The quantification of the performances of public institutions – basics concepts

The performance of the public sector affects us all. There are at least three reasons why we should be interested in how well it functions: it is big; its outputs are special; and it is getting bigger. With all these, in Romania, the performance within the public sector represents a concept not so analyzed and rarely applied in practice. There is not the same situation in countries with a high developed economy, which represent an interest for us, along with the European integration. Internationally, since the 1970s processes of modernization and reorganization of public institution have been initiated in diverse countries in the world. The society has demanded greater efficiency in rendering of services, a better application of public resources and also questioned the effective bureaucratic model. In this context, the model of managing government institutions gains force, consistence and become more credible. Flexibility, decentralization, creativity, autonomy of management, and a management contract used as quantification instrument are basic characteristics of the management reforms that focus on results. Results determination within the public sector and the implementation of a system meant to measure the financing and non-financing performances need an exact definition of the objectives and purposes of each organization and constituent institution.