Public Sector Reform free essay sample

Case Analysis of the Introduction of New Public Management in Small States By: Tamara McLeod ID #: 03-048181 Identify the main public sector reform issues and problems in the case Public sector reform refers to strengthening the way public sector is managed. The public sector may try and do too much with two little resources. In the case the main public sector reform issues highlighted were: †¢Political Issues, such as the political will of government representative, the Westminster/Whitehall model, and Constitution and the Colonial Administration practices. Economic Issues such as the need to attract potential investors, the need to be competitive through Globalization and the structural changes needed for loans and aids to be granted from the IMF. †¢Socio-Economic Issues such as the history of the country, the cultural dynamics of the state, pluralist vs. homogenous states. Review the theoretical arguments relating to these issues that are put forward by the author Wilens ki (1986) saw the greatest impediment to public sector reform as being the lack of political will. We will write a custom essay sample on Public Sector Reform or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This was supported by Mills who believed that public servants were trained in colonial administration and only could adhere to rules and regulations than make inform and rational decisions. Other theorist believes that the greatest argument for public sector reform was Globalization. Gidden and Scholte (1990) believed that globalization is a central driving force behind the rapid social, political and economic changes reshaping societies and contributing to public sector reform. Other theorist believed that the changes in ideologies, value systems and system of governance along with internal forces and pressures gave rise to the changes in public sector administration. La Guerra (1994) noted that the structural adjustments conditions that accompanied loans from the International lending agencies such as the IMF contributed for the need of public sector to be more efficient in there standard and measures of service delivery. Hood, Pollitt and Bouckaert (2000) noted that the variation in mplementing and succeeding of New Public Management varied based on the difference in emphasis that countries placed on its principles. These successes depended on the unity of public sector officials in a common goal and vision to the reformation process. Finally theorist saw the pluralistic nature of countries such as Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana as being contributing factors to the development of public sector reform program. And that homogenous society such as Jamaica an d Barbados had more success in implementing these principles as the cohesiveness of there public sector made such, with greater ease. Critically analyze the issues/problems identified, and comment on the Public Sector Mgmt solution described in the case to resolve them. The Political factors that impeded the process of public sector reforms are varying as they entail the political will of the directorates. This political will was hard to change as it was already embedded by the Westminster/Whitehall system of government in Caribbean states. It created a cabinet government and did not allow for regular swing between government and opposition. Plus it continued a system of colonial administration, in which public sector workers only abide by rules and regulations instead of standards and measures of performance. The economic issues presented in the case that foster the change from administration to management was described by Hood(1991) he listed various trends as the reason behind these changes. Firstly, the need to slow down or reverse the growth of the government in areas of expenditure, second, the shift towards privatization and semi-privatisation in an effort to reduce the economic burden of society by ways of government spending. Many countries had experience long economic boom until the early seventies when the global crises in the mid-seventies brought a sharp economic depression in many states. Thus there was the need to reduce cost in the public bureaucracies and increase efficiency to compete on the global market. Globalization, the increase mobility of goods, service, labor, technology and capital throughout the world is seen as the major catalyst for the reform in public sector administration. It is seen as the driving force ehind the changes of social political and economic changes in restructuring societies (Giddens, Scholte 1993). The third economic issue was the need for small states to seek loan or aids from International Lending agencies. The conditionality’s of these loans required reformation to structural and bureaucratic changes to increase standards and measure of service delivery. Finally to attract new potential investor’s governments introduces efficient and more standardize d systems of administration