scholarly journals Building transformative capability through civil service reform

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 73-96
Author(s):  
Peter Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
Early Adopters ◽  
New Ways Of Working ◽  
Capability Building ◽  
Learn By Doing ◽  
Leadership Context ◽  
Key Features ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThis article explores the importance of capability building to the success of public service reforms. It draws on the neglected literature on capability to explore how capability is a product (or not) of the interaction between the skills, experience and methods of an individual – and the culture, structures, processes of the organisation they work in. The analysis identifies four key features of successful capability-building reforms in the UK, which are also found in the early successes of the Goal Programme for Public Service Reform and Innovation: an iterative and permissive approach to project identification and scoping; projects on high-priority, cross-cutting outcomes that demand new ways of working; projects that are connected with conducive elements of the organisational and leadership context; projects that are designed to create or adapt ‘enabling routines’ which civil servants ‘learn by doing’. Such reforms have acted as capability factories. And as the early adopters of new routines rise through the organisation and take on new roles, they become advocates and teachers of the routines and practice they have acquired. This is how organisations learn and build the capability they need to succeed.

scholarly journals Towards a Managerial Public Service Bargain: The Estonian Civil Service Reform

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cerlin Pesti ◽  
Tiina Randma-Liiv
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Performance Management ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Civil Service Reform

Abstract The aim of this article is to explore and explain the 2012 civil service reform in Estonia. The study builds on the concept of public service bargain, which facilitates the operationalization of changes in the civil service system. Although public service bargain has attracted a lot of interest of public administration scholars, it has not been previously applied in the civil service research in Central and Eastern Europe. The theoretical part synthesizes previous literature on typologies of public service bargain, thus elaborating an analytical framework for the empirical study. The empirical study addresses the following research question: did the civil service reform change the public service bargain in Estonia and if so, how ? The empirical research was carried out by relying on desk research, secondary literature on Estonian administrative reforms and participant observation. The study builds partly on the materials collected for the EUPACK case study on Estonia. The analysis shows that the civil service reform brought along changes in all three components of public service bargain: reward, competency and loyalty, although the agency-type bargain was retained. The shift towards the managerial public service bargain is evidenced in the greater emphasis on flexibility in employment relations, the use of fixed-term contracts, increased private-sector-style practices at all levels of the civil service, an emphasis on performance management, and the reduction of job security. Despite the widespread criticism of NPM, the Estonian civil service reform presents a “textbook case” of managerial NPM-oriented reform. It is argued that substantially diminished rewards may contribute to a vicious circle of temporary civil servants, including problems with recruiting new officials and a further increase in their turnover, ultimately leading to a “temporary state”. The loyalty of civil servants may in turn shift towards instrumental, short-term and easily influenced or changing loyalty, thus challenging the fundamental values of democratic governance.

Radical reform of UK civil service is very unlikely

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Radical Reform ◽  
Fit For Purpose ◽  
The Uk

Subject Civil service reform. Significance Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief strategist, Dominic Cummings, has declared that the main priority in the new parliament will be fixing the machinery of the UK government. Cummings believes the public administration is not fit for purpose in dealing with post-Brexit challenges: cabinet has too many ministers, which makes it impossible to take rational decisions; the civil service lacks delivery expertise and is weak at getting things done; there are too few genuine experts; and the centre of government is brittle and struggles to enforce decisions. Impacts Uncertainty in the civil service will undermine the government’s efforts to negotiate an EU-UK trade deal. Expected initial conflict between civil servants and ministers will result in greater incidence of policy blunders. Cummings will likely leave government sooner than expected, exasperated by the impediments to change within the public service bureaucracy. Cummings's departure would raise questions about Johnson’s strategy and durability as prime minister.

scholarly journals Directions of Civil Service Institutional Transformation

Upravlenie ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54
Author(s):  
Борщевский ◽  
G. Borshchevskiy
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Service ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Civil Service Reform ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public

The concepts of rational bureaucracy, New Public Management and Good Governance were studied. It is indicated that wrongly assume that one of them is more progressive, because all concepts originally aimed at the rationalization of the public service and subordination its own interests according the interests of society. A set of conditions for the participation of citizens in governance exists today. There are a networked organization, a partnership, a production of public goods, and value of public interest. It is proved that in the Concept of the Russian Federation civil service reform (2001) laid the modernization potential for building an open and democratic public service. We postulate the classification of the barriers and challenges that hinder the civil service reform, and we formulate the growth points and the alternative transformation vectors. Then we consider the risks of each alternative in the short, medium and long term, and how to overcome them. It is indicated that the priority should be the harmonization of the legal framework for civil service and public sector. In the first step is need the convergence of the legal content of civil service with other activities in the public sector, and the renouncement the civil servants to serve to politicians, which is aimed at increasing their personal responsibility. It is necessary to implement the new basic legal principle of targeting efforts of the civil servants to achieve economic growth and improve the quality of citizens life. In the next step a new phenomenon – the public service – should be formed. The new public service will include the civil service, municipal service and the public sector organizations, as well as some other types of organizations. This requires some changes in the personnel policy: the formation of a single personnel reserve for the entire public service, improving the qualification requirements for all public positions based on professional specializations, and ensuring the effective public control. A systematic approach to the creation of the public service will increase the efficiency of public institutions and their resilience in the face of global instability. Our conclusions were tested in draft the Strategy of socio-economic development of Russia for the period till 2030.

Performance management systems for senior civil servants: how strong is the managerial public service bargain?

2013 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annie Hondeghem ◽  
Karolien Van Dorpe
Keyword(s):  
Performance Management ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Control Process ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Strong Result ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Performance Management Systems ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Management Cycle

During the past couple of decades we have witnessed important reforms in the public sector in OECD countries. Various forms of performance management systems have been introduced. This had an impact on the role and position of senior civil servants. The traditional public service bargain (PSB) came under pressure and was replaced by – at least partially – a managerial PSB. This article looks at the performance management systems that have been introduced for senior civil servants in five countries (Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Belgium) and their impact on the managerial PSB. When there is strong result-based control in the different phases of the performance management cycle, we assume a strong managerial PSB. The finding is that the Anglo-Saxon countries have stronger result-based control systems than the European continental countries. Therefore we conclude that in the former countries the managerial PSBs are stronger than in the latter countries. Points for practitioners Performance management systems for senior civil servants show a different degree of result-based control. Following the four steps in a control process (plan, do, check, act) we can divide the performance management cycle into four phases: planning, monitoring, evaluation, and acting. When there is strong result-based control in each stage, we can speak of a strong managerial public service bargain (PSB). When there is moderate or weak result-based control, there is a moderate or weak managerial PSB, respectively. Each country can make its own choices regarding the performance management system for senior civil servants, but one must be aware that this has an impact on political-administrative relations.

Public Service in "Greeneland"

Public Voices ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 5
Author(s):  
Louis C Gawthrop
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Central Theme ◽  
The Public ◽  
Organizational Environments

The essay examines four of Graham Greene's "administrative" novels.The focus of the article is on three basic perspectives that characterizeGreene's treatment of bureaucratic systems, in general, andpublic sector careerists, in particular. The central theme that Greeneseems to pursue in all of his novels-the persistent human struggle inthe attempt to attain a sense of authentic being-is developed withparticular effectiveness when he focuses on career civil servants andtheir organizational environments. His treatment of the public sectorserves to inform us of the ever-present danger of pursuing aninauthentic career in the service of democracy.

scholarly journals Public service media in the age of SVoDs: A comparative study of PSM strategic responses in Flanders, Italy and the UK

2021 ◽  
pp. 016344372097290
Author(s):  
Alessandro D’Arma ◽  
Tim Raats ◽  
Jeanette Steemers
Keyword(s):  
New Media ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Market Size ◽  
Online Video ◽  
Competitive Displacement ◽  
Strategic Responses ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Different Levels

Netflix and other transnational online video streaming services are disrupting long-established arrangements in national television systems around the world. In this paper we analyse how public service media (PSM) organisations (key purveyors of societal goals in broadcasting) are responding to the fast-growing popularity of these new services. Drawing on Philip Napoli’s framework for analysing strategic responses by established media to threats of competitive displacement by new media, we find that the three PSM organisations in our study exhibit commonalities. Their responses have tended to follow a particular evolution starting with different levels of complacency and resistance before settling into more coherent strategies revolving around efforts to differentiate PSM offerings, while also diversifying into activities, primarily across new platforms, that mimic SVoD approaches and probe production collaborations. Beyond these similarities, however, we also find that a range of contextual factors (including path-dependency, the role and status of PSM in each country, the degree of additional government support, cultural factors and market size) help explain nuances in strategic responses between our three cases.

Public service motivation and organizational performance in Chinese provincial governments

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 770-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunkui Zhu ◽  
Chen Wu
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Service Motivation ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Hunan Province ◽  
Government Employees ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

Purpose This paper aims to examine different hypotheses concerning the effects of public service motivation (PSM) and other attitudinal or institutional dimensions on organizational performance (OP). Specifically, based on the experience of Chinese provincial governments, this study provides new evidence about how PSM may affect OP. Design/methodology/approach This study collected data from a survey of different provincial government departments in Sichuan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province and Chongqing Municipality in 2011. Using data from 761 respondents, Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to explore the relationships between related factors. Findings PSM, job satisfaction, affective commitment and job involvement have statistically significant effects on OP, and these results are consistent with the findings of previous researches that PSM positively affected OP at a significant level. The results suggest that, if civil servants have a strong PSM, the performance of their organizations will be high. Research limitations/implications Future research should look for additional factors that affect OP, comparing employees’ perceptions of an organization’s performance with objective data to determine whether, and to what degree, subjective measures of performance are valid measures of OP in the public sector. Practical implications In the process of improving government performance, it is significant to give attention to the government employees’ mentality. The government training and promotion system should encourage civil servants to care about the public interest. A more flattened organization should be considered as part of the next steps in government reform, and more opportunities should be provided to involve more government employees in policy making. Originality/value This study helps to clarify the effects of individual factors of PSM on OP in China in a tightly controlled bureaucratic environment, where related data are hardly accessible.

Changing Work and Work-Related Travel and the Impact of Covid-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 336-354
Author(s):  
Kiron Chatterjee ◽  
Fiona Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Digital Age ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Working Practices ◽  
Key Features ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Impact

The nature of work was undergoing dramatic change before the pandemic as the digital age continued to transform all sectors of society. In this paper we describe pre-pandemic trends in types of work, the workforce and working arrangements in the UK. We show how these changes were having gradual yet significant impacts on commuting and other work-related travel which were apparent in national travel data series. Key features of these impacts were increasing diversification and flexibility in work travel. We bring together findings on how working practices and travel have been altered by the pandemic and report expectations and opinions on its longer-term legacies. The pandemic has accelerated pre-pandemic trends and led to a shift in how work is performed for almost all sectors of the economy – but grasping the opportunity for this to contribute to deep carbon reductions from transport and to improve equity and health outcomes will require carefully directed policy interventions.

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