and research fronts of authors in the field
to review the literature on performance management in the public sector using bibliometric
analysis (Donthu, Kumar, Pandey et al., 2021, Tiwari et al., 2022, Bahuguna et al., 2023).
118 Roy et al.
Keyword co-occurrence and science mapping are used to identify major clusters and central
themes of clusters.
In the following sections, we discuss the research methodology, performance analysis,
methodological and research analysis, and intellectual structure of the topic through cluster
identification and research front themes. Following the analysis, we suggest future research
directions and research questions for future study.
Method
We conducted a bibliometric analysis to review the research undertaken on performance
management in public sector organizations, as bibliometric analysis is an effective technique
to review and map the research.
Techniques for Analysis

Donthu, Kumar, Mukherjee et al. (2021) suggest that bibliometric analysis comprises
performance analysis and science mapping. Therefore, this study also presents its findings in
two parts. The first section presents the findings in terms of the most contributing authors,
most influential journals, most prolific universities, and most contributing countries, followed
by a subsequent section on science mapping to identify themes based on keyword network
clusters and arrive at research fronts (Cobo et al., 2011).
The top 20 contributing authors and the top 20 most influential articles are identified
based on their publications and citations. Likewise, analysis of the methodological and
research focus of the publications is undertaken to study the most preferred research
approaches, statistical techniques used, and types of data collection methods. The
publications are also studied for their global coverage and sectoral focus (Gupta et al., 2006).
Science mapping includes the articles' intellectual structure and research fronts through
keyword co-occurrence study. It is implicit that the same keyword appearing in two or more
publications indicates that, conceptually, those publications have a co-relation (Callon et al.,
1983). Thus, the analysis of the same keywords appearing in multiple articles leads to gaining
insight into the similarity of their topics (Castriotta et al., 2019). Based on the keyword co-
occurrence analysis, the main topics are segregated into different clusters, and the central
theme of research for each of these clusters is ascertained (Zou et al., 2018).
Degree Centrality is used to study the centrality of the co-occurrence of keywords in
multiple articles. The degree of a keyword node is the number of social connections
(connections with other keywords in the network) it has. Another measure of the co-
occurrence of keywords is the Total Link Strength, which has weight attributes based on the
number of connections to other linked keywords. These measures are calculated for the
bibliographic data using VOS Viewer to arrive at the clusters. The central themes of clusters
are defined through the highest occurring keywords within the cluster, their degree of
centrality, and total link strength in the respective clusters. Figure 1 details the research
methodology used.
Figure 1
Methodology Used for Bibliometric Analysis
We have used the Scopus database for sourcing literature in this social science study in
line with accepted norms. We used an approach with three stages that involved the
formulation of search terms, article extraction, and data cleaning to find articles that comprise
a majority of public sector performance management research literature from 1990 to 2023.
Web of Science and Scopus are the primary and most comprehensive databases that offer
citation indexing of social science publications. Both databases index their journal holdings
on a cover-to-cover basis and offer the best coverage at a journal, article, and cited reference
level. However, Scopus has 60% more coverage than Web of Science (Comerio & Strozzi,
2019). Scopus comprises the largest peer-reviewed literature of abstract and citation
databases. It offers the best choice among databases considering recall and average citation
count at the article level (Norris & Oppenheim, 2007). Scopus database also contains the
keywords used by authors in their publications (Pesta et al., 2018). A total of 868 publications
were displayed by Scopus for search in the titles and abstracts using the keywords
'performance management' and 'public sector'.
Literature Search Criteria

To identify clusters and their mutual inter-relation, bibliographic data extracted from Scopus
was analyzed. The publications were shortlisted using the keywords 'performance
120 Roy et al.
management' and 'public sector'. While searching the Scopus database, synonyms and related
words have also been considered, thereby expanding the publications considered while
carrying out bibliometric analysis. The keyword strings and variations considered are
'performance measurement'; 'performance appraisal'; 'performance assessment'; 'performance
evaluation'; 'job performance'; 'personnel management'; 'key performance indicators';
'balanced scorecard'; 'human resource management'; 'organizational performance'; 'public
administration' and 'government'.
The Scopus library displayed a total of 868 publications covering the topic of performance
management in public sectors. Filters were applied to include only social science research
and exclude articles in a language other than English. While eliminating articles other than
English, the number of publications not considered for analysis is 17 out of 868 (1.9%). The
analysis of non-English papers could not have been very accurate in view of language
limitations and dependence on translation would have added another possible inaccuracy.
Considering very limited number of publications not evaluated, the impact on the accuracy of
analysis is not very significant.
After applying inclusion-exclusion criteria, 228 articles were extracted. Further strict
exclusion criteria were applied to include only the articles after removing reviews, books,
conference papers, and notes. Thus, 209 articles were shortlisted for further processing. To
further refine the selection and focus on articles with strong academic standing, the research
papers with an ABDC listing B and above ranking were considered. Consequently, a subset
of 88 articles emerged as the final data set for bibliometric analysis using the VOS Viewer, a
powerful tool for conducting thorough bibliometric investigations (van Eck & Waltman,
2010). Articles published in the last four years were studied to arrive at the research fronts of
the authors (Andersen, 2021).
Performance Analysis
Publication Trend
Figure 2 presents the year-wise trend of publications from 1990 till 2023 on performance
management in public sectors. As can be seen, the number of publications per annum has
increased considerably since 2005. There were only 0.8 publications per annum from 1990
till 2004 (initial 15 years), which went up to 4.0 from 2005 till 2023 (last 19 years). The
number of citations per annum has also increased from 46.4 to 121.6 between the two
corresponding periods. This increase in publications and citations after 2005 is attributed to
increased competition for public sectors from Private Sectors because of increased
globalization. The trend would have resulted in pressure on Public Sectors to improve
performance, and thereby need for much more focus on effective performance management
in Public Sectors, which reflected in the interest of scholars and academicians through a
higher number of publications.
Figure 2
Trend of Year-wise Number of Publication and Total Citations
Performance Management in Public Sectors
10 300
9
8 250
7 200
Publications
Cited by
5 150
4
3 100
2 50
1
0 0
1990
1992
1994
1997
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Publications Cited by
Most Prolific Authors

Figure 3 presents the details of the top 20 most prolific authors. The most cited authors in the
field are Boland and Fowler (2000), with 167 citations. One hundred forty-four authors cite
Fryer et al. (2009), Linna et al. (2010) published two articles and got 67 citations, followed
by Nyamori and Gekara (2016). A total of 902 authors cited the publications of the top 20
most prolific authors. Thus, on average, each publication by the top 20 authors has been cited
by 90 other authors. More than 124 other authors cite the top 5 publications of most prolific
authors.
Figure 3
Top 20 Most Prolific Authors with Their Citations and Publications
Author wise Publications and Citations

180 3
160
140
Publications
120 2
Cited by
100
80
60 1
40
20
0 0
Fryer K.
Boland T.
de Bruijn H.
Freedheim S.
Linna P.
Pekkola S.
de Vries M.
Nyamori R.O.
Hoque Z.
Ogden S.
Buick F.
Fowler A.
Nemec J.
Antony J.
O’Donnell M.
Melkas H.
Jääskeläinen A.
Ukko J.
Sillanpää V.
Tendler J.
Cited by Publications
Most Contributing Universities

The Top 20 most Contributing Universities, to whom publications are affiliated for the
development of topics covering performance management in public sectors, were identified
122 Roy et al.
through analysis of shortlisted publications. Figure 4 outlines the graph providing names of
the top 20 universities.
The Tampere University of Technology, Tampere, Finland, tops the list. Tampere
University contributed four articles on this topic and got 102 citations. The next highest
contribution is through Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, United Kingdom, with
three publications and 208 citations, followed by The World Bank Group, Washington, DC,
United States (N = 3, 142 citations).
Other affiliations with a high number of citations are from Radboud University, Nijmegen,
Netherlands, and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. It is noteworthy
that almost a similar number of authors have also cited some universities that have
contributed less in publications than those with more publications. This trend signifies that
these universities have also focused on the relevant issues faced by others on the topic of
study.
Figure 4
Top 20 Most Contributing Universities with Their Publications and Citations
5 Most Contributing Universities 250

4 200
3 150
Publications
2 100
Cited by
1 50
Radboud…
Abu Dhabi…
Lappeenranta…
La Trobe…
Victoria University…
Flinders University…
The University of…

Tampere…
Glasgow…
University of…
University of…
University of…
University of…
University of…
University of…
The World Bank…
Delft University of…

University of New…
Loughborough…
The Auckland…
0 0
Contribution Cited By
Most Contributing Countries

Figure 5 presents the details of the top 20 most contributing countries. The most prolific
country from which authors have contributed the highest number is the United Kingdom. A
total of 20 publications cited by 755 authors are from the United publications Kingdom. The
second highest contributing country is Australia, which authored 11 publications with 265
citations.
The next on the list is the USA. Authors from the United States have published 10 articles
with 208 citations. The noteworthy point is a positive association between the number of
publications and citations. This trend indicates these countries' concerted efforts to promote
performance management in public sectors.
Figure 5
Top 20 most Contributing Countries and their Publications and Citations
Publications and Citations by Country

25 800
Publications
20 600
Cited by
15
400
10
5 NETHERLA… 200
SAUDI…
SOUTH…
NEWZEAL…
UNITED…
UNITED…
0 0
MALAYSIA
SPAIN
SWEDEN
FINLAND
VIETNAM
SINGAPORE
ITALY
AUSTRIA
JAPAN
CANADA
GREECE
UAE
AUSTRALIA
SLOVENIA
Most Contributing Outlets

Figure 6 presents the details of top 20 most contributing journals. International Journal of
Public Sector Management is the topmost contributor, with 28 publications and 1416
citations. The next on the list is Public Administration and Development, with contributions
of 11 publications and 178 citations. The data is further analyzed for publications in journals
with strong academic standing. Out of the Top 20 most contributing journals, 12 publications
are in reputed journals having ABCD ranking of A or A*.
Figure 6
Top 20 Most Prolific Journals and Their Publications and Citations
Publications and Citations by Journals

30 1600
25 1400
1200
Publications
20 1000
Cited by
15 800
10 600
400
5 200
Critical Perspectives on…
Public Administration and…
Knowledge Management…
Business Strategy and the…

International Journal of Cross…
International Journal of Public…
International Journal of Public…

Review of Public Personnel…
International Journal of…

Journal of Public Budgeting,…
Transportation Research Part D:…
Transportation Research Part A:…

VINE Journal of Information…
0 0
World Development
Safety Science
Journal of Business Ethics

Long Range Planning
Public Policy and Administration
Local Government Studies
Public Personnel Management
124 Roy et al.
Most Cited Publications

We analyzed the Top 20 most cited Publications covering the topic of performance
management in public sectors for all publications since 1990. Table 1 presents the top 20
most cited articles "A systems perspective of performance management in public sector
organizations," "Performance Management in the public sector," "Performance Measurement
in the public sector: Strategies to Cope with the Risks of Performance measurement," "Trust
in a rent-seeking world: Health and government transformed in Northeast Brazil" and "Public
sector reform: an overview of recent literature and research on NPM and alternative paths"
are the top five articles with 167, 144,140,131 and 124 citations respectively.
Table 1
Top 20 Most Cited Publications on Performance Management in Public Sectors
Total Citations
Author(s) Title Year Journal
Citations per Year
Boland & A systems perspective of performance 2000 International Journal of Public 167 7.3
Fowler management in public sector Sector Management
organizations
Fryer et al. Performance management in the 2009 International Journal of Public 144 10.3
public sector Sector Management
de Bruijn Performance measurement in the 2002 International Journal of Public 140 6. 7
public sector: Strategies to cope with Sector Management
the risks of performance measurement
Tendler & Trust in a rent-seeking world: Health 1994 World Development 131 4.5
Freedheim and government transformed in
Northeast Brazil
de Vries & Public sector reform: an overview of 2013 International Journal of Public 124 12.4
Nemec recent literature and research on NPM Sector Management
and alternative paths
Alam Siddiquee Public management reform in 2006 International Journal of Public 91 5.3
Malaysia: Recent initiatives and Sector Management
experiences
McAdam et al. Performance management in the UK 2005 International Journal of Public 87 4.8
public sector: Addressing multiple Sector Management
stakeholder complexity
Northcott et al. Using the balanced scorecard to 2012 International Journal of Public 79 7.2
manage performance in public sector Sector Management
organizations: Issues and challenges
Mwita Performance management model: A 2000 International Journal of Public 78 3.4
systems-based approach to public Sector Management
service quality
Rantanen et al. Performance measurement systems in 2007 International Journal of Public 70 4.4
the Finnish public sector Sector Management
Wisniewski & Performance measurement for 2004 International Journal of Public 63 3.3
Stewart stakeholders: The case of Scottish Sector Management
local authorities
Try & Radnor Developing an understanding of 2007 International Journal of Public 61 3.8
results-based management through Sector Management
public value theory
Habersam et al. Knowledge balance sheets in Austrian 2013 Critical Perspectives on 57 5.7
universities: The implementation use, Accounting
and re-shaping of measurement and
management practices
Leonard 'Pockets' of effective agencies in weak 2010 Public Administration and 56 4.3
governance states: Where are they Development
likely and why does it matter?
Blom et al. One HRM Fits All? A Meta-Analysis 2020 Review of Public Personnel 49 16.3
of the Effects of HRM Practices in the Administration
Public, Semipublic, and Private Sector
Holguín-Veras State of the art and practice of urban 2020 Transportation Research Part A: 48 16.0
freight management Part II: Financial Policy and Practice
approaches, logistics, and demand
management
Brown et al. Change management practices: Is a 2003 International Journal of Public 47 2.4
hybrid model a better alternative for Sector Management
public sector agencies?
Gao Performance Measurement and 2015 Public Administration and 45 5.6
Management in the Public Sector: Development
Some Lessons from Research
Evidence
van der Hoek et Goal Setting in Teams: Goal Clarity 2018 Review of Public Personnel 43 8.6
al. and Team Performance in the Public Administration
Sector
Ohemeng Constraints in the implementation of 2009 International Journal of Cross 41 2.9

performance management systems in Cultural Management
developing countries: The Ghanaian
case
Analysis of Methodological and Research Focus

We conducted an in-depth study for performance analysis of publications. For this, we
analyzed the methodological and research focus of publications as detailed in Table 2, which
provides the research approach of publications for three consecutive periods of 11 years each
and a full period since 1991. We studied global coverage and sectoral focus of publications
for similar periods, as detailed in Table 3.
Table 2 - Section 1 shows that the publications have primarily adopted a qualitative
approach in 43.2% of publications. Authors have adopted a qualitative approach in 75% of
publications during the initial 11-year period. Thus, the authors are mainly using a qualitative
research approach in the performance management domain.
Table 2 - Section 2 presents the preferred data collection types, viz.; Archived Data,
Qualitative Interviews, Quantitative Survey, Case Study Approach, etc. The highest 31.8% of
all publications have preferred to collect data from archives. During initial publications, the
authors mostly preferred qualitative interviews for data collection for 37.5% of the
publications. This data collection method corroborates with the qualitative research approach
adopted by the authors, as detailed above.
Table 2 - Section 3 shows the preference of statistical techniques used for data analysis by
authors, viz.; descriptive methods, regression analysis, etc. It is noted that mainly descriptive
methods are used by authors in 53.4% of the publications. The authors’ use of descriptive
statistical techniques in publications is consistent with the qualitative research approach and
archival data collection method and is very logical for publications in the social science
domain.
Table 2 - Section 4 presents the choice of the methodology used in the publications, viz.;
systematic literature review, modelling, and analytical method, conceptual method, etc. The
analysis reveals that authors have given equal importance to a conceptual method and
modelling at 25.0% each, consistently for the entire period. Researchers in the initial period
focused on literature review in 50% of publications, which subsequently reduced to 20.5%
over time, indicating that with the advent of new methodology and voluminous published
data, the authors have shifted focus to adopt newer methodologies, which are more analytical.
Table 2 - Section 5 details the research focus of publications for three consecutive periods
and for the full period. We have analyzed the purpose of the research, whether theory
126 Roy et al.
building, theory verification or application of concepts in existing situations in accordance

with the study carried out by Gupta et al. (2006). The research focus of the majority of
publications is for application in real-life situations, though its contribution has reduced from
75.0% initially to 41.7% recently. Theory building is the next higher focus, with 35.2% of
authors contributing to this area.
It is inferred from the analysis of methodological and research focus above that the
publications in performance management have mainly used qualitative approach, relied on
archived data in addition to qualitative interviews for data collection, and have focused on
application of concepts in existing situations using descriptive methodology.
Table 2
Methodological and Research Focus of Publications
Period of Study 1991–2001 2002–2012 2013–2023 Full Period
Section 1: Research Approach
Qualitative Research 75.0% 50.0% 33.3% 43.2%
Mixed (Quali and Quanti) 12.5% 31.3% 31.3% 29.5%
Quantitative Research 12.5% 18.8% 35.4% 27.3%
Section 2: Data Collection Type
Archived Data 25.0% 31.3% 33.3% 31.8%
Quantitative Survey 12.5% 31.3% 33.3% 30.7%
Case Study Approach 12.5% 18.8% 14.6% 15.9%
Qualitative Interviews 37.5% 12.5% 8.3% 12.5%
Laboratory Data 12.5% 6.3% 10.5% 9.1%
Section 3: Statistical Techniques
Descriptive Methods 75.0% 53.1% 50.0% 53.4%
Regression Analysis etc. 12.5% 15.6% 35.4% 26.1%
Others 12.5% 31.3% 14.6% 20.5%
Section 4: Methodology
Conceptual Method 25.0% 25.0% 25.0% 25.0%
Modelling and Analytical 25.0% 31.3% 20.8% 25.0%
Systematic Literature Review 50.0% 15.6% 18.8% 20.5%
Empirical Study 0.0% 12.5% 20.8% 15.9%
Mixed 0.0% 15.6% 14.6% 13.6%
Section 5: Research Focus
Application 75.0% 40.6% 41.7% 44.3%
Theory Building 12.5% 40.6% 35.4% 35.2%
Theory Verification 12.5% 18.8% 22.9% 20.5%
The global coverage and sectoral focus of publications are analyzed in Table 3. We have
analyzed publications based on their global coverage and sectoral focus.
Table 3 - Section 1 details the percentage contributions of authors for publications with a
single or multi-country focus. It is noted that 73.9% of publications cover studies for a single
country. This tendency is visible throughout the period of study and indicates that multi-
country studies are very limited, providing scope for future researchers to focus on the same.
Table 3 - Section 2 indicates that publications focus mainly on studies for Europe and
Asia. 35.4% of publications cover Europe, and 29.2% cover Asia, considering an entire
period of study. Other continents covered are Africa and Australia, with 12.3% and 10.8%
contributions respectively.
Table 3 - Section 3 depicts that the focus of publications on the service sector, like
municipalities, healthcare, etc., is consistently higher at 53.4%. Applicability of publications
to both service and manufacturing sectors is 35.2 %. The study of performance management
in the service sector has been adequately covered since performance measurement in these
sectors is subjective and mainly based on feedbacks through surveys, etc. Hence, future
studies may focus more on manufacturing and other sectors.
Table 3
Global Coverage and Sectoral Focus of Publications
Period 1991–2001 2002–2012 2013–2023 Full Period
Section 1: Global Coverage (Country Coverage)
Single Country 62.5% 78.1% 72.9% 73.9%
Multi Country 37.5% 21.9% 27.1% 26.1%
Section 2: Global Coverage (Continents Coverage)
Europe 0.0% 40.0% 37.1% 35.4%
Asia 20.0% 28.0% 31.4% 29.2%
Africa 20.0% 12.0% 11.4% 12.3%
Australia 20.0% 8.0% 11.4% 10.8%
North America 20.0% 12.0% 8.6% 10.8%
South America 20.0% 0.0% 0.0% 1.5%
Section 3: Sectoral Focus
Service Sector 50.0% 53.1% 54.2% 53.4%
Both Service and Manufacturing 50.0% 31.3% 35.4% 35.2%
Manufacturing Sector 0.0% 15.6% 10.4% 11.4%
Intellectual Structure through Science Mapping

The bibliographic data of 88 abovementioned articles from quality journals were further
analyzed using VOS viewer to identify and study the clusters. The cluster summary of
articles on performance management in the public sector is presented in Table 4. The central
theme of clusters and the ranking of keywords in each cluster is detailed in Table 5. Total
occurrences (TO) of keywords, their degree centrality (DC), and total link strength (TLS) for
relative importance are studied to decide the central theme of each cluster.
Table 4
Cluster Summary of Performance Management in Public Sector
Performance New Public Performance
% Connection Public Sector Local Government
Measurement Management Management
Cluster #1 59.5 13.5 8.1 8.1 10.8
Cluster #2 16.7 58.3 8.3 12.5 4.2
Cluster #3 9.4 34.4 31.2 12.5 12.5
Cluster #4 5.9 35.3 17.7 23.5 17.6
Cluster #5 31.0 33.3 14.3 7.1 14.3
%K 23.1 23.1 19.2 19.2 11.5

%DC 24.8 22.7 18.7 18.7 13.1
Note. %K = percentage of keywords and %DC = percentage of links in the cluster.
The inter-relationship among different clusters is summarized in Table 4. The data reveals
that 31.0% of keyword links in cluster #5 (performance management) are related to keywords
in cluster #1 (performance measurement), meaning that the topics are strongly related. An
organization’s performance management encompasses performance evaluation, which
consequently is possible through performance measurement. Similarly, the relation between
cluster #4 (local government) and cluster #2 (public sector) is established, as 35.3% of
keyword links are connected. Hence, the connections seem very logical.
Cluster Analysis
Cluster #1: Performance Measurement: Most used keywords in this cluster are 'public sector
organizations' and 'performance measurement'. 23.1% of total keywords and 24.8% of
128 Roy et al.
network links are connected to the keywords in this cluster. This cluster's top two most used
keywords appear in 20 articles and are connected to 21 unique keywords. The total link
strength of these two keywords is 41, indicating the high importance of these keywords in the
cluster. Other keywords in the cluster are 'change management,' 'performance measures,' and
'performance management systems.'
Keyword analysis of Cluster #1 reveals that public sector organizations adopted several
tools to measure performance over the years but failed to incorporate performance
information into their management practices or to properly use it for either internal or
external purposes (Melo & Mota, 2020). This indicates that useful strategies and tools are
developed for public sector performance improvement, but implementation has been a
challenge in developed as well as developing countries. It is important to better understand
how to overcome the challenges in implementation. Two key factors are the commitment of
the operative level and the suitability of the chosen measurement tool (Jääskeläinen &
Sillanpää, 2013).
Cluster #2: Public Sector: The Highest occurring keyword in this cluster is ‘public sector’.
23.1% of total keywords and 22.7% of links in the network are connected to the keywords in
this cluster. The keyword ‘public sector’ occurs in 29 documents and is connected to 18 other
unique keywords. Other related keywords in the cluster are ‘accountability’, ‘knowledge
management’, and ‘organizational performance’. These keywords indicate the factors that
have a major impact on the performance of public sectors. Employees’ performance
management is often promoted as an innovation to improve public sector performance, but it
is hard to implement globally. Performance management conflicts with the aspects of
traditional culture. Accountability positively impacts performance management innovation,
and interpersonal relationships rooted in traditional cultures negatively impact it. Servant and
entrepreneurial leadership styles moderate these relationships (Anh et al., 2022).
Public sector organizations implement knowledge management processes to a great extent.
Knowledge management processes have a significant positive impact on innovation, quality,
and operational performance of the public sector, but the strength of this impact is found to
differ across different public sector organizations (Balasubramanian et al., 2020). The
importance of public sector performance has increased multifold over the last two decades,
owing to increased competition. Thus, authors have started focusing on factors that have a
major impact on the performance of the public sector.
Cluster #3: New Public Management 'new public management' is the topmost keyword in
this cluster. This cluster contains 19.2% of the keywords, with 18.7% of links in the network
connected to its keywords. 'New public management' appears in 11 articles and is connected
to 12 unique keywords. According to the link strength criterion, another important keyword is
'public sector reform' with a total link strength of 19. Thus, this cluster's central theme is
related to public sector reforms through new public management policies. Other keywords in
the cluster are 'civil service reform', 'governance', and 'public administration.'
Countries have adopted and implemented New Public Management (NPM) public sector
reforms based on the business models of organization and management. Experiences in
various countries demonstrate that the inherent individualistic aspects of NPM-related
performance management do not suit the context of countries with a collective culture
(Ugyel, 2021).
The authors have deduced that NPM has two dimensions: minimization of the role of
government vis-à-vis society and improvement of the internal performance of the public
sector. The approach has to be different from one-size-fits-all recommendations, as witnessed
in past decades (de Vries & Nemec, 2013). During the last two decades, the public sector has
come under increasing pressure to improve performance and demonstrate greater
transparency and accountability, resulting in a shift of focus on performance (Brown et al.,
2003).
Cluster #4: Local Government: The Most occurring keywords in this cluster are
'performance' and 'local government.' It contains 19.2% of the keywords, with 18.7% links
connected to the keywords in this cluster. These top two most occurring keywords appear in
21 articles and are connected to 33 unique keywords with a total link strength of 41.
According to the total link strength criterion, the most important keyword in the cluster is
'local government.' Other keywords in the cluster are 'service delivery' and 'public sector
management.' Accordingly, the cluster’s central theme is the performance of local
government and the impact of public sector management in service delivery.
Due to the change in needs and demands of a larger society and the diverse nature of
business, the public sector requires environmental scanning for the successful alignment of
competitive strategies (Tajuddin & Ahmad, 2013).
Governments seek to create conditions for better performance of local administration.
However, the relationship between different political governance arrangements and local
authorities' performance is not demonstrated (Fenwick & Miller, 2012).
Organizational capacity to perform is a measure that is positively related to the managers'
perceptions of service performance (Björk et al., 2014). Hence, the reason for the focus of
authors on service delivery through effective public sector management and its impact on
local government is unstated.
Cluster #5: Performance Management Important cluster with 11.5% keywords and 13.1%
links in the network connected to the keywords in the cluster. The highest occurring keyword
in this cluster is 'performance management', which appears in 28 articles and is connected to
19 unique keywords with a total link strength of 54. Another keyword in the cluster is
'developing countries.'
The delivery of public services in developing countries is over-centralized, reducing the
accountability of employees. This leads to undesirable decisions and mismanagement of
performance and resources at the expense of the public. The performance management model
should be adopted as a universal remedy for improving the service quality of the public sector
(Mwita, 2000).
Performance management is a key parameter in modern public sector governance.
However, the implementation of PMS in many countries is affected by several institutional
and capacity constraints such as culture, institutional fragmentation, public apathy, and
leadership support, making it difficult for many of them to realize the benefits of PMS
(Ohemeng, 2009).
130 Roy et al.
Performance management has failed because of employees' negative perceptions and

management's exclusion of employees from its development. Studies on the relationship
between employee perception of performance management and its effectiveness in the public
sector are limited. Management must value employee perception since it is unlikely that
employees would be willing to take an active part in implementing a change with which they
disagree or see no value (Ohemeng et al., 2018).
Challenges in implementing an effective Performance management system are far too
many. Authors over the years have focused on different aspects of performance management
and its implementation. Though there are a good number of studies on PMS as a whole, the
focus on the implementation of specific tasks is very limited.
Cluster #6: Balanced Scorecard The only keyword in this cluster is ‘balanced scorecard’.
This cluster contains 3.9% of the keywords and 2.0% of links connected to this keyword
appearing in 3 articles and connected to 4 unique keywords. The total link strength of this
keyword is 8. The balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and performance management
framework that translates the strategic objectives of an organization into four categories:
financial & physical, customer, internal process, and learning & growth with interconnections
amongst them and is percolated down to each department within the organization.
The perceived balanced scorecard utility is dominated by performance measurement and
reporting, while the performance management role of the balanced scorecard remains
relatively under-exploited. The articles identify users' perceptions of key challenges impeding
balanced scorecard implementation in the public sector and highlight its significance for both
theory and practice (Northcott & Ma'amora-Taulapapa, 2012).
A balanced scorecard links strategic objectives and performance measures across four
components, cascaded down to every department, and is a very effective tool for a common
understanding of strategy across the organization (Irwin, 2002).
The authors have emphasized the implementation of a balanced scorecard in the public
sector for strategic performance management.
Table 5
Central Theme of Clusters and Ranking of Keywords in Each Cluster
Cluster #1 Cluster #2 Cluster #3
(Performance Measurement) (Public Sector) (New Public Management)
Ranking of Ranking of Ranking of
TO DC TLS TO DC TLS TO DC TLS
Keywords Keywords Keywords
public sector new public
13 12 27 public sector 29 18 49 11 12 23
organizations management
performance public sector
7 9 14 accountability 4 7 9 8 12 19
measurement reform
employee
change civil service
4 9 11 performance 3 4 6 3 3 3
management reform
management
knowledge
finland 4 6 12 3 3 4 governance 3 7 9
management
performance organizational public
4 5 9 3 6 6 3 3 5
measures performance administration
performance
management
systems 3 8 10 vietnam 3 7 8
Cluster #4 Cluster #5 Cluster #6

(Local Government) (Performance Management) (Balanced Scorecard)
Ranking of Ranking of Ranking of
TO DC TLS TO DC TLS TO DC TLS
Keywords Keywords Keywords
performance balanced
performance 13 11 19 28 19 54 3 4 8
management scorecard
developing
local government 8 12 21 4 3 5
countries
public sector
4 4 4 ghana 3 4 7
management
management 3 4 5
service delivery 3 6 7
Note. TO = total occurrence, DC = degree centrality, and TLS = total link strength.
Research Fronts of Publications

The study of current focus of publications on Performance Management in Public Sector
leads us to understand the direction of future research. Thus, we have studied publications of
last four years (2020–2023) to identify the research fronts being pursued by the authors and
to understand their correlation with thematic clusters in previous section.
Research Front #1: Performance Management and Measurement in Public Sector is a
major research front, with 33.3% of publications focusing on the topic in the last four years.
This research front has a central theme corresponding to clusters #5 and #2 of the previous
section. The authors in this research front studied the impact of behavioral components like
ethical values, trust, and organizational culture on performance. In other words, the focus is
on the effect of organizational culture on the motivation of employees in public service
organizations (Lee et al., 2020). Knowledge sharing, empowerment of employees, and the
role of servant leaders impact performance (Tripathi et al., 2021). The impact of social
inclusion, poverty, and corruption is studied to understand the role of accounting and
accountability mechanisms in managing uncertainties and risks (Bastida et al., 2022).
The effectiveness of performance evaluation depends on its perception by public sector
employees. Vidè et al. (2022) have studied the effect of performance appraisal on the attitude
of individuals. The study also included perceived justice as a factor for work engagement.
Though PMS is very effective in improving the performance of public sector employees,
proper implementation of its specific tasks has always been a challenge. Public sector
employees culturally have interpersonal relationships and lack accountability which
adversely affects performance management. Conversely, accountability has a positive impact
on performance management (Anh et al., 2022).
Vakkuri (2022) reflects on Sven Modell's (2022) study, discussing uses of institutional
theorizing for studying performance measurement and management in the public sector and
providing arguments for critically analyzing the assumptions and characteristics of the
research. Modell's paper suggests the sociology of valuation and the discussion on hybrid
governance as future developments for performance management and measurement research.
Vakkuri (2022) provides a conceptual perspective to link these areas together. There is a need
to modify institutional theory in view of the implications of different organizational forms,
social ecology, and methodological issues on performance management and measurement
systems (Polzer, 2022).
132 Roy et al.
Thus, Performance Management in Public Sector is a very important research area for
future researchers, with a specific focus on the implementation of individual tasks of PMS in
different types of organizations.
Research Front #2: Human Resource Development in Public Sector published in the last
four years have contributed to 23.8% of articles on Research Front #2. This research front
corresponds to cluster #1, which has a central theme of factors affecting performance
measurement in the public sector.
This research front explores issues related to behavioral training and skill development of
employees engaged in the public sector. For a long time, public and semipublic organizations
have borrowed Human Resource Development practices from the private sector to enhance
employee performance. Based on the ability–motivation–opportunity model, a three-level
meta-analysis to investigate differences in the effects of Human Resource Development
practices on individual performance across sectors indicated that the differences between
public, semipublic, and private sectors are not straightforward (Blom et al., 2020).
Balasubramanian et al. (2020) examine the impacts of ownership of public sector
organizations on the implementation of knowledge management processes (knowledge
creation, knowledge capture and storage, knowledge sharing, and knowledge application and
use) and subsequent performance benefits of implementation. The results of longitudinal
econometric analysis on the impact of human capital development practices on organizational
performance suggest that human capital development practices have positive effects on
public sector performance (Wesemann, 2022).
Researchers get a clear direction through this research front that in the future they need to
focus on analyzing the impact of factors like knowledge sharing, capability building, skill,
competency growth etc., on human capital development in the public sector.
Research Front #3: Performance of Public Sector 19.1% of articles published in the last
four years belong to this research front and directly correspond to Cluster #4 and #2. A
central theme of these clusters is public sector management. This research front may be seen
from two perspectives, viz., from the standpoint of internal improvements like leveraging
technology, logistics, and assets management, etc., and another from external factors like
competition, policy intervention by government, etc. Holguín-Veras et al. (2020) conducted a
review of the public-sector initiatives to improve freight activity in metropolitan areas and
produced a ranking of suggested initiatives for performance improvement.
Existing frameworks in the public sector mainly focus on exogenous sources of dynamism
or public managers' critical role in driving strategic initiatives. The mechanisms through
which dynamic capabilities lead to performance improvement and antecedent organizational
resources are equally important (Panagiotopoulos et al., 2023). Aldenius et al. (2022)
explored the improvement of the environmental performance of public transport through
electric buses to understand the influence of governance context, organizational practices,
and relations between stakeholders.
This research front provides a direction for further study on the impact of the
implementation of suggested internal process changes in the public sector and the external
socio-political changes and other policy developments on public sector performance.
Research Front #4: Public Sector Reforms This front has lately received some focus,
covering 14.3% of publications. It directly corresponds to cluster #3, ‘new public
management policy’ of intellectual structure. The efforts of the public sector to implement
several interventions for performance measurement proved futile in improving their
performance (Melo & Mota, 2020). Thi-Tran et al. (2022) studied the impact of
accountability on culture and performance in a new public management theory for public
sectors. Though reforms gained momentum worldwide, they exhibited mixed results in
different countries. Countries having collective culture clash with individualistic aspects of
new public management (Ugyel, 2021)
Direction for Future Research

Performance management in the public sector will continue to remain relevant and has the
capacity to directly impact performance. It will gain further importance as the world is
migrating to emerging ways of workforce engagement like fixed-term employment, the gig
economy, etc.
In the current ecosystem, there is a multi-fold increase in customer expectations, and
simultaneously, public sectors are expected to reduce expenditure, resulting in a strain on
performance (Hodgkinson, 2013). It will further increase due to fast-growing competition
from the tech-savvy private sector with access to the latest infrastructure.
Publications on performance management in the public sector are growing rapidly,
indicating the increase in attention of authors on the topic. The detailed performance analysis
and science mapping in this bibliometric analysis have propelled the future course of study on
the topic. Through a careful reading of research fronts and central themes of the latest
research, key focus areas have emerged to be explored by scholars in their future research.
Alignment of Key Result Areas (KRAs) to Organizational Strategy

The advent of performance management has changed the way of working in public sector.
Output focus has become more common. Other changes include decentralization and
managing organizations horizontally.
Research Front #1 focuses on the measurement of performance. Defining KRAs for each
job role aligned to organizational strategy exemplifies this research front. Research on KRAs
of individuals and teams in public organizations is largely absent. There is ample scope for
future research to better understand the alignment of KRAs to organizational strategy and
goal setting in public sector teams (Van der Hoek et al., 2018).
There are three classes of problems with performance management in the public sector -
technical, systems, and involvement. Externally imposed restructurings and reorganizations
restrict the successful implementation of performance management (Fryer et al., 2009).
Future research may analyze the system-based implementation of key result areas on various
dimensions. Additional research is required to test the validity and usefulness of the
theoretical model on strategic integration of stakeholder performance measures and
scorecards (McAdam et al., 2005).
Thus, the impact of the alignment of KRAs to organizational strategy on the performance
of the public sector and the identification of important factors in the process of alignment are
identified as important future research areas.
134 Roy et al.
Role of Managers in Accomplishing Performance Management Tasks

It is assumed that public services in developing countries are a drain on the wealth-producing
part of their economy. Research Front #2 covers human resources development in the public
sector, and managers can make a difference by investing their wisdom in developing their
teams. Performance management model coupled with practical econometric and managerial
techniques may accelerate new public management. The 'new' role of management systems
for modern public sector managers is a potential area for future research (Mwita, 2000).
Managers adopting a risk-based approach of factoring the context and external not-
controllable factors during goal setting process mitigate the side effects of performance
management practices in public organizations (Capaldo et al., 2018). It provides direction for
future exploratory research on the adoption of a risk-based approach for goal setting and
monitoring by public managers.
An under-researched field is the assessment of public value theory in understanding
results-based management from the perception of public sector managers (Try & Radnor,
2007). Future research should engage public value theory in developing an understanding of
executive managers' perceptions, behaviors, and responses to changes introduced by results-
based management.
The factors affecting success of measurement system implementation with the objective of
productivity and the experiences described can assist public managers to avoid pitfalls in the
implementation of measurement systems (Jääskeläinen & Sillanpää, 2013). This connecting-
the-dots exercise for identifying the role of managers in implementing performance
management tasks would be useful in creating insights during future research. Thus, further
study on the role of managers in accomplishing performance management tasks provides a
direction for future researchers to explore.
Mechanism to Monitor Performance Management (PM) Task Accomplishment by

Managers
Research Front #3 and #4 explore the performance of the public sector and implementation of
public sector reforms; both depend largely on how effectively the teams are enforcing
performance management tasks. Managers have a major role in providing direction to their
respective teams for the implementation of reforms, thereby enhancing performance.
Activities of managers need monitoring and audit to identify gaps in their effectiveness in
performing intended tasks. Wide variation is found in pertinent characteristics of audit
methods and programs in the public sector (Robson et al., 2012). Further research is needed
to precisely determine the impact on the performance of audit programs to monitor the
managers in the accomplishment of performance management tasks.
de Vries and Nemec (2013) call for explanatory research to explain the increasing
variance in reforms among countries by investigating the determinative factors to monitor
managers’ performance. Future research should specifically examine the factors that support
and impede the effective implementation of a balanced score card by managers in the public
sector context for alignment of performance measurement of all teams with the organizational
objectives (Northcott & Ma'amora-Taulapapa, 2012). In addition, researchers may also
explore the anxiety, fear, and trust issues among managers in accomplishing performance
management tasks.
Thus, further research is required on monitoring the effectiveness of managers through a

mechanism that could be an improvement over a balanced scorecard to ensure the
implementation of intended tasks by managers. This research area will largely address the
gaps identified in publications on the performance of the public sector and implementation of
public sector reforms as detailed in reach front #3 and #4.
In order to provide specific direction to future researchers, the following section covers
the suggested future research questions for each of the areas identified under the directions
for future research mentioned above.
Future Research Questions

A list of future research questions has been developed in line with the identified themes for
future research and based on the detailed review of all articles for their subsequent research
directions. These questions were shortlisted to exclude questions already addressed by prior
researchers. A list of such future research questions is summarized in Table 6 for each
promising research theme.
The central theme for future research was identified based on the similarity of topics
covered by the articles. Names of authors having publications in similar fields of research as
that of the central theme suggested for future research have also been provided against
corresponding research questions.
In addition to the research questions suggested in Table 6 derived from the bibliometric
analysis, some more future research areas are suggested.
First area that needs attention is to identify interventions to motivate disgruntled
employees. Scholars should scrutinize beyond surveys and self-reports to identify the main
reasons for unfavorable views of such employees. Publications suggest ways to strengthen
the employees with positive attitude, but it is silent on analysis and recommendations for
converting employees with unfavorable views to positive approach toward performance
measurement systems. Relation between their approach and designing their KRAs aligned to
organizational strategy needs further study.
Another suggestion for future research is the level of implementation of performance
conversations by managers to motivate employees by providing feedback on their
performance in public sectors. There is a gap between managers' performance dialogue with
subordinates versus evaluation, to avoid difficult conversations on poor performance. Thus,
further research to identify factors for improving performance conversations by managers in
the public sector is required.
Finally, further research is needed to understand the effect of individual manager's
attitudes toward performance management tasks and how it impacts public organizations. A
detailed study on the topic would identify the weightage that should be assigned to the impact
of a manager's attitude as a factor of effective performance management systems in public
sector organizations.
136 Roy et al.
Table 6
Future Research Questions for Promising Research Themes
Research Theme Sample Future Research Questions Authors
Alignment of KRAs to What processes should be used to design (KRAs) in public sector organizations? Van der Hoek et al.
Organizational Strategy in To what degree public sector organizations are aligning KRAs to the (2018)
public sectors organizational strategy?
To what extent do the technical, systems, and involvement issues and externally Fryer et al. (2009)
imposed restructurings affect performance measurement in public sectors?
How do the interrelationships between employees and managers vary for public
and private sectors?
How does the implementation of balanced scorecard-based KRAs influence McAdam et al.
current and prospective employees? (2005)
Role of Managers in How do managers meet the information needs of performance management tasks Mwita (2000)
accomplishing across various public and private sectors?
performance management What is the impact of grievance redressal mechanisms in public sectors on Capaldo et al.
tasks performance management tasks by managers? (2018)
How do managers adopt a risk-based approach in public sectors to accomplish
performance tasks to meet the KRAs of teams?
How does the emotional intelligence of managers influence performance Try & Radnor
management tasks? (2007)
What factors contribute to building employee trust when managers implement Jääskeläinen &
employer performance management tasks? Sillanpää (2013)
Mechanism to monitor How do public sector organizations ensure managers execute performance Robson et al.
performance management management tasks as intended? (2012)
task accomplishment by What factors facilitate or hinder managers in carrying out performance
Managers management task-related actions?
What factors are evaluated by leader-manager levels for managers’ commitment
to performance management tasks in public sectors?
How do external disruptive events, viz., changes in regulations, strikes, mergers de Vries & Nemec
and acquisitions, natural calamities, pandemics, etc., impact a company’s (2013)
performance management systems?
How do certifications in public sectors like ‘People Capability Maturity Model’ Northcott &
contribute to the proper implementation of performance management tasks by Ma'amora-
managers to influence current and potential employees? Taulapapa (2012)
What type of training interventions are provided to managers for effective
implementation of performance management tasks, and how do they vary
amongst organizations?
Conclusion
We have analyzed the publications in this review paper through an extensive study of the
literature coupled with bibliometric analysis to provide a recent, neutral, and objective
overview of the literature. Trend analysis has indicated an increase in the number of
researches on this topic, mainly from the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States.
Performance analysis of most prolific authors, universities, and journals suggest that a larger
number of publications cite the articles having higher contributions. The most contributing
journal is the International Journal of Public Sector Management.
The study of methodological and research focus of publications indicates a dominance of
qualitative research approach based on archival and qualitative data collection methods.
Authors have preferred descriptive type statistical technique with systematic literature review
as research methodology. The main research focus of publications is on its application in
real-life situations. Studies are mostly conducted in a single country, and service sector
applicability is highest.
Science mapping of publications using keyword co-occurrence analysis for identification
of clusters and finding their central themes has contributed to providing inputs to the scholars
on current trends of research on the topic. Further, the research fronts of publications are
discussed to identify the themes that are less explored and need further attention of the
scholars. This study has immensely contributed to suggesting research questions for each
future research theme derived from the detailed bibliometric analysis in this paper.
We conclude our review by identifying some key recommendations for future research on
performance management in the public sector that stem from our bibliometric analysis. These
recommendations shall provide contributions to both academia and policy-making in the
domain of public sector performance management.
First and most important, understanding the extensive contingencies within the public
sector while implementing the critical task of setting key result areas aligned to
organizational strategy necessitates the system-based implementation of tasks on various
dimensions. As we noted in our summaries, this is not the norm in the extant research.
Second, understanding public sector performance management necessitates more research to
be conducted in the field with employee and managerial participants. Developing an
understanding of executive public manager’s perceptions, behaviors, and responses to
changes by engaging public value theory would result in clearly defining the role of public
managers in accomplishing performance management tasks. Thus, much more field research
is needed for the generalizability of the public manager role definition. Third, although there
is significantly large public sector performance management research that exists at the
organization level across varied system components, in the recent literature compared to the
older literature, there is an explicit need to better understand the mechanism to monitor the
accomplishment of performance management tasks by the managers of public sector
organizations. This system audit for designing systemic improvements on monitoring
mechanisms for public managers with a view to strengthening the policies will be an
important contribution of research and will lead to public sector reforms.
We reviewed more than 30 years of the public sector performance management literature,
and our overarching conclusion is that despite progress in the study of performance
management, much work is yet to be done in developing comprehensive and conclusive
scientific knowledge that can better inform public sector performance management in
practice.
The limitation of this study is the use of specific keywords. Publications not tagged with
these keywords could have been missed out. Additionally, scholars may explore ethnography
for more effective analysis (Kozinets, 2016). Scholars may also broaden their scope by
including data from other sources like Web of Science, etc., in addition to Scopus.
138 Roy et al.
Declarations
Acknowledgements
Not applicable.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Ethics Approval
Not applicable.
Funding Acknowledgements
Not applicable.
Citation to this article
Roy, S., Bahuguna, P. C., & Rawat, N. (2023). Performance management in public sector
organizations: A bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Organizational Leadership,
12(First Special Issue), 115-141. https://doi.org/10.33844/ijol.2023.60374
Rights and Permissions
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Knowledge Development (CIKD). This is an open-access article under the terms of the
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reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Performance Management in Public Sector Organizations: A Bibliometric

Article in International Journal of Organizational Leadership · November 2023

Sandeep Roy Prakash Chandra Bahuguna

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Performance Management in Public

Sandeep Roy1*, Prakash C Bahuguna2, Neeraj Rawat3

subsidiaries (BSE PSU website). In order to maintain and enhance performance on a

Techniques for Analysis

Literature Search Criteria

Most Prolific Authors

Author wise Publications and Citations

Most Contributing Universities

5 Most Contributing Universities 250

The University of…

Delft University of…

Most Contributing Countries

Publications and Citations by Country

Most Contributing Outlets

Publications and Citations by Journals

Business Strategy and the…

International Journal of Public…

International Journal of…

Transportation Research Part A:…

Journal of Business Ethics

Most Cited Publications

Ohemeng Constraints in the implementation of 2009 International Journal of Cross 41 2.9

Analysis of Methodological and Research Focus

building, theory verification or application of concepts in existing situations in accordance

Intellectual Structure through Science Mapping

%K 23.1 23.1 19.2 19.2 11.5

Note. %K = percentage of keywords and %DC = percentage of links in the cluster.

Performance management has failed because of employees' negative perceptions and

Cluster #4 Cluster #5 Cluster #6

Research Fronts of Publications

Direction for Future Research

Alignment of Key Result Areas (KRAs) to Organizational Strategy

Role of Managers in Accomplishing Performance Management Tasks

Mechanism to Monitor Performance Management (PM) Task Accomplishment by

Thus, further research is required on monitoring the effectiveness of managers through a

Future Research Questions

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