Towards New Public Management in Greek Public Organizations: Leadership vs. Management, and the Path to Implementation

Abstract

In the beginning of the 21st century, when the notion of constant transformation is so frequently invoked, organizational change in the public sector is gaining increased attention. Responding to regulatory, economic, competitive and technological shifts, the challenge of reorganization is universal for all public organizations. This paper aims to explore the shift from Traditional to New Public Management (NPM), as well as the driving forces (such as the information economy, the need for better public performance, the opening of global markets, greater knowledge intensity etc.) that lead to the formulation of transformational programs to Greece. A presentation of a transformational program called Politeia, will be provided, analysed and compared to previous efforts. Finally, we address the important role of leadership and management in Greek public organizations that want successful to implement any change effort successfully. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers. Manufactured in The Netherlands 2005New Public Management, bureaucracy, organizational change, leadership, management, Greek public sector,

Spaces for Youth Participation and Youth Empowerment

“…This tendency could be understood in the UK within the new managerialism shift which 'denotes a wider set of concerns on how to best achieve, measure and control organizational performance' whose normative power 'is deployed in the setting of rationing criteria and the establishment of priorities' (Clarke and Newman, 1997: 64). Managerial language was apparent in the narratives of participants in Greece as well, despite normative power often being expressed in the country through what Clarke and Newman (1997) call a bureaucratic and paternalistic organizational regime with scattered efforts to introduce 'new public management' (Philippidou et al, 2004). Managerial language often appeared alongside a criticism of bureaucratic-professional expertise or 'office-type people' (Alexandros, Greece-created space) involved in youth work.…”

Trends and determinants of corporate non-financial disclosure in Greece

“…In this respect, the size of the strongly bureaucratic, centralised public sector in Greece is notably larger than in other European countries, providing a broad range of social services. Calls for new public management techniques have been set forth (Phillipidou et al, 2004), but efforts towards the modernization of the state are admittedly slow and previous transformational processes have proved unsuccessful (Kufidou et al, 1997;Philippidou et al, 2004).…”

An overview of corporate social responsibility in Greece: perceptions, developments and barriers to overcome

“…The Greek public sector lags in the adoption of new public management techniques, qualitative changes that would emphasize the citizen and display the capacity to innovate. Such transformations in the purpose, incentives, accountability, power structure and culture of the public sector in Greece are still in progress, while earlier attempts had limited or no results (Kufidou et al . 1997, Zeppou & Sotirakou 2003, Philippidou et al .…”

“…2004). Moreover, Themelis (1990) (cited in Philippidou et al . 2004) points out that the lack of strategic vision, the resistance to change, the focus on regulations and not on achievements, as well as employee focus (opposed to citizen focus) are hampering the creation of a public entrepreneurship culture and mentality.…”