Performance management in a collaborative context: the conundrum of hard accountability and sector partnership

Abstract

Performance management regimes are important tools for government agencies operating across networks of non-profit organizations. This study investigates a regime deployed towards autonomous sport organizations and considers its intended purposes and implementation ‘in practice’. Findings show the regime’s ‘mixed motivational demands’ with from the incompatibility between ‘hard’ rule-based demands for accountability and ‘soft’ practices consistent with learning and partnership. The case suggests the government-sport institutional context is a built-in feature, which cannot be ‘administered out’ by using single-purpose tools for accountability or learning/partnership. The article recommends a tolerance for paradox and organizational hypocrisy for administrators working within the context of networked governance.