The New Public Management - Essay Example

New Public Management Still There Introduction In ages past, humanity had seen rulers using their power to enrich themselves by taking advantage of the ones they rule. History abounds with stories of repression and manipulation by people who were supposed to be their leaders. But those are stories of memories past. The government or the contemporary structure that governs most parts of the worlds is now dedicated to the service of its people. The current trend of thinking is that the government exists primarily because of the need to lead and serve the needs of the populace. It is there to provide the necessary system to deliver the health care, education, business, legal, security and housing needs of the public. It is, by itself, a solutions provider. The logic behind this service is that the people they govern are taxpayers - meaning, they pay the government with a part of their income. This in turn is returned to them thru the services just mentioned. This is what is termed as public service. Public Service is concentrated on delivering benefits to the public. This is what differentiates it from the private sector whose sole purpose is to generate revenues for the service provider. Thru an efficient scheme, the business owner operates his system. This system must be set-up such that the optimum revenues are generated. It may seem that the public and private sector are diametrically opposed because of this difference in orientation. Does this mean they are irreconcilable What if you adapt the system used by the private sector and incorporate it to the way the government operates its 'business' This is actually the rationale behind the philosophy "New Public Management (NPM)". This paper aims to explore the concept of NPM and determine whether it has left any legacies on the current public management in the United Kingdom setting or whether it was just something that came out of the blue, had a short lived existence and died naturally. To facilitate this, an analysis with the Modernization trend that is operating in the contemporary setting shall be done to determine whether NPM is related to it somehow. The New Public Management The theory behind NPM is that public organisations import decision-making processes from the private division, emulating their winning techniques. It requires governments to be more market concentrated treating the citizens much like customers. NPM stands for a main shift in paradigm from customary public administration. Additional notice is paid to the "achievement of results and the personal responsibility of managers." (Mishra 2001, 36-41) It need extra stress on program assessment, performance dimension and increased import of private sector practices into the area of public management. By these strategy, the rudiments of accountability, performance, free flow of information and smooth management can be addressed thereby resulting to good governance(Osborne 2002, 203-209). According to academic think tanks, the mainly widespread elements for good governance comprise political answerability, a sound judicial system, accountability and an amalgamation of marketing principles in the operation of public organisations. A mixture of such elements has been explained by a range of titles. Pollitt labelled the new approach as "managerialism," (2001, 175) as Hood preferred to call it "new public management" (2001, 3-19) .These views from Europe highlight the management element. On the additional side of the Atlantic, Lan and Rosenbloom favoured the term "market-based public administration," as Osborne and Gaebler went one step additional and used the term "entrepreneurial government." In spite of different labels, the spirit of "new public management" centres on the use of market main beliefs and seeks to make stronger the elements of competence, performance and consequences in the process (Lan, Z. 2002, 535-537). Whatever the terms maybe, they still are To facilitate discussion, the main elements of NPM are presented below: 1. presence of market mechanisms - competition in public sector, consumer feedback and address mechanisms, availing of private services, and privatization 2. decentralization - red tape reduction thru the use of information systems, decentralizing work organizations 3. leadership - picking out established private practitioners to lead public posts and stressing the need to fulfil mission statements 4. outcome/results directed - presence of performance indicators, feedback processing The implementation of NPM in the United Kingdom during the 1980's was brought about by the need to address policy failure in key services such as education and health care services. The public were being critical to the level of bureaucracy and the waste in government funds due to fruitless programs. Increasing operating costs and the rising demand for tax reduction necessitated the need for a cost-efficient government. The political climate was then dominated by right-wing politicians with social democrats redefining themselves to accommodate capitalistic concepts. All this contributed to the implementation of the New Public Management. With regards to the Modernization scheme, the system involves providing better customer access, focus and improvements on service delivery and 'joined up' government thru the use of new technology to efficiently deliver a high degree of level of service to its. NPM has been thought of as a fashionable concept and as such it is dismissed as a short lived philosophy. It is considered as a fad which has the rhetoric's of markets and entrepreneurialism. The analogy is similar to the coming o f a severe storm. People who are accustomed to fair weather will probably be enthusiastic about the prospect of the sudden change in the weather. This will probably be the talk of the town. But when the storm passes, people will soon forget about the event. Just like the storm, the hype and promise NPM offers can be quite an exciting affair but it is still too revolutionary and unorthodox. Just like the passing of the storm, it too will pass. Why then would Pollitt state that NPM is not just a fad but is rather chameleon-like and is a paradoxical system (2003, 26) Using the analogy of the storm, the effects of NPM maybe have far reaching effects. The point is, its impact is such far reaching that its effects can still be felt. In countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, NPM has found many adherents. All over the world, even in third world countries, the possibility of applying NPM to the government system present in the country has been evaluated. (Larbi 1999, 1-65) The National Health Service is a good example of a policy tailored like that of a market driven strategy. The current strategy of the National Health Care is consumer 'oriented' (patient oriented). It has a system in place to determine the level of service by the health care providers and the satisfaction of customer/patient. The feedbacks are assessed and the system is checked and improved. This system enables the tailoring of services to the needs of the customer since it actually encourages customer feedback. The degree to which the customer is given importance is highlighted by the Patient's Chapter which states that "any complaint about the NHS service should be investigated and receive a full and prompt written reply from the chief executive or general manager". We can see from this how market driven is the health service. (NHS, "About" webpage) A good example of lessening of red tapes, although implicit in nature, is the development and utilization of information systems that can store information about the citizen. The development of local websites only translates to better information access of the citizenry and the government employees as well. It allows fast update and communication between government employees and inquiring persons. A system is also being developed by district councils to enable council employees to obtain details onscreen whenever a customer (citizen) phones the council. This is to provide the kind of customer service found in the private sector. (New Public Mgt, webpage) From these examples, we can see that although these developments are considered as the effects of modernisation, it shows that the underlying principles of NPM are actually alive in practice. The connection is subtle, the connection implicit. It is there but in a form not easily discernible just like a chameleon. It may be hidden in a sea of colours but it is there, breathing and operating. However, NPM does have its drawbacks. For one, marketing concepts cannot be readily integrated to public practitioners. It requires a rather intensive orientation to make the concepts settle. Practices to attain performance targets lead to low-quality service. One example of this exists in the National Health Service system. Due to the minimum time frame, doctors spend relatively less time to diagnose a patient to accommodate other patients. On the other hand, the desire of its administration to provide health care to people immediately in need of services has resulted to unreasonable delays for the check-up of other patients. Conclusion The New Public Management philosophy, as we have seen, still exists although it has taken the form of another scheme - the Modernization public management policy. Although different in name, they are essentially the same. This only proves that NPM was not just a short-lived concept. Rather it is an enduring one, a philosophy that was able to transcend time and space. The way it changed public management, by focusing on efficiency and utilization of market mechanism, can still be felt. NPM has proven itself quite useful in making the government aware that the governing is actually a practice dedicated to service. It is a responsibility and not a tool to be manipulated for one's own sake. It is not a structure that is stagnant. Rather, it should be a flexible one for different generations leads to different conditions. It must be pointed out that although the NPM offers many attractive benefits, it does have some drawbacks brought about by its market orientation. It is not a panacea. All in all, the New Public Management philosophy is like a revolution that has radically change the way public service is viewed. Much like a revolution, its effects resounds for generations to come. References: Hood, C.(2001) A Public Management for All Seasons Public Administration 2001, 69 (1). Mishra, H.K. Bureaucracy Under the Mughals; Amar Prakashan: Delhi, 2001 Lan, Z. and Rosenbloom, D. Editorial (2002). Public Administration Review 2002, Vol 52 (6) Larbi, George (1999). The New Public Management Approach and Crisis States. UN Publications: Geneva Osborne, D. and Gaebler, T. (2002) Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector; Addison-Wesley: Reading, MA Pollitt, C.(2001) Managerialism and the Public Services: The Anglo-American Experience; Basil Blackwell: Oxford. Pollitt, C(2003) The Essential Public Manager. Maidenhead: Open University Press nhs.com (undated). About the NHS. Retrieved November 2, 2006 from http://www.nhs.uk/england. The New Public Management (undated) Retrieved Nov.2 , 2006 from http://website.lineone.net/peter.john/pubman11.htm Read More