How and to what extent performance management in the public sector has Essay

How and to what extent performance management in the public sector has changed under contemporary managerial reforms Identify a - Essay Example In pursuit for reforms in the management of the public sectors, there have been radical changes in the last two decades on how governments do their management; there has been outsourcing of those management practices and techniques from the private-for –profit sectors with the purpose of reforming the government (public) sector. Since then, several countries have adopted these practices; Australia, New Zealand, and UK are some of the countries that have adopted the practices in the public sector management (Aulich, Halligan and Nutley 2001, p.46). Even though the system is widely believed to be associated with the developed countries, in the recent decade, its application has been witnessed in a number of the transitional and developing economies. These contemporary techniques and practices sourced from the private sector to the public sector are referred to as New Public Management, NPM (Eliassen and Sitter 2008, p.58). Pressures for Change NPM adoption came with the rising p ressure from other quarters; it is a change process that has been adopted because of agitation from several sectors and interested groups. Some of the reasons that led to the adoption of the new strategy of public management included; Fiscal and Economic Pressure on the Governments This problem was first witnessed in the developed countries before spreading to the developing countries of Africa and Asia, lately; it was also witnessed in the Asian tiger Economies. There were fiscal stress that was necessitated by enormous public sector deficit, spiraling indebtedness, and unfavorable balance of trade. This fiscal problem made it possible for the reconstruction of the public sector through rethinking, reshaping what the role of the government is, to counter the problems that were facing the public sector, drastic measure of privatization, contracting, and downsizing became the available options (Bovaird and Loffler 2009, p.37). There was also public outcry on the leathery and the bure aucratic nature of the old order, the increased criticism from the public on the ineffectiveness and inefficiencies associated with public delivery of services occasioned the need for change. The old order was criticized for its slow and unresponsiveness that is driven by the established rules rather than its performance. The international consultants on management ideas advised most of the government on the need to change the management of the public sector by integrating some of the management tools from the private sectors (Ferlie, Laurence and Christopher, 2005, p.84). Finally, for the transitional and developing countries, there change has been necessitated by the donor agencies; it has been one of the conditions for lending form the international financial institution like the World Bank and the IMF. Changes Noted in the Public Sector following NPM As stated above in introductory part there was need for more efficient and effective of the public sector resources, in this regar d several tools used in the management have been used that are sourced from the private sector to improve the performance of the public sector organization following the failure of the traditional systems used. In effecting this, several changes have been seen from the traditional order of public sector management, these changes have been