The Main Features of New Public Governance - Assignment Example

MANAGEMENT Student’s Name Code + Course Name Professor University City/State Date Management 4.1 Outline the main features of new public governance and discuss why it has become regarded as an alternative to earlier models. Public governance is the relationship of the government and its stakeholders, partners and networks in terms of business and other works and its impact on public policies outcomes. Public governance has been highly regarded as an alternative to earlier models like public management which mainly focuses on results, because it focuses on a wider scope of interaction amongst organizations in order to achieve more in terms of results and outcomes of stakeholders and governance. In the new public governance, the interaction of stake holders and decision making is vital. The new public governance focuses on not what is done but on how people feel about what is done. Features of the new public governance include – corporate governance which entails decision making and control within the organizations. It mainly focuses on the issues of accountability. Today, organizations not only focus on not only setting strict laws but also respecting the concept of corporate social responsibility. Another feature is global governance which focuses on governing beyond national borders, for example controlling pollution, child workers, and sex tourism. 4.2 Indicate why public value governance is different in key respects from other models. Public value governance focuses on the importance or utility of policies of the government in relation to the people. The governance entails government policies and legal frameworks and its impact on the society at large. In general, say the rights and privileges of citizens, the obligations of both the state and the citizens to each other, and the principles of making laws and implementing them. Traditionally, efficiency was the main concern in public administration; effectiveness and efficiency were the main concerns in the new public management. In the new public value governance, value is the main concern, democratic values of the people has raised eye brows in this new form of public value governance. 4.3 Why might public value governance be attractive to public servants? Public value governance might be of very high importance to public servants because of the following reasons. Public servants are able to evaluate and identify citizens who need particular services, and provide the services to them. They are able to identify pressing issues that affect citizens and their views on the issues so that they know how to solve them. Public servants can not only identify what issues concern citizens but they can also establish the extent of the impact by providing polling and voting platforms. Citizen involvement is one of the main advantages of public value governance; it benefits the public servants by enlightening them on the matters that concern citizens and helps them measure the level of satisfaction in the services provided. It also helps in measuring the performance of the services provided. When they know how they have performed, they can also know how they ought to do in the future and forecast the citizen’s attitudes towards them in the future. 4.4 Digital governance is claimed to be the emerging model for the public sector. In examining the components, also consider why this might be the case. Digital governance is for sure the emerging model for the public sector. Digitization has enabled a smooth flow of information between the government and the citizens, for instance email communication, and administrative duties through government websites. Payment between the two parties is made easy, including taxes, license fees, fines, social security, education and heath fees. Registrations and applications of Medicare cards, driver licenses, passports, vehicle registrations and custom duties are made easy. Communication, complaints and resolutions are made faster over the internet particularly via social media platforms. Digitization has also enhanced provision of digital services for example eHealth, and education to citizens. 5.1 Define privatization in its more general and specific forms Privatization is a wide term with a variety of meanings according to different scholars. However, the following are the most generic and specific forms. Privatization means the acquisition of publicly owned enterprises by private enterprises. It includes land and buildings. Private providers undergo a competitive bidding where the highest bidder wins. Government agencies own boards where they sell their services to the private market in order to raise revenue. This privatization is known as ‘marketization’ and ‘corporatization’. Basically, privatization is selling government enterprises or placing government services on contracts. 5.2 What are the pros and cons of privatization? Privatization shrinks the government sector and helps in diversification and involvement of private firms owned by citizens in government operations. Privatization helps in buying time to government organization by delegating day-to-day manufacturing processes to private firms; hence government firms focus more on policy and decision making. Privatization also helps the government to involve with the public which increases probable votes during elections. Private firms are more efficient, so privatization increases efficiency in service provision. The cons of privatization include; when government sells state-owned enterprises, it goes out of business completely. The purpose of the government is put under scrutiny because some people assume that the government is unable to carry out its duties well. 5.3 Contracting (or outsourcing) has become a standard mode of operating for what reasons Contracting or outsourcing means that there is risk sharing between the two entities, risk spreading helps firms to avoid huge losses. This spreading of risks in turn helps outsourcing firms to get value for their money. The public and the private sector both have their various areas of expertise, so outsourcing helps firms to buy certain expertise from other firms. Contracting saves both money and time, for instance, a firm can outsource services instead of training their staff and save on both time and cost. 5.4 What are the main reasons why partnerships may provide better results in the design and delivery of public services than public agencies working alone? There is the advantage of being able to come up with new and better services because of the ability of sharing ideas. Partnerships make it possible to enjoy value for money because the processes are carried out efficiently, effectively, and economically. The quality of services and innovation provided is high because of expertise in the private sector. 5.5 Discuss the main issues that may make PPPs controversial? Public-Private Partnerships have risks associated with them. For instance, the risk of uncertainty whereby some events may occur resulting to a negative impact on the project. For example, changes in government policies, decline in services demand, and rise in land and property costs. Alternatively, there could be planning or development risks whereby the project funded by either party could result to an insignificant return on investment. Project risks whereby the project may delay or cost more than the set budget, hence leading to major setbacks. Financial risks such as rise in exchange rates and interest rates which causes changes in estimated costs and revenues. 6.1 Assess the benefits to citizens and public policy of enhancing public engagement. How likely is this to occur in practice? Public engagement helps the government to understand the needs of the citizens hence they satisfy them more. This satisfaction leads to costs reduction because things are done first hand. Engaging the public helps in building trust, which results to loyalty and in turn converts to sales. There are losses that result from customer dissatisfaction. Involving citizen reduces the costs of administration and in return save on losses that could come as a result of dissatisfaction. 6.2 Compare at least two modes of participation in terms of their potential to have an impact. Which is the most promising and why? First mode is influencing citizens into showing or telling you what matters without necessarily asking them directly. In this case, asking people what needs to be improved, attitude of the customer support, or preferred time to provide a certain service, is not effective since they will say all are equally important. The best way to implement this is by the use of ‘value for money’ concept. The second mode could be combining public feedback with internal organizational data to know what problems citizens face. In-person visits provide vital information compared to calls and surveys. This mode is more promising because it not only provides information about the problems of the citizens, it also reveals the best customer support individuals and they can help in training others. 6.3 Examine the contribution of co-production, and whether it offers significant advantages for both citizens and government agencies. The private sector needs clients to buy their products and services so that they can earn revenue from the sales. Government agencies on the other hand need citizens to co-produce, so that they can survive. It is crucial to provide citizens with incentives so that they can co-produce. In the public sector, the government and civil servants remain relevant because they have citizens to cater for. For example, the health sector needs to provide treatment and medication to the patients but it is up to the patients to work towards their own recovery, which is by watching their diet, exercising, and taking medication. This is co-production. 6.4 In what ways does co-design provide new opportunities for engagement? Illustrate with examples. Co-design entails involving clients in not only provision of feedback and surveys, but also in depth involvement in the process of service delivery. Centerlink in Australia is a perfect example of a leading company in service delivery reform. Management of performance in service delivery is crucial especially when it is citizen-oriented. For example UK Government’s Charter Mark actively involves staff, partners and customers, it is accessible and fair to everyone, effectively uses the resources, and contributes to corporate social responsiveness. 7. 1 Examine how relationships between public servants and the political executive have been changing The relationship between public servants and the political executive vary from a permanent basis to a temporary/contractual basis. Another criteria in the assessment of this relationship is the basis of appointments, this could be political or professional and external or internal appointments. The relationships have highly tried to counter bureaucratic influence by employing more political resources. The duties have been delegated accordingly amongst public servants. For instance, the role of policy advice, responsibility in administration and focus in interest groups. 7.2 How significant are the changes in 7.1 for the work of public servants? The politicization of the public servants has raised many questions, for example how would the efficiency be measured effectively with the current situation of the public servants urge to serve having outdone the need to be critical? However, the relationship between the public service and public servants has positively resulted to effective public administration and assessment of performance based on outcomes. The performance assessment has been focused on the individual level. Individual improvements have been evident but proper productivity is yet to be seen. Performance appraisal and the recognition of the best performing individuals have helped to appreciate work well done but it could have brought conflicts among the staff. 7.3 Define different forms of accountability. Which are more important, and why? Accountability takes form in either internal or external dimensions. Internal accountability is linked to the public service agency most immediate environment. It concerns political and managerial dimensions in a hierarchical manner. External accountability is concerned with the institutions and agencies of the public service and its governance, for example the government. Both internal and external accountability are equally important because they interrelate in a mutual beneficial way. 7.4 Why is ethics important for the functioning of the public service? Ethics are a set of principles, consisting of codes that guide the way individuals and organizations conduct themselves. Ethics are important in the functioning of the public service because ethics draws a line between what is legal and what is ethical. Ethics helps the public service to set policies and laws with high regard to fairness to the citizens. Values, fairness, openness and responsiveness guide ethics. The public service should be able to make laws and decisions that they can be accountable for any make sure that they avoid issues. 7.5 What are the key ethical issues and how might they be addressed? One of the main ethical issue is corruption; police accept bribes, doctors get paid to give false lab results, and politicians receive donations that are illegal. This can be combated by punishments through, jailing, fines and job suspensions. Embezzlement of public funds can be combated by implementing proper auditing processes. Ethnical favors and nepotism especially during hiring can be combated by implementing and overseeing efficient recruiting processes. Employee whistle blowing is another effective method of addressing ethical concerns, it is important for employees to watch out for what is going on in the organizations and address any call for concern. References Alford, J., (2009) Chapter 1 in Engaging public sector clients. From Service Delivery to Co-production. NY: Palgrave Macmillan. APS Values and Code of Conduct at http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-media/archive/publications-archive/aps-values-and-code-of-conduct-in-practice Bhatnagar,D., Rathore, A., Torres, M., and Kanungo, P. (2003)  Participatory budgeting in Brazil. Empowerment Case Studies. Washington, DC: World Bank. Boston, J. and Halligan, J., (2012) Political management and the new political governance: Reconciling political responsiveness and neutral competence. From New Public Management to the New Political Governance. Bovaird, T., (2009) Chapter 1 Understanding public governance, in Public Management and Governance Bovaird T and Loffler E (eds). Taylor & Francis Briggs, L. (2011) Co-design: toward a new service vision for Australia? Public Administration Today, No. 25, Jan-Mar pp 35-47. Bryson, J.M., Crosby, B.C. and Bloomberg, L., (2014) Public value governance: Moving beyond traditional public administration and the new public management. Public Administration Review, 74(4), pp.445-456. File Deloitte Access Economics (2015) Digital government transformation File Dudley, E., Lin, D-Y., Mancini, M. and Ng, J., (2015) Implementing a citizen-centric approach, McKinsey and Company. Evans, M. (2013), Social participation: lessons from Europe, Ministry of Planning, Brazilia/European Union. ANZSIG, Canberra. Halligan, J., (2007) Accountability in Australia: control, paradox, and complexity. Public Administration Quarterly, pp.453-479. Hodge, GA and Duffield, C.(2010) The Australian PPP Experience: Observations and Reflections... File Kelly, G., Mulgan, G. and Muers, S. (2002) Creating Public Value: An Analytical Framework for Public Service Reform, discussion paper prepared by the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit, United Kingdom File Kim, P.S., (2009) Enhancing public accountability for developing countries: Major constraints and strategies. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 68(s1), pp.S89-S100. Lawton, A., (1998) Chapter 2 Ethical Issues, in Ethical Management for the Public Services. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). MacDermott, K., (2008) Chapter 1 in Whatever Happened to Frank and Fearless?: The impact of new public management on the Australian Public Service. ANU Press. Margetts, H. and Dunleavy, P., (2013) The second wave of digital-era governance: a quasi-paradigm for government on the Web. Phil Trans R Soc A 371: 20120382 Pallesen, T (2011) Chapter 17 - Privatization, in Christensen, T. and Lægreid, P. eds., 2011. The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. File Yong, H.K. (2010) Chapter 3 - Background to PPPs in Public-private partnerships policy and practice: a reference guide. Commonwealth Secretariat, London. File World Bank Accountability in Governance http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PUBLICSECTORANDGOVERNANCE/Resources/AccountabilityGovernance.pdf. Read More