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issues identified in the literature review related to perceived strengths and weaknesses of RBM within Canada. The interviewees also identified areas of potential

investigation not addressed within the current literature, such as sources of RBM information, and ‘operationalise’ RBM by executives.

Overall, RBM was considered an under-research area in the opinions of interviewees, who collectively expressed a high degree of interest in the research results. The Key Informant interviews confirmed the necessity of including regional and headquarter input, and the importance of examining whether senior executives had different perspectives, which supported the inclusion of multiple case study areas. Key Informant interviewees also confirmed the need for face-to-face interviews in data collection; in their opinion, RBM surveys would have limited useful application.

The impact of these interviews on the research design, especially in developing the interview guideline (interview questionnaire), was considerable. For brevity, Table 24 provides a summary of the contribution of the Key Informant interviews to the research question.

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Table 24: Contribution of Key Informants to the Research Design

Issues Description Impact or Action Question*

Is RBM a suitable topic for research (practitioner perspective)?

Yes, high degree of interest expressed by Key Informants

1

Field procedures and data collection

Confirm that interviews are required, surveys will not work

Include regional perspective

Saskatchewan Case Study incorporated into research design

Include programme perspective

Health Case Study incorporated into research design Research Methods Case Study Selection Include Central Agencies and senior executive

perspectives

Senior Executive Case Study incorporated into research design

Services Service

Explore client-focus/client feedback

5 12 Outcomes Use of RBM

Linked to managerial flexibility

4,5 17 Public Value Trust Accountability Client feedback 7-9 12 Must be linked to accountability 4,9 Must be linked to reporting 5,9 Must be linked to budgets, including

budget reallocation

5, 17 RBM Impact of RBM on

executive management

Role and use of information in operationally managing for results

9-11, 12 * Question refers to the inclusion of questions in the Interview Guideline (Appendix C).

3.4.3 Confirmation of Case Selection

As confirmed by the Key Informant interviews, the research methodology consisted of two principle case studies within the federal government of Canada, followed by the Senior Executive interviews. The first case, the Saskatchewan Case Study, interviewed executives from all departments with regional offices in Saskatchewan, one of the eight regions of Canada. The second, the Health Case Study, incorporated the views of executives from a national health program, including both headquarters and regional executives from across Canada. Within the research design, acquiring evidence from multiple case studies allows for cross-case analysis (Yin, 2003b). The

final set of interview focused on capturing the input and perspectives of senior executives and validating the research findings from the two case studies.

The Saskatchewan Case study responds to the suggestion from the Key Informant interviews that regional and headquarters may have differing perspectives on Result- based Management. A number of the Key Informant participants commented on the ‘policy-centric’ view of Ottawa, including the development of RBM policy itself28, in comparison with the program-delivery focus of regional operations29. Furthermore, given that approximately 60 per cent of Canadian federal public servants worked in regional settings in 2003, the Saskatchewan Case Study provides a mechanism to focus on regional executives’ perspectives.

The Health Case study was selected as it is considered one of the most difficult functional areas to measure (Stein, 2001). Examining one of the most difficult programme areas may reveal, in a clearer manner, certain management issues

underlying Result-based Management. The Key Informant interviews confirmed this proposition, for example, “Health has got to be one of the hardest departments to try and implement Results-based Management” (respondent: KI-5).

In order to capture the perspective of the highest level of the bureaucracy, as suggested by the Key Informant interviewees, interviews with ten very senior

mandarins; Deputy Ministers (DM) and Assistant Deputy Ministers (ADM) from both ‘central agencies’ and line departments were conducted under the general heading of

28

The Treasury Board of Canada, the developer of the Results-based Management policy, has no regional offices and is located in the national capital, Ottawa Canada.

29

This difference was also thoroughly addressed in Service in the Field - the World of Front-line Public Servants (Carroll and Siegel, 1999), which confirmed the utility of including the Saskatchewan Case Study.

Senior Executive interviews. In each interview, the identical interview questionnaire was followed in order to acquire consistent data.

In reflecting on the challenge and opportunity of acquiring Senior Executives’

perspectives, the following strategy was developed. By intentionally scheduling these interviews last, a discussion of the preliminary research findings was conducted at the end of each interview, providing a key validation for the case study results.

Furthermore, in securing senior executives’ agreement to participate, the opportunity to discuss the research findings was offered as an inducement.

Ten interviews, while a small number, were considered adequate to test the research findings as they included representatives from the key central agencies leading the RBM initiative for the Canadian federal government.

In summary, selection of these specific cases emerged from a combination of the Literature Review, the Key Informant interviews, and discussion with interested parties. The overall research design incorporated executive perspectives and insights from different geographic regions, functional responsibilities, and levels of executive seniority. The case study selection logic is summarized in Table 25, below.

Table 25: Case Selection Logic Health Case study

ƒ Health is one of the hardest areas to determine and measure outcomes, with multiple stakeholders, long outcome time horizons, etc.

ƒ First Nations and Inuit Health, one Branch of Health Canada, is very large with a budget of $1.8 billion, 30 major programmes, and 2000 employees (in 2003-04)

ƒ First Nations health is a highly political area with multiple stakeholders, who have conflicting goals

ƒ Within health, multiple results are desired, including conflicting outcomes

ƒ Will permit the examination of one Branch/programme area in depth

ƒ Includes regional and headquarters executives permitting analysis of differences

ƒ Also includes perspective of nine executives responsible for corporate functions (Informatics, Human Resources, Audit and Evaluation, Finance, Planning, etc.), required to support the health programmes

Saskatchewan Case study

ƒ Interviewing each executive in Saskatchewan permits analysis of differences between departments with a regional presence

ƒ Regional executives are responsible for direct programme delivery to Canadians/clients, (as compared to policy or corporate roles), and may have different pre-existing or current perspectives of results and accountability, including use of client satisfaction data in assessing outcomes

ƒ Key Informant interviews findings suggest that programmes with clear objectives and greater control of programme delivery, may support the adoption of Results-based Management (e.g. Taxation, Corrections) in comparison with programmes crossing jurisdictional boundaries and/or where the choices of individual Canadians/clients have large downstream impacts on the results (Health, Education)

Senior Executive interviews

ƒ A series of ten interviews with senior executives responsible for overall implementation of RBM within the Canadian public sector to validate research findings

ƒ Gather Central Agency perspective (PSC, TBS, PCO, AG), as well as executives responsible for implementing Results-based Management in other departments

ƒ Combined datasets permits comparisons between senior and lower-level executive perceptions

Cross Case Analysis

ƒ After analysis of the individual cases, the data will be merged to undertake secondary analysis of differences and similarities between regional and headquarter executives

ƒ Seek differences in implementation, and explanations of differences

Each case study was selected on its own merit. However, the selecting of multiple case studies enhanced validity (Yin, 2003b), and strengthened the research design through analysing the perspectives and insights from different geographic regions, regional versus headquarter perspectives, and between levels of executive

management. While a greater number of case studies would be desirable, limitations of time and funds precluded expansion of this research into other departments or

geographic regions. This remains an area for future research, as discussed briefly in Chapter 8, Conclusions.

The time frame available to conduct interviews, approximately 15 months, permitted a population rather than sample approach. This had the benefit of removing issues associated with sample selection, and served to increase the generalizability of the research findings. Naturally, some participants were unable or unwilling to

participate. The number of participants and refusals, which were surprisingly small, are also noted in Table 26.

Table 26: Case Study Interviews Statistics Case Study Number

of Interviews Number not Conducted Location Dates Saskatchewan Case study 32 (91.4%) 3 Province of Saskatchewan February 2004 - January 2005 Health Case study 37 (90.2%) 4 Across Canada (Halifax, NS – Vancouver, BC) March 2004 - April 2005 Senior Executive Interviews 10 (100%) 0 All in Ottawa – Canada’s capital October 2004 - January 2005 Note: ‘Number not Conducted’ includes interviews unable to schedule and refusals.

In summary, this section has demonstrated the suitability of the case study method in addressing this research topic and identified the criteria for selection of the