Public Service 2000 Service to the Public Task Force: findings and implications

Article Abstract:

A government organization setting out to improve its quality of service must, first of all, recognize that the meaning and scope of service in government differ in significant respects from those provided by private sector organizations. Federal government departments and agencies serve a variety of external and internal clients, ranging from the elected government to the general public. Although some services are analogous to those provided by businesses, and much can be learned from the service innovations of the private sector, the enforcement of regulations and other public functions is peculiar to government. Furthermore, the nature of government service and its availability to citizens are shaped by such requirements as entitlement and equity or equal benefits, which are not pre-eminent factors in the private sector. An essential prerequisite to better service is a result-oriented corporate "culture." Quality service to the public requires that public service organizations understand the concepts of empowerment, delegation, and decentralization in the context of a change from command and control systems to front line empowerment. The limits of delegation and decentralization need to be recognized. Other vital ingredients are adequate rewards and recognition, effective consultative systems and service monitoring. These changes, most of which lead in the direction of risk-taking, will require a measure of personal adaptation by managers now in the service. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)

Services, Civil service, Public employees, Government employees

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The private sector, the public sector and the laws of nature

Article Abstract:

In investigating whether information drawn from the biological sciences can be used to describe relationships and distinctions between the public and private sectors, and whether principles of biology can be applied as effective techniques for management scientists and public administrators, five principles are examined. They are: competition type; symbiosis and host parasite relationships; niche overlap and competitive exclusion; natural selection and survival of the fittest; and maturation and succession toward a climax. The private and public sectors, just as in nature, share characteristics of birth, growth, and death. Of the five principles examined, the public sector is a more frequent violator than the private sector. The implications for those in the fields of management science and public administration are examined.

Research, Private sector, Public sector, Political science research

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Closed or open government: the public servant and the public

Article Abstract:

Public servants face a conflict between citizen demands for information and the requirements of the 'Westminster model', which calls for public servants to be as anonymous as possible. Two steps are suggested for freeing the public sector manager from these conflicting expectations: (1) revising the Westminster model so that direct responsibilities to the public are clarified, and (2) increasing government openness. It is suggested that freedom of information and open communication are reflective of today's needs, and that government secrecy is a nineteenth century practice.

General government, not elsewhere classified, Management, Freedom of information, Government information

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