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PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND BEST VALUE AUDIT IN SCOTLAND: A RESEARCH NOTE ON THEORY AND PRACTICE
Author(s) -
Midwinter Arthur
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
financial accountability and management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.661
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1468-0408
pISSN - 0267-4424
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0408.2008.00461.x
Subject(s) - best practice , audit , best value , corporate governance , scope (computer science) , performance audit , business , value (mathematics) , process management , accounting , audit plan , process (computing) , good practice , joint audit , internal audit , management , economics , computer science , marketing , engineering , engineering ethics , finance , machine learning , programming language , operating system
This paper appraises the theory and practice of Best Value Audit in Scotland, and in particular the central assumption that a robust performance management system is essential for continuous improvement in service delivery, within a rational planning model of governance. The reviews of Best Value Audit in practice reveal important gaps between theory and practice, with an overemphasis on monitoring process rather than performance. There is, therefore, considerable scope to reduce the demands of the audit process on local government, and Best Value Audit, needs to move from a theoretical model to an evidence‐based model of good practice if real progress is to be made.