Impact of Public Management in the UK - Essay Example

What has been the impact of the New Public Management in policy processes in the public sector in the UK since 1990 Contents Public Management 3 Impact of Public Management in UK 3 Improvement in performance benchmark 5 Huge emphasis on results 5 Decentralization 6 Budgeting process 6 Performance Measurement 7 Comparison with other nations 7 Conclusion 8 References 9 Public Management Public management generally refers to the implementation of policies that are made to guide the working of government, non-profit administration and to some extent companies that are privately owned. This mode of management has been helpful in public as well as private sector and has certainly maximized efficiency and effectiveness of public sectors. It does correlate with public administration because it emphasizes on social as well as cultural factors of government and makes it totally different from private sector. Public Management comprises of more than merely working with numbers and administrative functions. It also helps in evaluating financial as well as non-financial data which helps to improve and enhance domestic performance of a country. They help a government to make critical decisions which may include processes efficiency, investing in new administrative functions, improvement of infrastructure etc. It is mostly intended towards public policies and it also utilizes the information which can help governmental organizations in making decisions which help them to achieve their goals and objectives. Only limitations which can be placed when emphasis is placed on public management is diversion from administrative functions. Impact of Public Management in UK According to Lonsdale (1999), the role of Public management has been highly important in the growth and development of the public sector of the UK since the last few decades. It has helped to develop a very important way of re-arranging and re-organizing public and government sector bodies within the UK for and has integrated various important disciplines such as management, financial reporting, auditing etc. In a broader context, the concept of public managementfocuses on failures and incompetency of public sector management and evaluates the nature and process of public sector activity along with public administration. Several important public sector issues as Utilization of resources, waste management, accountability etc are related with public management. Public management in UK has certainly explored some extremely important and very influential expressions for the economic policies of the country and also the business related as well as public sector reforms of the UK government which has occurred since 1979 (Pollitt, 1993).The impact of the Public management policy in the UK has been highly influential and this has resulted in some very important changes which the many political parties within the UK have left untouched. The government of UK implemented certain very important andrigorous policies which have strongly influenced the public interest to a huge extent. Essentially, the new public management has revolved around the goal of making public sector companies financially as well as economically efficient and highly accountable for performance where public is able to serve. Some of the crucial implications of these reforms are as follows: Establishment of new “Public Executive Agencies” One of the most important developments of public management in the UK has been establishment of executive governmental agencies which have been designed to carry out service activities of local government. Under the reforms implemented by the British Conservative Government in 1997, the UK civil service has beendisintegrated into several executive agencies and each and every agencyis responsible in delivering aspecific public service. They are also responsible to the ministry of UK government. The federal distribution of UK has established high exceptions of military, foreign services, labor administration and customs and these sectors completely rely on those public executive agencies for establishment and achievement of those goals and execution of federal policies. Improvement in performance benchmark Since its inception, public management in the UK has embedded with it one of the most important concept that public sector organizations within the UK must be subjected to rigorous measures of pubic performance. Thompson, (1997) has stated that agencies are emphasized to pay close attention to the operational activities which are carried out in governmental sectors. Even public managers are subjected to constant performance evaluation which introduces interdisciplinary mechanisms and simultaneously compel public sector companies to adhere to important administrational responsibilities and carrying out their responsibilities efficiently and effectively. Public management integrates the concept of performance measurement which enables public sector companies to be accountable for their operational activities. By implementing the concept of performance measurement in this regard, public sector organizations and must be committed to continuous development and improvement in standards of service delivery (Moore, 1995). Such practices in the government sector have mitigated and hugely minimized social crimes such as bribery, extortion, and patronage and can also occur in the context of other functional areas Huge emphasis on results As stated by Lonsdale (1999), the implementation of public management has resulted in a need for special emphasis on results rather than merely focusing on process. It has been a travesty that public sector organizations have often failed in achieving the desired results. Since 1990, the government of UK has implemented rigorous policies which have strongly influenced the public interest to a huge extent. Also, the new public management has revolved around the goal of making public sector companies financially as well as economically efficient and highly accountable for performance where public is able to serve. The emphasis has always been on the resources available rath er than getting the best out of the resources at disposal. Due to this reason, the emphasis has been on the achievement of results. Decentralization For the facilitation of the public, the public management in UK has focused on decentralizing and dissecting the public sector. The public management services in the UK have embodied strong criticism on the bureaucratic form of government which strongly focuses on separating certain bureaucratic units to form an efficient and directly accountable governmental body. They are highly efficient as well as effective because they are way better in establishing and achieving business objectives. Such segregation will make the government organizations directly accountable because public management they will replace the bureaucratic management, which are not directly accountable to the public. (Barzelay, 2000) Budgeting process According to Thompson, (1998), public management is not only limited to administrative activities but it also limited to certain management principles and one of the most important is the budgeting process. Various important factors are implicit in a budgetary process. It involves utilization of important business techniques, efficient company staff and integration of various important business goals. The budgetary process within the UK is a highly comprehensive system. Based on the national goals and objectives, various proposals have been made within the economywhich has constantly helped UK in forming a successful and highly productive budget. Such processes have increased the efficiency and effectiveness of the economy and have helped in coming up with an effective plan. Performance Measurement According to Borins, (1995), performance measurement is a highly important tool within the context of public management. The process of performance measurement involves creation and implementation of national objectives as well as setting forecasted budgets for meeting the specific domestic objectives. Performance measurement makes the evaluation ofpublic sector organizations on a consistent basis and encourages them to give their level best. However, personal motives must never conflict with national interest. High emphasis on consistency and performance has made the public administration more transparent and the higher authorities give preference to individual strictly on merit and this attitude of the governing bodies has certainly been ideal for the development of the country. Comparison with other nations According to Lynn (1996), the nature of public management does have an international influence and it is literally unavoidable that policymakers in some countries will be able to seek any lesson from administrative programs which may appear to be productive elsewhere. Countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other developed nations have been able to successfully follow path of public management in a very productive manner. The core emphasis for the government of UK has been learning from such nations by taking into account important financial, traditional, cultural, social, economical and political decisions where they can be directly implemented. However, directly comparing the performance of the UK economy with other nations may not be viable. The privatization program in the Britain focuses on balancing public expenditure and increasing the efficiency of the local economy by expanding the business within the domestic market. Due to this reason, certain limits have been imposed to the British privatization program which may not be able to achieve the desired results (Thompson, 1998). Although the public management in the UK has significant improvement but it is still being unable to integrate the features of the organizational procedures along with government interests. Segregation of massive government organizations into small executive agencies has made transformation in structure of UK government system. Also policies which are implemented by the British governments have reformed the nature of public sector provision and have certainly been impactful in many ways. Conclusion Although there has been huge growth and development in the public management sector because the focus of the public management has been on the analytic of government and its administration. The basic agenda of the public sector reformation has been to reflect upon the core areas of public sector management and in the improvement of the economy to a huge extent. It is evident to a certain extent that Public management is not limited to public administration but helps in various management and technical issues, decision making in particular. A sound and effective public management system can help countries to prosper and progress. The public management process in UK helps for an effective as well as efficient analysis and also leads to positive domestic results. References Barzelay(2000)“New Public Management” University ofCalifornia Press, Berkeley, CA Borins, S (1995). “The New Public Management is Here to Stay,” Canadian Public Administration: 122-132. Falconer, P.K. (1997)The New Public Management: Principles and Practice in theUK,pp.85-108. Hoggett, P. (1996), ‘new Modes of Control in the Public Service’, Public Administration, 74, 1, pp.9-32 Lynn, L (1996)“Public Management as Art Science andProfession”. Chatham House, Chatham Marini (1971)Towards a New Public Administration, Chandler,Scranton, PA Moore (1995)Creating Public Value, Harvard UniversityPress, Cambridge, MA Pollitt, C (1993)Managers and the Public Services,2ndedn.Blackwell, Oxford, UK Lonsdale,(1999)Performance or Compliance,Oxford University Press,Oxford, UK Thompson, F (1998). “Public Economics and Public Administration,” in Handbook of Public Administration: PP 995-1063. Thompson, F (1997). The New Public Management, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. 16/1: 165-176. Read More