Politicized Performane Monitoring: The Effect of Civil Service Reform on Case Processing in the NLRB Regional Offices
Dr. Diane E. Schmidt

Abstract
This study provides a research and practice examination of the effect of changes in the standards and measures of performance on field office case processing in the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In particular, this study exposes how performance management policy can be used to achieve indirect control over field office decision-making. In several important pieces of civil service reform legislation, policymakers strived incrementally toward achieving efficiency and equity in policy administration through standard setting and monitoring bureaucratic policy outputs. As a result of such reforms, the General Counsel of the NLRB has the opportunity to create and use performance measures that indicate not only productivity but also compliance with administration goals. Thus, because this study demonstrates the importance of procedural changes in enhancing political control, future studies of administrative culture should examine the role of performance management policies in structuring and constraining field office personnel decision making.

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