Local government plays a critical role in the provision of governance, infrastructure, and services for local communities. Over the past 30 years this sector has undergone significant reforms because of various superordinate governments policy changes. Continuous improvement and quality programs have been a common tactical response undertaken by various local government organisations to remain sustainable and to continue to deliver value to their local communities. These tactical responses have had varying levels of success. This book seeks to go beyond a tactical focus and uncover the kinds of continuous improvement practices that are enacted in various local government contexts. A focus on practices enables practitioners and researchers alike to gain insights that to go beyond approaches which privilege the application of CI tools over the contextualisation of CI programs. Contextualisation affords the insightful deployment of programs that are specific to the needs and dynamics of local communities and operations. The cases presented share insights on aspects of CI including: embedding performance measurement; harnessing learning; contextualising CI activities to support the ongoing sustainability of these practices. Researchers and practitioners alike can draw benefit from the grounded industry base experiences and insights shared in the book.

As communities demand more transparency and involvement in community affairs, local public administrators and government authorities are seeking new ways to meet those needs. A fundamental way to bridge community needs with authority's actions is through the customer-oriented development of Performance Indicators (PI). However, this is often not a core focal point and as a result, performance indicators are often output and not impact focused, and thus can lack relevance and utility. Addressing this gap in academic and practical knowledge, Customer Development of Effective Performance Indicators in Local and State Level Public Administration presents a structured process to enable public organisations and their communities to jointly develop performance indicators for public organisation's operations, and enabling communities to determine key performance indicators that are both highly relevant and contextually useful. Grounded in quality management principles, the book encourages community members to participate in practical co-production, promotes mutual learning and joint ownership, fosters relationship building between diverse customer groups, and inspires open conversations regarding local government operations. This book provides ground breaking insights for public administrators at all levels, as well community leaders, and scholars of business, public administration, and social responsibility.