GOVERNANCE, PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, AND THE CHALLENGES…
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As a result of globalization, there is intense competition among the countries of the world to attain an edge in the international marketplace. The continuous demand for free trade, facilitated by porous borders, intensifies the levels of competition. Both public and private organizations are constantly pressured to improve performance to stay competitive. Despite the difficulty of measuring performance, there is a demand for service delivery to be improved. The government is responsible for providing services to the people. People demand an improvement of the government services on which they are dependent. Moreover, when people are experiencing tight budgets, every tax dollar they pay toward the government must be justified. People want to see where and how the governments are using their tax dollars. The OECD (1997) emphasizes the importance of information on performance in a managerial analysis, direction, and control of public policies, budgeting, parliamentary oversight, and public accountability.
Innovation There is now a growing demand to solve the complex global problems. Public administration needs to innovate in new ways to solve the complex issues it faces. The important issue is how to create the opportunities for innovation and facilitate changes. Each agency in the government can create opportunities for this sort of culture by providing a reward to those employees who produce new ideas. Public agencies can spend resources on training and education for their employees. Similarly, governments can partner with private businesses, which invest in new innovations. The UN (2007) emphasizes the diverse activities of innovations by the government. The major trends are the development of the rule of law; encouragement of participation in the policy process, and reforming the public administration. New innovations can improve the performance of the organization. However, any change can face resistance from the employees. Organizations must come up with a mechanism to deal with the resistance to the changes. According to the Report of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (1995), presented at the General Assembly, the changes must have a demonstrable and tangible impact on improving people’s quality of life; (2) they are the result of an effective partnership between the public, private, and civil societies; and (3) they are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. There are different strategies for innovations. The main strategies in innovations
