Introduction
The comprehensive CPR system is a tool that provides its users with critical examination of trends in the long run and a review of an agencies performance following the outcome measures. The CPR Dashboard has three major components.
The Major Components of the CPR Dashboard
The CPR Dashboard system provides numerous critical performance measures including statistics for various organizations and agencies
The performance management application is one of the main constituents of the CPR Dashboard (Brown, 2003). It enables the system backend to collect data input which can then be accessed and published at a later date.
The performance management application can therefore provide for essential reports and statistical data for various entities.
Dash board/Analytics tool is the second constituents of the CPR Dashboard which represents the frontend part of the system. This frontend part of the system is used to present standardized data with summaries of the performance and trend graphs
The third component of the CPR Dashboard is the data definition which reviews and identifies measures of various topics and the critical indicators thereof.
Agencies Involved in Implementing the Dashboard
There are various agencies in the United States which have taken part in the implementation of the dash board. One of these agencies is the office of the Mayor in the year 2005. The operations department within the mayor’s office worked hand in hand with the Information Technology and Telecommunications department to initiate the implementation of the Dashboard.
The setting up of the Dashboard also included the participation of 44 mayoral agencies which contributed by identifying the different performance indicators (Harrison, 2012).
All the agencies that have taken part in the implementation assist in the preparation of the data store that can later be generated into the reports.
Steps used in Defining the CPR Dashboard
At inception, the development of the CPR Dashboard was centred on its three main components which include; the application of Performance Management, Analytics tool and lastly Data definition.
The CPR Dashboard was thereafter officially launched to the public in 2008 and by then, all the 44 Agencies were using the CPR system to report all the information to the system.
There was need to re-evaluate the outcome of all services agencies so as to allow the CPR system to be useful in terms of Management and accountability. To achieve this, new measures had to be put in place based on the definition of data.
The new measures that were taken were critical and relayed relevant information to the public.
The Agencies involved thereafter had to make decisions so that the data output could be flexible in terms of usability. This initiative enabled the users to easily access data on the performances of various agencies.
The Role of Themes in the CPR
One role of themes in the CPR is to allow users who are familiar or not familiar with the specific performance measures of agencies or the agencies themselves.
There are eight themes in the CPR system. They include;
- Community services
- Infrastructure
- Citywide Administration
- Economic development and Business affairs
- Social Services
- Public safety
- Legal Affairs
Themes also had the role of simplifying the presentation and navigation so as to help users who were not familiar with the agencies.
Capabilities of Dashboards in this Application
One of the capabilities of dashboards is that it can track performance of the required outcome measures (Skok, 1991). These outcome measures are a direct indicator on how the citizens’ lives are affected by the Government.
This kind of capability helps individuals to hold various agencies accountable with regard to provision of services year after year. This Dashboard capability also shows the graphical representation of the performance trends through the use of pie charts and colour coding.
The Dashboard capability therefore helps Agencies to identify areas which require attention hence making them more efficient.
Dashboards help users to review comparative data over the years up to a period of five years.
The citywide theme on the other hand helps in assessing the government’s performance by showing how often the statistic is provided and also indicates recent data monthly, quarterly and also annually. It also gives an explanation of all the measures in detail.
Lessons Learnt
One of the lessons learnt is that the CPR Dashboard is a very important tool in an organization. It enhances transparency hence making a difference in terms of service delivery.
Dashboards also allow Agencies to focus on continuous improvement and also track their performances since Dashboards are focused on trends and not static goals.
The government Dashboards allows the general public to easily access information hence businesses can easily follow the performance trends of various agencies. Dashboards also enable Agencies to compare previous performance data with the current performance data.
Conclusion
CPR Dashboards clearly demonstrate how collective information can be used to analyze an organization’s performance. It compares them to other organizations or departments and hence businesses can emulate on the same projects in order to track their performances.
References
Brown, D. (2003). Is this the end of the “article economy”? A strategic review of document delivery. Interlending & Document Supply. doi:10.1108/02641610310506988
Harrison, L. (2012). Linking an Agency Strategic Review to Increase Knowledge Management: San Francisco County Human Service Agency. Journal of Evidence-based Social Work. doi:10.1080/15433714.2012.636310
Skok, J. E. (1991). Strategic budgeting: Reviewing the literature of an emerging theory. International Journal of Public Administration. doi:10.1080/01900699108524735
