The Utilization of Performance Information: the Dutch Network Ecological Monitoring

New Public Management has been a catalyst for monitoring activities in the public sector. Although monitoring of policy processes is quite prevalent, the utilization of monitoring data remains underexplored. This article analyses the utilization of information generated by the Dutch Network Ecological Monitoring (NEM), by first looking at its characteristics. We then distinguish between theoretical approaches to utilizing monitoring data and the critical factors for utilizing monitoring suggested by these approaches. Finally, the NEM is used to draw empirical and theoretical conclusions with respect to the utilization of information from performance monitoring. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.