Reinventing Government, The New Public Management and Civil Service Systems in International Perspective

Kearney, Richard; Hays, Steven W.

doi:10.1177/0734371x9801800404

Cited by 72 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…These newly structured public-sector agencies often adopt new HR strategies (such as the development of commercial skills and competencies and downsizing) to respond to the need to become more performance-oriented and the need for accountability (Farnham & Horton, 1996). The overall effect of NPM is that HRM is experiencing a near-revolution in its operating practices (Hays & Kearney, 2001).This impact of NPM on HRM has been found in countries around the world, including New Zealand (e.g., Powell & Spicer, 1994), the United Kingdom (e.g., Colling & Ferner, 1992;Farnham & Horton, 1996), and the United States (e.g., Kearney & Hays, 1998;Osborne & Gaebler, 1992). The impact of these reforms on HRM has occurred despite the varying degrees and emphases of NPM that have been implemented.…”

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confidence: 95%

“…The commercialization of the public sector is characterized by the adoption of private-sector managerial practices, often called new public management (NPM; Kearney & Hays, 1998;McLaughlin, Osborne, & Ferlie, 2002). The emphasis now is on achieving efficiency, effectiveness, and economy in the activities performed by public-sector agencies, and on the ability to compete with private-sector organizations that operate in similar markets.…”

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To be strategic in the new public sector, HR must remember its operational activities

Teo

Rodwell

2007

Human Resource Management

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H Hu um ma an n R Re es so ou ur rc ce e M Ma an na ag ge em me en nt t, , Summer 2007, Vol. 46, No. 2, Pp. 265-284 © practices and policies between public-sector organizations and private companies in many countries across the world (Budhwar & Boyne, 2004, Rodwell & Teo, 2004. Therefore, the current study contributes to this body of literature by examining the involvement of HR departments in commercialized and noncommercialized public-sector entities and their perceived level of performance by senior line managers, a key stakeholder of the HRM function. More specifically, this article tests a model of the effect of the transfer of HR activities to line management on the strategic influence and performance of the HR department.The next sections of this article explore the public-sector HR function, the pressures to be strategic about HRM, and the forces toward the transfer of HR to line management. Moving toward strategic HRM usually implies the strategic integration of HR, with the end result that all of these factors drive perceptions of the HR function's performance. The remaining sections then review the methods and the results. Theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed by considering the status and influence of HR departments and their relationship with line management in the process of strategic decision making. Commercialization: A Context of Change for HRM DepartmentsFrom the mid-1980s, a reform movement to change public-sector management practices has grown in many Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries (Hood, 1995). This reform movement emphasizes issues of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in public services and is often known as new public management (Lonti & Verma, 2003). The elements of NPM underpin much of the move toward commercialization of the public sector. Growing evidence of the impact of the push toward NPM includes many changes to organizational structures, systems, and processes, such as restructuring, performance auditing, and privatization of state-owned entities (Osborne & Gaebler, 1992). Examples of commercialized public-sector entities include organizations, such as utilities, that are owned by the government yet operate as strategically independent entities. In many cases, these commercialized public-sector entities operate as if they had been privatized even though they are government-owned.Historically, personnel systems in the public sector have been highly regulated due to a preoccupation with eliminating corruption and partisan abuses (Coggburn, 2001). Under NPM, the management of people, resources, and programs in order to achieve results and outcomes replaces the administration of activities, procedures, and regulations (Lonti & Verma, 2003). Subsequently, NPM has profound implications for HRM in the public sector, including demands to become more flexible and responsive to the needs of line managers (Hays & Kearney, 2001). These newly structured public-sector agencies often adopt new HR strategies (such as t...

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confidence: 95%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

To be strategic in the new public sector, HR must remember its operational activities

Teo

Rodwell

2007

Human Resource Management

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“…In the wake of widespread disillusionment in the power of government to address problems of central importance to modern society (Pharr, Putnam, and Dalton 2000), as well as sustained attacks on the efficiency and effectiveness of government from the neo-liberal perspective, trust in government has generally been declining over the past decades. Even the NPM literature, which recommends greater empowerment for government employees in order to enhance performance, has as one of its foundations a deep distrust of the intentions of public servants (Kearney and Hays 1998). These trends are highly relevant to studies of identification in the public sector.…”

Section: Identification As Change-orientationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The magnitude of these reform efforts has led some scholars to characterize them as identity projects for the public sector (Du Gay 1996). And while these movements have been criticized (Kearney and Hays 1998), as well as spawned counter reform movements, such as the New Public Service (Denhardt and Denhardt 2000;, nevertheless, the drive for organizational reform has left an indelible mark upon the public administration systems of both developed and developing countries (Pollitt and Bouckaert 2011;McCourt 2008). Moreover, the performance imperative continues to dominate scholarly and political discourse about the public sector.…”

Section: Background and Motivation Of This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification and Performance Management

Campbell

2014

Public Personnel Management

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Identity and identification are root constructs in organization studies. Identity provides an interpretive framework with which to evaluate the appropriateness of behavior, and as such, in organizations the construct has a fundamental relationship with employee performance. This study develops a theoretical framework linking identification to change-oriented behavior, a type of extra-role activity aimed at introducing micro-level organizational change in order to improve long-term performance and efficiency. Enhancing the performance of public organizations is a central theme of public administration theory and practice, and this study contributes to the literature by shedding light on a potentially important employee-level antecedent of organizational performance. Secondly, this study links identification and change-oriented behavior to a phenomenon that has grown increasingly prevalent in contemporary public organizations, namely, goal-oriented performance management. Over the past decades, public organizations around the world have implemented results-based reforms in order to increase accountability, efficiency, and performance. Due to the scope and complexity of these reforms, however, their full range of consequences is not yet known. This study aims to make a second contribution to the literature by linking performance management practices to both organizational identification and change-oriented behavior. Using survey data gathered from employees of central government ministries in South Korea, where a wide range of results-based reforms have been introduced, mediation analysis utilizing bootstrap resampling is used to test a number of empirical hypotheses related to the constructs outlined above. The results of the analysis suggest that organizational identification is a strong predictor of change-oriented behavior. In addition, the effect of performance management on employee intentions to engage in change-oriented behavior is shown to operate primarily through its effect on organizational identification, which underscores the importance of identification for organizational performance. Following the presentation of the results of the analysis, the theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed.

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“…Their use by governments across the OECD during the 1980s and 1990s reflected an attempt to achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency in the use of public funds, referred to by Kearney and Hays (1998) as New Public Management.…”

Section: Asset-based Approach To Nrmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond threat- and asset-based approaches to natural resource management in Australia

Curtis¹,

Lefroy²

2010

Australasian Journal of Environmental Management

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This article examines the origins, strengths and weaknesses of these threat-based and asset-based approaches. A third approach is then proposed that c o m b i n e s t h e b e s t o f b o t h b y f o c u s i n g o n t h e maintenance and measurement of environmental condition at the most appropriate scales from local to national. It is suggested that such a hybrid 'conditionbased' approach would involve:1. setting realistic and achievable resource condition targets by acknowledging current and potential resource use patterns as well as reference historic states 2. assessing environmental value and condition in a representative and comprehensive manner 3. using an adaptive learning framework to accommodate the uncertainty and complexity inevitable in landscape management 4. including the following factors when prioritising investment of public funds:i. the relative value of environmental assets ii. their vulnerability to threats iii. the technical feasibility and adoptability of intervention iv. the social, economic, human and cultural capital available and needed to support improved management v. the ratio of public to private good per unit cost 5. a division of labour between national and state governments, regional organisations and community groups that supports local action and management; regionally appropriate targets and strategies; and national coordination of monitoring and data integration to produce State of the Environment reporting capable of assessing the effectiveness of interventions.We acknowledge that more thinking will be needed to refine these ideas into an effective framework. Our intention is to begin that discourse.

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Reinventing Government, The New Public Management and Civil Service Systems in International Perspective

Cited by 72 publications

References 30 publications

To be strategic in the new public sector, HR must remember its operational activities

To be strategic in the new public sector, HR must remember its operational activities

Identification and Performance Management

Beyond threat- and asset-based approaches to natural resource management in Australia

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