Development of a performance management system in the Thailand public sector Isomorphism and the role and strategies of institutional entrepreneurs

Abstract

This paper analyzes how a ‘new’ performance management system was developed by the Thailand Government. The data were collected using interviews, archival records and published newspaper articles. These data were analyzed using the lenses of institutional theory, especially agentic institutionalism. We reveal how a performance management system was developed over four stages, with each stage facing different institutional pressures. The study makes two contributions. Firstly, it demonstrates how different phases of development of a performance management system are influenced by different institutional pressures and how these pressures interact to bring about change. Secondly, the study illuminates the discursive and non-discursive strategies used by agents in a highly institutionalized environment in order to develop the system and gain legitimacy for it. The study complements recent interest from neo-institutional theory to understand how agents emerge from their embedded state to contribute to changing institutions.