Globalization and its Impact on Leadership Qualification in Public Administration

Abstract

BackgroundGlobalization exerts powerful pressures on our national government and public administrations. Most distinctive are the pressures regarding public management effectiveness and the internationalization of the civil service. The former demands that traditional public administrative culture be transformed into a managerial culture, the latter involves increasing alignment of national policies and relations with the private sector according to international standards and practices. Civil servants are pushed by these trends to expand the definition of their role and to acquire new knowledge and skills in order to meet this challenge of globalization.Analogous to the growing competitiveness experienced by multinational companies due to the globalization of markets, many OECD countries experience competitive pressures to modernize their public administrations and to make government functions more efficient and effective. These governments have come to the conclusions that effective and efficient policy-making and policy implementation are the key to attracting Foreign Direct Investment (fdi) and inevitably are required to retain foreign investments within the boundaries of their countries.Developing and transitional countries also experience greater competition in regard to attracting fdi or obtaining favourable development aid. A well functioning state and efficient public administration have become key factors in national competitiveness for OECD, Developing and Transition countries alike. It is in this context that I will explore the impact of globalization on leadership qualification in the public administration and the private sector alike.

Administrative Leadership Theory: A Reassessment After 10 Years

“…This has led to the increased need for public administrators to have better competencies in order to compete in general (Bertucci ; Raffel et al . ) in addition to more specific global leadership competencies (Saner ).…”

Change-Oriented Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Public Administration: The Power of Leadership and the Cost of Organizational Politics

“…Hence, infusing new and creative managerial practices into public systems and in service of very demanding citizens must involve a comprehensive set of change-oriented behaviors among public personnel, across organizations and in various work environments (Saner 2001). These changes include advances in information technology, changes in the nature and preferences of the workplace, dealing with more critical citizens-as-clients and facing increased global competition (Borins 2001).…”

“…One of the most significant elements that these changes entail is employing an increasingly large percentage of highly skilled and knowledge-based employees who are committed to disseminating change. These professional public servants are expected to have a greater say in how to organize and perform their tasks and to formulate new ideas (Saner 2001) that affect the actual services provided to citizens. The public managers are similarly expected to mobilize their workers to innovate and to make constructive changes at all levels of the organization (Chiun et al 2006;Davis 2004).…”

South African students call to decolonize science: Implications for international standards, curriculum development and Public Administration education

“…These scholars argue for new sets of skills, because the context in which Public Administration students will work changes rapidly. Bertucci (2006), Saner (2001), Verhulst (2013), Dickinson and Sullivan (2014) and Mau (2015) see an increasingly globalized context in which new areas of public sector competency should be strengthened. By focusing on the importance of the global context, these authors contribute and support the view that standards should be universal and are applicable to every student studying Public Administration.…”