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This study examines the performance measurement of four different values (efficiency, service quality, customer service satisfaction, and social equity). This study also distinguishes between the values emphasized at the three stages of the policy process model: process, output, and outcome. The prevalence of each value is compared across time and at various stages of the policy process at the agency level. By tracking trends of values in performance measures across years based on different stages of the policy process, this study found that value congruence exists across years at the agency level. This study finally provides practical implications. This study distinguishes between values (efficiency, service quality, customer service satisfaction, and social equity) emphasized in the three stages of the policy process model—process, output and outcome at the agency level. This study concludes value congruence exists across years and provides practical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For some time, public administrationists have suggested that some individuals are imbued with a unique public-service ethic that attracts them to government service and drives their subsequent job performance (Perry [...]

Research suggests that individuals with lower working memory have difficulty remembering to fulfil delayed intentions. The current study examined whether the ability to offload intentions onto the environment mitigated these deficits. Participants (N = 268) completed three versions of a delayed intention task with and without the use of reminders, along with three measures of working memory capacity. Results showed that individuals with higher working memory fulfilled more intentions when having to rely on their own memory, but this difference was eliminated when offloading was permitted. Individuals with lower working memory chose to offload more often, suggesting that they were less willing to engage in effortful maintenance of internal representations when given the option. Working memory was not associated with metacognitive confidence or optimal offloading choices based on point value. These findings suggest offloading may help circumvent capacity limitations associated with maintaining and remembering delayed intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance management is becoming increasingly important in long-term health care because of rising quality standards and scarce resources. The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic illustrates the dynamic nature of emerging events in the health sector and underscores the importance of managing for results in suboptimal conditions. This study investigates whether managers in public, nonprofit, and private sector nursing homes differ in how they use performance information when their organizations are under severe financial stress. Based on the survey and archival data for 579 organizations in Switzerland, this study reveals substantial cross-sector differences in the use of performance information for managing efficiency and service quality. Our key findings suggest that managers in all three sectors utilize performance information differently when under financial stress. While financial stress hampers managers' use of performance information for managing efficiency in the public sector, it fosters greater use in the nonprofit and private sectors, with the latter being even more responsive. Nonprofit organizations give more attention to preserving the quality of care, apparently fearing that increased emphasis on efficiency could undercut quality. The implications for theory and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previously it has been theorized that differential functioning of the locus coeruleus–norepinephrine (LC–NE) system affects people's ability to regulate arousal, which has impacts on cognitive abilities. In the present study, we investigated three potential mechanisms by which the LC–NE system can fail to regulate arousal appropriately: hypoarousal, hyperarousal, and dysregulation of arousal. Each of these three could potentially account for why arousal affects cognition. To test the contributions of these three mechanisms, the present study examined individual differences in working memory capacity (WMC) and the regulation of arousal using pupillometry. Participants completed multiple complex span and visual arrays change-detection measures of WMC. An eye-tracker recorded pupil diameter as participants completed the visual arrays tasks. We found rather mixed evidence for the three mechanisms. Arousal dysregulation correlated with lower visual arrays performance and more self-reported attentional lapses. However, arousal regulation did not correlate with complex span performance. There was also some evidence for hypoarousal as an explanatory mechanism, as arousal correlated with attentional lapses. We discuss the implications of the results for theories regarding the role of arousal regulation in cognitive performance and individual differences in cognitive abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]