Epitomes of New Public Management: Insights from Illustrative Literature on Worldwide Public Sector Reform Agendas

Abstract

Traditional public organisations were run by rational rules and procedures. The structured hierarchies, formal decision-making processes and advancement based on administrative expertise were found in the traditional public organizations. These public organisations were motivated by political considerations than by financial considerations. However, these situations have changed and new mechanisms and approaches have been developed in the public sector for the delivery of public goods and services. To improve efficiency in management in the public sector a renewed interest has developed to implement private sector management practices in the public sector. These improved management practices not only have assisted in locating the inefficiencies of the past and ensuring better performance is achieved in the future, but also to make the public sector management and employees accountable for their actions and decisions. These elements of reforms also created a new orthodoxy in the public sector, namely ‘New Public Management’ (NPM). The present study is an earnest quest to explore the trends of these new management approaches which were implemented worldwide in different countries.