The Rise of a New Public Bureaucracy in New Zealand?

2021 ◽  
pp. 009539972110133
Author(s):  
Karl Löfgren ◽  
Ben Darrah-Morgan ◽  
Patrik Hall ◽  
Linda Alamaa
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Main Task ◽  
The Public ◽  
Organizational Functions ◽  
Public Sector Reforms ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Bureaucracy ◽  
Complex Picture

One recurrent narrative in the discussion about managerial public sector reforms is the growth in organizational professionals as a response to new accountability regimes. New Zealand has experienced modest growth rates in the general public sector workforce. Less studied, though, is whether the composition of the public sector workforce has changed, with an increase in organizational functions supportive to management. Based on descriptive workforce data, followed by follow-up interviews, this article presents a multifaceted and complex picture of a growing new public bureaucracy with the main task of managing chains of accountability.

scholarly journals Exploiting conditionality: EU and international actors and post-NPM reform in Ireland

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-200
Author(s):  
Muiris MacCarthaigh ◽  
Niamh Hardiman
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Reforms ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Sector Unions ◽  
Administrative Elites

Between 2008 and 2015, Ireland undertook unprecedented and systemic public sector reforms in a polity not traditionally considered a prominent reformer. While some of these reforms comprised part of the loan programme agreement with EU and international actors, many others did not. This article argues that the crisis in Ireland provided a window of opportunity to introduce reforms that political and administrative elites had previously found difficult to implement. The authority of the Troika was invoked to provide legitimacy for controversial initiatives, yet some of the reforms went further than the loan programme strictly required. A number of these concerning organisational rationalisation, the public service ‘bargain’ and transversal policy coordination are considered here. Agreements were negotiated with public sector unions that facilitated sharp cuts in pay and conditions, reducing the potential for opposition to change. The reform effort was further legitimated by the reformers’ post-New Public Management, whole-of-government discourse, which situated considerations of effectiveness and efficiency in a broader framework of public service quality and delivery.

scholarly journals Exploring past, present and future trends in public sector auditing research: a literature review

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgia Mattei ◽  
Giuseppe Grossi ◽  
James Guthrie A.M.
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Reforms ◽  
New Public

Purpose Public sector auditing research has changed rapidly over the past four decades. This paper aims to reveal how the field has developed and identify avenues for future research. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a structured literature review following Massaro et al. The sample comprises papers on public sector auditing published in accounting and public sector management journals between 1991 and 2020. Findings The present analysis highlights that academic research interest in public sector auditing has grown and become more diverse. The authors argue this may reflect a transformation of the public sector in recent decades, owing to the developing institutional logics of public sector reforms, from traditional public administration to new public management and now new public governance. Originality value This paper offers a comprehensive review of the public sector auditing literature, discussing different perspectives over time. It also outlines the various public sector reforms introduced over the period of the study. In reviewing the existing literature, the authors highlight the themes for future research and policy settings.

scholarly journals Contributions and challenges of ‘New Public Management’: New Zealand since 1984

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Whitcombe
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Rigorous Analysis ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public ◽  
The World

When New Public Management (NPM) swept around the world in the 1980s the New Zealand public sector embraced its theories and embarked upon a rigorous reform process which brought both praise and some scepticism. New Zealand was seen at that time, by some observers, to be a ‘world leader’. However, in the years following the initial impact of NPM the euphoria has given way to a more rigorous analysis of the performance of the public sector and a re-examination of the functions and responsibilities of the public service.

scholarly journals Forecasting and reporting performance: the search for the holy grail?

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Brady
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Performance Information ◽  
Holy Grail ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Reforms

More than 500 public entities in New Zealand are required to publicly report prospective and actual performance information. Most of the requirements have been in place for more than 15 years, their origins lying in the public sector reforms of the 1980s. There is strong theoretical logic supporting the usefulness of publicly disclosed performance information, with disclosure of non-financial performance information a growing phenomenon internationally. Indeed, last year I attended an international gathering of auditors-general at which it was clear that the demand for such information is growing. 

scholarly journals Performance Management System in Mozambican Universities: A Literature Review of Theories, Origin and Evolution

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 52
Author(s):  
Carlos Bire Caixote ◽  
Bashi Mothusi ◽  
Thekiso Molokwane
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Performance Management System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Reforms ◽  
New Public

From the end of the 1970s up to the 2000s, governments in the developed and developing countries were involved in implementing economic, social, political, cultural and legal reform programs. The first wave of public sector reforms came under the Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) which were implemented in most of the developing countries from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. The second wave, which started in the early 1990s, was propelled by influence generated by proponents of the New Public Management (NPM) school of thought. The major objective of reforms was to enhance performance and productivity in public sector organizations including higher education institutions. This practice was grounded on certain theories and models, mainly public-choice theory and goal-setting theory under the New Public Management (NPM) model. The Government of Mozambique has adopted a performance-based approach to implementing public sector reforms. This study, which employs a qualitative literature survey with secondary data as its primary research source, discusses and analyzes literature on the design and implementation of a Performance Management System (PMS) in the public sector including public universities of Mozambique. The study also discusses the origins and evolution of the theories which are linked to PMS and their applicability to the public universities of Mozambique as they started embracing PMS as a tool for improving performance of individuals and the organization as a whole.

scholarly journals Intellectual Capital and Sustainable Economic Performance in the Public Sector: The Context of the New Public Management in Malaysia

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7885
Author(s):  
Kardina Kamaruddin ◽  
Indra Abeysekera
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Public Management ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public ◽  
Operational Variables ◽  
Construct Dimensions

The New Public Management allows us to reflect upon whether intellectual capital helps public sector organisations meet their performance benchmarks. Sustainable economic performance gains importance from the public sector’s service ideal. Although there have been empirical endeavours using intellectual capital as operational variables, this study examines the theoretically informed relationship between the intellectual capital construct and its construct dimensions and the sustainable economic performance construct and its construct dimensions. The decision-making inputs of senior officials in the Malaysian public sector are vital for evaluating the relationship, as these officials are the individual strategists of the collective organisational strategy. The study conducted a survey that received 1092 usable responses and analysed them using the structural equation modelling research method. The findings showed a robust theoretical relationship between intellectual capital and sustainable economic performance. Furthermore, the study identified intellectual capital items that play a vital role in supporting public sector sustainable economic performance in Malaysia under New Public Management. The findings provide useful knowledge for public sector officials and policymakers, and for further research.

scholarly journals Accounting and the post-new public management

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ileana Steccolini
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Accounting Research ◽  
Societal Relevance ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Sector Accounting

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect various pathways for public sector accounting and accountability research in a post-new public management (NPM) context. Design/methodology/approach The paper first discusses the relationship between NPM and public sector accounting research. It then explores the possible stimuli that inter-disciplinary accounting scholars may derive from recent public administration studies, public policy and societal trends, highlighting possible ways to extend public sector accounting research and strengthen dialogue with other disciplines. Findings NPM may have represented a golden age, but also a “golden cage,” for the development of public sector accounting research. The paper reflects possible ways out of this golden cage, discussing future avenues for public sector accounting research. In doing so, it highlights the opportunities offered by re-considering the “public” side of accounting research and shifting the attention from the public sector, seen as a context for public sector accounting research, to publicness, as a concept central to such research. Originality/value The paper calls for stronger engagement with contemporary developments in public administration and policy. This could be achieved by looking at how public sector accounting accounts for, but also impacts on, issues of wider societal relevance, such as co-production and hybridization of public services, austerity, crises and wicked problems, the creation and maintenance of public value and democratic participation.

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