Recognizing Public Value

by Mark H. Moore

Mark H. Moore’s now classic Creating Public Value offered advice to public managers about how to create public value. But that book left a key question how could one recognize (in an accounting sense) when public value had been created? Here, Moore closes the gap by setting forth a philosophy of performance measurement that will help public managers name, observe, and sometimes count the value they produce, whether in education, public health, safety, crime prevention, housing, or other areas. Blending case studies with theory, he argues that private sector models built on customer satisfaction and the bottom line cannot be transferred to government agencies. The Public Value Account (PVA), which Moore develops as an alternative, outlines the values that citizens want to see produced by, and reflected in, agency operations. These include the achievement of collectively defined missions, the fairness with which agencies operate, and the satisfaction of clients and other stake-holders.

But strategic public managers also have to imagine and execute strategies that sustain or increase the value they create into the future. To help public managers with that task, Moore offers a Public Value Scorecard that focuses on the actions necessary to build legitimacy and support for the envisioned value, and on the innovations that have to be made in existing operational capacity.

Using his scorecard, Moore evaluates the real-world management strategies of such former public managers as D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton, and Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Revenue John James.

473 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2013

Reviews

[Haytham Atef · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for public managers with real examples

[Russrook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moore's book provides a fascinating range of insights and case studies exploring the idea of public value in action. Strongly differentiating the outcomes of public sector organisations from their private and commercial counterparts, Moore outlines a methodology by which leaders can better understand, manage and measure their mission.