George A. Boyne is Professor of Public Sector Management at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. Kenneth J. Meier is the Charles H. Gregory Chair in Liberal Arts in the Department of Political Science,Texas A&M University and Professor of Public Sector Management at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. Laurence O'Toole Jr. is Golembiewski Professor of Public Administration in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at the University of Georgia. Richard M. Walker is Professor of Public Management at the University of Hong Kong and Cardiff University.

• 1. Introduction George A Boyne, Kenneth J. Meier, Laurence J. O'Toole, Jr. and Richard M. Walker; 2. Subjective and objective measures of organizational performance: an empirical exploration Rhys Andrews, George A. Boyne and Richard M. Walker; 3. All measures of performance are subjective: more evidence on US federal agencies Gene A. Brewer; 4. A qualitative evaluation of public sector organizations: assessing organizational performance in healthcare Rachael Addicott and Ewan Ferlie; 5. Quantitative approaches towards assessing organizational performance Peter C. Smith; 6. Consequences of goal ambiguity in public organizations Young Han Chun and Hal G. Rainey; 7. Performance control and public organizations Patrick Kenis; 8. Bureaucratic red tape and organizational performance: testing the moderating role of culture and political support Sanjay J. Pandy and Donald Moynihan; 9. All that glitters is not gold: disaggregating networks and the impact on performance Kenneth J. Meier, Laurence J. O'Toole, Jr. and Yi Lu; 10. Network evolution and performance under public contracting for mental health services Keith G. Provan, H. Brinton Milward and Kimberley Roussin Isett; 11. The design and management of performance-based contracts for public welfare services Youseok Choi and Carolyn J. Heinrich; 12. Outsourcing government information technology services: an Australian case study Graeme Hodge and Anne Rouse; 13. International comparisons of output and productivity in public service provision: a review Mary O'Mahony and Philip Stevens; 14. Public management and government performance: an international review Melissa Forbes, Carolyn J. Hill and Laurence E. Lynn, Jr.; 15. What drives global e-government? An exploratory assessment of existing e-government performance measures Eric W. Welch, M. Jae Moon and Wilson Wong; 16. Public management and organizational performance: an agenda for research George A. Boyne, Kenneth J. Meier, Laurence J. O'Toole Jr. and Richard M. Walker.

Review of the hardback: 'In both theory and practice, the notion of 'performance' has become one of the big drivers of public sector action. But there's been painfully little careful thinking about what it is, how it works, and how it might transform democratic government. This book is a superb and path breaking contribution-one that builds a strong, effective foundation on which further work in this burgeoning field can build.' Donald F. Kettl, Director, Fels Institute of Government, University of Pennsylvania