Public administration modernization: regularities of normative concept application

PurposeIn 2016, New Zealand's Ministry of Health introduced the System Level Measures Framework which marked a departure from health targets and pay-for-performance incentives towards an approach based on local, collaborative approaches to health system improvement. This exemplifies an attempt to “overwrite” New Public Management (NPM) institutional practices with New Public Governance (NPG). We aim to trace this process of overwriting so as to understand how attempts to change institutional practices were facilitated, blocked, translated and edited.Design/methodology/approachWe develop a conceptual framework for understanding and tracing institutional change towards NPG which emphasises the importance of discursive strategies in policy attempts to overwrite NPM with NPG. To analyse the New Zealand case, we drew on policy documents and interviews conducted in 2017–18 with twelve national key informants and fifty interviewees closely involved in local development and/or implementation of the SLMF.FindingsPolicy sponsors of collaborative approaches to health system improvement first attempted formal institutional change, arguing that adopting collaborative, quality improvement (NPG) approaches would supplement existing performance management (NPM) practices, to create a superior synthesis. When this formal approach was blocked, they adopted an approach based on informal persuasion of local organisational actors that quality improvement should supplant performance improvement. This approach was edited and translated by local actors, and the success of local implementation varied considerably.Research limitations/implicationsThis article offers a novel conceptualisation of public management institutional change, which can help explain why it is difficult to completely erase NPM practices in health.Originality/valueThis paper explores the rhetorical practices that are used in the introduction of a New Public Governance policy framework.

In this chapter, I will verify public management reforms in Japan. From the second half of the 1990s until the beginning of the 2000s, at timing that was approximately ten years later than that of Anglo-Saxon countries, many reforms that were influenced by New Public Management (NPM) were conducted in Japan as well. I will describe the characteristics of Japan’s public administration by following the process by which central and local governments accepted the ideas that support NPM and the methods that have been developed by those ideas. In parallel with NPM, reforms based on different paradigms from NPM, such as the Neo-Weberian State (NWS) and New Public Governance (NPG), were also conducted. I would like to indicate the prospects for public management reforms in the post-NPM era by clarifying the fact that Japan’s public administration is forming a hybrid governance system in which different reform paradigms co-exist in multiple tiers.

The application of New Public Management (NPM) principles in the Greek public sector has been extensively studied, particularly in areas such as health, education, and local government. In contrast, the Forest Service has not yet been examined through the lens of NPM and good governance despite its institutional distinctiveness and significant administrative mission. The analysis presented here constitutes the first application of administrative theory to the institutional evaluation of the Forest Service, exploring how legislative functionality, transparency, and accountability affect institutional maturity and administrative effectiveness, serving as indicators of alignment with New Public Management (NPM) principles and good governance. Although the Forest Service operates within a strict legal and institutional framework of public law, it faces significant challenges in its administrative function due to the complexity of legal requirements and institutional ambiguity. Limited effectiveness and transparency negatively impact the development of reliable accountability mechanisms and institutional openness. This study aims to evaluate the administrative functionality of the Forest Service using composite indices developed through statistical analysis and to highlight the extent to which NPM principles have been integrated into key institutional aspects. Through this approach, the need for a more holistic and functional model of public administration in the forestry sector becomes evident.

Today, the nexus of ´co-ordination – co-production – co-creation´ constitutes the new political prism through which the ´wicked issues´ of the public sector is re-imagined, and by calling forth new cooperative endeavors stressing shared problem solving, the welfare state might signal a shift in mode of governance from New Public Management (NPM) to New Public Governance (NPG). In this paper we inquire into an empirical example from the Norwegian healthcare sector, namely the implementation of healthcare communities (HCCs). Public healthcare is an essential part of the Nordic welfare state model. Being a multi-dimensional policy field, it is notoriously characterized by both ´wicked issues´ and complexity – in terms of service provision, organizing and governing. Often patients require several healthcare services from multiple providers. In Norway, healthcare is organized in two main parts, primary (municipalities) and specialized healthcare (central government). While this division in theory should lead to a clear assignment of tasks and responsibilities, it has built-in challenges of lack of continuity of care and the risk of services being fragmented. Furthermore, the NPM-reforms during the last three decades has contributed to organizational fragmentation. Problems of service and organizational fragmentation has served as a core focal point for several health sector reforms in Norway during the last three decades. The latest reform initiative is the implementation of 19 HCCs, where hospital trusts and municipalities, through imposed and formalized cooperation structures are expected to cooperate, as well as co-plan, service provision, aiming to make better, more efficient services, and give patients a more coherent and seamless experience. We are interested in why and how NPG-inspired ideas of collaboration and co-creation are translated and articulated into the specific institutional context of Norwegian healthcare, and whether the HCC reform imply an actual break with the NPM-logics – or rather represents more of a continuation adding an extra reform layer, so to speak. In this paper the following research question guides our inquiry: In which ways does the HCC reform as an expression of the New Public Government paradigm represent a break or continuation with New Public Management logics in the healthcare sector in Norway, and how are the concepts of co-design, co-creation and collaborative capacity framed and constructed as the remedy for fragmentation by the policy makers? Methodologically, this paper is based on critical discourse analysis of official documents central in the development of the reform, as well as a qualitative analysis of interviews with central and local actors, in addition to a study of relevant public governance literature.

Purpose: New Public Governance (NPG) has gained significant attention in the public management literature, yet its precise nature and legitimacy re­main unclear. This study assesses the status of NPG and examines whether its legitimacy as a concept, theory or paradigm has been established. Design/Methodology/Approach: A two-pronged methodological ap­proach is employed: the first prong comprises a thematic-realist review of legitimacy theory, situated in relation to the literature on NPG theo­ry legitimacy; the second entails a bibliometric analysis, conducted as a semi-systematic literature review, to trace its scientific impact. The study explores whether the term ‘NPG’ indicates potential for practical appli­cation, the direction of its development and its classification within the ‘concept–theory–paradigm’ framework. Findings: The research concludes that NPG is a distinct, contemporary strand with its own characteristics and potential for theoretical develop­ment. However, scientific clarity within the ‘concept-theory-paradigm’ triad has not yet been achieved, necessitating further research. Academic contribution to the field: This study fills a research gap by po­sitioning NPG within public management and assessing its potential for further substantive development. It contributes to discussions on the le­gitimacy and trajectory of NPG as an evolving framework. Originality/Significance/Value: This is the first study to comprehensively assess whether NPG can progress towards becoming a fully established theoretical framework in public management. The findings encourage further scholarly exploration and conceptual development in this field.

The two pillars of public health are health promotion and disease prevention. Based on a notion of governance in the state -local relation as changing from hierarchical via New Public Management (NPM) to New Public Governance (NPG), the governance of public health in Norway is contrasted to governance of public health in the other Nordic states: Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The article aims to present and discuss the governance of public health as it is played out in the state-local relationship. The method is to study central state documents in the four countries, as well as articles, research reports and papers on public health. The article shows that the governance modes (hierarchy, NPM and NPG) exist in parallel, but that their mechanisms actually vary in use. Legal, economic and informational mechanisms are, to a varying degree, in use. In Finnish and Swedish public health policies, health promotion is at the forefront; while Danish and Norwegian public health policies spur the local governments to carry out interventions to prevent disease and hospital admissions.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to address studies of New Public Governance (NPG) as a post-New Public Management (NPM) tendency. Although NPG is considered a contrast to NPM and its market incentives, it argues that the practices emerging in tensions of NPM and NPG discourses indicate not a clear-cut shift away from NPM, but rather changes that combine competition with collaboration and trust.Design/methodology/approachIt offers a discourse approach to advance the theorizing and empirical unfolding of the tensions of contradicting, yet co-existing discourses of NPM and NPG and their effects in practice. Drawing on a case study from the Danish daycare sector, it investigates local collaborative governance initiatives that develop new quality-management methods.FindingsThe study elucidates how NPM and NPG discourses collide in local practices of public sector management within daycare. It shows that the discursive tensions between such value-laden practices indicate a changing marketization associated with collaboration and trust, yet also competition.Research limitations/implicationsTo research it becomes critical to advance theoretical and empirical knowledge on the constitutive effects of such complex discursive tensions in public organizations.Practical implicationsTo practice it becomes necessary to acknowledge and handle co-existing, yet contradicting management discourses, and not mistake their opposing values as necessarily distinct, but rather as entangled in practice.Originality/valueThe paper contributes with original findings that shed new light on colliding management discourses in practices and their effects within the public sector area of daycare.

During the previous two decades of this millennium there has been a succession of reforms from New Public Management (NPM) to New Public Governance (NPG) in public organisations in line with the strategic development visions of governments the world over. Central to this is the adoption of private style management techniques to enhance efficient performance in public sector development endeavours. Consequently, a handful of private management practices such as accrual accounting, professionalism, outsourcing, and the use of ICT were introduced in the Local Government of Cameroon. This study sets out to assess the relationship between these NPM practices enshrined in the governance processes of councils and financial performance in Local Governments of Cameroon. The study employs a mix of survey-based research with a triangulated method of data collection. Questionnaires and documentary research are used to collect both financial and non-financial data. From a population of 374 councils in Cameroon, 50 councils and their financial statements as well as books of original account entries are sampled and grouped according to statutory council categories. Both descriptive and inferential techniques are used to know the levels of NPM practices and their effect on financial performance. The results show that professionalism and outsourcing have a positive performance outcome, while accrual accounting and the use of ICT are negative. However the combination of all NPM practices in general is positive. For an efficient performance in the public sector there is need to gradually sequence the integration of NPM practices in the governance and management processes, based on the budget size of public sector entities. There is no one-size fits all policy for the wellbeing of public sector entities.

The article compares two social prescribing interventions in Northern England. One was financed through a Social Impact Bond (SIB) and the other was financed in a more conventional way. It utilises a comparative approach to understand the extent to which different methods of financing social prescribing conform to key features of the New Public Management (NPM) or New Public Governance (NPG) in their design and implementation. It finds that a SIB approach tends towards NPM during programme design and implementation and that this creates challenges for social prescribing programmes, the complexity of which appear better suited to an NPG-based relational approach.

The study focused on the role played by public sector management in South Africa towards the country’s total development and improvement. This article also analyses how through the Whole School Evaluation (WSE) process, the education system in South Africa seeks to ensure that the schooling is effective. This paper examines public management, public administration as well as new public management (NPM). The aim is to illustrate a view of how education fits in the broader public management and how the WSE process assists schooling in South Africa and Mpumalanga in particular. This is to ensure that the schooling is effective and contribute towards service delivery and the country’s overall development and improvement. Furthermore, WSE as a process, is viewed through five of NPM undisputable and debatable characteristics of accountability for performance; performance measurement; performance auditing; policy analysis and evaluation; and strategic planning and management. Public management functions and public management principles are discussed from a point of how the WSE process strives to ensure that it complies with these function and principles, and how this compliance benefit school improvement. This paper came to a number of conclusions regarding education within public management from a WSE perspective. Firstly, education through the external WSE process conforms to this principle of New Public Management in that evaluation is aimed at improving the quality of education. Also, the external WSE, as a process, and education in general, through the NPM principles can be performed within public management. Furthermore, external WSE conforms to public management principles as well as Batho Pele principles.

Introduction The acknowledged move from traditional public administration (TPA), over to new public management (NPM), then to the current shift towards new public governance (NPG) has spurred an increased awareness on the role of external stakeholders in developing public services, and hence the way public sector innovation takes place (Hartley, 2005; Torfing, 2019).

This study delves into the intricate dynamics of labor markets in Indonesia and Thailand, revealing the symbiotic relationship between policy attributes, vocational education, and collaborative governance, all anchored in a robust theoretical framework encompassing policy attributes. The central question driving this research is: How can the government effectively mitigate labor market challenges in Indonesia and Thailand? To answer this question, the study aims to illuminate the interplay of solubility, complexity, scale, divisibility, monetarization, scope, and interdependence attributes within labor market policies. Employing a case study as its primary research strategy, the study analyzes data from diverse sources, including labor force statistics, policy documents, and academic literature. The Indonesian government, driven by the commitment to address the multifaceted challenges of unemployment and skill gaps, has formulated strategic initiatives to increase productivity and competitiveness. Thailand’s School in Factory Programs is an exemplary model, showcasing a comprehensive approach to workforce competence by seamlessly integrating education with industry needs. The analysis extends to the broader context of population policies, drawing valuable lessons from the Republic of South Korea. The success of South Korea’s population policy highlights the relevance of principles such as New Public Management (NPM), New Public Governance (NPG), and New Public Service (NPS). These principles are subsequently intertwined with the Indonesian and Thai cases, providing a comprehensive understanding of governance dynamics within the context of population and employment strategies.

This article explores the transformative journey of citizen participation in public affairs, focusing on the evolution from traditional public administration to contemporary e-governance frameworks. It highlights the shift towards New Public Governance (NPG), where citizens are seen as active partners rather than passive recipients of services. The study reviews various public administration models, including classic public administration, New Public Management (NPM), and modern e-governance and open government models, identifying four waves of government evolution. It emphasizes the role of digitalization in enhancing citizen engagement, drawing on international practices from countries like Japan, Norway, the UK, and others. The article categorizes citizen engagement into four stages, from passive consumers to smart citizens in the digital era, and discusses the demand and supply aspects of participation. It underscores the importance of digital infrastructure, ICT education, and international best practices in fostering effective citizen engagement. The study concludes with recommendations for future research on policy labs, e-participation, and local participation indexes, aiming to enhance citizen involvement in governance and public service delivery.

How compatible are the reform of New Public Management (NPM) reforms and the creation of public values in practice? This issue is addressed in the light of the reforms of two public water utilities. Building on Moore’s (1995) strategic triangle, we have analysed the process of value creation associated with measures inspired by NPM. These reforms were first intended to secure financial resources. Certain public values were subsequently created, either under the influence of a leader, or through formalized NPM management tools. Under certain conditions, the implementation of an NPM reform thus proves compatible with the introduction of processes that sustain public values. However, an undemocratic context necessarily limits these processes. Points for practitioners This article encourages public managers to think about the values they uphold when implementing a public policy and the terms and conditions of this implementation. The water sector in developing countries, reformed in line with the principles of NPM, offers two distinct illustrations. The cases of the NWSC in Uganda and of the PPWSA in Cambodia allow the question to be studied in contexts where the public service mission entails strong societal challenges that cannot be reduced to efficiency alone.

The paper aims to provide new insights concerning the role of Information Systems (IS) in the theoretical and practical debate on New Public Management (NPM) and Public Governance (PG) reforms. If NPM aims to increase efficiency in order to reduce costs and to improve performance, PG suggests to rebuild the relationship with society and to increase public participation. In order to be implemented, NPM and PG reforms require the introduction of new work practices with fundamental changes in public organizations. The paper argues that IS can be regarded as enablers of the two streams of reforms: on the one hand IS are used for in-house government applications, on the other hand they assist in the push toward providing more user-oriented services. To explore this theoretical argument, the 'life-stories' of 44 bureaucrats, operating in four different regional branches of an Italian public agency, have been collected and analyzed. The results show that: a) IS support the planning, control and evolution of activities related with to the achievement of goals; b) IS sustain an increase in administrative responsibility and citizen participation. Empirically, the paper demonstrates that IS support everyday work, putting in practice and combining NPM and PG reforms.