Changing Paradigms in Public Service Management

Abstract

New forces for change have acted as a catalyst in transforming much of public sector provision: the insistent interventions of impatient government politicians; new demands created by social change; transformed thinking about the nature of effective management; and heightened consumer awareness. These have combined with much tighter financial controls; close external scrutiny of spending and performance; and renewed commitments to quality in public service delivery, to encourage a climate of improved performance. The new wave of management thinking in the public sector has an explicit emphasis on the management of change with the object of a metamorphosis in organization culture, improving the quality of service by moving the locus of managerial authority and budgetary responsibility from the policy center closer to the point of delivery, getting closer to the public and attempting to shift the’ balance of power in favor of those who the organization is intended to serve. While the financial and political constraints imposed by central governments which have lost sympathy with the values and practices of public enterprise have limited the possibilities for innovation, often public organizations have responded to their newly insecure position with a creative engagement that has seen positive results. A boldness and innovation has been released where before there may have been coriformity and tradition. Critical for the survival of democratic public enterprise will be the capacity to change and respond to new social demands as they arise.