Managing performance in the defense sector: cases of the italian army and US navy surface warfare enterprise

Over the last twenty years, new public management (NPM) has inspired managerial reforms in public sectors worldwide. The US and Italian governments have embraced one of the main tenets of NPM, managing for results. In this study, we assess the introduction of performance management practice in hierarchical and complex public organizations in both countries, in particular how and to what extent military organizations, the Italian Army (IA) and the US Navy Surface Warfare Enterprise (SWE), implemented performance based management systems (PBMS). We use the first “form” of the framework proposed by Bouckaert and Halligan to compare the two cases with respect to the measurement, integration and use of performance information. We find that both organizations have encountered “benefits”. We contribute to the literature and to the practical use in government organizations by demonstrating some key features or characteristics of hierarchical, complex government organizations that enable or detract from the successful implementation of a PBMS.