Administrative Values and Administrative Reform: An Assessment in the Wake of

New Public Management

Gene A. Brewer&

J. Edward Kellough

Department of Public Administration and Policy

The University of Georgia

:

New Public Management (NPM)1 .A management philosophy used by

governments all over the world to modernize the public sector .

2 .A term that describes the wave of public sector reforms adopted since the early1980s .

3 .Major themes: managerialism, market orientation, and cost-efficiency.

NPM Has Focused on Human Resource Management

1 .NPM reforms typically begin with a frontal assault on the public sector HRM system

2 .These reforms have sought to deregulate the structure and operation of HRM systems to free up managers and increase productivity and performance

3 .The emphasis has been on relaxing civil service system rules, increasing managerial discretion, and contracting out or privatizing operations whenever possible.

The Impact of NPM1 .NPM has altered the administrative and HRM systems of

almost every country it has touched

2 .Administrative institutions have been downsized and some of their functions contracted out or privatized

3 .HRM systems have been loosened and decentralized in order to increase efficiency and empower managers

4 .Reforms such as pay for performance and broad- banding have been implemented in many countries to increase productivity and performance

Political and Administrative Values

1 .Values are deep-seated, enduring beliefs about how political and administrative systems should function

2 .Political and administrative values are not identical, but they are similar and overlap

3 .There are core values that lie at the heart of the politics and administration

Some Core Values * Economy * Efficiency

* Effectiveness * Equity and Fairness

* Justice * Transparency

* Value for Money * Quality

* Integrity * Responsiveness

* Accountability * Stewardship

Value Conflicts are Inevitable 1 .Administrative arrangements are never value neutral ;

they help determine ‘who gets what, when and how ’

2 .Most reforms are proposed precisely because they advocate or promote particular values .

3 .In the rush to reform, we often forget that value trade-offs are an implicit part of the process

4 .When administrative and HRM reforms advance one set of values, they often simultaneously neglect or

suppress other values

Our Study Investigates Several Popular NPM-Related HRM Reforms

1 .Pay for performance

2 .Decentralization of personnel authority

3 .Elimination or reduction of employee protections

Evidence of Value Trade-offs

1 .Many scholars have noted that NPM includes trade-offs between efficiency and accountability

2 .Managerialism aims to increase efficiency and effectiveness while sacrificing equity and fairness

3 .Short-run increases in efficiency are being purchased at a long-range cost in administrative capacity and social equity

Summary of Findings1 .These reforms are not supported by sound

scientific evidence

2 .Rather, they appear to have normative or ideological underpinnings that reflect the reformers’ attempt to control the bureaucracy and inject their preferred values into the policy process

3 .There is evidence of fundamental trade-offs in core values (e.g., efficiency for equity).

Conclusions and Recommendations1 .This approach is not desirable because public

sector HRM should be responsive to a broad spectrum of values in the quest for excellence in performance

2 .Reformers should adopt an evidence-based approach, be more aware of value conflicts, and make value tradeoffs more explicit

A Way Forward1 .Reformers should put aside their partisan impulses

and controlling tendencies, and embrace the idea of ‘smart policy ’

2 .We recommend an evidence-based approach to administrative and HRM reform that is grounded in the expanding knowledge base of public administration and the policy sciences

3 .We believe this approach will best serve the long term interests of the many diverse nations and countries across the globe