What would be the consequences of not answering these other performance questions?

 Actors in the political process will not withdraw from the process because they do not have performance information. They will either proceed to maneuver without performance information or will use or misuse existing performance information.

The manager should remember that limiting the performance dimensions included in the measurement system will probably result in some measurements answering questions other than ones they were designed to answer.

Another problem affecting dimensions included in a performance measurement system is that people's perceptions of the most important dimensions change over time. A predominant concern for efficiency may later give way to concern about effectiveness that may, in turn, give way to concerns about equity--that may later give way to a renewed concern about efficiency.

Conceptually, the easy solution would be to include all these performance dimensions in the measurement system. Frequently, however, the solution easy to conceptualize may be prohibitively expensive to implement.

The competitive edge of modern-day business emerges from creation or discovery of a performance management. A system that increases efficiency, decreases cost or enhances quality confers immediate competitive advantage on its creator and sets a standard for the rest of the industry to follow. But once disseminated across the field of competition, it becomes the standard. Now a new, yet more innovative, high performance system must be discovered that once more creates competitive advantage for its inventors.

As public-sector productivity gets increasing national attention, state and local governments seek more ways of improving their performance. Performance measurement systems may be helpful tools for improving both productivity and accountability. This paper identifies issues that governments should consider before implementing a performance measurement system.