Introduction
According to the Department of Small Business Services, it is their mandate to ensure that small businesses in the city of New York form operate and grow with relative ease through direct assistance to business owners, enhancing the development of neighborhoods located in commercial districts and linking business owners and other employers to a qualified and skilled workforce. It is also the mandate of the Department of Small Business Services to offer support services that enhance the growth of the local economy throughout the city.
The 2014 Preliminary Mayor's Management Report presentation for the New York City Department of Small Business Services is a report from the city of New York regarding the performance of the city with regard to the delivery of its mandate. This paper is a critical review of this report using a twelve step procedure developed for the purposes of measuring performance. The paper examines the steps that were properly carried out in the report. The paper will also highlight those steps that poorly done. Finally, the paper will recommend what could be done in order to improve the analysis of 2014 Preliminary Mayor's Management Report presentation for the New York City Department of Small Business Services.
Discussion
According to Hatry, there are twelve steps involved in analyzing the outcome data of a program. The twelve steps projected by Hatry are a comprehensive way of analyzing the performance of a program. The 2014 Preliminary Mayor's Management Report presentation for the New York City Department of Small Business Services featured parts that were excellently done with regards to the twelve step analysis and other parts that did not measure to the standard. The first step requires one to examine the aggregate outcome data as presented in the program report.
According to Hatry, outcome data should be compared against outcomes posted in previous years. In this regard, the report has featured outcome data from three other financial years. This allows one to draw comparisons with ease. Additionally, Hatry recommends that outcome data should also be compared against targets that were set at the beginning of the financial year, an element that has been satisfactorily achieved in the report by the mayor of the city of New York. However, an important element that has been incorporated by Hatry is conspicuously missing from the report. Hatry adds that it is important for such reports to feature outcome data from other programs in addition to outside standards.
The outcome data in this report features information from other programmes within the city of New York. However, the outcome data does not feature information from outside standard, as espoused in step three. This is important in order to rate the performance of the Department of Small Business against established standards. As such, an addition of this information would augment the report. In the same breadth, the information from the five boroughs in New York is presented collectively. As such it impossible to determine which borough performed better compared to other boroughs. It is recommendable for the outcome data to be presented in a more specific manner. This will make it easier to draw more specific comparisons, thereby improving the report (Hatry, 2006).
Step four is not adequately covered in the report. This could be down to the nature of information provided in the report. As such, the report lacks the breakout if outcome data by demographic. However, the report features elements illustrated in step four in terms of outcome data regarding the service characteristics offered by the city to small business. One of these services features programmes featuring businesses that owned by women and minority groups. This does not qualify as demographic characteristics. As such, the inclusion of demographic characteristics in the report would illuminate more in the dynamics across the age, religious and gender divide. Step six is also adequately addressed considering the inadequacies in addressing step five. This because outcome data concerning services characteristics is adequately compared to outcome data from previous years.
With regards to the twelve steps by Hatry, the seventh and eight steps are done poorly and well respectively. The seventh step entails the examinations of relationships and inconsistencies in order to properly examine performance. The data presented in the report is done in a raw form and no relationships have been explored. Nonetheless, the outcome indicators are examined together. This enables a more comprehensive perspective regarding the performance of the program. However, it is noteworthy that the performance indicators in the report are derived from the goals established by the city in order to measure its performance (Hatry, 2006).
These performance indicators reflect what the city aspires to do with respect to the Department of Small Business. However, and in line with the third step, it would be more informative if the performance indicators in the report highlighted the indicators used by other programs and from outside standards. This would give a more comprehensive picture of the performance of the Department of Small Businesses in the delivery of its mandate. In order to improve this report, it is important to explore relationships between different indicators in addition to checking for any inconsistencies in the outcome data (Hatry, 2006).
Steps nine, ten and eleven are not adequately covered in the report. At the beginning, the report offers a summary of the performance of the Department of Small Business. However, that is all it is, a summary, rather than a detailed analysis where the figures presented are translated into inferences from which recommendations can be made. The report does not identify any key findings as envisioned by step nine. However, the summary gives an outline of the things that were achieved in the fiscal year ending 2014. The report did not have any unexpected findings, and as such, no explanations were made. However, recommendations were conspicuously missing from the report. In the eleventh step, Hatry adds that recommendations for future actions and new approaches towards and experimentations for service delivery are required. This is a very important addition that could thoroughly improve this report (Curry, 2008).
Conclusion
The Department of Small Business in the city on New York has done exceptionally will in providing an enabling environment for small business to thrive. As evidenced in the report, the Department of Small Business set goals that appear to have been met. With regards to the analysis of data outcomes, the report seems to have the criteria embodied by Hatry in the twelve steps involved in the analysis of program data outcomes. Quite a number of steps were not adequately covered in the program. Nonetheless, the data outcomes were presented satisfactorily with regards to other steps according to Hatry’s twelve basic steps.
References
Curry, A.M (2008). Integrating Program Process and Outcome: A Program Evaluation Using the Logic Model Framework. Ann Arbor. ProQuest
. Available at> http://www.nyc.gov/html/ops/downloads/pdf/pmmr2014/sbs.pdf
Hatry, H. P. (2006). Performance measurement: Getting results. Washington: The Urban Institute Press.
