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Box 26.1 Reinventing government

The ten principles:

1.Catalytic government: steering rather than rowing.

2.Community-owned government: empowering rather than serving.

3.Competitive government: injecting competition into service delivery.

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

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 than spending.

8.Anticipatory government: prevention rather than cure.

9.Decentralized government: from hierarchy to participation and teamwork. 10.Market-oriented government: leveraging change through the market.

Source: D. Osborne and T. Gaebler: Reinventing government: How the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector (New York, Plume, 1993).

services, public sector organizations are increasingly retaining consultants to provide training and counselling services to their staff. Training is frequently needed in management and communication skills for new organizational processes, as well as in standard management and technical areas.

Some governments have made considerable progress in evaluating their experiences and defining policies for working with consultants. For example, in 1994 the Government of the United Kingdom published a major review of its use of external consultants.3 In 1999, a statement of best practice concerning the use of consultants was signed in the United Kingdom jointly by the Government, the Management Consultancies Association, and the Institute of Management Consultancy.4 Many governments have internal guidelines for the selection and use of consultants.

26.2 Understanding the public sector environment

The worst error a consultant can make in entering the public sector is to believe that management is the same everywhere and that solid private sector experience provides all the answers. True enough, drawing on private sector management know-how is currently one of the principal ways of improving public management. However, there are significant differences in complexity, driving and impeding forces, time horizons, resource constraints, hierarchical relations, organizational cultures and traditions, individual motivations and other factors that make public sector processes and organizations different from private ones.

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Most, if not all, public sector problems are embedded in larger social, economic, political or administrative issues. It is very important to understand thoroughly the nature and dimensions of the problem. The problem presented is often deceptively simple, and it is sometimes necessary to build problem definition (with the various stakeholders) into the consulting process. Inadequate problem definition, conflicting views of what the real problem is and how it should be handled, and an insensitive approach to social, political and environmental issues can lead to an unmanageable assignment, especially in its later stages.

Public sector decision-making

Public sector decision-making is the process by which a government or government agency responds to a societal or an administrative issue.

Societal issues are those social or economic problems or opportunities that require collective action by society, generally through a government programme or agency. Government programmes – be they services produced or arranged by the government, regulatory programmes or economic grants to individuals or businesses – require careful analysis, planning and organization.

Administrative issues are problems or opportunities related to the machinery of government. A government is a large administrative system, organized to provide different types of service or to deliver regulatory programmes. As with any large administrative system, it must develop organizational structure, policies and procedures. It must also operate a multitude of administrative services. These administrative services may or may not affect the public at large, but their quality and productivity strongly influence the efficiency and image of the whole public sector.

Figure 26.1 illustrates in simplified form the process by which government responds to societal and administrative issues and adopts a particular programme. The process is initiated when issues arise in society or in the machinery of government. Public sector decision-making usually comprises four major steps, in each of which there may be a demand for management consulting assistance.

To understand the nature of the issue, data collection is required (step 1). Many public issues are by their nature complex, and data collection may be extensive. Data may be collected from secondary sources or as primary data by surveys or other means. It is particularly important to understand the scope of the issue being examined and the decision elements that the data will have to illuminate, in order to decide on the extent, depth and nature of the data gathering.

The collected data are analysed (step 2) to develop different strategies for a programme. Once again this analysis may be relatively simple or very complex depending on the nature of the issue.

Consultation with major stakeholders (step 3) is not unique to public decision-making, but it is of particular importance in the government sector. Invariably societal issues and some administrative issues affect a great many people in different ways. Clearly identifying and consulting stakeholders, both

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within government and in society, can be essential to the weighing of strategy alternatives and the eventual success of a programme.

When the three preceding steps have been completed, an alternative is selected (step 4) from which to develop a programme. This selection will be heavily influenced by the opinions of all stakeholders, including the government of the day, the public at large, special interest groups, and the body of public servants. While good data collection, analysis and consultation can greatly facilitate decision-making, decisions themselves are strongly valuebased and, unlike most private sector decisions, must respond to many conflicting interests and criteria.

Once a decision has been made, it must be translated into a carefully designed programme, which should be evaluated during and after implementation. The evaluation may lead to adjustments to the programme. A specific initiative may not involve all the steps of the process as described, but generally a significant initiative must go through the entire process. As shown in figure 26.1, the process becomes more political in the later stages of decision-making.

The consultant–client relationships in support of decision-making in the public sector are summarized in box 26.2.

Figure 26.1 The public sector decision-making process

Public sector response

Funding and programme initiative

More political

Step 4

Selection of an alternative

Step 3 Consultation with stakeholders

Step 2

Data analysis

Step 1

Data collection

More analytical

Societal/administration

issue identified

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Box 26.2 The consultant–client relationship in support of decision-making

National and local politics

Important decision-making processes in the public sector are political processes even if the issues concerned are technical. Minor administrative decisions, seemingly without any political implication or significance, may involve political criteria and can become politicized under certain circumstances. Senior administrators may well emphasize their independence and non-political approach to decisions; but politics are omnipresent and the power of political parties and their coalitions shapes public sector decision-making through senior personnel appointments, reorganizations, budget increases and cuts, changes in legislation, decisions taken by the council of ministers, and more or less direct personal interventions and lobbying. Invariably, politicians think of the political impact of legislation, budgetary choices, resource allocations, decentralization, programme proposals, investments, changes in public services and their costs, etc.

The nature of a particular national or local political scene is extremely important to consulting. In an atmosphere of political polarization, hostility and confrontation, even the most rational and needed practical proposals may be difficult to pursue and may be considerably delayed or even discarded.

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Opposition parties may attack and destroy them for purely political reasons. In less confrontational political environments, national interests may prevail over ideology and political party interests, though not without negotiation and compromise. The status, quality and independence of the civil service will also influence the quality of relationships of public administrations with consultants.

Social objectives

A key requirement of political decision-making is the balancing of social and economic objectives in developing and implementing public policies and programmes. Social objectives may include the development of specific regions, the promotion of small businesses, job creation, education and services for minority and underprivileged groups, equitable distribution of contracts and purchases, the development and improvement of public services, provision of vital but costly services to remote regions, environmental protection, and so on. A problem often faced by consultants is that social and economic objectives and criteria are vague, inaccurate or even conflicting. It is usually necessary to seek an operational (explicit and measurable) definition and categorization of social objectives, draw attention to their cost side and consider alternative ways of financing them.

Attitudes to change and to consulting

Seasoned administrators, who may have seen many unnecessary reorganizations, unfulfilled political promises and failed projects, tend to be cynical about new change proposals and consulting projects. The pressure of competition and the opportunities created by globalization, market liberalization, new technologies and other developments tend to have a smaller impact on public administrations than on private businesses. Consultants may be viewed with suspicion and distrust, as outsiders who have the easy job of writing another report and then leaving the organization, while the public manager will once more be left with a proposal that cannot be implemented, without any real support from superiors, and with insufficient resources. Consultants may be seen as privileged individuals whose remuneration is out of proportion to their experience, contribution and responsibility.

The consultant’s attitudes and behaviour

Experienced consultants are aware of these apprehensions. They realize that the key issue is to develop a relationship of trust and an understanding of the client as a person. Many public managers are competent and dedicated people working in systems that do not encourage high performance, make changes difficult, and require special skills and approaches to get anything improved. The consultant must not only understand why certain things are possible and others not, but must empathize with the client and develop a true partnership in working on

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