An ethical perspective on performance measurement in the public sector

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an ethical perspective that goes beyond best practice in performance measurement systems in the public sector to help minimise unintended and unethical effects. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws on the ethical concepts of bounded ethicality, ethical blind spots and ethical fading to help illuminate the dark side of performance measurement in public sector organisations. Findings - An understanding of the psychological tendencies that create unethical behaviours will assist compliance with ethics and morality and is a way forward towards minimising the unintended consequences of performance measurement in the public sector. Practical implications - The findings will assist public sector managers by providing a greater understanding of why so many unethical acts occur and how to overcome ethical failures in the design and use of performance measurement systems. Originality/value - The study adds value by contributing to performance measurement literature on the need to recognise the limitations of the human mind and innate psychological processes that make people systematically and unknowingly engage in unethical behaviour. The ethical concepts proposed in this paper go beyond the best practice notions of performance measurement and extend the toolkit of performance measurement techniques in the public sector.