Importance of new public management
The New Public Management (NPM) is a set of ideas and practices that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, aimed at reforming the public sector to make it more efficient, effective, and responsive to citizens' needs. The importance of NPM can be summarized as follows:
- Efficiency and Effectiveness: NPM emphasizes the need for public organizations to be more efficient and effective in delivering public services. This is achieved through the introduction of market-oriented mechanisms, such as competition, privatization, and contracting out.
- Accountability: NPM promotes greater accountability in public organizations by introducing performance measurement and evaluation systems. This helps to ensure that public servants are held accountable for their actions and that public funds are used effectively.
- Citizen-Centered: NPM emphasizes the importance of citizen participation and engagement in the public sector. This is achieved through the use of citizen surveys, focus groups, and other participatory mechanisms to gather feedback and improve public services.
- Decentralization: NPM promotes decentralization and devolution of power to lower levels of government or to non-governmental organizations. This helps to increase responsiveness to local needs and to promote innovation and experimentation.
- Innovation: NPM encourages innovation and experimentation in public organizations, by providing them with greater autonomy and flexibility to try new approaches and solutions.
- Private Sector Involvement: NPM encourages private sector involvement in the delivery of public services, through privatization, public-private partnerships, and contracting out. This can bring in new skills, technologies, and resources to improve public services.
- Human Resource Management: NPM emphasizes the importance of effective human resource management in public organizations, including the use of performance-based incentives, training and development programs, and employee empowerment.
- Risk Management: NPM recognizes the importance of risk management in public organizations, and encourages the use of risk assessment and management tools to identify and mitigate potential risks.
- Transparency and Openness: NPM promotes transparency and openness in public organizations, by providing citizens with access to information and by encouraging public participation in decision-making processes.
- Global Best Practices: NPM encourages the adoption of global best practices in public management, by promoting the sharing of knowledge, skills, and experiences across countries and organizations.
Overall, the importance of NPM lies in its ability to promote a more efficient, effective, and responsive public sector, which is better equipped to meet the needs of citizens and to deliver high-quality public services.