Now in paperback in an Enlarged Edition, this volume explores the lessons of one of the most comprehensive attempts to improve public management. Metcalfe and Richards describe and assess Thatcher's Efficiency Strategy as an exercise in improving public management. They explain how the strategy has gone about improving administrative performance by increasing cost-consciousness in the use of resources and creating flexibility for managing change. They analyze major themes such as: decentralization, information systems and budgets as management tools, organization design, and the management of interdepartmental relations.
The performance of public services is a matter of concern in many countries. Issues of public service efficiency, cost, and effectiveness have moved to the forefront of political debate. This book applies the latest thinking from Management and Organization Studies to public organizations to examine how the public sector can perform better.
This volume spotlights recent advances in the worldwide use of quantitative performance measures in the public sector, especially approaches that incorporate program evaluation techniques. Chapters include single-country case studies, multi-country comparisons, and thoughtful essays on the challenges of making performance measurement and management work in diverse settings.
Improving public services, using State resources efficiently, and managing State agencies effectively have been ongoing concerns of Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) governments since the beginning of this century. Government officials are now paying closer attention to the results obtained by their administrations. Citizens are now demanding not only universality but also quality in the services that the State provides (e.g., education, healthcare, and legal services). To meet this growing demand for public sector effectiveness, governments have formulated new laws, created or modified institutions, and implemented innovative management methodologies and instruments.Based on data gathered in 24 countries, this book analyzes the current situation, the progress made, and the challenges still facing the governments of the region in their efforts to achieve more effective public administrations.
The productivity of America′s public agencies has never been more closely scrutinized. Taxpayers have drawn the line on what they are--and are not--willing to pay for governmental programs. Both public servants and their clients have an equal stake in making public agencies more productive and respected. Public agencies can be made more efficient, effective, and humane, and Improving Public Sector Productivity shows how. Ellen Rosen provides practical guidance to enhance both the service quality and client satisfaction of public agencies at the local, state, and national level. A wealth of current cases and examples focuses on the issues of quality management, improving service delivery, job reorganization, and worker empowerment. The author also details methods for measuring public productivity. Policymakers, public sector managers, researchers, and students of public administration will find Improving Public Sector Productivity an indispensable toolkit of ideas, strategies, and applications for making better use of taxpayers′ money. "This book is a welcome addition to the literature because it offers practical solutions as well as discussing theoretical issues. . . .The book is aimed at the serious student and practitioner of public administration and because it is written in a way that combines theory with practice, it is accessible to this audience. --Urban Studies "Managers and elected officials will find a ′tool-kit′ of ideas, strategies, and applications for making better use of taxpayers′ money--all based on sound rationale and of proven worth. The productivity concerns provided in the book can help improve service quality and client satisfaction, while being sensitive to employee concerns and asking them to contribute to the enterprise." --Beverly A. Cigler, The Pennsylvania State University "Ellen Doree Rosen′s book, Improving Public Sector Productivity, Concepts, and Practice provides some very useful information and ideas on how to attain higher levels of productivity. The book succeeds, however, in clearly explaining the many constraints on public administration which militate against achieving high levels of focus and efficiency. Improving the Public Sector Productivity et al. is thought provoking, intelligent, and one of the more practical public administration texts I′ve read. I recommend it to professors and students for its clear-eyed description of the issues practitioners must deal with in attempting to improve the way public business is conducted. It is a superior guide for those in the field who could often use a conceptual framework to help assess where we are and to mark a path in the direction we need to go." --Mark Miller, Orange County Chapter of the American Society of Public Administration
This book aims to show that a strong and achieving public service is a necessary condition for a competitively successful nation. The concept of good governance is linked with institutionalised values such as democracy, observance of human rights and greater effectiveness of the public sector.
Confronted with rising citizen discontent, the Reinventing Government movement, and new technological challenges, public organizations everywhere are seeking means of improving their performance. Their quest is not new, rather, the concern with improving the performance of government organizations has existed since the Scientific Management Movement. Public Sector Performance brings together in a single volume the classic, enduring principles and processes that have defined the field of public sector performance, as written in the words of leading practitioners and scholars. Taken as a whole, this volume provides a performance compass for today's public managers, helping them to reconstruct the public's confidence in, and support of, government.Defined here as managing public organizations for outcomes, performance is examined in all its varied dimensions: organizing work, managing workers, measuring performance, and overcoming resistance to performance-enhancing innovations. The selected articles are interesting, thought provoking, and instructive. They are classics in that they have been widely cited in the scholarly literature and have enduring value to public managers who seek to understand the many dimensions of performance. The book is organized into three sections: Performance Foundations, Performance Strategies, and Performance Measurement. Excerpts from additional selected articles feature special topics and wisdom from performance experts.
This book argues that if public services are to be 'reformed' or 'improved', achieving the best possible quality of service is essential. It starts from the premise that citizens and users are the key 'stakeholders'. They need to be consulted and involved at every stage. Within inevitable resource constraints, it is their needs, balanced with those of society, which must be met. Service providers need to change their culture and behaviour to make this happen. This book presents a straightforward and comprehensive model for understanding quality and putting it into practice. Existing quality philosophies and approaches are examined. Overviews of recent policy on quality in central and local government, in the health service, and in public service partnerships are included. Finally, five practitioners present practical 'vignettes' of citizen involvement, local partnerships, and quality improvement in health, housing and local government. Providing Quality in the Public Sector is essential reading for students and practitioners in the fields of public policy, local government, health, housing and the voluntary sector.
Small states face special hurdles in achieving development gains. These states spend significantly more of their GDP on producing public goods and services, and they face higher connectivity costs than do their larger brethren. Small States, Smart Solutions examines how some small states use international trade and telecommunications technology to outsource services such as justice, banking supervision, public utilities regulation, high-quality medicine, and education. Sourcing these services internationally poses unique challenges but also opens broad opportunities. The eight case studies in this book, based on interviews with government officers and citizens, describe pioneering initiatives undertaken by some small states to better the quality of life of their citizens.
Public agencies at the federal, state, and local levels are realizing just how important it is to assess and improve their current performance and to convey information on their achievements and opportunities to staff, leaders, and decision makers as well as externally to constituents. Organizational Assessment and Improvement in the Public Sector Workbook provides public administration practitioners, at all levels of government, with practical advice and tools they can use in planning and conducting an assessment of their organization and creating usable action plans for implementing the results.This workbook addresses how to:Determine whether an organizational assessment would benefit a particular organizationEvaluate organizational readiness for assessment, in terms of leadership support, organizational priorities, timing, staff engagement, time and energy, and financial resourcesSelect an assessment tool and method Influence decision makers and identify organizational championsCommunicate effectively to internal and external constituentsEngage employees in the processThe book guides decision making about assessment by creating awareness of the available options and considerations, and by providing a framework for discussions that will determine the right approach for an agency. Each chapter consists of both information and tools, including surveys, exercises, and worksheets which can be used by agencies at all levels to determine whether and how to conduct a meaningful organizational assessment, and how to turn the results of that assessment into organizational improvements. Designed specifically to meet the needs of government organizations, using language and examples that illustrate the challenges and the realities of working in the public sector, this workbook provides the tools to help practitioners do more with less and promote
