This thesis explores the question of whether Performance Management Systems (PMS) contribute to the managing of Executive Agencies (EAs). Exploring this question empirically in the context of the Jamaican public sector, it develops a realist methodology with methods, which are applied to the study of four Jamaican Executive Agencies (JEAs). Primary research conducted in 2011 through semi-structured interviews is combined with secondary research that considers both official government and unofficial resources such as reports (official) and newspapers (unofficial). The thesis is one of very few studies to focus on JEAs, one of only two studies to explore PMS in JEAs, and the first to make a focus on PMS in JEAs the primary object of study. It therefore contributes to a very limited literature, which is, therefore, both a strength of the thesis insofar as it breaks new ground, and also a challenge. It is a challenge because the lack of available literature on JEAs with which to relate. In order to address this lack, drawing on Historical Institutionalism (HI), Path Dependency (PD) and Policy Transfer theories, it argues that it is reasonable to draw on British literature owing to the historical influences of Britain on Jamaica, their institutional and constitutional contexts and, particularly, because the agencification of the Jamaican public sector has been based on the British Next Steps Model. From reviewing the British literature an Integrative Conceptual Framework (ICF) is developed. This framework incorporates those factors deemed as critical to the development of PMS in the organisational performance management literature, (that is, both management and public management), in order to harness the structural, procedural, situational and behavioural aspects discussed in the existing literature into a single framework. The ICF is at the heart of the thesis because it influences the methods used in conducting the primary research, and the presentation of research findings. It is therefore a major contribution of the thesis, and it is recommended that this framework could be applied in other contexts (e.g. in the private sector) and locations (e.g. in countries other than Jamaica) to analyse the use of PMS for managing. By triangulating the primary research findings with secondary data, that is, existing literature on the four case studies, the ICF is applied to generate a longitudinal aspect to the study. It is also found that PMS do contribute to managing JEAs, and that the use of PMS in JEAs has evolved positively over time for managing JEAs. The research findings discuss how PMS contributes to managing the four JEAs in terms of the different components of the ICF. Based on this, the study is able to add to existing academic literature, and make recommendations to practitioners. The contribution of this thesis to literature therefore incorporates both a conceptual and theoretical aspect, and also has a practical element. Both of these, it claims, could form the basis for further research.

The advent of democracy in 1994 prompted the South African government to provide public goods to the entire population as opposed to providing services along racial lines, as was the case during the apartheid era. Consequently, government expenditure increased considerably. However, continuous service delivery protests in recent years indicate that government has not been operating optimally. The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and National Treasury introduced Organisational Performance Management (OPM) to improve service delivery. Government also adopted internal auditing as a mechanism to improve OPM because of internal auditing’s mandate, role and body of knowledge. This study explored the implementation of OPM as a management tool to assist national departments in effectively delivering goods and services to the public economically and efficiently. The study also explored the adoption of internal auditing by national departments as a mechanism to improve OPM. The study followed a sequential mixed methods approach. The chief audit executives of eighteen national departments participated in the quantitative phase. Interviews were held with employees from four national departments as well as two monitoring departments. Departmental officials included five deputy directors-general, three chief directors, four directors, one deputy director and one senior internal auditor. Seven focus group discussions were held with twenty-two internal auditors from the four departments. Sixty-four documents were analysed. The study found that national departments have implemented systems of OPM and the reporting of quarterly performance information but are at different levels of maturity. However, governance and reporting fatigue and a reluctance to implement effective consequence management for poor performance may be undermining optimal performance. National departments may be also preparing strategic plans, annual performance plans and annual reports simply for compliance rather than for optimal performance. The study also found that internal auditors may not have a thorough understanding of the department’s performance environment and consequently undertake limited assessments of OPM, focusing mainly on quarterly performance information (PI) and documentation rather than on organisational strategy. However, management’s expectations from internal auditing go beyond assessing the quarterly PI and require advice and guidance on strategic imperatives. The appropriate skills, knowledge and training of internal auditors therefore require review. Management expects assurance of sustainable future performance of the department. Internal auditing currently stands positioned to make an evolutionary transformation into becoming the most important strategic partner to management. However, under-theorisation and a restricted internal auditing approach inhibit its natural evolution. / College of Accounting Sciences / D. Phil. (Accounting Sciences)