Ted Poister’s research on public management focuses on results oriented approaches such as strategic planning and management, performance management, quality and productivity improvement, and customer satisfaction/stakeholder engagement. Much of this work has been conducted in the field of transportation, but he has also worked in a variety of other policy areas including housing, criminal justice, mental disabilities, public health, child support enforcement, and nursing regulation.  Current efforts focus on the effects of strategy formulation and performance management on public transit system performance, drivers of citizen satisfaction with public schools, and the effectiveness of a performance based grants management process in a public health program.

Over the years Poister has worked with a wide range of governmental organizations at the federal, state, and local levels in applied research and consulting projects in management and evaluation. Recently, for example, he led a multi-year effort to develop and pilot a 360 degree organization assessment model utilizing surveys of a variety of stakeholder groups for the Georgia Department of Transportation. Currently he is working with the National Council of State Boards of Nursing to revamp a comparative performance measurement and benchmarking process intended to encourage and assist state boards in managing with measures as well as identify and assess promising practices in order to advance excellence in nursing regulation nationally.

Dr. Poister has published widely in such journals as Public Administration Review, Public Performance & Management Review, Journal of Public Management Research and Theory, American Review of Public Administration, and Public Management Review as well as Public Works Management & Policy and Transportation Research Record. He is also beginning to develop the second edition of his book on performance measurement, to be retitled Measuring Performance and Managing for Results in Government and Nonprofit Organizations, published by Jossey-Bass.