NCHRP Report 666 describes methods that managers of state departments of transportation (DOTs) and other agencies can use for setting performance targets to achieve multiple objectives and interact with multiple decision-makers and stakeholder groups, and how data management systems within a DOT can support performance-based decision-making. Transportation agencies at all levels of government are embracing performance measurement to improve agency efficiency and accountability. Setting performance targets, a crucial step in the management process, generally entails balancing among competing objectives and dealing with political implications. Unless the bases for setting those targets are sound and defensible and key decision makers and stakeholders concur, the effectiveness of performance-based management is likely to be compromised. This report presents a framework and specific guidance for target-setting and for ensuring that appropriate data are available to support performance management. The report draws on a range of private- and public-sector examples to explore issues of data management and stewardship as well as organizational factors likely to influence an agency’s performance measurement and management experience. Supplementing the report, NCHRP Web-Only Document 154, available at http://www.trb.org/Publications/Blurbs/164179.aspx, presents case studies of organizations investigated in the research. The information will be useful to senior agency managers seeking to develop and improve their performance-management practices. (Author/publisher)
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