Varieties of new public management? The reform of public service employment relations in the UK and USA

2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 2349-2366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Bach ◽  
Rebecca Kolins Givan
2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 683-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn Thomas ◽  
Annette Davies

This article presents theoretical and empirical analysis of the micro-politics of resistance. We theorize resistance at the level of meanings and subjectivities, drawing attention to the multidirectional and generative effects in identity construction. We address two shortcomings present in much of the theorizing of resistance, namely, the conceptualizing of resistance as a set of actions and behaviours, and the narrow conception of resistance as a reaction to repressive power. Focusing on the UK public services, we draw from texts generated within interviews with public service professionals in the police, social services and secondary education to explore the meanings individuals ascribe to the discourse of New Public Management (NPM) and their positioning within these meanings. The analysis contributes to the study of organizations in three respects. First, it offers a more detailed and varied understanding of resistance that can account for different motivations and ways in which individuals struggle to transform meanings. Second, drawing on specific cases, it illustrates the process of the micro-politics of resistance. Third, it presents an empirically grounded understanding of the character and conduct of NPM that can accommodate greater complexity and nuance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gyorgy Hajnal ◽  
Katarina Staronova

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to examine whether the incentivizing type of performance appraisal (typical of New Public Management) has indeed been superseded by a post-New Public Management (NPM), developmental type of performance appraisal in European Civil Services.Design/methodology/approachThe literature review lead to a unidimensional, twofold typology: incentivizing (NPM) and developmental (post-NPM) performance appraisal. The empirical basis of the research is two surveys conducted among top civil servants in 18 European countries.FindingsFirst, there are crucial discrepancies between performance appraisal systems in contemporary European central government administrations and current theorizing on performance appraisal. Contrary to our expectations developed on the basis of the latter, “developmental” and “incentivizing” do not seem to be two distinct types of performance appraisal; rather, they are two independent dimensions, defining altogether four different types of performance appraisal systems.Practical implicationsThe authors results give orientation to policymakers and public service managers to engage in designing or applying performance appraisal systems, in particular by identifying assailable presumptions underlying many present-time reform trends.Social implicationsCitizens and communities are direct stakeholders in the development of public service performance appraisal both as possible or actual employees of public service organizations and as recipients of public services.Originality/valueThe paper proposes a new fourfold typology of performance appraisal systems: incentivizing, developmental, symbolic and want-it-all.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-100
Author(s):  
Hemin Choi ◽  
Jong Seon Lee

This study investigates how citizens define their role qua citizen and how the public role they assign themselves matters in their assessment of satisfaction with public service performance. We compared survey respondents who identified their citizen role as customer (n=280), partner (n=353) or owner (n=467) to test this relation. Theoretically, the dominance of New Public Management (NPM) scholarship has resulted in the framing of citizens as simply customers, but our empirical study finds that citizens consider themselves more as partners or owners of government. This mismatch in conception was our research hypothesis for further research. We then ran a number of t-tests and carried out a MANOVA analysis, the results of which indicate that there is a significant difference between the customer and partner groups regarding expectations and satisfaction on the quality of their living area but not regarding performance. There is also evidence that shows that the role citizens assign to themselves is related to their public service expectations but that the connection between their view of their role and their assessment of performance is weak.


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