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CHAPTERCHAPTER 1010

Information Technology,the Internet, and

Management Reform

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Beginning with the PC revolution in the early 1980s, whenpersonal computers started to appear in every office (notto mention every home) , IT has been a central part in thedrive to increase public and nonprofit performance. Yet, inthe age of reform, IT was transformed from being a toolfor enhancing productivity to a metaphor for the very wayin which we organize. We began to view ourselves as actorsin wired organizations, and citizens in a growing web of

e-public administration.

By the beginning of the twenty-first century, thetransformation of the Internet, which began as anelectronic network of researchers and scholars into aglobal, online community, supported our change inperspective. We could, in real time, have a virtual chatwith colleagues around the world on matters of publicpolicy, exchange insights on common challenges, or swapinformation relating to management innovations .

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Governments and nonprofit agencies soon turned to online

resources for many of their core functions( economic

development, human and social service delivery, health

care, and engagement with citizens ).

Electronic Organizations:

Intranets, e-mail, and other networking have allowed, or

in some cases forced, agencies to transform work processes

and integrate strategies for meeting public objectives. IT

can make teams more effective, and teams can help fulfill

the promise of information technology. Together, teams

and new information technology can catalyze dramaticimprovements in organizational performance. (Mankin,

Cohen, and Bikson 1996 )

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New technologies are alleviating the headaches of doing

business with the government by enabling citizens to do

much of the work themselves.

Until recently (in USA and Europe) , whether a citizen

needed to register an automobile or obtain a social security

card, it meant a harrowing day of hustling between

agencies and waiting for a number to be called. But intodays wired age, citizens are beginning to help

themselves.

Experts say electronic government is unique because both

parties can reap benefits. Consumers profit from increasedgovernment accessibility and faster response time, while

governments can cut costs and improve reliability.

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Government one day may resemble a neighborhood

convenience store: one location that offers everything thecitizen needs from public agencies, anytime he or she needs

it.

Technology and the rise of the IT sector also have made

a significant impact in the philanthropic sector, opening

new doors for resource development and performance

measurement.

Some charities are now using their websites to receive

direct contributions, and many more are turning to e-mail

and other forms of electronic engagement to solicit giftsfrom the more e-savvy philanthropists.

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E- Governance

E-Government can be defined as the use of IT to provideinformation, deliver services, support organizational

management systems, and / or to offer opportunities for

dialogue and citizen input.

E-government includes government websites, pages, e-mails, and service delivery over the Internet. It can also

mean digital access to government information or

electronic licensing or payments.

But the most significant aspect of the public service in this

information age involves what they call a revolution in

governance , a dramatic shift in the methods by which

political and social power are organized and used

today( Dean & Stage, 2000,p.3 )

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While e-government offers many opportunities for better

information sharing, efficiency, and better service to

citizens, it also creates significant challenges:

1- Novelty the fact that electronic medium offers a very

wide range of fundamentally new possibilities for

governmental processes and operations;

2- Cooperation- it often requires new and unprecedented

levels of cooperation between agencies and organizations.

Novelty can make it difficult to choose among the vast

array of choices, some of which involve profound changes

in organizational processes, relationships, and culture. Interagency cooperation is also critical because the best

websites

Are designed around citizen needs, not agency structures.

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There are other challenges as well :

1- Budget restrictions make it difficult for many citizens or

even agencies to develop and maintain Web-based sites.

2- Access can also be limited for non-English-speaking or

disabled individuals.

3-Systems must be protected from viruses and hacking, also

sensitive information and transactions must besafeguarded so they are not revealed or used

inappropriately.

Despite these challenges and barriers of e-government, thebenefits of e-government are potentially great. In addition

to access to information and services, the Internet also

offers opportunities for new kinds of two-way

communication between citizens and governments.

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Human Resources, Innovation, and Performance

Whereas advanced technology can improve productivity

and performance, other improvements are possible

through more effective use of human and organizational

resources.`

Many historical techniques are often used in formal

productivity improvement programs. We will provide a

review of four techniques:

1- Management by Objectives (MBA)

2- Quality of Work-life / Job Enrichment

3- Quality Circles and Related Ideas

4- Incentive Programs

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1- Management By Objectives: It became especially popular in the late 1960s and through

the 1970s.

First, MBO assumes that the organization as a whole willbenefit by clarifying its broad-range goals and by targetingthe work of all organizational units and all individuals inpursuit of those goals.

Second, MBO assumes that all elements of theorganization, from top to bottom, will benefit fromestablishing realistic objectives each year and measuring

progress toward the objectives as the year goes by .

Third, MBO assumes that the process of establishing goalsand objectives should involve a broad spectrum oforganizational members, both to solicit the fullest range ofideas and to build patterns of effective communication andcommitment.

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2- Quality of Work-life / Job Enrichment

The QWL movement traces its ancestry back to thedevelopment of child labor laws, passage pf workers

compensation legislation, and more general concerns for

human relations arising in the 1930s.

For at least some QWL advocates, creating a workenvironment of high quality was even more important than

improving productivity.

Studies seemed to show that improving the quality of

work-life led to decreased absenteeism and turnover,greater job satisfaction, and greater commitment to the

organization and its goals all features that should

improve an organizations productivity as a whole.

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3- Quality Circles and Related Ideas

The quality circles concept has been widely used over thepast several decades. A quality circle is a small group of

people who do similar or connected work and meet

regularly to identify, analyze, and solve work-process

problems. Quality circles involve six to twelve employees,who are led by their first supervisor (team leader) and

assisted by a trained facilitator, usually from outside the

work unit. The circle chooses its own problems to work on

and approaches them through a structured , problem-

solving process. Resulting recommendations are usuallypresented to the team leaders immediate supervisor, who

in turn may carry the recommendations further up the

hierarchy.

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4- Incentive Programs

In addition to pay increases, there are several other types

of incentive plans that reward extraordinary performance.

The rewards are usually money, but they may sometimes

be non-monetary incentives such as merchandise or time

off. The incentives seek to reward increased output

(measured quantitatively), improved performance

(measured qualitatively), or improved behavior ( such as

reduced absenteeism or fewer accidents) ( Morley, 1986,)

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Innovation Amore recent strategy for improving productivity in public

and nonprofit organizations involves encouraging innovationby public servants. Unfortunately, although many managers

and consultants search for ways to innovate, the concept of

innovation tends to be one of the least understood in

management. Some view it simply as implementing some new

system or process within an organization or as improving the

business of government. Others appreciate innovation as away

of adding public value or serving more effectively in the public

interest. Most will agree, however, that at its core, innovation

involves challenging theprevailing wisdom

in management

theory and practice ( Light, 1998).

H. George Frederickson(2000) recently attempted to sort out

some of the different ways of thinking about innovation,

contrasting between managed innovation and sustaining

innovation.

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First, in managed innovation the primary driver of change

tends to be the visionary, with the main objectives being

productivity, efficiency, and the improving governments

bottom-line.

Sustaining innovation, on the other hand , involves as

much of a process of searching for questions as it does

searching for answers.

According to Light (1998), sustaining innovation begins

with removing barriers to excellence ; an ecosystem in

which an organizations innovativeness depends upon four

factors that ignite and sustain new ideas:

1- The external environment in which a given organizationexists.

2- Its internal structure.

3- Its leadership.

4- Its internal management systems (Light,1998).

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ReinventingGovernment

In the early 1990s, Osborne and Gaeblers (1992)

Landmark work, Reinventing Government, brought many

of the NPM principles to American shores. The authors

believed that public agencies had failed to keep pace with

changing conditions in the postindustrial society, withgovernment still attempting to respond to public issues

with a one-size-fits-all approach. A central theme in

reinvention is that only more entrepreneurial forms of

government will enable public administrators to effectivelydeal with problems and capitalize on opportunities in

contemporary society.

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To carry out the reform agenda, Osborne and Gaeblerprovide ten principles underlying reinvention and

public entrepreneurship:1. Catalytic government: steering rather than rowing.

2. Community owned government: empowering ratherthan serving.

3. Competitive government: injecting competition intoservice delivery.

4. Mission-driven government: transforming rule-drivenorganizations.

5. Results oriented government: funding outcomes, not

inputs.6. Customer-driven government: meeting the needs of the

customer, not the bureaucracy.

7. Enterprising government: earning rather thanspending.

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8. Anticipatory government: prevention rather than cure

9. Decentralized government: from hierarchy toparticipation and teamwork

10. Market-oriented government: leveraging change

through the market

The abovementioned principles serve as a new conceptual

framework for public administration

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CHAPTERCHAPTER 1111

The Future of theThe Future of the

Public ServicePublic Service

Challenges Facing The Public ServiceChallenges Facing The Public Service

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The challenges that will face those in the public service

over the coming years are substantial, for they not onlyrequire resolving important public-policy problems, but

resolving them in a way that restores and then maintains

public confidence.

The efforts to restore meaning and integrity to the public

service are much needed in all societies around the world,but they should be accompanied by a clear understanding

of several important trends in the field of Public Service.

So, what are the major trends worldwide that

those entering the public service in the nextdecades are likely to experience ?

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1- Economic Changes and Redefining

Government The Economy has been transformed in several ways from a

production base to a service base, from a national base to a

global base, and from a growing public commitment to a

limited commitment.

Trends such as privatization and contracting forspecific goods and services, also discretion in the use of

public authority and in spending of public funds , all

demand reshaping of the public service and raises serious

questions about equity and accountability in the

management of public programs.

Trends associated with the reform agendas in the public

and nonprofit sectors reflect more recent responses to our

changing social and economic condition.

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Citizenship, Public participation and creating a

government that does more with less may produce

harmful effects for issues of citizen engagement with theinstitutions of governance.

2- Globalization Understanding the activities of political and administrative

officials in other countries is important not only for those

who will spend part of their careers outside their country,

but also for those who will work at home. City managers

find that to be effective in local economic development

activities, they must be experts in international business.

So as we continue to live in our global village, we will be

challenged to deal with opportunities and threats that defy

national boundaries.

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3- Technology and Work Environment We have experienced a transformation in the public

workplace brought on by new forms of technology.

Pressure to integrate work processes and create more

flexible, networked organizations will continue to fuel the

drive for more effective forms of communicating andsharing information.

The Norwegian government has implemented a strategy to

achieve high levels of public access to the internet in

schools, libraries, home, and places of employment.

Of course, the most prevalent argument for technology is

the use of technology to enhance government performance.

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4- The Role of Citizens in the Government

Process

One of the contemporary trends in the public sector is thecitizens participation in the governance process and thenotion of civil society. More and more, public decisions aremade through meaningful interaction with citizens. Thismeans that citizens are playing an important role not as

recipients of government services but as contributors to thepolicies and programs that affect their lives.

Many public administrators view citizen participation as asource of tension. They associate civic engagement withpublic hearings, legal and administrative arbitration, and

other formal mechanism that tend to be time-consumingand highly confrontational.

The move to more direct forms of civic participation opensthe door for effective and responsible citizenship, but thosein government must be willing to listen and act in a

responsive manner.

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5- The Ethical Challenges Facing the

Public Service Beyond a view of public administration as a managerial or

a political concern, public administration today is

increasingly an ethical concern. What does that mean? It

means that public administrators must demonstrate intheir own actions the highest standards of behavior .

Beyond that, to see the public service as amoral and ethical

concern requires recognition that every action an

administrator takes involves an effort to discover or toclarify the public interest.

The future public servant will likely be both active in

policy development and responsive to the public interest.

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Commitment to democratic ideals involves concerns such

as responsiveness and involvement, but also commitment

to equity and justice. Public officials are still at the

forefront of dealing with the complex and difficult issues of

homelessness, poverty, and drug addiction. They certainly

should be able to pinpoint the failures of past policies, to

suggest alternatives, and to work actively toward

implementation with elected leaders. Indeed, they have a

moral responsibility to do so.