scholarly journals Picking up the pace in public services

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Al Morrison

Following the reforms of the public management system in the 1980s, legislative change and programmes of work to develop and shape the system have occurred at various times. The work programmes have tended to come and go, with mixed success, each designed around maintaining the strengths that accountability for outputs has brought to public sector agencies while increasing the focus on achieving outcomes. 

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-14
Author(s):  
Monika Bumbalová

AbstractProvision of services by public sector is a concept, which has been implemented for many decades in various forms of economic arrangement. Public sector policies and public services have significant impact on almost all spheres of life including agriculture. Throughout the history, there were times with smaller and bigger importance of public sector within the economy. The conditions of public sector always depend on the actual trend applied in the sphere of public administration and public management. After the period of New Public Management accompanied by leaning away from the “public” concept, a return to stronger statehood and more intensive public sector can be seen. There are several reasons for such development, which are also called megatrends. Urbanization, demography and social changes, climate changes and development of technology belong to the most intensive ones. The presented review paper deals with the description of the mentioned trends and provides a reflexion on their influence on the public sector and provision of public services in particular.


2000 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 163-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Llewellyn ◽  
Alan Lawton ◽  
Charles Edwards ◽  
Geoff Jones

This paper reports key findings from a series of structured public sector practitioner panel seminars, convened at the Open University Business School (OUBS) as part of a three-year study assessing the meaning and significance of entrepreneurship for the practice of public management. The seminars were structured around issues emerging from a detailed literature review. Reflecting the structure of the seminars, findings are presented around four themes: (a) the meaning of entrepreneurship as applied to public services; (b) the impact of entrepreneurial behaviour on traditional public service values; (c) contingencies that relate to entrepreneurial public management; and (d) outcomes of entrepreneurship. In the initial section of the paper traditional theories of the entrepreneur are contrasted with the way in which entrepreneurship has recently been linked to social, rather than individual goals. Methodology is then discussed, exploring the way in which field notes were generated and analysed. Key outcomes are then presented. The research reveals a balance between entrepreneurial behaviour and bureaucratic accountability, and a concern that public services, rather than individual goals are achieved. Entrepreneurial behaviour is found to exist across the public services, but it is recognized that there may be a core of activities that do not lend themselves to entrepreneurial behaviour. In the discussion section a number of implications emerging from the research are presented.


2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Ryan ◽  
Derek Gill ◽  
Elizabeth Eppel ◽  
Miriam Lips

In pockets throughout the New Zealand public sector, ordinary officials are doing extraordinary things as they learn to do something very difficult: how to collaborate with people from other agencies. This occurs as they learn what needs to be done in managing for shared outcomes in complex policy cases. They appear to be doing excellent work in achieving desired outcomes for clients; yet they are doing so in spite of the public management system they work in, without much support from their organisations and the sector generally, and in the general absence of a learning culture. As there are no textbooks, they also confront the challenge of making it up as they go along. In several respects, therefore, their ways of working are unlike those assumed by traditional models of Westminster officials – and Kiwis may be better off because of it.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Veale ◽  
Irina Brass

Public bodies and agencies increasingly seek to use new forms of data analysis in order to provide 'better public services'. These reforms have consisted of digital service transformations generally aimed at 'improving the experience of the citizen', 'making government more efficient' and 'boosting business and the wider economy'. More recently however, there has been a push to use administrative data to build algorithmic models, often using machine learning, to help make day-to-day operational decisions in the management and delivery of public services rather than providing general policy evidence. This chapter asks several questions relating to this. What are the drivers of these new approaches? Is public sector machine learning a smooth continuation of e-Government, or does it pose fundamentally different challenge to practices of public administration? And how are public management decisions and practices at different levels enacted when machine learning solutions are implemented in the public sector? Focussing on different levels of government: the macro, the meso, and the 'street-level', we map out and analyse the current efforts to frame and standardise machine learning in the public sector, noting that they raise several concerns around the skills, capacities, processes and practices governments currently employ. The forms of these are likely to have value-laden, political consequences worthy of significant scholarly attention.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Ewa Stroińska

AbstractObjective: The implementation of mechanisms stimulating marketization of the public sector is an elementary assumption of a modern public management system. The main goals of these processes are to increase efficiency, reduce bureaucracy, create a platform for cooperation between public and private entities, and extend decentralization. The set of rules practiced in modern local governments increasingly resembles a private enterprise managed by efficient managers. The traditional approach, which was only the administration process itself, is being replaced by a focus on economy, efficiency, quality, and effectiveness.Methodology: The material was created based on the qualitative method in the form of secondary analysis of literature data. At the same time, it provides the theoretical background for conducted empirical research on changing the management system in public administration. The effect of further research explorations will be another material presented in the form of a research reportValue Added: The New Public Management (NPM) concept is based on changing the orientation of management of public organizations consisting in ceasing to apply the approach focusing only on procedures and rules of conduct related to expenditure, and implementing rules based on the analysis of the results related to expenditure incurred, adopting strategic orientation and introducing market mechanism for the process of providing public services (Zalewski, 2006, p. 74). The purpose of the article is to describe the New Public Management model, the implementation of which helps public institutions to respond to challenges posed by external and internal stakeholders.Findings: The article presents the thesis that changes in public administration require the transformation of a management system characterized by entrepreneurship, the use of different business-oriented strategies for implementing effective actions.Recommendations: The idea of New Public Management is to replace the bureaucratic administrative management model and to introduce a managerial model, i.e. the application in the public sector of the principles and solutions of management systems known and used in the business sector (Alford & Huges, 2008, pp. 130–148). This is caused by the increase in citizens’ expectations regarding the increase in the quality of service provision, while at the same time unwilling to raise taxes. To achieve this goal, NPM has introduced certain assumptions to help in effective management (Templatka, n.d.).


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arber Balani ◽  
Olga Vladimirovna Glushakova ◽  
Yaroslava Vaysberg ◽  
Natalia Vasilievna Fadeikina ◽  
Vladimir Vasilevich Mikhailov ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7885
Author(s):  
Kardina Kamaruddin ◽  
Indra Abeysekera

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.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002085232110064
Author(s):  
Daniel Albalate ◽  
Germà Bel ◽  
Raymond Gradus ◽  
Eoin Reeves

Since the turn of the century, a global trend of re-municipalization has emerged, with cities reversing earlier privatizations and returning infrastructure and public service delivery to the public sector. The reversal of privatization measures is not an entirely new phenomenon. In the US, for example, returning public services to in-house production has been a long-standing feature of ‘pragmatic public management’. However, many cases of re-municipalization that have occurred since the early 2000s represent a distinctive shift from earlier privatization policies. High-profile cases in cities including Paris and Hamburg have thrust re-municipalization into the limelight as they have followed public campaigns motivated by dissatisfaction with the results of privatization and a desire to restore public control of vital services, such as water and energy. Just as the reform of public services towards privatization spawned a vast body of scholarship, the current re-municipalization phenomenon is increasingly attracting the attention of scholars from a number of disciplinary perspectives. The articles contained in this symposium contribute to this emerging literature. They address some of the burning issues relating to re-municipalization, but they also point to issues yet to be resolved and shed light on a research agenda that is still taking shape.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Armando López-Lemus

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence exerted by a quality management system (QMS) under ISO 9001: 2015 on the quality of public services organizations in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach The methodological design was quantitative, explanatory, observational and transversal, for which a sample of 461 public servants from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico was obtained. To test the hypotheses, a structural equation model (SEM) was developed through the statistical software Amos v.21. For the analysis of the data, software SPSS v.21 was used. Regarding the goodness and adjustment indices of the SEM (χ2 = 720.09, df = 320, CFI = 0.933, TLI = 0.926 and RMSEA = 0.05) which, therefore, proved to be acceptable. Findings According to the results obtained through the SEM model, the QMS under ISO 9001: 2015 is positively and significantly influenced tangible aspects (β1 = 0.79, p < 0.01), reliability (β2 = 0.90, p < 0.01), related to response quality (β3 = 0.93, p < 0.01), guarantees (β4 = 0.91, p < 0.01) and empathy (β5 = 0.88, p < 0.01) of the quality related to public services in Mexico. The study’s key contribution is that it discovered that implementing a QMS in accordance with the ISO 9001: 2015 standard has an impact on the quality of public services, with the most influential quality of response. Similarly, the assurance and dependability of service quality turned out to be important in providing public service quality. Research limitations/implications In this paper, the QMS was only evaluated as a variable that intervenes in the process of obtaining quality in public service under the ISO 9001 standard in its 2015 version. In this regard, the results’ trustworthiness is limited to the extent that the findings may be generalized in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico’s public service. As a result, the scientific community is left primarily focused on service quality to promote new future research. Practical implications The ISO 9001: 2015 standard’s QMS is one of the tools for success in both the commercial and government sectors. However, there are practical limitations, which focus on the time during which managers exercise their vision in the public sector: first, the dynamics that managers play in public policy; second, the length of time they have served in public office; and third, the interest of directors of public institutions to improve the quality of service provided by the government. Other practical consequences concern organizational culture and identity, public servant commitment, senior management or secretaries of government, as well as work and training. Originality/value The findings of this paper are important and valuable because they foster knowledge generation in the public sector through the ISO 9000 quality area. A model that permits the adoption and implementation of a QMS based on the ISO 9001: 2015 standard in public organizations that seek to provide quality in their services offered to the user is also presented to the literature. Similarly, the paper is important because there is currently insufficient research focusing on the variables examined in the context of public service in Mexico.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-285
Author(s):  
Claudia Petrescu ◽  
Flavis Mihalache

Public services represent an important dimension of quality of society, as they create the contextual conditions for people to further their quality of life. Romanian public administration reform has brought about a constant institutional transformation, which has influenced both the specific features and the quality of the services. This article aims to analyse trends regarding the perceived quality of public services in Romania, in European comparative perspective, using the data of the European Quality of Life Survey (2003–2016). The article aims to understand the low satisfaction with public services in Romania against the background of the public service reform measures taken by government in this period. The article describes the context of Romanian public administration and public service reform, the most important public policy measures adopted and the most important challenges. The lack of vision in the public service reform, the partial introduction of reform elements, the permanent and, sometimes, conflicting changes are issues that may have influenced the way in which the population perceives the quality of public services. The decentralisation process of public services and the insufficient allocation of public funds for delivering such services at local level might have an impact on their quality and quantity perceived by the population. Keywords: public services; public administration reform; citizens’ satisfaction; New Public Management; New Weberianism.


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