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The use of key performance indicators has dramatically increased over the last twenty or so years. Their introduction has been largely justified on the grounds that high stakes proxy indicators (test and exam results), increase accountability which will in turn `drive up' overall performance. Whilst there has been some evidence that measured standards have risen, there have been associated costs, as well as claims of unintended or dysfunctional consequences. The place of KPIs within the broader organisational and managerial context was firstly considered. with particular reference to generic management and accounting theory. Secondly, the results of a questionnaire survey of 162 heads and teachers in England and Scotland was reported. The key findings included evidence that KPIs had a narrowing effect on the curriculum, that they tended to undermine heads and teachers, and encouraged a blame culture. There was also evidence that they caused schools to concentrate on targets at the expense of other important objectives, as well as concentrating on `boarder-line' pupils. English primary schools reported far more dysfunctional behaviour due to KPIs, than did their Scottish counter parts. This was attributed to league tables which Scottish primaries do not have. At the secondary level the results were similar, tables are published for secondary schools in both countries. There was widespread support for changes to the KPIs, including the use of a wider range of measures and `value added' indicators, as well as discontinuing league tables. Improvements to the KPI systems were discussed, including the use of `balanced score card' systems; however, it was argued that such technical changes need to be accompanied by more fundamental organisational changes. There needs to be `top down' leadership, which devolves trust and responsibility, rather than blame and accountability; and one that will develop and nurture a true learning culture throughout the education system.

This thesis is based on a comparative case study of two bustee neighbourhoods located in two separate wards of Calcutta, and of the factors which have affected the performance of public officials providing primary health care services to their inhabitants. It is argued that poor bureaucratic performance and a lack of accountability lie at the heart of problems with the health system in West Bengal. The thesis evaluates the effectiveness of 'governance' reforms, comprising decentralisation and the application of the principles of New Public Management (NPM), on the performance of public officials. NPM and decentralisation apply the core assumptions of neo-classical economics to the study of bureaucratic decision-making. The thesis argues that local officials in Calcutta may not always have chosen to behave in a way which maxmised their personal welfare, but that history, culture and politics may have affected the choices that they made. The thesis questions the view that decentralization necessarily leads to greater community participation challenges contemporary notions of what constitutes 'civil society' and suggests a more nuanced view of the relationship between civil society and good government. It questions NPM's claims to universality, which have resulted in its widespread application without due regard to local context, and argues that NPM inspired reforms have had a limited effect on health officials in Calcutta, in part, because of their failure to address the underlying causes of poor bureaucratic performance. The final chapter argues that the political influence of public sector workers has affected the willingness of the ruling Party to enforce the incentives to improve the performance of health care officials in West Bengal.