Balades en expertise comptable :
New Public Management...
Actu Droit juillet 2024
Décrypté par Jean-François Allafort, co-auteur des Fiches DCG UE12 Anglais des affaires, collection « Expert Sup », Dunod, et présenté par Ian Waddelow
#NPM #NewPublicManagement #PublicServices #NeoLiberalism #MarketOrientation #Performance
Management #Decentralization #Accountability #CustomerFocus #Managerialism
New Public Management
Welcome to the series of DUNOD podcasts designed to help improve your English in your own time on topics related to your studies.
New Public Management (NPM) is an approach to running public services and organizations. First coined by Christopher Hood in his article entitled “A Public Management for all seasons” published in 1991, this management philosophy and set of administrative practices emerged as a response to perceived inefficiencies and shortcomings in traditional public sector management models.
For several authors, the event consecrating the emergence of New Public Management was the reform of Britain’s administration, launched in the wake of nascent neo-liberalism and coinciding with the coming to power of Margaret Thatcher in 1979.
NPM advocates for principles borrowed from the private sector, emphasizing market-oriented approaches, performance-based management, decentralization, and accountability in the delivery of public services, as part of an effort to make the public service more "businesslike".
What are the principles of NPM ?
New Public Management aims to make public administration market-based, committed to the three prime goals of Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness (3’Es’) and it is guided by several core principles :
- Decentralization : NPM emphasizes the devolution of authority, granting greater autonomy and decision-making power to lower-level units of government, agencies, and public service organizations. Decentralization is intended to promote flexibility, responsiveness, and innovation in service delivery.
- Performance Management : NPM emphasizes this, focusing on measurable outcomes, results, and performance indicators to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of public services. Performance targets, benchmarks, and key performance indicators (KPIs) are used to evaluate organizational performance and drive continuous improvement.
- Market Orientation : NPM also promotes market-oriented approaches to public service delivery, including competition, contracting, outsourcing, and public-private partnerships (PPPs).
- Customer Focus : NPM emphasizes customer orientation and tailored services to meet the diverse needs and expectations of service users.
- Managerialism : NPM embraces managerial principles borrowed from the private sector, such as strategic planning, performance measurement, results-based budgeting, and managerial accountability.
Despite its widespread adoption and influence, New Public Management has faced several criticisms.
Critics argue that NPM’s focus on efficiency and cost-effectiveness may lead to the neglect of broader social, equity, and public interest considerations. Efficiency-oriented reforms may prioritize short-term cost savings over long-term social and environmental sustainability.
Critics have also raised concerns about the privatization of public services and the erosion of public accountability and transparency. Privatization initiatives may weaken democratic oversight, limit public control over essential services, and compromise the public interest in favor of private profit motives.
NPM’s reliance on market mechanisms and competition may also undermine the quality, accessibility, and equity of public services, particularly for vulnerable and marginalized populations. Market-oriented reforms have been accused of prioritizing profitability and cost-cutting at the expense of service quality and social outcomes.
Conclusion :
In conclusion, New Public Management represents a paradigm shift in public sector management, emphasizing market-oriented approaches, performance-based management, and managerial accountability. While NPM has led to significant reforms and innovations in public service delivery, it has also faced criticism for its focus on efficiency, privatization, and accountability.
The introduction of New Public Management (NPM) in the UK transformed the public sector in the 1980s, blurring the boundaries between the public and private spheres. However, from the late 1990s, it was clear that NPM techniques were showing some limits. Without retreating from governance back to government, some efforts were made to solve the problems that had arisen from greater vertical and horizontal specialization. The restructuring of the National Health Service (NHS) is the perfect illustration of how the role of the state in the world’s largest publicly-funded health service has been redefined by post-NPM reforms.
