Appendix 3: Dataset Descriptions
This appendix describes the datasets used in the analysis provided in this report, which includes data from NZ agencies and comparator data from organisations around the world. Note that not all comparator datasets have results for the same metrics used by NZ agencies.
The report makes reference to nine datasets, some of which are narrowed into one or more smaller datasets to facilitate comparison as described below:
New Zealand full cohort (NZ full cohort)
The NZ cohort comprises all agencies measured in a specific reporting period. Accident Compensation Corporation and Tertiary Education Commission did not participate in the FY 2010/11 exercise. To allow comparison, the FY 2009/10 and FY 2010/11 NZ full cohort is made up of 31 Public Service Departments, Non-Public Service Departments and Crown Agents as listed alphabetically below:
- Department of Building and Housing
- Department of Conservation
- Department of Corrections
- Department of Internal Affairs
- Department of Labour
- Housing Corporation New Zealand
- Inland Revenue
- Land Information New Zealand
- Ministry for Culture and Heritage
- Ministry for the Environment
- Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
- Ministry of Economic Development
- Ministry of Education
- Ministry of Fisheries
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Ministry of Health
- Ministry of Justice
- Ministry of Social Development
- Ministry of Transport
- New Zealand Customs Service
- New Zealand Defence Force
- New Zealand Fire Service
- New Zealand Police
- New Zealand Qualifications Authority
- New Zealand Tourism Board
- New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
- New Zealand Transport Authority
- State Services Commission
- Statistics New Zealand
- Te Puni Kokiri
- The Treasury
Small, medium-sized, and large agency cohorts
To support comparison among agencies with the greatest operational similarities, the NZ full cohort is divided into three subsets, or cohorts, using the following criteria:
- Size of operating budget
- Number of organisational FTEs
- Agency type by primary function
- Distribution of people/service.
Agencies with common features for at least three of the four criteria are grouped into three cohorts as outlined in the table below.
| Agency cohort name | Agencies in the cohort | Profile (agencies will have at least three profile features) |
|---|---|---|
| Small agency cohort (mean of 280 employees) |
|
|
| Medium-sized agency cohort (mean of 1280 employees) |
|
|
| Large agency cohort (mean of 6621 employees) |
|
|
UK Audit Agencies (UKAA cohort)
The UK Audit Agencies (UKAA) comprise the five UK public sector organisations of Audit Scotland; the National Audit Office (England); Northern Ireland Audit Office; Wales Audit Office; and the Audit Commission. UKAA has designed and implemented a set value for money indicators for Finance, HR, ICT, Property, Procurement, Communications, and Legal services in a joint initiative. The details of their methodology can be found at www.public-audit-forum.gov.uk/performanceindicators.pdf.
The UKAA cohort database includes results from over 200 UK public sector organisations, and this data has been collected on a voluntary and anonymous basis. At the time this document was written, the communication and legal services indicators were relatively new additions to the indicator set, so comparator data for these services was not available.
As the management practice indicators (MPIs) described in Appendix Four are unique to the UKAA methodology, the UKAA cohort is the only comparator dataset for this set of metrics. NZ agencies measured seven MPIs: Finance, Human Resources, Procurement, Property, ICT, Communications, and Legal Services.
American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC) full cohort
The American Productivity and Quality Centre (APQC) is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 1977. The APQC database (the Open Standards Benchmarking Collaborative database) is one of the largest in the world with data from more than 7,000 public and private sector organisations.
APQC similar cohort
A subset of the APQC full cohort database that includes Government and military agencies, banks, utilities, not-for-profits, and research organisations deemed suitable for comparison with NZ State sector agencies.
The Hackett Group (Hackett) full cohort
The Hackett Group benchmarking and best practices database is built on more than 5,000 benchmarking engagements with 2,700 major corporations and government agencies, including 97 percent of the Dow Jones Industrials, 73 percent of the Fortune 100, 73 percent of the DAX 30 and 50 percent of the FTSE 100.[63]
Hackett Peer Group
A subset of The Hackett Group full cohort database that includes Government and military agencies, banks, utilities, not-for-profits, and research organisations deemed suitable for comparison with NZ State sector agencies.
Hackett World Class
A subset of The Hackett Group full cohort database that includes organisations that have achieved performance that ranks in the top quartile of companies by efficiency metrics as well as effectiveness metrics. Includes organisations that are both exceptionally efficient in their resource utilization and exceptionally effective in delivering business value are achieving operational excellence.[64]
Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Property dataset
The OGC produces an annual report to Parliament on the efficiency and effectiveness of the UK Government's central civil estate, including data regarding property used in this report for comparison purposes.
Notes
- [63]www.thehackettgroup.com (accessed 22 March 2011).
- [64]http://www.thehackettgroup.com/operational-excellence/ (accessed 15 February 2012)
