Public sector management and governance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Public sector management and governance - Essay Example For example market-type mechanisms like contract giving. New public management also includes high emphasis on performance, maximization of outputs and great level of customer orientation. New public management developments include several economic, political, social and technological factors. Countries that adopt new public management are found to be witnessing fiscal and economic crises. This has resulted in the attempts to increase efficiency and reduce the cost of providing public services. The crisis encountered by the welfare state created several doubts about the role and institutional nature of the state. In many developing countries, developments in public administration and management have been accelerated by external pressures. Moreover, these reforms have happened in the background of structural adjustment programs. Other factors of new public management developments include pre-eminence of neoliberal ideas that existed in the late 1970s and the deployment of efficient int ernational management advisors and consultants on various reforms. Other factors in new public management include the development of information technology. For developing countries, new public management developments include great emphasis on proper governance and lending conditions. Earlier, new public management was considered as a phenomenon of developed countries, typically Anglo-Saxon, phenomenon. In the 1990s we have seen applications of different alternative of new public management practices in few developing economies and transitional economies. Downsizing and user fees are introduced in several countries, for example African countries. These activities are related to different structural adjustment works. Autonomous agencies included in the public sector are formed in certain countries. For example, the autonomous hospitals in Sri Lanka, Ghana and Zimbabwe. In Uganda and Ghana we found the hiving-off of excise and customs and revenue divisions to create executive agencies . Performance contracting as well as contracting out have been the major policy options in different crisis states. Contracting out has been considered as a tool to develop SOEs, state-owned enterprises. This provided more operational freedom to SOE managers while making them responsible for the performance of the enterprises. Grants, sanctions and rewards are implemented for the performance enhancement of enterprises. Performance contracts are introduced in different sectors like agriculture, transport and telecommunication. Countries like India, Bolivia and Ghana have implemented this. Contracting out is put into practice in the various sectors. Delivery of public services including road maintenance, waste management, laundry services, catering services, health services and other urban services are contracted out. In Zimbabwe we find the contracting out of different public services. Even though the adoption of new public management practices appear to be beneficial in certain case s, they have certain limitations to be applied in come crisis states. In Brazil and few other African countries new public management have brought cost savings while contracting out public works like road maintenance. However these techniques bring certain limitations in few states. The inefficiency of new public management in such countries reveals that there are institutional problems and other issues that