PUBLIC

The Top 50 Articles

PUBLIC is the newsletter published by the ESADE Institute of Public Governance and Management. It is released quarterly in Catalan, Spanish and English. Subscription is free and the web publication can be consulted at www.esade.edu/public ISSN 2013-2530 Copyright - The contents of PUBLIC are owned by Fundació ESADE or third parties who have authorised their use by this foundation. All rights reserved.

5th Anniversary Special Edition

Joat Henrich (ed.), Francisco Longo (ed.) and Tamyko Ysa (ed.)

HENRY MINTZBERG, JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ, FRANCIS FUKUYAMA, DONALD P. MOYNIHAN, JOSÉ MANUEL SUCRE-CIFFONI, CHRISTOPHER POLLIT, CARLOS LOSADA, RONALD A. HEIFETZ, DANI RODRIK, LAWRENCE R. JONES, RICARD SERLAVÓS, ALI FARAZMAND, JOSEPH S. NYE, JAMESON W. DOIG, SONIA OSPINA, BARBARA KELLERMAN, MANEL PEIRÓ, MANUEL VILLORIA, JORDI PUJOL, STEVE KELMAN, KOLDO ECHEBARRÍA, CHRISTOPHER HOOD, JOAN SUBIRATS, GERMÀ BEL, RICARD GOMÀ, JEFFREY PFEFFER, GUILLEM LÓPEZ CASASNOVAS, LAURENCE I. LYNN, JR., MANUEL FÉREZ, MARTY LINSKY, KERRY BROWN, JAN KOOIMAN, NARCÍS SERRA, MICHAEL BARZELAY, BERYL A. RADIN, PERE PUIG, SIV VANGEN, VERÓNICA FIGUEROA, QUIM BRUGUÉ, ELIO BORGONOVI, ROBERT AGRANOFF, ANGEL SAZ-CARRANZA, RAFAEL JIMÉNEZ ASENSIO, EULÀLIA VINTRÓ, ADOLF TODÓ, B. GUY PETERS, ALBERT SERRA, CHRIS HUXHAM, MIREIA BELIL, CHRISTOPHER H. BOVIS, NURIA CUNILL, ALFRED VERNIS, JOAN PRATS, STEPHEN OSBORNE, CARLES RAMIÓ, ANTONIO FRAGUAS (FORGES)

index Presentation | Carlos Losada

9

Introduction | Francisco Longo, Tamyko Ysa and Joat Henrich

11

management of public organisations

15

1. Management as a Practice | Henry Mintzberg

16

2. The Essential Public Manager | Christopher Pollitt

3. Managing in political contexts. Managing in public service contexts | Carlos Losada 4. Concepts that define public management

as an international academic field | Lawrence R. Jones

20 23 27

5. Training to develop public managers competences | Ricard Serlavós

30

and Managing Human Capital Capacity in the 21st Century | Ali Farazmand

32

6. Strategic Public Personnel Administration: A Conceptual Framework for Building

7. A look at organizational commitment | Manel Peiró 8. Ethics in the public service | Manuel Villoria

36 38

leadership and change management in a public setting

41

9. Learning Leadership | Joseph S. Nye

42

Leading with an Open Heart | Ronald A. Heifetz & Marty Linsky

45 51

10. Anchoring Leadership in the Work of Progress | Ronald A. Heifetz 11. Reflections on a Biographical Approach to Leadership and Innovation | Jameson W. Doig 12. Leadership for a Changing World | Sonia Ospina 13. Leader-Centrism: “It’s the Followers, Stupid!” | Barbara Kellerman 14. Times for reflection | Jordi Pujol 15. The Challenge of Organizational Change | Steve Kelman 16. Managing Change and Innovation

in Public Service Organisations | Stephen Osborne i Kerry Brown

57 60 63 66 76 80

17. Public Management: Old and New | Laurence I. Lynn, Jr.

18. Some lessons from our recent history regarding reforming the Civil Service | Manuel Férez

performance management models 19. Performance management: a tool for public managers | Verónica Figueroa 20. Competing for the future: strategic risk management

84 87

91 92

and organisational practice | Michael Barzelay

96

institutions before instruments | Koldo Echebarría

99

21. Managerial accountability and responsibility:

22. Arrows, Circles and Hybrids: Controlling Modern Government | Christopher Hood 23. Evidence-Based Public Policy: An Aspirational Vision | Jeffrey Pfeffer 24. The future of performance management: lessons

103

from the United States | Donald P. Moynihan

105

and Democratic Values | Beryl A. Radin

108

public governance models

113

26.The Concept of Governability | Jan Kooiman

114

25. Challenging the Performance Movement : Accountability, Complexity,

27. The future of global governance | Joseph E. Stiglitz

28. Institutions, economic development and global governance | Narcís Serra 29. State-Building as the Core of Capacity Development | Francis Fukuyama 30. The quality of institutions is key | Dani Rodrik

31. Presentation of the Latin-american Charter of Civil Service | José Manuel Sucre Ciffoni 32. Challenges posed by the current expansion of the EU in eastern Europe | Pere Puig 33. Devolution and decentralisation in public administration: concepts, consequences and evaluation | Elio Borgonovi

34. Political Change and a State Based on Regional Autonomy | Rafael Jiménez Asensio 35. Report on good governance and administrative transparency | Eulàlia Vintró

101

117 122 133 136 143 145 148 151 154

collaborative management for the design and execution of public decisions 36. Various activities for managing inter-organisational networks | Angel Saz-Carranza 37. Network Knowledge Management Adds Public Value | Robert Agranoff 38. Governing cities and territories

in the network society | Quim Brugué, Ricard Gomà i Joan Subirats

39. Dialogues at the Forum | Mireia Belil

40. The CLAD International Congress: a democratic forum

for debate on public administration | Nuria Cunill

41. Two Possible Futures for Public Administration | B. Guy Peters

public-private cooperation 42. Public-private relationship management in the production

of public goods and services | Albert Serra

43. Managing partnerships for collaborative advantage | Chris Huxham i Siv Vangen 44. How Can Public-Private Partnerships Shape

157 158 161 164 167 169 171

175 176 179

the Delivery of Public Services in Europe? | C. H. Bovis

182

Collaborations between the public and private sectors in Latin America: in search of complementareity | Alfred Vernis

186

45.

46. Service delivery policies | Joan Prats 47. Outsourcing management | Carles Ramió

48. Economics and politics of local privatization | Germà Bel

49. The Public Sector and Private Management: Desirable Convergence | Adolf Todó 50. Co-payment | Guillem López Casasnovas

190 193 197 200 202

Yes, but ... (by Forges) | Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

205

Index of authors

212

Chronological index

215

List of PUBLIC contributors

218

List of published articles

231

The artistic side: the graphic line

247

Carlos Losada, Director General of ESADE, during the conference "21st Century Public Ma by the Institute of Public Governance and Management to mark the 50th anniversary of ES

anagement Scenarios" organised SADE

50 articles for 50 years; presentation and introduction

The top 50 articles in PUBLIC | 7

8 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

presentation As an international academic institution, founded in 1958, ESADE’s raison d’être is: • To educate individuals with the highest level of professional competence, who have a clear international profile, and who are aware of their civic responsibilities as individuals and as professionals. To do this, ESADE takes a comprehensive approach to the educational process, with the support of a broad cultural base and the conviction that this process is a service to individuals and to society.

• To create and disseminate knowledge by critically studying existing knowledge and conducting rigorous scientific research that is relevant at both the national and international levels.

• To engage in independent debate using information and proposals on relevant issues, in order to transform society and achieve higher levels of liberty and justice.

With these goals in mind, ESADE is pleased to present you with this commemorative book to mark the fifth anniversary of PUBLIC, the newsletter published by the Institute of Public Governance and Management (IGDP). PUBLIC aims to follow the aforementioned principles in the field of governance and public management, a field in which ESADE has been actively involved for over 20 years, and which is currently more important in today’s society than ever before.

We hope you enjoy the book.

Carlos Losada Director General of ESADE

50 articles for 50 years; presentation and introduction | 9

10 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

introduction Over the past few years, PUBLIC has served as a forum for

that determines the quality and results of institutions – be

creation, dissemination, education and debate in the field

managed? These questions have been the subject of re-

of public governance and management at both the local

flections and studies by professionals and scholars spe-

and international levels. It is an initiative aimed at sup-

cialised in public management.

porting innovative forms of leadership in the public sector.

Today, PUBLIC is read by more than 10,000 professionals and academics in more than 100 countries around the world. It has received contributions from many renowned writers. We are grateful both to our readers and writers for their trust and involvement.

In a society that is sometimes overwhelmed by difficultto-process information, PUBLIC has tried to offer some of the most current, rigorous and relevant reflections on public management in a fresh, easy-to-read format. Our formula is simple: short articles based on long hours of work.

To commemorate PUBLIC’s fifth anniversary, we have put together a book that follows the same philosophy. The 50 articles in this collection represent a cross-section of the publication as a whole. The book is divided into six thematic areas, in keeping with the lines of research explored by the Research Group for Leadership and Innovation in Public Management at ESADE’s Institute of Public Governance and Management (IGDP).

Leadership and change management in a public setting The promotion and development of public leadership has formed part of the discourse on public management reform over the last few decades, which has ranged from government-sponsored reform initiatives to the academic analysis and conceptualisation of these very initiatives.

Public leadership has played a substantial – and in fact fundamental – role in this discourse.

The growing number of public managers, the considerable degree of professionalisation in public management, and the consolidation of public management’s role in the political and administrative system are all indicative of the success of recent reforms. Research into public leadership is an essential part of the analysis of institutional change in public systems, as well as a contribution to the improvement of public administrations and the societies they serve. It is important, then, to create relevant knowledge on the leadership models that are suited to the particular needs of public systems, and also to iden-

Management of public organisations How we define the act of managing public organisations is a central element in the innovation processes of admi-

tify and characterise the organisational variables that present challenges to the construction of these leadership models in today’s world.

nistrations. What does ‘management’ consist of? What are the specific requirements of management in a public setting? What is professional public management? What are its basic tasks? What key competences are required of public managers? How should people – the element

Performance management models The same phenomena that caused the boom in public 50 articles for 50 years; presentation and introduction | 11

management have led to worldwide attempts to guide the

nable development and social cohesion, then we must

actions of governments and their various agencies to-

produce knowledge on institutional development proces-

wards performance management. These changes have

ses and analyse the variables that influence them.

affected the system that controls public activity: from a focus on procedural rigour, it has evolved towards a results orientation.

Performance management has been one of the best responses to this new challenge. This sort of management aspires to optimise the value-creation process and to ensure the integration of all components of the value chain: planning, budgeting, execution and evaluation. It also aims to optimise the interactions between these various components, guarantee the presence of necessary and legitimate agents, and create the conditions necessary to reach the desired strategic result of the government’s plans.

Collaborative management for the design and execution of public decisions Collavorative management exponentially increases the response capacity of the entire public system, especially in terms of the alternatives for implementing public policies. Developing these complex new strategies implies the creation of new knowledge and tools in order to meet three requirements: • Collavorative management should always improve the governance of society by means of public policies that make the purpose of government action compatible with the legitimate interests and influences that hold

Models of public governance

sway over private companies and social organisations.

• Collavorative management requires institutional and

Public sector is generally organised into structures that

corporate structures that enjoy legal, economic and fi-

are highly formalised, hierarchical, regionalised and defi-

nancial security, political and social legitimacy, an ex-

ned by specialised technical systems. Nevertheless, go-

plicit definition of goals aimed at creating public value,

vernments has been increasingly forced by political and

and mechanisms for accountability and responsibility.

social goals, regional issues and population segments into adopting visions that are out-of-sync with the classical divisions of the organisation and which require new organisational responses and new ways of working. Consequently, the idea has emerged of joint responsibility between various public and private stakeholders, who would need to coordinate amongst themselves in order to address new challenges. This shift in the role of the public administration has moved classical public management towards models of public governance. If we decide to focus on institutions as the crucial element in sustai12 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

• Collavorative management requires education and changes in terms of culture, perceptions, management instruments, and the role of managers.

We need to explore and conceptualise the Collavorative management mechanisms that maximise the creation of public value. Moreover, we need to create knowledge regarding the various patterns of institutional design for complex public systems and evaluate their effects on accountability and public control in the various forms of relationship management.

Public-private cooperation

guistic skills have made the trilingual edition of PUBLIC possible. We also thank Xavier Solanellas, Lluís Hernán-

Of the many possible formulas for establishing the rela-

dez, Ricard Vilanova and José Juan, who have been res-

tionships between actors in new models of public gover-

ponsible for the technological aspects of the newsletter.

nance, we would like to highlight one specific type: public-private cooperation. (PPC) Over the past decade,

Looking forward to working with you for another five years,

various forms of PPC have received growing interest at

please feel free to send your comments and articles to

the international level among professionals and scholars

PUBLIC at www.esade.edu/public

specialising in public management. PPC is clearly a very attractive concept, since it promises to combine the efficiency of the private sector with the involvement of civil society and the interest of the general public. Nevertheless, the process of establishing this sort of partnership can often be complex and difficult. We can ask ourselves

Francisco Longo, Tamyko Ysa and Joat Henrich PUBLIC Editorial Board Members

a basic question: ‘Has PPC changed the management style of public managers?’ In answering this question, it is important to consider two issues: whether the role of the administration has shifted, and whether the skill profiles of the people responsible for the administration have changed. If this type of partnership is to be sustainable and consistent, we need new developments in forms of management. In particular, we need to eliminate the stereotypes and mutual unfamiliarity between the public and private sectors.

We would like to finish this introduction by thanking some of the people who have made PUBLIC possible over the past five years. To our colleagues at the Editorial Board: Pere Puig, who had the initial vision of creating a regular IGDP newsletter, as well as Eduard Gil, Pablo García, Angel Saz-Carranza, Albert Serra, Manuel Férez, Cristina Navarro and M. Jesús Binefa, all of whom helped a great deal along the way. We are also grateful for the assistance of Antònia Rigo, Gabriel Genescà, Frank G. Linn and Neus Ruiz, at the ESADE Language Advisory Service, whose lin50 articles for 50 years; presentation and introduction | 13

Francisco Longo, Director of the ESADE Institute of Public Governance and Management ( PUBLIC Editorial Board Member

(IGDP)

management of public organisations

The top 50 articles in PUBLIC | 15

1

Management as a Practice The practice of management is characterized by its ambiguity. [...] That leaves the managers mostly with the messy stuff ‘the intractable problems, the complicated connections. [...] Here is how successful manager at a major airline described her MBA husband to me: ‘He has the technique, thinks he knows best. But he is frustrated because he doesn’t understand the complexities and the politics. He thinks he has the answers but is frustrated by being unable to do anything about it.’ He never learned management in the business school.

20/06/2005 - Henry Mintzberg

Were management a science or a profession, we could

tion.’ (Peter Drucker wrote in 1954 that ‘the days of the

teach it to people without experience. It is neither.

‘intuitive’ manager are numbered’ [1]. Half a century later we are still counting.) And most management is craft, meaning that it relies on experience-learning on the job. This

Management is not a science Science is about the development of systematic knowledge through research. That is hardly the purpose of management. Management is not even an applied science, for that is still a science. Management certainly applies science: managers have to use all the knowledge they can get, from the sciences and elsewhere. But management is more art, based on ‘insight’, ‘vision’, ‘intui16 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

means it is as much about doing in order to think as thinking in order to do.

Put together a good deal of craft with a certain amount of art and some science, and you end up with a job that is above all a practice. There is no ‘one best way’ to manage; it all depends on the situation.

Effective managing therefore happens where art, craft

Because engineering and medicine have so much codi-

and science meet. But in a classroom of students without

fied knowledge that must be learned formally, the trained

managerial experience, these have no place to meet ‘

expert can almost always outperform the layperson. Not

there is nothing to do. Linda Hill (1992) writes in her book

so in management. Few of us would trust the intuitive en-

about people becoming managers that they ‘had to act

gineer or physician, with no formal training. Yet we trust all

as managers before they understood what the role was’

kinds of managers who have never spent a day in a ma-

[2]. In other words, where there is no experience, there is

nagement classroom (and we have suspicions about

no room for craft: Inexperienced students simply cannot

some others who spent two years there).

understand the practice. As for art, nothing stops that from being discussed, even admired, in the conventional MBA classroom. But the inexperience of the students stops it from being appreciated. They can only look on as non-artists do ‘ observing it without understanding how

Ever since the 1910s when Frederick Taylor (1911) [5] wrote about that ‘one best way’ and Henri Fayol (1916/1984) [6] claimed that ‘managerial ability can and should be acquired in the same way as technical ability at

it came to be.

school, later in the workshop’, we have been in this se-

That leaves science, which is what conventional MBA edu-

profession. In Britain, a group called the Management

cation is mostly about, at least in the form of analysis. So

Charter Initiative sought to barrel ahead with the certifi-

conventional MBA students graduate with the impression

cation of managers, not making the case for manage-

that management is analysis, specifically the making of

ment as a profession so much as assuming it. As its

systematic decisions and the formulation of deliberate

director told a newspaper, the MBA ‘is the only truly glo-

strategies. This is a narrow and ultimately distorted view

bal qualification, the only license to trade internationally’

of management that has encouraged two dysfunctional

(Watts 1997:43) [7].

styles in practice: calculating (overly analytical) and heroic (pretend art). These are later contrasted with a more experienced-based style labelled engaging ‘ quiet and connected, involving and inspiring.

arch for the holy grail of management as a science and a

The statement is nonsense, and the group has failed in those efforts. It is time to face a fact: After almost a century of trying, by any reasonable assessment management has become neither a science nor a profession. It remains deeply embedded in the practices of everyday li-

Management is not a profession It has been pointed out that engineering, too, is not a science or an applied science so much as a practice in its own right (Lewin 1979) [3]. But engineering does apply a good deal of science, codified and certified as to its effectiveness. And so it can be called a profession, which means it can be taught in advance of practice, out of context. In a sense, a bridge is a bridge, or at least steel is steel, even if its use has to be adapted to the circumstances at hand. The same can be said about medicine: many illnesses are codified as standard syndromes to be treated by specific techniques. But that cannot be said of management (Whitley 1995:92) [4]. Little of its practice has been reliably codified, let alone certified as to its effectiveness. So management cannot be called a profession or taught as such.

ving. We should be celebrating that fact, not depreciating it. And we should be developing managers who are deeply embedded in the life of leading, not professionals removed from it.

Those fields of work discussed earlier can be divided into ones in which the person doing it truly ‘knows better’ than the recipients and others in which acting as the expert who knows better can get in the way. Upon being wheeled into an operating room, few of us would be inclined to second-guess the surgeon. (‘Could you cut a little lower, please?’) No matter how miserable the bedside manner, we accept that he or she knows better. But a schoolteacher who acts on the basis of knowing better can impede the learning of the student. School teaching is a facilitation activity, more about encouraging learning than doing teaching.

Managing is largely a facilitating activity, too. Sure, maManagement of public organisations | 17

nagers have to know a lot, and they often have to make decisions based on that knowledge. But, especially in large organizations and those concerned with ‘knowledge work’, managers have to lead better, so that others can know better and therefore act better. They have to bring out the best in other people. The idea that the chief does it all, coming up with the grand strategy and then driving its implementation by everyone else, is frequently a myth left over from the mass production of simple goods. ‘Our goal is to create an environment where students learn how to tackle difficult, complex problems’ Students learn what it feels like to exercise judgment, make decisions, and take responsibility’ (in ‘Message from the Dean,’ Har-

neat rows responding on cue.

The practice of management is characterized by its ambiguity. That is why, despite its popular use, the metaphor of the conductor on the podium is wholly inappropriate (at least during performance, if not necessarily rehearsal; see Mintzberg 1998) [8]. Most work that can be programmed in an organization need to concern its managers directly; specialists can be delegated to do it. That leaves the managers mostly with the messy stuff ‘the intractable problems, the complicated connections. And that is what makes the practice of management so fundamentally ‘soft’ and why labels such as experience, in-

vard Business School Web site, 2003).

tuition, judgment, and wisdom are so commonly used for

Because grade school teachers can easily carry their

cribed her MBA husband to me: ‘He has the technique,

skills from one classroom to another, they can still be ca-

thinks he knows best. But he is frustrated because he do-

lled professionals. But not so managers, who can hardly

esn’t understand the complexities and the politics. He

carry their skills from one function to another within the

thinks he has the answers but is frustrated by being una-

same organization, let alone across organizations or in-

ble to do anything about it.’ He never learned manage-

dustries. In other words, knowledge about context is not

ment in the business school.

it. Here is how successful manager at a major airline des-

as portable in management as it is in education or engineering or medicine. That is why so many managers who have succeeded in one place fail in others (which is hardly true of teachers or engineers or physicians ‘ so long as they stick to the skills they have).

A guest manager?

Imagine a guest manager. The very idea seems absurd.

How could anyone just come in and manage something?

The manager must have a deep understanding of the context. Yet we accept substitute teachers who take over classrooms for a day, and Doctors without Borders who set up hospitals in hours. But temporary managers?

The one obvious example is instructive ‘ a guest conductor. A few rehearsals, and off go the musicians performing at the most prestigious concert halls of the world. The reason is simple: the whole exercise is so highly programmed. Mozart is pulling the strings; everyone plays to his highly orchestrated score. We shall have professional management as soon as other orga-

Henry Mintzberg is Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University’s Faculty of Management

[1] Drucker, Peter F. The Practice of Management. New York: Harper, 1954.

[2] Hill, Linda A. Becoming a Manager Mastery of a New Identity.

Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1992.

[3] Lewin, Douglas. ‘On the Place of Design in Engineering.’ Design Studies 1, no. 2 (1979): 113-17.

[4] Whitely, Richard. ‘Academic Knowledge and Work Jurisdiction in Management.’ Organization Science 16, no. 1 (1995): 81-105.

[5] Taylor, Frederick Winslow. The Principles of Scientific Management. New York: Harper, 1911.

[6] Fayol, Henri, and Irwin Gray. General and Industrial Management. Rev. ed. New York: institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 1984. (First published in French in 1916.)

nizations become as programmed as the symphony orchestra, playing their strategies like scores from Mozart, withal the obedient employees and costumers sitting in 18 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

[7] Watts, Robert. Sunday Telegraph. July 18, 1997, 43.

[8] Mintzberg, Henry. ‘Covert Leadership: The Art of Managing Professionals.’ Harvard Business Review (November-December 1998): 140-147.

Managers Not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development. By Henry Mintzberg, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc, 2004.

To order a copy: www.henrymintzberg.com/ mangnotmba.htm

Management of public organisations | 19

2

The essential public manager The IDGP e-newsletter has kindly invited me to say something about my book, The Essential Public Manager. Tempting though it is to review one’s own book (!), I think I had better avoid any such nakedly selfinterested exercise, and try instead to offer a broader development of the book’s themes. In this way I can perhaps raise issues that go beyond the particular format of the book itself, in order to engage more widely with the PUBLIC's readership.

19/12/2005 - Christopher Pollitt

The book attempts, in an informal (and, I hope, at least

gorously fought in the blissful absence of any evidence

occasionally amusing) manner, to explore a range of fun-

more systematic than anecdote and stereotype, but oc-

damental issues in the field of public management. The

casionally solid empirical research has been undertaken.

two I would pick out as most important would be, first,

Positions range from ‘there are no really important diffe-

the significance of ‘publicness’ and, second, the question

rences between public and private management’ to ‘there

of what kind of theory(ies) can we aspire to?

are huge and fundamental differences between public and private management’. The consequences of one’s position on this issue can be profound. If you believe that

‘Publicness’ As the book shows, the extent of similarities and differences between public and private sector administration and management has been a subject of controversy for more than a century. Often the battle has been most vi20 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

differences are trivial or non-existent, then all you need is a generic form of management theory ‘ nothing special for the public sector. If, on the other hand, you think the differences are important, then you will move towards separate theories, separate courses and eventually separate departments for the study of public and private management.

There is not enough space here to go through the argu-

different institutional cultures (although they can be im-

ments, blow by blow. Suffice it to say that I lean towards

portant), it is also because of different political systems

a position of ‘there are significant differences but also

working through sharply different patterns of key institu-

some common features, especially those relating to the

tions. Let us look very briefly at a couple of simple exam-

steering of large, complex organizations’. I develop an ar-

ples. First, a British Prime Minister has far more capacity

gument around the idea of ‘degrees of publicness’, de-

to change the structures and processes of government

pending on the presence or absence of certain features

than does a U.S. President, who has to share far more

such as the degree of political sensitivity of the task, the

power in this regard with the legislature and the States.

diversity and clarity of goals, the extent of use of legal co-

Second, the kind of macho forcing-through of big mana-

ercion, the perceived need for public accountability and

gement reforms that took place during the 1980s and

the degree of competitive pressure. In today’s highly di-

‘90s in Australia, New Zealand and the UK is far less likely

verse public sectors one can find organizations with al-

to happen in the Nordic states. They too, of course, are ex-

most every imaginable mixture of publicness and

posed to the cold winds of a globalizing economy. But cul-

privateness. One also finds that a particular function (the

turally (and often politically) they continue to value

mail service, say, or care for the elderly) is in some coun-

consensual and/or corporatist styles of conducting pu-

tries overwhelmingly in public ownership, in other coun-

blic business. Macho leaders are not much admired (or

tries mainly private (profit and/or non-profit) and in others

not for very long) and find it hard to get things done. Com-

still a combination of both. It is not, however, a totally ran-

promise and negotiation are widely regarded as leading

dom or chaotic picture. Different countries and different

virtues. These national differences can be traced back in

sectors tend to adopt characteristically different mixtu-

their respective political histories, but also in contempo-

res, and these often persist over considerable periods of

rary surveys of public satisfaction and trust, and in detai-

time (path dependency ‘ see Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2004,

led case studies. So this is not a case of leaders and

or, in broader theoretical terms, Pierson, 2004).

laggards in some global race down a single track towards ‘modernisation’, it is a more interesting and choice-impregnated situation, where different countries settle for

What kind of theories?

On this issue I take a fairly hard-line position, at least in the sense that I strongly oppose attempts to generate high-level, universalistic prescriptions for management.

In neither my academic work nor my consultancy and advice roles have I found the six-bullet-points-for-success approach particularly useful. Nor do I accept the idea that ‘globalisation’ (or any other universal process or condition) is forcing all public institutions in roughly the same direction. On the contrary, I take sides with the many writers (in both the public sector and the private sector literature) who stress the importance of context ‘ and of attempting to theorize context. Like a number of comparativists, I see rather clearly that what works in New Zealand does not work in Latvia, and that even when the Dutch and British cabinets both decide, within a few years of each other, to create semi-autonomous agencies to carry out many of central government’s executive tasks, what they each end up with is very different (Pollitt, Talbot, Caulfield and Smullen, 2004). This isn’t just because of

different combinations of qualities and priorities at different points in time.

Neither does this diversity apply only at the top level of cabinets and ministries. Even the implementation of a specific tool, such as the balanced scorecard or regulatory impact analysis, is likely to be significantly influenced by contextual factors.

None of this is to deny the existence of fashions and trends that operate internationally. It is quite clear that, in today’s world, public management reform has developed an international epistemic community which busily swaps terms and concepts and preferred solutions to a variety of perceived problems. But it is to argue that we should also pay attention to how these ‘big ideas’ penetrate certain systems far more than others, and how, even where they run freely, they are ‘translated’ into unique formulations to fit local contexts, so that an ‘agency’ or ‘Total Quality Management’ or ‘performance budgeting’ are not stable entities, but rather different animals in each different habitat (Sahlin-Andersson, 2001).

Management of public organisations | 21

Reflections

Philadelphia, Open University Press/McGraw Hill.

To stress the importance of context is not to abandon the

Pollitt C, Talbot C, Caulfield J, Smullen A (2004) Agencies: How Governments Do Things Through Quasi-autonomous Organisations. Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

quest for theoretical explanations and generalisations.

Rather it is to insist that the theories themselves must be context-sensitive, that they need to account for stability as well as change, and for multiplicity as well as convergence. In contrast with this view, some public management writers seem doubly addicted to context-free statements and claims. First they focus exclusively on notions of global radical change, on a somewhat immature contest around ‘what’s hot and what’s not’, which diverts

Pollitt, C. and Bouckaert, G. (2004) Public management reform: a comparative analysis (2nd edition). Oxford. Oxford University Press.

Sahlin-Andersson, K. (2001) ‘National, international and transnational constructions of New Public Management’, in T. Christensen and P. Lægreid (eds.) New Public Management: the transformation of ideas and practice, Aldershot, Ashgate.

attention from what stays the same, and why. Second, they still reach too quickly for the intellectual Zimmer frame of a single trajectory or solution ‘ which is no more than a modern form of the discredited, old ‘one best way’.

From such a perspective, every jurisdiction ‘needs’ to adopt X or Y in order to modernize/ catch up/ survive in the face of global pressures (see, most famously, Osborne and Gaebler, 1992, especially pp. 325-328). The essential public manager, and much of my recent empirical work, attempts to show what a shallow perspective this is, and how much more interesting and challenging the world becomes when one addresses the future by first embracing present variety and past history.

Christopher Pollitt is Professor of Public Management, Centre for Public Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Scientific Director, Netherlands Institute of Government; Editor, International Review of Administrative Sciences.

References Osborne, D. and Gaebler, T. (1992) Reinventing government: how the entrepreneurial spirit is transforming the public sector, Reading MA., Adison Wesley.

Pierson, P. (2004) Politics in time: history, institutions and social analysis, Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Pollitt, C. (2003) The essential public manager, Maidenhead and

22 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Pollitt, C. (2003) The essential public manager, Maidenhead and Philadelphia, Open University Press/McGraw Hill To order a copy: http://www.amazon.com/ exec/obidos/tg/detail/ 0335212328/ 104-7173849-5850315? v=glance

Managing in political contexts. Managing in public service contexts

3

I believe that this reflection is important, both for the many public servants who move on into political management, and for political managers returning to public service posts. Knowing that these differences exist can bring success in a new post and add value to public policies. Continuing the same management style, however successful, in a new post can be a recipe for disaster. Yes, context matters! And it must be allowed for if a positive contribution is to be made to responsibilities assumed.

15/03/2005 - Carlos Losada

These days, it is widely accepted that both political ap-

creation of consensus to ensure viability of particular pro-

pointees at the helm of Government and senior public

grammes, information management, analysis and as-

servants in posts of responsibility carry out management-

sessment (of proposals, problems, opportunities, etc.),

type duties. In other words, both are managers. Empiri-

change creation, and monitoring or control (Kotter et al.,

cal studies have even demonstrated the many parallels

1974; Mintzberg, 1997; Martinko and Gardner, 1990;

between management actions in the public and private

Audit Commission, 1989; Allan, 1981; etc.).

sectors (Costin, 1970; Lau et al., 1985; Losada, 1995, etc.).

The logical consequence of the above is that these ma-

It therefore seems perfectly normal for both these posts

tences also found in managers in other sectors.

nagers should be equipped with the skills and compe-

to carry functions like staff supervision, harmonization or Management of public organisations | 23

So far, so good: we find relatively wide agreement

the problems landing on their desks often have a hig-

amongst the experts, and some rigorous research on the

her degree of ambiguity: in the event itself, in its in-

subject. However, all this starts to fall apart when context

tentions, in relationships between aims and resources,

comes into play, and disagreement and lack of knowledge

and in the impact caused. Such problems and/or de-

start to assume greater importance. It is becoming in-

mands are known as political instead of technical (No-

creasingly evident that not all management posts should

ordegraaf, 2000; Heifetz, 1995; Garishankar, 1998;

be treated alike. A Deputy General Directorate is not the

etc.). This ambiguity probably arises because they are

same as a Secretariat of State. Nor is acting as a Gene-

part of a participative process, whose agents interact

ral Manager in the prison services the same as holding

amongst themselves very intensively and from con-

the same post in economic promotion. And a Deputy Ge-

trasting and sometimes changeable interests.

neral Manager of certain taxes is certainly not doing the same work as a Deputy General Human Relations Manager in a large hospital. While it is true that these posts have some duties, roles, activities, competences, etc. in common, it is also true that they differ because the contexts in which they operate differ. And that this factor in-

Logically, therefore, we may conclude that compared to their public service equivalents, political managers are more often faced with ‘atypical’ demands, characterised by the larger number of people involved and the high volume of interrelationships. Interrelations-

fluences their management function.

hips that are furthermore probably ‘new’, variable and

There are many variables in context that can affect the

usually demands without precedent and with no ready-

management function. For example, the environment or

made solution, not having appeared in this form or not

size of the unit or the function supervised. In the public

having been ‘dealt with’ before. These demands have

sector, the nature of a management post makes a very

three more characteristics: a) they bring with them an

significant difference to its context. What then are the

enormous number of minor demands; b) they are

main differences between managing in the political con-

enormously varied in nature, thus impeding a high

text and managing in the public service context?

level of specialisation; c) they mostly come from be-

I recently completed a long research project designed to identify the differences between the management functions of political and public service posts (Losada, 2004).

There are limitations to talking in general terms about this kind of management post: all are individual, and the politics/administration divide in fact may weigh less than the kind of organisation or public service supervised. But some significant differences can be observed, differences in degree rather than inn nature, which tend to occur with greater frequency in some posts than in others. What are these differences?

1. A key element in defining and profiling any post is the type of demand to which it is subjected. In political management posts (Minister, Councillor, Mayor, Secretary of State, Secretary General, etc.), existing research pinpoints some identifying features of the demands and/or problems (and solutions) that affect politicians but not public servants (Deputy General Manager, Director, Area Manager, Head of Service, etc.). So for example, demands received by political managers and 24 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

un-standardised. Most important of all, these are

yond the boundaries of the organisation. This absence of prior ‘technical’ solutions forces political managers to act in situations of at least relative ambiguity and/or ignorance: ignorance of solutions for the demands, ignorance of the implications and consequences these may have, and ignorance of their technical or economic viability, etc. In short, the world in which the political manager moves contains more ambiguity than certainty. And as we point out below, all this calls for the presence of external ‘adaptive’ leadership, in Heifetz's terms (1995). If the problems could have been dealt with within existing programmes, proceedings, policies, etc. they would probably never have ended up on the desk of the political manager.

2. Due to dealing with this kind of demand, political posts seem more outwardly orientated than public service posts. They can and must contribute to creating an environment in which public policies or political measures can be brought on-stream. This may perhaps explain the longer periods ‘out of the office’ of political compared with public managers, also the time the for-

mer spend on personal relationships (87 % of their

over areas in which they either have no authority, or

working day, very much more than the norm for public

the prevailing concept of authority does not tie in with

service managers: more than 60 hours a week as op-

that in a hierarchical structure.

posed to just over 40, respectively). This greater external contact, ‘rich in personal relationships’ in turn entails cultivating a wider relationships network (with increasingly varied stakeholders: pressure groups, experts, the media, party colleagues, diverse social relationships, etc.). For political managers, it also entails diversification of relationships, since issues dealt with are much more varied and less repetitive. The clearest example of this is the Mayor, whose agenda may contain such varied issues as the resolution of an urban conflict, the economic promotion of the city, and the inauguration of a cultural congress.

3. All this obliges the political manager to devote more time and attach more importance to certain managerial roles. Particularly significant are roles linked to personal relationships. Research confirms that in comparison with public service managers, political managers define the roles of representation, liaison, and internal and external leadership as very important. This is probably due to the special nature of the demands they receive, characterised as they are by multiple interrelationships, relative absence of precedents, number received, etc.

Contributing solutions in this kind of environment requires political managers to prioritise the roles of representation, liaison (with the consequent creation of a wider, less formal network than public service managers) and external leadership. These managers can act on their environment by adopting any of these roles (also as negotiator or spokesperson), creating new visions and new ways of dealing with demands and/or problems. Alternatively, they can concentrate on political action, the creation of coalitions favourable to their proposals, or whittling down the opposition.

Here we should stress the importance of the role of external leader, a role simply ignored by many management experts (Mintzberg, 1994; Stewart, 1988; Kurke and Aldrich, 1983). Public service managers’ field of action is not limited to their organisational ‘unit’ (Ministry, Headquarters, etc.) but extends to their social system, requiring them to exercise leadership

Monitoring is also very important, since a detailed analysis of the environment is required before conceptual frameworks can be drawn up. Prioritising the monitoring role helps when developing criteria to deal with demands and/or problems: when to act, with whom, etc., particularly useful for identifying threats and opportunities. Exercising this monitoring role to ‘learn’ requires managers to prioritise two activities: liaison, aimed at gathering information (many demands are external), and conceptualisation, to ‘digest’ the information gathered, as noted below.

Although for political managers this process is less time-consuming and important than for public service managers, the formers’ concentration on dealing with anomalies probably reflects the controversial component endemic in all political action, and the poweroriented culture characteristic of bureaucracies in general and the political environment in particular.

The extra time political as opposed to public managers spend on ‘conceptualisation’ ¯creation or development of conceptual frameworks¯ seems to stem from the nature of the demands they face, and the relative absence of a conceptual framework for responding to them.

4. The added value contributed by political managers seems more oriented towards creating a propitious environment for political action, and only partly towards its definition, or the definition of the public policy within which their action is framed. Conversely, public service managers contribute more to developing the capacity for management of this public policy, and collaborating in its design.

I believe that this reflection is important, both for the many public servants who move on into political management, and for political managers returning to public service posts. Knowing that these differences exist can bring success in a new post and add value to public policies. Continuing the same management style, however successful, in a new post can be a recipe for disaster. Yes,

Management of public organisations | 25

context matters! And it must be allowed for if a positive contribution is to be made to responsibilities assumed.

Carlos Losada is Director General of ESADE, and Professor in the Institute of Public Management and Administration (IDGP)

26 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

4

Concepts that define public management as an international academic field

Public management has become increasingly international. Contributions to the field have been made by scholars from nations around the world, reflecting the understanding that what is learned from the experience of a broad range of nations may be relevant in specific national contexts and in other public sector settings within nations. The internationalization of the dialogue on public sector reform and change recognizes the importance of studying and comparing institutional arrangements and management methods between nations and among sets of nations to contribute to knowledge about ‘what works, what doesn't, and why’, in a variety of contexts.

15/03/2005 - Lawrence R. Jones

Public management has evolved as a distinct sub-disci-

public management concentrates on the operation of go-

pline within the larger discipline of management over the

vernment organizations from the perspective of their

past few decades. It differs from what is often referred to

interaction with the environments in which they operate.

as ‘traditional public administration’ in that while the lat-

Public management also tends to conceive of govern-

ter focuses more on what happens within governments

ments and governance systems in a similar way to orga-

and on the operation of the line functions of government,

nizational theorists, focusing on strategic behavior in Management of public organisations | 27

response to contingency in the environment. It views or-

of a government agency by the strength of its ties to po-

ganizations that provide services to the public as adaptive

werful elected officials and special interests. Public ma-

systems influenced by critical variables in their surroun-

nagement researchers, however, prefer to use surveys of

dings. Finally, it incorporates both an economics pers-

citizen satisfaction with services, based on a desire to

pective

between

shape service provision policy to the patterns of citizen

organizations in the market, and business/marketing

on

the

value

of

competition

needs and preferences. Their goal is to determine appro-

thinking on strategic positioning of products/services re-

priate service delivery methods, and the best institutio-

lative to the attributes of consumer preference and mar-

nal arrangements for the provision of services - including

ket demand.

provision by the private and not-for-profit sectors. In me-

Public management has become increasingly international. Contributions to the field have been made by scholars from nations around the world, reflecting the understanding that what is learned from the experience of a broad range of nations may be relevant in specific

thodological terms, public management has taken on many concepts and tools from the private sector: for example reengineering, restructuring, new information technologies, citizen/consumer market analysis, differential pricing to influence patterns of demand.

national contexts and in other public sector settings wi-

As we have already seen, public management scholarship

thin nations. The internationalization of the dialogue on

is concerned with incentives and disincentives to govern-

public sector reform and change recognizes the impor-

ment and governance, and with the results or outputs

tance of studying and comparing institutional arrange-

and outcomes produced by networks of government

ments and management methods between nations and

agencies and other entities. It is also concerned with the

among sets of nations to contribute to knowledge about

operation of agents, agencies, agent relationships and

‘what works, what doesn't, and why’, in a variety of con-

government entities as they operate within networks, and

texts.

with stakeholders both inside and outside government,

In public management, scholarship is particularly interested in the incentives and disincentives that produce specific types of behavior, relationships and decisions.

This includes the operation of management systems and the use of management techniques, technology and control systems. In other words, the performance of entire

and accepts the premise that individual agents, agencies and governments often cannot solve problems by unilateral action. Rather, if problems are to be resolved at all, the pathways to progress will lie in cooperation or some other form of relationship between a number of entities (i.e. stakeholders) in the problem environment.

systems evaluated by performance criteria, and not how

Another aspect of public management research is that it

the individual parts of the government operate. Outco-

attempts to assess the performance of public entities,

mes of systems are in general of greater interest than in-

and to devise measures to evaluate such performance

puts. Public management scholarship has much in

over time, aiming essentially at finding ways of delivering

common with the benefit/cost and risk/benefit metho-

services more effectively and efficiently to citizens. Un-

dologies used in the public policy analysis. Scholars in

less as a result services are better supplied to citizens,

both public management and policy analysis approach

public management success criteria will not be satisfied.

problem-solving in ways that are different from traditio-

The accomplishment of the tasks of performance mea-

nal public administration methods, with their emphasis

surement, performance management, reengineering, and

on hierarchy and bureaucratic rules and procedures.

realignment is not an end in itself for public management

While public management shares with public administration the methods of interview and survey, participant observation and case analysis, it can tend to push these

scholars. The goals of system change from their perspective are oriented towards reduced cycle time, increased quality and cutting costs for citizens.

methods beyond the uses that public administrationists

Much published public management scholarship argues

or political scientists might expect. For example, public

for delegation of management authority and responsibi-

administration researchers often try to gauge the power

lity to managers (as individuals) and for holding mana-

28 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

gers accountable for the performance of the entities they manage. A principle of public management is to ‘let managers manage’, and that managers must therefore be held more closely accountable for the successes and failures of the units they manage. Public managers, then,

School of Business and Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, USA and President, International Public Management Network. dukedmb@aol.com or lrjones@nps.edu.

are expected to cope with risk and uncertainty and answer for how they manage under such conditions.

The mission of the International Public Management Network (IPMN) is to provide a forum for sharing ideas, concepts and results of research and practice in the field of public management,

Over the past decade public management scholarship has placed great emphasis on the concept of value, that is, on management changes that increase or reduce value to citizens, government entities, agencies, mangers and employees. The concept of value creation, essential in assessing management processes, performance and reform, is viewed by public management scholarship from the perspective of value chain analysis and similar approaches. The concept of eliminating rules, procedures and process that do not add value to the production of outputs/outcomes that satisfy the mission of the organization or government is central to the public management paradigm.

Much public management scholarship plays down the differences between management in the public and private

and to stimulate critical thinking about alternative approaches to problem solving and decision making in the public sector.

To satisfy this mission IPMN convenes its members in annual conferences and workshops and publishes selected papers presented at these events in a book series (Information Age Publishing, Inc.), in the International Public Management Journal, and the International Public Management Review online. IPMN also provides a website that includes the membership directory and a number of services to members, and a list server to permit rapid information flow among members.

sectors. The notion that ‘good management is good management regardless of the sector’ represents this view in essence. Although this stance does not presume that

IPMN at www.inpuma.net

the objectives of government and business are identical, many objectives do not appear to differ substantially between sectors. In other words, organizations and managers in both sectors are interested and motivated to ‘increase value’ in their organizations and outputs.

The concept of the learning organization that constantly restructures, reengineers, reinvents, realigns and rethinks its methods and policies is central to much public management thinking. From this perspective, the organizations that learn to move more quickly through the observation, orientation, decision and action loop are those that learn faster from their actions as regards key attributes in their environments so as to be more likely to survive and thrive than organizations that do not act and learn as quickly.

Lawrence R. Jones is George F. A. Wagner Professor of Public Management in the Graduate Management of public organisations | 29

5

Training to develop public managers competences Emotions have, until recently, been a taboo subject in management training, particularly for managers in public administration. Even though we know it is impossible to separate learning experience from cognitive and emotional factors, it is difficult to integrate both dimensions when drawing up teaching programmes and activities. Yet we know that it is impossible to separate emotions from the exercise of management functions and leadership.

24/05/2004 - Ricard Serlavós

The incorporation of elements for developing competen-

common stereotype of management function as a largely

ces in management training programmes is an attempt

rational activity which focuses on decision-making and

to overcome these difficulties. The aim is to provide a tool

the optimisation of scarce resources. This stereotype

for identifying and evaluating the emotional dimension of

views managers as highly pragmatic individuals who cal-

intelligence and to provide a learning approach that en-

culate the costs and benefits of all their actions, and ex-

sures an individual’s emotional behaviour changes ac-

pect to be measured against the achievement of targets

cording to the situation in which he finds himself. ESADE

and the impact of their actions on the bottom line. The

programmes invites participants to reflect upon their

vital relational role played by managers is seen as a mere

aims for the future and helps them make the behavioural

instrument, which is subject to the same rules as those

changes needed to achieve them.

governing the exchange of goods and services.

There are various hurdles in dealing with emotions in the

Recent events lead one to question the validity of this ste-

management sphere. Some of these are linked to the

reotype. By this, I mean the increasingly common sac-

30 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

kings of company directors and government ministers because they have lost the ‘confidence’ of the Board of Directors and the Cabinet, respectively. In some cases these reasons are simply rationalisations of organisational in-fighting. However, it is also true that such events often spring from a lack of empathy, an inability to maintain fluid relationships and dialogue between various interest groups, and losing contact with the real world. This may sound familiar.

Our courses are increasingly attended by managers with a more humanistic or intellectual bent. The first kind of manager gives priority to the impact of his actions on the welfare of others and his relationship with them. The second kind is more concerned to make others aware of why they do things and the models that underlie the analysis of problems and decision-making. The relative efficacy of the two models depends on the circumstances - neither is right for all situations.

In any event, management largely is largely an exercise in emotional intelligence to achieve one’s ends. This intelligence is demonstrated by one’s ability to successfully identify what is required by each situation and to change one’s behaviour towards and relationship with others accordingly.

Learning or improving one’s behaviour patterns requires different strategies for acquiring technical and management knowledge and tools. One needs to experience management situations and draw upon one’s own experience and that of others, share difficulties, fears and failures as well as discoveries and successes. One needs to seek beyond the classroom and draw lessons from life itself. After all, the latter is the field upon which we play the decisive games. Here, rationality is often thrown to the winds amid the rough and tumble with colleagues.

Ricard Serlavós is Professor of Human Resource Management of ESADE and Professor of the Institut of Public Management (IDGP)

Management of public organisations | 31

6

Strategic Public Personnel Administration: A Conceptual Framework for Building and Managing Human Capital Capacity in the 21st Century There are several dimensions to strategic public personnel administration in modern organizations in the government, nonprofit, and private sectors. While these dimensions are fairly universal across sectors and organizations, there are some key features unique to public organizations.

31/10/2007 - Ali Farazmand

Introduction: Challenges and Rationale

their capacity to govern and manage through ‘strategic personnel and human capital development.’ This is now

The 21st century is the age of globalization, a process

a prescription for survival, no longer a luxury.

through which worldwide integration and transcendence takes place, with far-reaching consequences for gover-

These challenges are local, national, regional, and global

nance, public administration, cultures, and economies. It

and they occur casually and unexpectedly, producing sur-

is also an age of rapid change, with hyper-uncertainty,

prises, potential chaos and breakdowns with transfor-

complexity, and an increasingly unknown future. To meet

mation. Although some breakdowns transformation may

the challenges of this age of the knowledge-based world,

be desirable for organizational or system renewal in an

governments must be prepared to build and upgrade

age of hyper-complexity and uncertainty, most have ex-

32 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

tremely harsh consequences for those effected. In governance and public administration, large-scale transformations have already taken place since the 1980s through massive downsizing, sweeping privatization, and application of the new market-based public management

loyalty.

The construction of the Pyramids in Egypt, of the Suez Canal in Egypt under Persian rule circa 500 BC, of the gigantic Persepolis ceremonial capital-city structure in 5th

ideology.

century B.C. Persia, the great Wall of China about the

The concepts of new governance and new public mana-

Rome, Persia, and elsewhere indicates how human labor

gement have already brought on line an expanded cor-

and skills have been organized, selected, retained, coor-

porate business sector and a shrunken government, in

dinated, and managed to achieve planned and unplan-

the name of small government for democracy. They have

ned goals throughout the history of human civilizations.

also aligned the entire role of governments around the

Similarly, the early Sumerians’ elaborate city planning,

world towards achieving the goals of corporate ‘globali-

the early Iranian Elamite Empire’s strategic planning and

zation,’ a process that tends to enclose global capitalism

construction of underground canal systems, the Persian

through corporate organization of the market system. This

bureaucracy and administrative system, and the Roman

represents a multitude of challenges posed to gover-

army regimentation, demonstrate how human activities

nance and public administration. These range from ac-

were elaborately selected, developed, mastered, and ma-

countability and ethical problems to a loss of institutional

naged with efficiency and effectiveness at a large scale

memory and much-needed talents, in a public personnel

from early on.

administration meant for building strategic human capital that can manage such challenges and cope with the ensuing crises. Today’s managerial skills are no longer good for tomorrow’s complex world, especially in the face of unexpected crises, emergencies, knowledge-based complexities, amongst other factors.

same time, as well as many other huge public projects in

Recent discoveries show evidence of ‘women supervisors’ serving as managers of the compensation system during the more than 80-year construction process of the Persepolis mega-structure as the ceremonial capital of the first World-State Achaemenid Persian Empire in the 5th century B.C. Thousands of skilled workers, professionals, and functionaries were selected from all around the

Strategic Public Personnel Administration: History, Concepts, and Perspectives.

Public personnel administration is a historical component of public administration. As such, it is also as old as human civilization, dating back several millennia, when mass-scale public administration projects were first carried out. The advent of agriculture and rise of slavery required, and facilitated, the practice of personnel management on different scales. Construction of largescale public works projects in ancient times required slaves, semi-slaves, mercenaries, volunteers, forced laborers, and paid workers, all of whom had to be orga-

vast empire to perform the project; their compensation system was a challenging task. Many of the women bureaucrats who performed an efficient job of personnel management must have served in strategic positions of the government and public administration.

Thus, the history of public personnel administration goes back as far as early human civilizations. Continuity in civil and military public personnel administration is also manifest in the landmark public projects – roads, highways, buildings, bridges, fortifications, palaces, castles, and others – built around the world during the last two millennia.

nized, coordinated, and managed. Selection of different

What is most significant about the history of public per-

workers, both skilled and unskilled, and professional ar-

sonnel is the ‘strategic’ feature of this undeclared and un-

tisans such as carpenters, blacksmiths, accountants, re-

derstudied profession within public administration

cord keepers, inspectors, planners, stone cutters, artists,

throughout its long history. While supervisory personnel

and the like was not an arbitrary function; it was mostly

management is very common throughout history, strate-

calculated with instrumental rationality as well as political

gic personnel management has played a key function in Management of public organisations | 33

recruitment, selection, development, and retention of

pital is innovation: in flexible structuration concerning or-

strategic personnel for key positions or tasks. Thus the

ganizational authority and decision-making systems, com-

role of strategic personnel management appears in the

munication networks, coordination, job and position

history of public administration. But what does this con-

classifications, virtual as well as space-based workpla-

cept ‘strategic’ mean?

ces, planning and recruitment, and promotion, compensation, and motivation systems. The age of using structural rigidity to maintain stability is over, and the new

Concepts and Perspectives By ‘strategic,’ I mean at least two or three principal perspectives: One is the long-term human capital building and development perspective that guides today’s and tomorrow’s preparation, through education and training in

age of the 21st century requires massive ‘flexibilization.’

However, like everything else, flexibilization offers its own negative as well as positive effects to public personnel administration systems; it offers opportunities to both management and labor, but it also carries drawbacks and problems for employees and workers.

human resources management for long-term and resultsoriented future performance and organizational behavior.

This perspective must be congruent with overall strategic vision, mission, and plans for building and managing

Dimensions and Issues in Strategic Public Personnel Administration

human capital to meet the challenges of the 21st century. It requires broad-based, holistic thinking, with visions

There are several dimensions to strategic public person-

that consider all sorts of challenges as well as opportu-

nel administration in modern organizations in the go-

nities in an age of accelerated globalization of capital,

vernment, nonprofit, and private sectors. While these

labor, management, and virtual organizations worldwide.

dimensions are fairly universal across sectors and orga-

The second perspective refers to the instrumentally key positions as well as functions and tasks that link the nerve systems of government organizations. All positions and functions or tasks are important to organizations. However, high-performing organizational managers and leaders know – and should know –that certain positions and functions or tasks are instrumental to linking strategic performance points of an organization. This is where preparation for human capital building and management is absolutely essential, to manage highly demanding organizations with increasingly complex and challenging 21st century environments in an age of rapid globalization.

In this new, volatile environment, every manager and administrator must learn how to ride the high waves of change, develop and pursue vision, manage his/her employees and co-workers, and coordinate human performance activities with skilled leadership, motivation, and equitable compensation. Building and developing such a human capital or asset also requires capacity building in retention and promotion, without which organizational waste and productivity loss are almost guaranteed. The key to understanding and implementation of these strategic perspectives in building and managing human ca34 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

nizations, there are some key features unique to public organizations. These include strategic planning, structural (vertical and horizontal, rules, etc), process, and value or cultural dimensions; environmental, organizational, political, socioeconomic, managerial and leadership, labor, globalization, and technological dimensions; partisan politics and patronage systems, parliamentary versus presidential systems, or a combination of the two that define the environmental parameters of personnel systems in governments; legislative and other legal or constitutional requirements or constraints that public personnel managers are conditioned by; and functional performance dimensions. Strategic public personnel administration also deals with a number of critical issues that include gender, race and color, democratic representative bureaucracy and civil service systems, pay for performance, equity and efficiency, constitutional rights and responsibilities of public employees, flexibilization and job mobility, diversity, innovation and total quality management, merit and professionalism, ethics and accountability, labor, knowledge management, and political economy of civil service reforms and personnel systems.

Ali Farazmand is a Professor at the School of Public Administration, Florida Atlantic University. afarazma@fau.edu

The brand new book, Strategic Public Personnel Administration: Building and Managing Human Capital (Praeger, January 2007) edited by Ali Farazmand has been published in two volumes and 23 chapters. It is a most comprehensive book on the subject that covers a wide range of areas in the field.

Management of public organisations | 35

7

A look at organizational commitment Over the last 30 years, most of the research carried out in the field of organizational behaviour has focused on analyzing and discovering the bonds which form between an individual and the organization that employs him/her and for which he/she works; bonds that are known as organizational commitment. The interest in this psychological state arises because people expect individuals who are committed to their organization to work more and better and be even more receptive to the demands of senior management.

13/12/2004 - Manel Peiró

Traditionally, the dominant school of thought, led by the

one-dimensional, because it only has a bearing on the af-

works of Porter, Mowday, Steers and Boulian (1974), has

fective ties between the individual and the organization,

conceptualized organizational commitment as an affec-

which has capitalized on the interest of the research. The

tive tie that forms between an individual and an organi-

appearance of multidimensional models makes it clear

zation, a tie that implies something fundamentally

that, despite the importance of the individual’s emotio-

valuable, positive and desirable for the organization itself.

nal tie to the organization, other factors intervene in the

These authors define this commitment as the individua-

development of organizational commitment and contri-

l’s will to make an effort for the organization, to accept

bute to the fact that the individual’s bond with the orga-

the organization’s values and objectives and his/her des-

nization is more complex, but are probably also more

ire to remain an integral part of the organization.

explanatory of his/her behaviour.

The influence of these authors’ work has been enormous

The best known multidimensional model is the one crea-

and was considered an obligatory reference until the de-

ted by Meyer and Allen. It differentiates three components

velopment of multidimensional models. Porter and his co-

of organizational commitment, based on three different

lleagues’

psychological states. Firstly, the organizational commit-

organizational

commitment

36 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

model

is

ment has an affective component (very similar to the one

cesses of employment regulation, downsizing, company

described by Porter), due to the emotional tie that the in-

relocations, mergers and acquisitions. From this point of

dividual establishes with the organization; secondly, it has

view, it is difficult for workers to become committed when

a component of continuity, bearing in mind the costs that

the organization shows so little commitment to them. For

(depending on the individual) would be involved in leaving

these authors, organizational commitment is somewhat

the organization; and finally, there is the normative com-

more akin to the situation in days gone by, when people

mitment, based on the individual’s feeling of moral obli-

would work in the same organization all their working life

gation towards the organization.

and ‘ according to Richard Mowday ‘ the organization was

Meyer and Allen’s model establishes the fact that an employee’s commitment to his/her organization can reflect

perhaps a bit clearer and less confused, so the individual knew what he/she was committed to.

varying degrees of all three components: an individual

In my experience, organizational commitment is a ques-

can feel a strong emotional tie and, simultaneously, the

tion of great interest to those who manage organizations

obligation to stay in the organization. A second individual

in our environment and also to employees. For me, this

can feel very satisfied working in his/her organization,

was ratified by the reply received in recent months from

whilst at the same time recognizing that it would be very

a study of doctors’ organizational commitment to hospi-

difficult for him/her to leave it ‘ for example from an eco-

tals. Gaining a deeper insight into the ties between indi-

nomic point of view, due to the level or security of his/her

viduals and organizations should, in the end, allow us to

income. Finally, some individuals may only develop a con-

progress in the management of human resources and of

tinuity commitment and remain in the organization be-

potential talent. All in all, it should contribute towards im-

cause they have no other professional options or because

proving the management of our institutions.

they consider they have contributed a lot and by leaving the company would lose all this investment (time, effort, etc.). The last case is also representative of an individual who is committed to his/her organization, but, due to the nature of his/her commitment, the consequences will not be as positive for the organization as those of the first two cases.

Manel Peiró is the director of the Health Care Management (DSIS) programme and professor at ESADE’s Institute of Public Management (IDGP).

Researchers have tried to discover what leads an individual to develop a specific commitment pattern. They study what are known as antecedents of organizational commitment. In fact, the list of possible determinants that has described is so long that one author referred to it as the ‘laundry list’. Of all the described antecedents, there is one so important that it stands out from a management point of view: the perceived organizational support, which is basically the organization’s commitment to its employees. This cause could contribute to developing the employees’ commitment, because individuals usually respect the principle of reciprocity. Thus, if employees perceive that the organization is concerned about them, in theory they will display similar behaviour towards the organization and try to give back what they have received.

Some authors, however, question the relevance of organizational commitment in a context dominated by proManagement of public organisations | 37

8

Ethics in the public service There is no consensus on a definition at to what constitutes ethics. There are various theories and approaches for defining ‘Good’ and what knowledge of ‘Good’ implies. However, public administrations use the word ‘ethics’ to mean ‘acting honestly’, without delving any deeper into the concept.

27/09/2004 | Manuel Villoria

The fact that each government tends to follow its own

needs to be accompanied by much wider-ranging norms

codes of behaviour (where they exist at all), and to reflect

and practices regarding the right to information, whilst

its own values in the legislation it drafts means the public

‘quality’ should be accompanied by a human resource

sector simply tends to fall in line with whatever the

system that rewards quality instead of connections,

prevailing ethos happens to be. I believe that simply

corporativism, and party membership. In any case, it is

adding further ethical guidelines is of little use when it

different to find any real consistency between internal

comes to application to specific cases unless such

norms and systems on the one hand, and the values

guidelines are accompanied by priorities and a coherent

proclaimed on the other.

explanation for the action taken. Setting moral norms is better than having no norms at all but even so, the present situation is far from satisfactory. In this respect, some of the norms incorporate the values that ought to guide public servants in their work, such as effectiveness, efficiency, quality, transparency, the chain of command, and so on, however this all amounts to very little in

However, this general criticism should be tempered with several observations. One should recognize that the very nature of things makes it very difficult for a public organization to adopt a given ethical theory and discard the rest. This is because the Constitution requires the Administration to act in an objective fashion and to serve

practice.

the general interest - something that simply does not

The problem is that all too often there are no incentives

to public organizations. Let us, for a moment, imagine

or consistent internal norms to accompany exhortations

that a party defining itself as Christian wins the General

to respect such values. For example, ‘transparency’

Election and decides that the public administration

38 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

square with adopting and applying a single ethical theory

should follow the Christian ethic. Such a course of action would not only infringe the religious freedom of public employees but would also make it very difficult for them to act objectively. Ethical behaviour is individual - whether

Manuel Villoria is Director of the Political Science and Public Administration Department at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.

it concerns a public employee or anyone else. Collective ethical behaviour can only exist by respecting certain intangible, individual spheres of action (subject only to the criterion of ‘reasonableness’).

In this connection, it has to be said that this should not be taken to mean that each individual in the Public Administration can do whatever he likes, nor does it mean that all the results of such actions are equally valid from an ethical standpoint. In fact, public administrations neither accept nor adopt such a relativist view. However, given that administrations cannot impose a single ethos, they are forced to combat the relativist stance by aggregating various guiding principles in an attempt to make their employees act in a consistent, acceptable fashion. Unfortunately, adopting this approach does not produce any palpable improvements in moral behaviour.

Nevertheless, I believe it is possible to build a more effective moral system that overcomes both the limitations of pure relativism and of simply aggregating values. Such a system would ensure that public employees’ moral judgments were consistent but would still maintain objectivity and the individual’s right to moral autonomy. This is what leads us to defend a public ethic (emerging from either a consensus on other reasonable ethics or enshrining the basic values of democracy in a system based upon mutual respect and the defence of human rights). In other words, the right thing is what can be justified by arguments for which there is no reasonable refutation. By the same token, what cannot be justified to others is wrong. Clearly, this does no more than establish moral minima in seeking universal agreement.

While this ethic is basically of a procedural nature, it is the only way of dealing with the dilemma of reconciling principles with content. This, I would argue, is the ethical framework that ought to guide our public institutions at the macro level. Detailed codes of conduct could help at the micro level in resolving the specific problems of each public organization but such norms would always have to respect the higher ethical code.

Management of public organisations | 39

Joat Henrich, Academic Collaborator at the ESADE Institute of Public Governance and Man Editor of PUBLIC

nagement (IGDP)

leadership and change management in a public setting

The top 50 articles in PUBLIC | 41

9

Learning Leadership Learning leadership occurs in a variety of ways.

Learning from experience is the most common and most powerful. It produces the tacit knowledge that is crucial in a crisis. But experience and intuition can be supplemented by analytics, which is the purpose of this little book. As Mark Twain once observed, a cat that sits on a hot stove will not sit on a hot stove again, but it won’t sit on a cold one either. Learning to analyze situations and contexts is an important leadership skill.

01/09/2008 - Joseph S. Nye

Serious scientific leadership studies have gone through

and transformational leadership has been the dominant

several phases. The trait-centered approach dominated

paradigm since the early 1980s. It has generated a num-

the scene up to the late 1940s, but scholars found it im-

ber of useful studies, but it is also plagued with definitio-

possible to identify traits that predicted leadership under

nal and empirical problems. Other useful approaches

all conditions. When it became clear that studies of traits

have focused on dispersed leadership, teams and the re-

were indeterminate, scholars turned to a style approach

lation of leadership to culture.

that used questionnaires to determine how leaders behave in terms of their consideration for their followers.

This held sway until the late 1960s when it was found to be plagued with measurement problems and inconsistent results in predicting effectiveness. A new contingency approach was popular from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. It distinguished people-oriented from task-oriented leaders and tried to relate their performance to their degree of situational control, but this too was also plagued by measurement problems and inconsistent results.

A ‘new leadership approach’ that focuses on charismatic 42 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

As for methods, quantitative research has been dominant. While such studies can illuminate important aspects and details of leadership behavior, they are often limited in the scope of the generalizations they can provide. Leadership is a relationship between leaders and followers that varies in different contexts. Without specification of context, many propositions about leadership turn out to be very limited. Some studies are carried out as lab experiments, often with a captive student audience. Others rest on questionnaires and surveys within

the bounds of particular organizations which have esta-

experience, but they can also benefit from understanding

blished procedures and formal leadership structures.

both the results of scientific studies, limited though they

They rest heavily on the disciplinary methods of psycho-

may be, as well as the range of behaviors that can be illu-

logy and organizational behavior. But it is not clear how

minated by historical cases, and the importance of diffe-

much these studies illuminate in terms of political and

rent contexts. To say something is an art rather than a

social leadership behavior in diverse contexts that range

science does not mean it cannot be profitably studied.

from street gangs to social movements to corporate and national presidencies. This indeterminacy and contingency has led many observers to say that leadership is an art rather than a science. Good leadership is situational. In my new book, The Powers to Lead, I call this skill ‘contextual intelligence’. The ability to mobilize a group effectively is certainly an art, rather than a predictive science, and varies with situations; but that does not mean that it cannot be profitably studied and learned.

Music and painting are based in part on innate skills but also on training and practice. And artists can benefit not merely from studio courses but also from art appreciation courses that introduce them to the full repertoires and pallets of past masters.

Learning leadership occurs in a variety of ways. Learning from experience is the most common and most powerful.

It produces the tacit knowledge that is crucial in a crisis.

But experience and intuition can be supplemented by analytics, which is the purpose of this little book. As Mark Twain once observed, a cat that sits on a hot stove will not sit on a hot stove again, but it won’t sit on a cold one either. Learning to analyze situations and contexts is an important leadership skill. The U.S. Army categorizes leadership learning under three words: “be, know, do.” “Be” refers to the shaping of character and values, and it comes partly from training and partly from experience.

“Know” refers to analysis and skills, which can be trained.

“Do” refers to action and requires both training and fieldwork. Most important, however, is experience and the emphasis on learning from mistakes and a continuous process that results from what the military calls “after-action reviews.”

Learning can also occur in the classroom, whether through case studies, historical and analytic approaches, or experiential teaching that creates situations in the classroom that train students to increase self-awareness, distinguish their role from their self, and to use their self as a barometer for understanding a larger group. Similarly, those interested in leadership learn from personal

In practice, few people occupy top positions in groups or organizations. Most people ‘lead from the middle’, attracting and persuading both upward and downward. A successful middle-level leader persuades and attracts his boss as well as his subordinates. Effective leadership from the middle often requires leading those above, below and beside you.

Very often, leaders in the middle find themselves in a policy vacuum with few clear directives from the top. A passive follower keeps his head down, shuns risk and avoids criticism. An opportunist uses the slack to feather his own nest rather than help the leader or the public. Bureaucratic entrepreneurs, on the other hand, take advantage of such opportunities to adjust and promote policies. The key moral question is when does their entrepreneurial activity exceed the bounds of general high-level policies set from the top? Since they lack the legitimate authority of elected or high-level appointed officials, they must remain cognizant of the need to balance initiative with loyalty.

Leaders want to encourage such entrepreneurship among their followers as a means of increasing their effectiveness. As a popular saying goes, the key to success in leadership is to surround yourself with good people, enable them by delegation, and then claim credit for their accomplishments. To make this formula work, however, requires a good deal of soft power. Without the soft power that produces attraction and loyalty to the leader’s goals, entrepreneurs run off in all directions and dissipate a group’s energies. With soft power, the energy of empowered followers strengthens leaders.

Leadership is not learned primarily from books and lectures, though classes can help make people more aware of the lessons of history and psychology; they can recognize and better understand the skills they need. Art history does not produce great painters, but it can help develop and educate intuitions. Leadership is broadly distributed throughout healthy democracies, and all citizens Leadership and change management in a public setting | 43

need to learn more about what makes good and bad leaders. Potential leaders, in turn, can learn more about the sources and limits of the soft power skills of emotional IQ, vision and communication as well as hard power political and organizational skills. They must also better understand the nature of the contextual intelligence they will need to educate their hunches and sustain strategies of smart power. More importantly, in today’s age of globalization, information revolution and broadened participation, citizens in democracies must learn more about the nature and limits of our all too human leadership.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is University Distinguished Service Professor and former Dean of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is also the Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations at the same institution and author of The Powers to Lead (Oxford University Press), 2008.

44 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

10

Anchoring Leadership in the Work of Progress

If leadership differs from the capacity to gain formal or informal authority, and therefore more than the ability to gain a ‘following’ ‘ attracting influence and accruing power ‘ what can anchor our understanding of it?

24/07/2006 - Ronald A. Heifetz

Our language fails us in many aspects of our lives, en-

‘People in authority aren’t exercising any leadership.’

trapping us in a set of cultural assumptions like cattle her-

Whether people with formal, charismatic, or otherwise in-

ded by fences into a corral.

Gender pronouns, for

formal authority actually practise leadership on any given

example, corral us into teaching children that God is a he,

issue at any moment in time ought to remain a separate

distancing girls and women everyday from the experience

question answered with wholly different criteria than

of the divine in themselves, and distancing men from the

those used to define a relationship of formal powers or

traditionally feminine virtues in themselves.

informal influence. As we know, all too many people are

Our language fails us, too, when we discuss, analyze, and practise leadership. We commonly talk about ‘leaders’

skilled at gaining formal and informal kinds of authority, and thus a following, but do not then lead.

in organizations or politics when we actually mean people

Moreover, we assume a logical connection between the

in positions of managerial or political authority. Although

words ‘leader and follower’, as if this dyad were an abso-

we have confounded leadership with authority in nearly

lute and inherently logical structure. It is not. The most

every journalistic and scholarly article written on ‘lea-

interesting leadership operates without anyone experien-

dership’ during the last one hundred years, we know in-

cing anything remotely similar to the experience of ‘follo-

tuitively that these two phenomena are distinct when we

wing’. Indeed, most leadership mobilizes those who are

complain frequently in politics and business that ‘the le-

opposed or who sit on the fence, in addition to allies and

adership isn’t exercising any leadership’. This is a con-

friends. Allies and friends come relatively cheap; it’s the

tradiction in terms, resolved by distinguishing leadership

people in opposition who have the most to lose in any sig-

from authority and realizing that we actually mean to say:

nificant process of change. When mobilized, allies and Leadership and change management in a public setting | 45

friends become, not followers, but activated participants

and communities when people have tough challenges to

‘ employees or citizens who themselves often lead in turn

tackle, when they have to change their ways in order to

by taking responsibility for tacking tough challenges wi-

thrive, when continuing to operate according to current

thin their reach, often beyond expectations and often be-

structures, procedures, and processes no longer will suf-

yond their authority. They become partners. And when

fice. We call these adaptive challenges. Beyond techni-

mobilized, opposition and fence-sitters become engaged

cal problems, for which authoritative and managerial

with the issues, provoked to work through the problems of

expertise will suffice, adaptive challenges demand lea-

loss, loyalty, and competence embedded in the change

dership that engages people in facing challenging reali-

they are challenged to make. Indeed, they may continue

ties and then changing those priorities, attitudes, and

to fight, providing an ongoing source of diverse views ne-

behaviour necessary to thrive in a changing world.

cessary for the adaptive success of the business or community. Far from becoming ‘aligned’ and far from any experience of ‘following’, they are mobilized by leadership to wrestle with new complexities that demand tough trade-offs in their ways of working or living. Such is the work of progress. Of course, in time they may begin to trust, admire, and appreciate the person or group that is leading, and thereby confer informal authority on them, but they would not generally experience the emergence of that appreciation or trust by the phrase: ‘I’ve become a follower.’ I doubt Alabama’s Governor George Wallace would have seen himself after his conversion on civil rights as a ‘follower’ of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is far more likely, and appropriate, for Wallace to have seen himself as a political adversary and colleague of King’s in the struggles of American populist politics. And even among King’s more natural allies, I doubt that Bernard Lafayette saw himself as King’s follower when he went wandering with a bloody shirt through the streets of early 1965 Selma to mobilize middle class black people to risk their hard-earned security by joining in the demonstrations for the right to vote. I imagine he knew himself as another leader and collaborator in the movement.

If leadership differs from the capacity to gain formal or informal authority, and therefore more than the ability to gain a ‘following’ ‘ attracting influence and accruing power ‘ what can anchor our understanding of it?

Leadership takes place in the context of problems and challenges. Indeed, it makes little sense to describe leadership when everything and everyone in an organization is humming along fine, even when processes of influence and authority will be ubiquitous in coordinating routine activity. Moreover, it’s not just any kind of problem for which leadership becomes needed and relevant as a practice. Leadership becomes necessary to businesses 46 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Mobilizing people to meet adaptive challenges, then, is at the heart of leadership practice. In the short term, leadership is an activity that mobilizes people to meet an immediate challenge. In the medium and long term, leadership generates new cultural norms that enable people to meet an ongoing stream of adaptive challenges in a world that will likely pose an ongoing set of adaptive realities and pressures. Thus, with a longer view, leadership develops an organization or community’s adaptive capacity, or adaptability.

The subject of cultural adaptability and the practice of leadership that generates it are a big frontier. In this short article, I suggest eight properties of adaptive work. Leadership anchored in the adaptive growth and development of an organization or community begins with an understanding of these properties.

First, an adaptive challenge is a gap between aspirations and reality that demands a response outside the current repertoire. Whereas technical problems are largely amenable to current expertise, adaptive challenges significantly are not. Of course, every problem can be understood as a gap between aspirations and reality. What distinguishes technical problems from adaptive challenges is whether that gap can be closed through applying existing know-how. For example, a patient comes to his doctor with an infection, and the doctor uses her knowledge to diagnose the illness and prescribe a cure; that’s a technical problem.

In contrast, an adaptive challenge is created by a gap between a desired state and reality that cannot be closed using existing approaches alone. Progress in the situation requires more than the application of current expertise, authoritative decision-making, standard operating

procedures, or culturally-informed behaviours. For exam-

self-defeating. When people make the classic error of tre-

ple, a patient with heart disease may need to change his

ating adaptive challenges as if they were technical, they

way of life: diet, exercise, smoking, and the imbalances

wait for the person in authority to know what to do [2].

that cause unhealthy stress. To make those changes, the

He or she then makes a best guess ‘ probably just a guess

patient will have to take responsibility for his health and

‘ while the many sit back and wait to see whether the

learn his way to a new set of priorities and habits. Philip

guess pans out. And frequently enough, when it does not,

Selznick described this distinction between ‘routine’ and

people get rid of that executive and go find another one,

‘critical’ challenges in his seminal 1957 monograph, Le-

all the while operating under the illusion that ‘if only we

adership in Administration.

had the right ‘leader’, our problems would be solved’.

This distinction can be summarized in Figure 1.

Progress is impeded by inappropriate dependency; therefore, a major task of leadership is the development of responsibility-taking by the people with a stake in the problem.

Technical and Adaptive Work Kind of work

Problem Definition

Solutions and implementation

Primary Locus of Responsibility for the Work

Technical

Clear

Clear

Authority

Technical & Adaptive

Clear

Requires Learning

Authority & Stakeholder

Adaptive

Requires Learning

Requires Learning

Stakeholder > Authority

Figure 1: Technical and Adaptive Work [1] Second, adaptive challenges demand learning. An adaptive challenge exists when progress requires a retooling, in a sense, of people’s own ways of thinking and operating. The gap between aspirations and reality closes when they learn new ways. Thus, a consulting firm may offer a brilliant diagnostic analysis and set of recommendations, but nothing will be solved until that analysis and those recommendations are lived in the new way that people operate. Until then, the consultant has no solutions, only proposals.

Third, with adaptive challenges, the people with the problem are the problem, and they are the solution.

Adaptive challenges require a shift in responsibility from the shoulders of the authority figures and the authority structure to the stakeholders themselves. In contrast to expert problem-solving, adaptive work requires a different form of deliberation and a different kind of responsibilitytaking. In doing adaptive work, responsibility needs to be felt in a widespread fashion. At best, an organization would have its members know that there are many technical problems for which looking to authority for answers is appropriate and efficient, but that for the adaptive set of challenges, looking to authority for answers becomes

Fourth, an adaptive challenge requires people to distinguish what’s precious and essential from what’s expendable within their culture. In cultural adaptation, the job is three-fold: to take the best from history, to leave behind that

which is no longer serviceable, and through innovation to learn ways to thrive in the new environment.

Therefore, adaptive leadership is inherently conservative as well as progressive. The point of innovation is to conserve what is best from history as the community moves into the future. As in biology, a successful adaptation takes the best from its past set of competencies and discards the DNA that is no longer useful. Thus, unlike many current conceptions of culturally ‘transforming’ processes, many of which are ahistorical ‘ as if one begins all anew ‘ adaptive work, profound as it may be in terms of change, honours ancestry and history at the same time that it challenges them. Apparently, neither God nor evolution do zero-based budgeting.

Adaptive work generates resistance in people because adaptation requires us to let go of certain elements of our past ways of working or living, which means to experience loss ‘ loss of competence, loss of reporting relationships, loss of jobs, loss of traditions, or loss of loyalty to the people who taught us the lessons of our heritage. An adaptive challenge generates a situation that forces us to make tough tradeoffs. The source of resistance that people have to change isn’t resistance to change per se; it is resistance to loss. People love change when they know Leadership and change management in a public setting | 47

it’s beneficial. Nobody gives the lottery ticket back when

not because it was such a long walk from Egypt, but be-

they win. Leadership must contend, then, with the va-

cause it took that much time for the people to leave be-

rious forms of feared and real losses that accompany

hind the dependent mentality of slavery and generate the

adaptive work [3].

capacity for self-government guided by faith in something

Anchored to the tasks of mobilizing people to thrive in new and challenging contexts, leadership is not simply

ineffable. Figure 2 depicts this difference in time frame [4].

about change; more profoundly leadership is about identifying that which is worth conserving. It is the conserving of the precious dimensions of our past that make the pains of change worth sustaining.

Fifth, adaptive work demands experimentation. In biology, the adaptability of a species depends on the multiplicity of experiments that are being run constantly within its gene pool, increasing the odds that in that distributed intelligence some diverse member of the species will have the means to succeed in a new context. Similarly, in cultural adaptation, an organization or community needs to be running multiple experiments, and learning fast from these experiments in order to see ‘which horses to ride into the future’.

Technical problem-solving appropriately and efficiently depends on authoritative experts for knowledge and decisive action. In contrast, dealing with adaptive challenges requires a comfort with not knowing where to go or how to move next. In mobilizing adaptive work from an authority position, leadership takes the form of protecting elements of deviance and creativity in the organization in spite of the inefficiencies associated with those elements.

If creative or outspoken people generate conflict, then so

Figure 2: Technical Problem or Adaptative Challenge?

Seventh, adaptive challenges generate avoidance. Because it is so difficult for people to sustain prolonged periods of disturbance and uncertainty, human beings naturally engage in a variety of efforts to restore equilibrium as quickly as possible, even if it means avoiding adaptive work by begging the tough issues. Most forms of adaptive failure are a product of our difficulty in containing prolonged periods of experimentation, and the difficult, conflictive conversations that accompany them.

be it. Conflict becomes an engine of innovation, rather

Work avoidance is simply the natural effort to restore a

than solely a source of dangerous inefficiency. Managing

more familiar order, to restore social, political, or psycho-

the dynamic tension between creativity and efficiency be-

logical equilibrium.

comes an ongoing part of leadership practice for which

work avoidance operate across cultures and peoples, it

there exists no equilibrium point at which this tension di-

appears that there are two common pathways: the dis-

sappears. Leadership becomes an improvisation, howe-

placement of responsibility and the diversion of attention.

ver frustrating it may be not to know the answers.

Both pathways function terribly well in the short-term to

Sixth, the time frame for adaptive work is markedly different than for technical work. It takes time for people to learn new ways ‘ to sift through what’s precious from what’s expendable, and to innovate in ways that enable people to carry forward into the future that which they continue to hold precious from the past. Moses took forty years to bring the children of Israel to the Promised Land, 48 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Although many different forms of

avoid adaptive work, even if they leave people more exposed and vulnerable in the medium and long-term.

Some common forms of displacing responsibility include: scapegoating, blaming the persistence of problems on authority, externalizing the enemy, or killing the messenger. Diverting attention can take the form of: fake remedies, like the Golden Calf; an effort to define problems to fit one’s competence; repeated structural adjustments;

the faulty use of consultants, committees and task for-

ple with competing values engage one another as they

ces; sterile conflicts and proxy fights (‘let’s watch the gla-

confront a shared situation from their own points of view.

diator fight!’); or outright denial.

At its extreme, and in the absence of better methods of

Eighth and finally, I suggest that adaptive work is a normative concept. The concept of adaptation arises from scientific efforts to understand biological evolution [5].

Applied to the change of cultures and societies, the concept becomes a useful, if inexact, metaphor [6]. For example, species evolve whereas cultures learn. Evolu-

social change, the conflict over values can be violent. The Civil War changed the meaning of union and individual freedom. In 1857, ensuring domestic tranquillity meant returning escaped slaves to their owners; in 1957, it meant using federal troops to integrate Central High School in Little Rock.

tion is generally understood by scientists as a matter of

Some realities threaten not only a set of values beyond

chance, whereas societies will often consciously delibe-

survival, but also the very existence of a society if these

rate, plan, and intentionally experiment. Close to our nor-

realities are not discovered and met early on by the value-

mative concern, biological evolution conforms to laws of

clarifying and reality-testing functions of that society. In

survival. Societies, on the other hand, generate purpo-

the view of many environmentalists, for example, our

ses beyond survival. The concept of adaptation applied

focus on the production of wealth rather than coexistence

to culture raises the question: Adapt to what, for what pur-

with nature has led us to neglect fragile factors in our

pose? What does it mean to ‘thrive’? What should we

ecosystem. These factors may become relevant to us

mean by progress as a business or community?

when finally they begin to challenge our central values of

In biology, the ‘objective function’ of adaptive work is straightforward: to thrive in new environments. Survival of the self and one’s gene-carrying kin define the direction in which animals adapt. A situation becomes an

health and survival, but by then, we may have paid a high price in damage already done, and the costs of and odds against adaptive adjustment may have increased enormously [7].

adaptive challenge because it threatens the capacity of a

Adaptive work, then, requires us to deliberate on the va-

species to pass on its genetic heritage. Thus, when a spe-

lues by which we seek to thrive, and demands diagnostic

cies is fruitful by multiplying and protecting its own kind

inquiry into the realities we face that threaten the reali-

and succeeds in passing on its genes, it is said to be ‘thri-

zation of those values. Beyond legitimizing a convenient

ving’ in its environment.

set of assumptions about reality, beyond denying or avoi-

Thriving is more than coping. There is nothing trivial in biology about adaptation. Some adaptive leaps transform the capacity of a species by sparking an ongoing and profound process of adaptive developments that lead to a vastly expanded range of living. Still, thriving in biological systems is defined by progeny.

In human societies, ‘thriving’ takes on a host of values not restricted to the survival of one’s own kind. Human beings will even sacrifice their own lives for values like liberty, justice, and faith. Thus, adaptive work in cultures involves both the clarification of values and the assessment of realities that challenge the realization of those values.

Because most organizations and communities honour a mix of values, the competition within this mix largely explains why adaptive work so often involves conflict. Peo-

ding the internal contradictions in some of the values we hold precious, and beyond coping, the work of adaptive progress involves proactively seeking to clarify aspirations or develop new ones, and then involves the very hard work of innovation, experimentation, and cultural development to realize a closer approximation of those aspirations by which we would define ‘thriving’.

In other words, the normative tests of adaptive work involve an appraisal of both the processes by which orienting values are clarified in an organization or community, and the quality of reality-testing by which a more accurate rather than convenient diagnosis is achieved. By these tests, for example, serving up fake remedies for our collective troubles by scapegoating and externalizing the enemy, as was done in extreme form in Nazi Germany, might generate throngs of misled supporters who readily grant to charlatans extraordinary authority in the shortLeadership and change management in a public setting | 49

run, but it would not constitute adaptive work. Nor would political efforts to gain influence and authority by pandering to people’s longing for easy answers constitute leadership. Indeed, misleading people may be likely over time to produce adaptive failure.

Ronald A. Heifetz is King Hussein Bin Talal Lecturer in Public Leadership at John F. Kennedy School of Government (KSG), Harvard University. Founder of the Center for Public Leadership, KSG, Harvard University

[1] Ronald A. Heifetz, Leadership Without Easy Answers (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994), p. 76.

[2] Ronald A. Heifetz and Donald Laurie, ‘The Work of Leadership,’ Harvard Business Review, January 1997, republished December 2001.

[3] Ronald A. Heifetz and Marty Linsky, Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive through the Dangers of Leading (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2002), Ch. 1.

[4] Ronald A. Heifetz and Donald C. Laurie, ‘Mobilizing Adaptive Work: Beyond Visionary Leadership,’ in Conger, Spreitzer, and Lawler (eds.), The Leader’s Change Handbook: An Essential Guide to Setting Direction and Taking Action (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1988).

[5] See Ernst Mayr, Toward a New Philosophy of Biology: Observations of an Evolutionist (Cambridge: Belknap/Harvard University Press, 1988); Marc W. Kirschner and John G. Gerhart, The Plausibility of Life: Resolving Darwin's Dilemma (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005).

[6] See Roger D. Masters, The Nature of Politics (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989).

[7] Ronald A. Heifetz, Leadership Without Easy Answers (Cambridge: Belknap/Harvard University Press, 1994), pp. 30-32.

50 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Leading with an Open Heart After years of raising questions and accumulating scars, most of us develop a set of defenses to protect ourselves.

We buy into the common myth that you cannot survive a demanding leadership role without developing a thick skin. But that diminishes us, because it squeezes the juice out of our soul. We lose our capacity for innocence, curiosity, and compassion. In a sense, our hearts close our innocence turns into cynicism, our curiosity turns into arrogance, and our compassion turns into callousness. We dress these up, of course, because we don't want to see ourselves - and certainly don't want others to see us - as cynical, arrogant and callous. We dress cynicism up as realism. So now we are not cynical; we're realistic. We are not arrogant, but we do have authoritative knowledge. And we dress up and cloak our callousness by calling it the thick skin of wisdom. But to stay alive in our spirit, in our heart, requires the courage to keep our heart open; it requires what Roman Catholics call a sacred heart or what in the Jewish tradition is called an open heart. We can talk about the practical reasons why it's important to keep an open heart - and there are practical reasons - but chiefly it is important for your own spirit and identity.

13/11/2006 - Ronald A. Heifetz & Marty Linsky

Leadership has never been easy, but at the beginning of

tion, we are challenged by the events of September 11

the twenty-first century, it is tougher than ever. As a na-

and the ongoing threats that stunning day represents. As Leadership and change management in a public setting | 51

a society, we are challenged to maintain cherished values

we abandon comfortable pieces of the past, old routines,

and rights and at the same time to change some of the

and even close relationships with people; feelings of in-

missionary zeal with which we relate economically, politi-

competence as we strive to innovate and learn new ways;

cally, and culturally to other peoples. As an economy, we

and doubt and uncertainty as we make inevitable wrong

find our leaders and organizations more open and vulne-

turns along the way." Clearly, this is a very difficult mes-

rable due to increased scrutiny and persistent demands

sage to deliver, however honest.

for transparency in the wake of Enron and Andersen.

These and many other challenges require all of us to change some of our attitudes, habitual ways of doing things, and even deeply held values.

These are adaptive challenges. An adaptive challenge is not like technical work, in which you can prescribe a solution that doesn't require people to change. To take a medical example, when you give someone penicillin for an infection, she is cured. She doesn't have to change how she lives. But when you unclog the plumbing in someone's heart, that plumbing will stay open only if he changes his life - changes how he eats; stops smoking; gets more exercise; learns to manage stress.

To meet adaptive challenges, people have to go through a period of painful adjustment. Leading people to make these changes is risky, because you are asking them to absorb various forms of loss - asking them to out and out give up one thing in the interests of another thing to be maintained, to be conserved, or to be gained. They may have to go through a period of refashioning loyalty to the people to whom they feel beholden or of feeling disloyalty to their own roots. Or you may be asking them to go through a period of experiencing some incompetence as they fashion new competencies and sources of confidence.

Adaptive change is painful; leading it can be dangerous.

Just ask Martin Luther King Jr., Rudolph Giuliani, or Carly Fiorina.

If leading were about giving people good news, it would be easy. Unfortunately many leaders avoid the hard work.

How many leaders have you heard say something like this? "We can't keep going on this way, but the new direction is yet undetermined, and how effective any plan will be in enabling us to thrive - or even survive - in the new environment is also unknown. We're going to have to go through disagreements and conflicts as we sort through what's precious and what's expendable; loss as 52 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Dangers of Collusion When you meet up with a significant challenge for which you don't have the answers and for which the people around you are even more desperate to hear some certainty, the temptation is to provide reassurance. This temptation is reinforced by the fact that it is also politically dangerous to express uncertainty. Most situations generate a mixture of technical and adaptive challenges.

And because they are a mixture, the easiest way to avoid the adaptive challenges is to simply focus on the technical ones. We see this a lot in business. We certainly see it a lot in public life. People in authority will tackle that aspect of the challenge about which they feel confident, rather than tolerating the awful experience of feeling somewhat incompetent.

And what that often generates is a collusion, of the "blind leading the blind," in which the leader first deceives himself or herself by pretending to know more than he or she in fact does. (It's easier to sell something when you believe in it yourself.) And then others, wanting to believe, wanting to put the responsibility onto people in authority and take it off themselves, convince themselves that the leaders really do have the answers.

The Enron debacle is a prime example of the dangers of collusion. Investors wanted to believe. Analysts wanted to believe. People in the company wanted to believe. The people at the top of the company wanted to believe. There may have been a few people who, in a more sinister way, knew what they were doing, but our guess is that they were rare players. Much more common is a systemic dynamic, in which lots of people are deceiving themselves because nobody wants to face reality. They don't want to face reality, in part because there are so many people around them looking to them to represent a happy certainty with a happy face.

As a leader facing difficult and dangerous challenges,

practical reasons - but chiefly it is important for your own

how do you sustain yourself? How do you keep from sa-

spirit and identity.

botaging yourself by mismanaging your own hungers, by failing to discipline your own needs for control and for certainty, for importance, for recognition, or for intimacy?

How do you anchor yourself? How do you remember who you are and what you want to protect and conserve at the very time that you are engaged in a process that's buffeting you and tossing you around?

In our new book, Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading, we offer five guidelines for dealing with the dangerous aspects of leadership (see the accompanying sidebar, "Five Challenges in Leading Adaptive Change"). These five action guidelines offer strategic and tactical steps leaders can take in responding to dangerous situations, and they are critically important.

But it is also critically important for leaders to learn to sustain themselves so they can come through the process unbroken and unbowed, with their spirit intact. Part of doing this is to work hard at maintaining an open heart.

Innocence Innocence and naivete enable you to see things, to be alert to new, emerging realities that other people won't see because they think they already know the answers.

We live in an age of expertise, where people pride themselves on knowing rather than on being naive. This can be a real trap for managers in today's organizations. People in authority have risen to their positions because they have been rewarded throughout their careers for taking responsibilities off other people's shoulders, solving problems through their experience and expertise, and delivering solutions. Managers take a great deal of pride in their capacity to solve problems and provide answers and be decisive. By the time you get to be a senior authority figure, that behavior has been reinforced through countless rewards. The seductive temptation for anybody in authority is to step in with the decision and resolve the problem. That's what people are going to reward you for

The Open Heart After years of raising questions and accumulating scars, most of us develop a set of defenses to protect oursel-

doing. Even the people who aren't going to like your decision are at least looking to you to make a decision. If you don't step in, you'll be criticized as "weak."

ves. We buy into the common myth that you cannot sur-

But the toughest challenges that groups, organizations,

vive a demanding leadership role without developing a

and communities face are hard precisely because they

thick skin. But that diminishes us, because it squeezes

do not have answers, quick fixes waiting to be applied.

the juice out of our soul. We lose our capacity for inno-

Moreover, a group, community, or organization will not au-

cence, curiosity, and compassion. In a sense, our hearts

thorize anyone to push it to address those problems and

close - our innocence turns into cynicism, our curiosity

do the hard work needed. On the contrary, organizational

turns into arrogance, and our compassion turns into ca-

rules, cultures, and standard operating procedures regu-

llousness. We dress these up, of course, because we

larly discourage people from facing the hardest questions

don't want to see ourselves - and certainly don't want

and making the most difficult choices. It takes real cou-

others to see us - as cynical, arrogant and callous. We

rage for a leader to admit he doesn't know the answer or

dress cynicism up as realism. So now we are not cynical;

she doesn't have a solution.

we're realistic. We are not arrogant, but we do have authoritative knowledge. And we dress up and cloak our callousness by calling it the thick skin of wisdom. But to stay alive in our spirit, in our heart, requires the courage to keep our heart open; it requires what Roman Catholics call a sacred heart or what in the Jewish tradition is called an open heart. We can talk about the practical reasons why it's important to keep an open heart - and there are

Innocence, however, will enable you to maintain hope when a situation seems hopeless, at least to some people. And your capacity to maintain faith will be self-fulfilling in the sense that it will give other people the courage to hope that life can be better. This is the capacity to maintain what Buddhists call a beginner's mind, or a naive perspective. The word naive has the same root as the words genius, ingenuity, and Renaissance. And so we Leadership and change management in a public setting | 53

think of naivete as a juvenile quality, but it is also a criti-

lling to ask the naive but radical questions, frequently get

cal quality for a genius. It is a critical quality for being

pushed aside because they are a source of inefficiency

open to and staying hopeful about new possibilities.

70 percent of the time. They are raising questions that

Cynicism is a very safe psychological position. One of the authors, Ronald, was part of the Avoiding Nuclear War project in the early 1980s, a time when the Cold War was

slow things down, and people don't like that. So they get forced out, which of course represents a loss of key resources for the organization.

still very hot, and all the project discussions centered on such issues as: Should the United States have a policy of first use of nuclear weapons? How do we contain the possibility of Soviet aggression in various places in the world?

And so forth. Ronald, as a relatively naive member of the group, along with one or two other people, kept saying, "Well, maybe it's possible to transform the relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union." The response, Ronald recalls, was that "everybody looked at us as if we were incredibly naive. And they kept us around because then they could claim, at least, to have a diverse group of researchers and faculty, but in fact they paid us little attention. And lo and behold, in ten years the Soviet Union collapsed and with it, the careers of numerous U.S.-Soviet policy experts."

Compassion Finally, without compassion you can't come to understand the stakes you're asking other people to give up. The work of adaptive change is emotional work and requires what Daniel Goleman describes as emotional intelligence (see Leader to Leader, no. 25); it requires an open heart to respect and appreciate the pains of change that you are asking people to sustain, and you need to have a stomach for those pains, but that doesn't mean you need to become callous - and therefore blind to the disturbance other people are having to endure.

It is a sacred task to receive people's anger, and not to do so in an arrogant or defensive way, but to say, "This is helping me understand what I'm asking people to do."

Curiosity

That capacity to receive people's anger with an open heart is a great gift to people in an organization in which

Curiosity is critical, because without maintaining doubt, you can't stay open to changing realities; you can't be open to hearing what the more naive people around you are saying. If you are too proud of your authoritative knowledge - a shell for defensive arrogance - then you are robbed of new information and then, blinded in a sense, you simply reproduce the world in the image you know

painful adjustments need to be made.

In sum, there are a host of practical reasons why it's important not to lose heart, but more fundamentally it's important for yourself. It's important to maintain your own humanity, your own aliveness, your own spirit. We all know people who, even in the last decade of their lives, are

from your past.

enormously vibrant, full of questions, capable of hearing

Those people who do pride themselves on their curiosity

heard a thousand stories very much like yours. They listen

or naivete are frequently marginalized in a company, be-

to your story, and they really do care; they listen with an

cause even a genius gets it right only 30 percent of the

open heart, and they seem alive; they seem creative; they

time at most. We could learn from baseball, in which you

seem curious; they seem willing to doubt, willing to

get three strikes before you're out, you are permitted to

change their views. People who maintain that aliveness of

strike out without being removed from the team, and if

spirit, even as they get on in years, are an inspiration for

you get on base only a third of the time, you're considered

us because they are modeling the delights of life, the

a great baseball player. In other words, you're allowed to

blessings of life, the gift of being alive, because they have

strike out two-thirds of the time and still be a great base-

maintained an open heart.

ball player. Unlike baseball, in business you don't get to strike out two-thirds of the time. So the creative individuals, or the curious individuals, the people who are wi54 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

your story even though you know that they must have

Five Challenges in Leading Adaptive Change

most creative ideas come out of people in conflict remaining in conversation with one another rather than flying into their own corners or staking out entrenched

1. Get off the dance floor and onto the balcony. Leader-

positions. The challenge for leaders is to develop struc-

ship is improvisational. It cannot be scripted. On one

tures and processes in which such conflicts can be or-

hand, to be effective a leader must respond in the mo-

chestrated productively.

ment to what is happening. On the other hand the leader must be able to step back out of the moment and

4. Give the work back. To meet significant challenges re-

assess what is happening from a wider perspective. We

quiring adaptive change, people must change their he-

call it getting off the dance floor and onto the balcony.

arts and minds as well as their behaviors. Leaders

It may be an original metaphor, but it's not an original

cannot do this for others. This is their work, and they

idea. For centuries religious traditions have taught dis-

must do it themselves. Holding people accountable for

ciplines that enable a person to reflect in action. Je-

this work is not easy, especially when people are loo-

suits call it contemplation in action. Hindus call it

king to authority for easy answers or when people are

Karma Yoga, the yoga of action. We call it getting onto

in effect asking the authority figure to lie to them by

the balcony because that's a metaphor people can ea-

projecting more certainty than she has. Leaders who

sily relate to. But it's critically important, and the reason

attempt to step in and take this work off the shoulders

why religious traditions have talked about it for so long

of followers risk becoming the issue themselves.

is that it's hard to do. You don't need a major spiritual practice for something that's easy to do. It's hard, in the midst of action, to step back and ask yourself: What's really going on here? Who are the key parties to this problem? What are the stakes they bring to this issue?

How will progress require us all to reevaluate our stakes and change some of our ways?

5. Hold steady. Confronting major change generates a great deal of conflict and resistance. Managing the conflict, dealing with the politics involved, and making people accountable requires an ability to hold steady in the heat of action. Leaders often need to refrain from immediate action and understand that the stew of conflicting views has to simmer, allowing conflicts to gene-

2. Think politically. Successful leaders in any field place

rate new experiments and new creative ideas. The

an enormous emphasis on personal relationships. They

leader's job is to contain conflict - prevent the disequi-

spend a great deal of time and effort creating and nur-

librium from going too high and the conflict from get-

turing networks of people they can call on, learn from,

ting destructive - and simultaneously to keep people

and work with to address the issues they face. They

addressing the hard questions without opting for a

know that leadership is political - it's about motivating

technical fix, an easy solution, or a decision from on

and mobilizing people to change. So, thinking politically

high. In doing so, in holding steady, the leader will be

is absolutely critical, not only for the person trying to

the recipient of considerable frustration and even

lead from below or from the middle but also for those

anger.

trying to lead from authority on high. Leaders need to work hard on creating allies, keeping close to the opposition, and finding ways to generate commitment from the uncommitted.

3. Orchestrate conflict. People don't learn by staring in the mirror. People learn by engaging with a different point of view. When people are passionate about their different points of view, it generates conflict rather than simply disagreement. Successful leaders manage conflict; they don't shy away from it or suppress it but see it as an engine of creativity and innovation. Some of the

Ronald A. Heifetz is founding director of the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Heifetz speaks and consults extensively in the United States and abroad. His widely acclaimed book, Leadership Without Easy Answers (1994) is now in its twelfth printing. His second book, Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading (written with Marty Leadership and change management in a public setting | 55

Linsky), has recently been published by Harvard Business School Press.

Marty Linsky teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he chairs several of the School's executive programs on leadership. He consults widely on leadership and communications in the United States and abroad. A graduate of Williams College and Harvard Law School, Linsky has been a journalist and politician, having served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Recent book by Ronald Heifetz: Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Leading (Hardcover) Publication Date: 2002 Author(s): Ronald A. Heifetz, Marty Linsky Type: HBS Press Book Length: 288p

56 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

11

Reflections on a Biographical Approach to Leadership and Innovation

The nature and impact of ‘leadership’ can be studied in many ways. In Leadership and Innovation: Entrepreneurs in Government, Erwin Hargrove and I (and our chapter authors) take a biographical approach ‘ analyzing the leadership strategies used by a selected group of senior executives, most of them in government and most (but not all) political appointees at high levels in the federal government. We also explore the extent to which they were successful in achieving their goals and the reasons for their successes and failures. Our findings, which are summarized below, cut against the views generally found in political science and public administration literature, where the focus tends to be on bureaucratic incentives and the role of interest groups in determining organizational success.

23/07/2007 - Jameson W. Doig

Illustrative of that perspective are the studies by Herbert

several studies lead him to conclude that a large number

Kaufman, who finds that ‘modest incremental accom-

of competent officials throughout the organization can

plishments’ are all that an executive can achieve (Kauf-

make a significant difference in the organization’s rate of

man, 1981) and the works of James March, whose

success, but that the quality of the executives at the top Leadership and change management in a public setting | 57

is not likely to have much impact (March, 1981). The lite-

nologies. Whether an executive can grasp the opportu-

rature on business leadership often takes quite a diffe-

nities available because of these external factors will de-

rent position and perhaps an equally dubious one,

pend on personality and skill, and in the chapters on

ascribing success and failure almost entirely to the top

various leaders we examine the ways that these personal

executives.

attributes enhanced or undermined the ability of the lea-

In selecting and studying a small number of high officials

ders to accomplish their preferred goals.

(13 in the 1987 edition, 8 in the abridged 1990 edition),

The introductory chapter and the essays on individual exe-

we focused on individuals in the United States who had a

cutives explore a number of other issues and also group

reputation for being ‘entrepreneurial,’ a term usually ap-

our executives in two general camps ‘ those who were

plied to business executives but, in our view, an appro-

highly adept at using evocative symbols and language as

priate label for governmental executives who (1) identified

political resources (David Lilienthal at TVA is a notable

new missions and programs for their organizations; (2)

example) and those whose distinctive strength was in

developed external constituencies to support the new

building coalitions to support their efforts ‘ such as

goals; (3) created internal constituencies that favored the

Hyman Rickover in developing the ‘nuclear navy’ and

new programs while neutralizing opposition; (4) enhan-

Nancy Hanks in expanding the reach of the National En-

ced the organization’s technical expertise; and (5) provi-

dowment of the Arts. The other ten executives in our

ded the motivation and training needed to permit the

study are Robert Ball and Wilbur Cohen (who had crucial

staff to achieve the new goals. Finally, and as important

roles in developing the U.S. social-security system); Ro-

as any other strategy, the entrepreneurial executive, if he

bert McNamara and James Forrestal, who were leaders in

or she is going to be successful, must:

the military establishment; Austin Tobin at the Port of New

Systematically scan organizational routines and points of internal and external pressure in order to identify areas of vulnerability (to mismanagement and corruption and to loss of the leader’s own power and position) followed by remedial action.

As the list suggests, innovative programs are important, but strategies of implementation are equally critical.

Our hope, largely borne out by the studies reported in this volume, was that we could use these six dimensions of leadership to analyze the careers of our selected executives and thereby identify reasons for their failures and successes. Their careers did not fit the Kaufman or March ‘pessimistic’ view of leadership, although, in most cases, there was a mix of real achievement and inability to reach desired goals.

York Authority; James Webb who led the U.S. space program; Gifford Pinchot (head of the U.S. forestry service), Marriner Eccles of the U. S. Federal Reserve Board; Elmer Staats who held several high positions in the federal government; and one private-sector entrepreneur, Bernard O’Keefe.

I should note that the kind of biographical approach we take in Leadership and Innovation has now been used in other studies of leadership ‘ by James Q. Wilson, for example, in his 1989 book, Bureaucracy, by Erwin Hargrove in his 1994 books on leadership at the Tennessee Valley Authority and on presidential leadership, and in my recent study of the Port of New York Authority which is essentially a ‘triple biography,’ using the lives, hopes, skills, and weaknesses of three executives to understand the rise, successes, and troubles at that bi-state agency over several decades.

During our study, we found that the ability of an executive to utilize some or all of the six strategies depends on a range of external and internal factors. The external factors of greatest importance seemed to us to be fragmentation and overlap among organizations (especially significant for those working in government), growing (or waning) public support for the social values championed by the entrepreneurial executive, and the rise of new tech58 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Jameson W. Doig is Senior Scholar in the Woodrow Wilson School and Professor of Politics and Public Affairs Emeritus, Princeton University, and Director of the Guggenheim Summer Internship Program.

Referències Doig, J. (2001) Empire on the Hudson: Entrepreneurial Vision and Political Power at the Port of New York. Nova York: Columbia University Press.

Doig, J.; Hargrove, E. (ed.) (1987, 1990) Leadership and Innovation: Entrepreneurs in Government. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Hargrove, E. (1994) Prisoners of Myth. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

Kaufman, H. (1981) The Administrative Behavior of Federal Bureau Chiefs. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.

March, J. ‘How We Talk and How We Act: Administrative Theory and Administrative Life’. A: Sergiovanni, T.; Corbally, J. (ed.)

(1981) Leadership and Organizational Culture. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.

Wilson, J. (1989) Bureaucracy. Nova York: Basic Books.

Leadership and change management in a public setting | 59

12

Leadership for a Changing World The Ford Foundation created its programme Leadership for a Changing World as a support for leaders working in the community, and to enhance the visibility of this type of leadership in the USA. Leadership occurs when a group of people attempts to change something and together builds the conditions to do so.

On 21 September 2004, as part of the graduation ceremony for the fifth year of the course The NonGovernmental Organization Management (FGONG), Sonia Ospina gave an address with the same title as this article, Leadership for a Changing World 27/09/2004 - Sonia Ospina

Research

The chosen leaders participate in a two-year programme that includes four general meetings where they can share

The Ford Foundation created its programme Leadership

experiences, and are invited to take part in research in

for a Changing World as a support for leaders working in

action projects on issues of particular interest for their

the community, and to enhance the visibility of this type

work.

of leadership in the USA. • The programme has a research component whose manUnder the programme twenty prizes a year are awarded to

date is to learn and create knowledge about leadership,

individuals and/or groups who demonstrate sustained

based on the practices of leadership for a changing

achievements over time.

world, and to extend our mental models of leadership.

60 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

This research has no remit as regards the prize. We are

not just at the top. A leader is someone who creates value

not involved in the assessment element of the pro-

for the group through deciding to get involved in pushing

gramme.

forward the group agenda. This decision will only make them leaders if their protagonism expresses the implicit agreements arrived at while group members are deciding

What do we research?

In our research, we draw a distinction between the conceptual lens we use to examine the object of our study, and what we direct our attention to, the focus of our research.

What do we understand by leadership? (the object of our study) • First, something other than a leader. Our object is leadership, not leaders. • Second, leadership is a process that belongs to the social system in which it is found, and not a quality of any individual in that system.

This perspective represents a new trend in the theory appearing in the most innovative circles of thought about le-

the path to follow to push forward their agenda; if they undertake to go forward in this direction; and if they can adapt their world view - their mental model - to meet the challenges they find on the way.

Leadership is in essence meaning-making for action in the context in which a group wants to move its agenda.

The leader is the visible part of a larger process (like the image of an iceberg, with only the tip visible).

If we want to study meaning-making for action, we must view it through the eyes of those involved, members of the group itself. The focus of our study is the agenda of work the group is trying to accomplish, not the visible leaders who are only part of the process.

This lens and this focus will help us determine how to conduct our research, or in other words, how to deal with the object of our study, and what methods we must use to

adership.

capture it.

Rather than being the sole responsibility of a formal indi-

If the process we are researching is a dynamic one, a me-

vidual leader, leadership becomes apparent in the capacity of a group to produce results from meaning-making processes in which the whole group takes part, and during which members confront challenges to push forward

aning-making for action that prioritises the experience of making itself, and focuses on the agenda of work being put forward, we cannot act from outside, objective and remote from the actual participants. One way of dealing

their agenda.

with the study of such processes is to invite anyone iden-

Our theoretical framework presents a constructivist vi-

perience of leadership.

sion: leadership occurs when a group of people attempts to change something and together builds the conditions

tified as a leader to enrich our research with their own ex-

Different methodologies were used and diverse conclu-

to do so.

sions reached (see attached presentation). We are only

This perspective on leadership has many implications,

tative and incomplete. But perhaps its most important re-

among which that leadership neither belongs just to the

sult has been sparking off a reflection and learning

managers/manager or executive director of an organisa-

process in the participants. Their comments suggest that

tion, nor to its middle management. Visible leaders are

it has opened up an area for reflection that they did not

the people through whom common agreements that be-

have before. Taking part in research activities had re-

long to the system are expressed. There are formal lea-

minded them of the raison d''''ĂŞtre of their work, even stra-

ders, chosen due to their structural position, and other,

tegies they had forgotten, and offered them a space for

informal, ones.

sharing the challenges of a task that is difficult both in-

halfway there. What I present here is therefore very ten-

trinsically and as an experience.

Leadership can arise in many parts of the organisation, Leadership and change management in a public setting | 61

Further information at: http://www.wagner.nyu.edu/leadership/

Sonia Ospina is Co-Director of the Leadership in Action Centre of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University.

62 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

13

Leader-Centrism: “It’s the Followers, Stupid!”

Those of us in the leadership field have become relentlessly, overwhelmingly leader-centric. We pay homage to the leader-follower relationship and lip service to the importance of followers, but leaders dominate the discourse, while followers are marginalized. Of course, none of us acknowledge dismissing followers while elevating leaders. But our attention is focused, laser-like, on those at or near the top – not on those in the middle or at the bottom.

31/05/2008 - Barbara Kellerman

Leadership experts are not the only ones with this bias. In fact, it is part of the human condition (and animal life).

Pecking orders are ubiquitous, as is the proclivity of those up and down the ladder to fixate on those higher up at the expense of those lower down. For example, wolves have clear hierarchies. A single alpha male dominates, while other wolves submit. This arrangement of allegiance holds the pack together and serves it well. Humans do more or less the same – and signal status by placing people in positions of authority, with titles and trapping to match. Our bias toward leaders, away from followers, is well founded. We have our reasons, most of them hard-wired.

Two Examples of Media Distortion Nowhere is our inclination toward those at the top and away from those at the bottom more in evidence than in the media, the lenses through which we view human affairs other than our own. Two examples make the point.

First, the 2008 presidential campaign. Although the election won’t be held until November, the presidential campaign has been at the center of national discourse for 18 months. The conversation has not concentrated on the context within which the election will take place; or Leadership and change management in a public setting | 63

on the content of national and international policy; or on

single individual poised and positioned to capture our co-

those who will actually do the voting, the followers. Ra-

llective attention, those of us in the leadership field need

ther, it has been centered on the handful of men and the

to broaden the conversation. The problems related to le-

one woman vying with each other to be top dog. It has

ader-centrism are of practical importance, and have po-

been about the contest among them, about who is in first,

licy implications as well. As Senator Joe Biden charged,

second and third place, and who is lagging behind and

the administration of George W. Bush did not have a ‘Pa-

why. The numbers of stories about followers pales in com-

kistani policy’, it had a ‘Musharaff policy’, precluding it

parison with the avalanche of stories about leaders. This

from seeing the big picture.

skews our conception of leader-follower relationships; moreover, it suggests that if we chose the correct candi-

The same pertains to change in other places, where fo-

date, he or she will work magic, saving us from ourselves.

llowers assume the task of speaking their truth to their

Second, recent events in Pakistan. In the last year, no

where students recently took on strongman Hugo Chavez;

matter how clear the evidence that the drama was being

Myanmar, where monks recently took on the long-prevai-

driven by the many down below rather than by the few up

ling military junta; and China, where 21st century activists

above, our attention was on one man – Pervez Musha-

are at the point of routinely taking on the political elite.

rraf. The action, though, was elsewhere. In fact, Musharraf would have been content to leave well enough alone – it was his followers who felt otherwise. In spring 2007, a cadre of lawyers, infuriated by Musharraf’s unilateral decision to suspend the chief justice (who was hostile to the power-hungry president), initiated large and noisy street protests against him. As a consequence, and in short order, Musharraf felt forced to retreat. He reinstated the self-same chief justice, only to be faced a few months later with an opposition that had become more rather than less emboldened, more rather than less ready, willing and able to take him on. The crisis that followed in the fall was the result of Musharraf’s again concluding that he had to respond – this time declaring a state of emergency and dismissing out of hand the entire Supreme Court.

Recent events in Pakistan, including the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December, do not suggest an entirely new dynamic – followers acting and leaders reacting. In fact, leaders prepared to use the full force of their command tend still to retain the upper hand, at least temporarily; as in this case, in which at least some members of the Pakistani opposition paid dearly for daring to take on their president. But what happened in Pakistan is yet another vivid example of how even those of us who are lea-

power. For example, we have seen this in Venezuela,

Followers have always been important – and they are more important now than ever. This is in evidence everywhere, including in the private sector where those at the top are more vulnerable than those below. As former CEOs Harry Stonecipher (Boeing) and Carli Fiorina (HP) would testify, not to speak of others pushed from their perch, such as former president of Harvard, Lawrence Summers, and former World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz, those on high are being watched as never before. As a result, the length of their tenure is decreasing and their turnover rate increasing. Imperial CEOs are no more.

One telling indicator of this seminal shift is the role of the symphony conductor. In 2005 Riccardo Muti, the autocratic Principal Conductor at Milan’s famed La Scala Opera House, who had been in place since 1987, was pushed out by members of the Scala Orchestra and staff who were fed up with his highhanded ways. Conversely, the new Music Director of the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert, is young and broadly appealing, affable and approachable, with no hint of the fearsome, dictatorial maestro about him.

Leaders are having less power and influence; followers more. It’s time to end leader-centrism once and for all.

dership experts are too narrowly focused. We zero in on one of the actors, the leader, when the drama includes a cast of thousands.

Notwithstanding our hard-wiring and the attractions of the 64 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Barbara Kellerman is the James MacGregor Burns Lecturer in Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of

Government. She was the Founding Executive Director of the Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership, from 2000 to 2003; and from 2003 to 2006 she served as the Center’s Research Director. Author of Followership: How Followers are Creating Change and Changing Leaders (Harvard Business School Press, 2008).

Barbara Kellerman was ranked 6th in the TOP 100 Leadership Consultants 2007-2008 by Leadership Excellence: http://www.eep.com. PUBLIC thanks Leadership Excellence for its kind collaboration in facilitating the publication of this article.

Leadership and change management in a public setting | 65

14

Times for reflection Jordi Pujol, former President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, returned to the scenario --where, thirty years before, he had given the address that made such a mark on social circles by the end of Franco's regime--, to think carefully about the present and future of the country.

President Pujol has written for PUBLIC about this issue.

There are things that must be done now, and must be said, and it is necessary to think carefully about them.

Things that are not strictly political, and are not spectacular, and do not stand out. They will not have immediate results (these are issues more closely linked to ideas, values and attitudes), but they will end up having a great impact on politics, the economy, and especially on society and the country as a whole. And if these things are not worked on, the country will run aground. It will run aground. And it will lose confidence.

So, by saying ‘ and even doing ‘ some of these things, I might be able to make some contribution.

15/03/2005 - Jordi Pujol

Thirty years ago I gave a talk at this very school. Although

The time had come for the many, many people who had

the title of my talk, ‘El moment present’ (Present times),

being ‘building the nation’ to ‘build politics’. It was a time

was not very politically committed, it was in fact a call for

when one way to ‘build the nation’ (fer país) was ‘ espe-

political commitment, a commitment to serve Catalonia

cially at that time ‘ also to ‘build politics’ (fer política).

through politics.

66 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

That call, which I made in January 1975, had an impact.

Since 1939, there had been several calls to ‘build poli-

much so that a friend of mine advised me not to make

tics’ (politics against Franco’s dictatorship and in defence

this speech now: ‘Right now what you have to say won’t in-

of democracy and of the Catalan institutions and iden-

terest people’, and it is quite likely that people will not be

tity). However, in January 1975, this issue took on a par-

very interested. And it will not make the headlines. ‘You

ticular significance and urgency.

won’t live up to people’s expectations’. But my talk today

Perhaps you will now understand why, 30 years later, I wanted to come back to this same conference hall at ESADE. Firstly, to take stock of the current situation. And currently things are looking good. With regards both society and politics. The situation is good in both cases and in the country in general.

does not focus on immediate objectives. If all goes well, the results of what I am proposing today might be seen in the future. So, now is as good or as bad a time as in six months from today. In any case, I would like to speak about the present and the future, but not in immediatist terms.

Some may say (I do, for one), that not all of our expectations have been met. In some respects we are disap-

I cannot deny the fact that the current political situation

pointed. I am. And all of us (starting with myself, seeing as

in Catalonia worries me. It appears confused. Contradic-

I was president for 23 years) must analyze what we still

tory and too dominated by theatrics. Although it is true

need to improve on. However, in the end, when all is said

that something positive could result from this. Indirectly,

and done, overall we should congratulate ourselves on

through some kind of rebound effect, there is a possibi-

the outcome. It is a good idea to do this, because it gives

lity ‘ albeit very uncertain ‘ extremely uncertain ‘ that this

us more self-esteem and confidence in our collective pos-

may draw us closer to self-government. However, I am not

sibilities.

going to speak about the new Statute, or in purely politi-

I speak of taking stock in general terms and very briefly, because I know that one day I shall have to take stock of these 30 years within a triple framework: personal, national and the CDC (Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya or Democratic Convergence of Catalonia). And I shall. However, today I do not want to talk about that, but rather about the present and the future.

Perhaps a more logical approach would be to do what I am doing, but in reverse. First we should take stock very thoroughly ‘ I said that thirty years ago ‘ analyze what I have achieved, and what we have achieved since, as well as how it should be assessed (in other words, give a retrospective critique of what has happened) ‘ and then make proposals for the future. But I realize I am more focused on the future than on the past. And more concerned about the mood of the country and people’s attitudes than about strictly political or economic issues. All in all, this makes me think that what I have to say to you might not be very appealing. Not very exciting. And that it may

cal terms. If 30 years ago in this very place, I announced that I, personally, intended to do as much as I could in the world of politics, today I would like to confirm what I have been saying for months: although I am not going to disappear from the political arena, I am no longer a frontline ‘ or even a second-line ‘ politician.

Naturally, I am not giving this talk just to tell you that. I simply mentioned it to explain that there are things that must be done now, and must be said, and it is necessary to think carefully about them. Things that are not strictly political, and are not spectacular, and do not stand out.

They will not have immediate results (these are issues more closely linked to ideas, values and attitudes), but they will end up having a great impact on politics, the economy, and especially on society and the country as a whole. And if these things are not worked on, the country will run aground. It will run aground. And it will lose confidence. So, by saying ‘ and even doing ‘ some of these things, I might be able to make some contribution.

not seem very up-to-date.

Why, what is the current focus of attention? Unfortuna-

Today Catalonia (apart from its whole, centuries-old, his-

tely, the Carmel. Or the issue of Catalan funding. Or ETA’s

toric journey) is the fruit of the whole process of Catala-

latest bomb. Or President Bush’s next trip to Europe. So

nisme (Catalanism, the movement for Catalan autonomy), Leadership and change management in a public setting | 67

of the Civil War and its consequences, of the long and

It would be rash to try to ignore all the dangers we face.

painful period of Franco’s dictatorship, and also of all the

However, we should not lose sight of the positives. In

efforts Catalonia has made to survive. It is the fruit of the

other words, the self-esteem we have a right to and con-

evolution of the ideas, and also of the social, demogra-

sequently our confidence and ambition. And therefore we

phic and economic reality, of the last 70-80 years. Of the

should focus on them. However, everything will turn out

entire Catalan ‘ but also Spanish ‘ process of democratic

well as long as the country has good ideas, solid values

restoration, the restoration of the Generalitat (Catalan Au-

and a positive and dynamic attitude.

tonomous Government), of over 23 years of nationalist government, and of the profound changes during the last few years in Catalonia, as well as in the rest of Europe.

After all that, Catalonia is now going through a unique period. The current political situation is different. It is different in Catalonia, and also in Spain, and in the framework of the general, problematic evolution of Europe. It is experiencing the revolutionary, technological and social effects of globalization. It is confronted with a huge challenge, one which could greatly affect its social model and, even more so, its identity as a nation: immigration.

It is in the midst of a framework of changing ideas and sensibilities. All in all, this is an extremely decisive and complicated time. Probably full of great hopes, but also of dangers. For our country is small and does not have sufficient political clout. Therefore, it is vulnerable. For example, it is very hard for us to act efficiently enough when dealing with the issue of immigration. Or to avoid the economic plundering we are subjected to. On the other hand, despite all this, the entire 19th and 20th centuries bore witness to exceptional Catalan creativity and success. In Catalonia, there is a wealth of creativity and consistency, which has led to great cultural, economic and social developments. This has made it possible to create a positive model for the country. In reality, we are a successful country. We would not have the political problems we

However, in order to respond in this way, we need to make sure that our intellectual tools and our way of viewing and understanding our society and our country are up-to-date.

For the current of thought now dominant in Catalonia is not ideally suited to giving this response.

It is not suitable for several reasons. For example, it does not prioritize Catalonia, because it is not the result of an original Catalan effort and because it is the fruit of a watered-down conception of the country and society. And of its inhabitants’ The current dominant and politically correct ideology will not save us. And it will not drive us forward or stop us running aground.

The challenges facing Catalonia ‘ like any other country immersed in the globalized economy ‘ waves of immigrants and the dramatic development of technology in all fields, will not be met by a society with the ‘appropriate’ values and attitudes. Because that society has been hijacked by theatrical strategies, which demand the use of the social tactic that consists of pleasing everyone and not losing utopian values emotionally speaking.

have, be so closely watched, or receive so many immi-

And this is where the very high degree of insincerity in our

grants, if our economy and our society were failing.

political world originates from. It is also found in the media and even in the academic world. People say and proclaim things they do not really believe in. Or people say the very opposite of what they think or of what they do.

This occurs in issues that have a great impact on our future: education, immigration, family policies, the environment, in general in the issue of values, with regards solidarity, energy policies, and even in housing policies, etc. There is too much fiction both in political discourse and actions. And there are too many conditioning factors, there is too much pressure, people are too afraid of sa-

68 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

ying what they think.

Perhaps some people will think what I have just said is over the top. I’d be delighted if my speech were to shock someone. Several people even. Lots of people. And it would be even better if this made them question themselves. I am afraid that will not happen. However, one day we will have to do that. Because if not, we will all contribute to the collective failure.

It will be easier for you to understand what I mean with this real example. An important politician comes up and says, in private: ‘If we don’t control the environmentalist movement, the country will run aground’ (in reality he said, ‘they are causing the country to run aground’). However, it turns out that this politician and his colleagues

the parents, I was severely criticized by all political, media and sometimes also union sectors. Because of that, when a short time ago I wanted to remind people of the parents’ responsibility I did it by quoting literally a sentence of Saramago’s, a sentence which expresses this idea very well. Since José Saramago, in addition to being a Nobel Prize laureate, is very left wing and was a Stalinist Communist, no-one said a word. I have had to use this technique many times when speaking about education, the environment, population policies, family policies, etc.

It is a bad sign for me, and for society as a whole, that I have to resort to this strategy. By this I mean that the politically correct, single ideology is too stifling. From experience, I know that it can even stifle the act of governing.

have been encouraging all kinds of demonstrations and environmentalist platforms against virtually everything: roads, electrical power lines, wind farms, landfill sites, irrigation works, ski resorts, industrial zones and factories, etc. And he continues to encourage them today. In public this politician does not say what he says in private and does not act according to his principles.

These are daily occurrences. They happen all the time.

You would be amazed if you knew who was doing this. And that is what we have to stop.

This ideology has to encompass a large number of specific topics. Both very practical and more theoretical topics (which in the long run can be implacably efficient).

I would like to say a few words about one of these more theoretical topics, the issue of individual and collective rights.

Some of the political problems we have today, both in Spain and in Europe as a whole, are in part due to the dominant criterion in the field of political and social doctrine, which greatly favours individual rights and places less

We have to create an ideology that is independent of the

value on collective rights. In general, it does not value

repetitive and acquiescent prevailing attitude. A coura-

obligations very highly. This is the case with the majority

geous ideology. Not fearful. And one that many people,

of European ideologies, and particularly so in Catalonia.

who today do not dare to, will be able to defend. And will

On top of this we have the concept of disconnection. Dis-

be able to act according to their principles.

connection means that individuals do not feel connected

It has to be a political ideology. Political in the wider sense of society. Therefore, it must also be economic, historical, cultural, social, etc. But it must be an ideology that culminates in politics.

It should be said that this is how things are because the criticism of any affirmation that is not quite politically correct is immediate and devastating. I have experienced this many, many times. For example, every time I said that the civil service and the teachers are to a large extent responsible for the teaching and training of children and of young people, but that the main responsibility lies with

to anything other than themselves. They feel connected to their own personal fulfillment, and in very immediatist terms at that. The sense of common good and collective responsibility is greatly weakened and concern for the future disappears. Moreover, there is a tendency for the suppression of the relationship that can and does exist collectively between the State and its inhabitants. People become individual subjects with legal rights and obligations, and recipients of services, disconnected from a collective cultural and social context of human relations.

And politics stop serving the general interest and become a means of offering services. The politician becomes a Leadership and change management in a public setting | 69

seller of services and the citizen simply becomes a con-

tities’. And he demanded the right for certain citizens to

sumer of services.

be ‘ in addition to Germans and Europeans ‘ Bavarians’.

I mentioned that concern for the future disappears. In a

However, in a country like ours, all this (cohesion, the co-

manifesto that he and several other German intellectuals

llective feeling, the desire for a real community), has to

and politicians addressed to the German public in 1992,

be constantly reinforced. And a supreme generator of co-

Helmut Schmidt criticized the German people for, as he

hesion, as well as a way of responding to the set of rights

put it, ‘washing their hands of the future’. People were

and obligations characteristic of a just society, is what is

washing their hands of the future. They felt it was not their

known as the Welfare State. This has been applied in-

responsibility. Schmidt said: ‘The negotiation of future in-

tensively since the transition to democracy, and in Cata-

terests has become a threat to existence’. That is also

lonia in particular since the restoration of the Generalitat

happening here.

de Catalunya (Catalan Autonomous Government). But this

All this leads me to speak of another concept that is of vital importance to us ‘ identity. Recently, a Catalan writer very precisely contrasted the concept of citizenship based

is a topic that requires a frank and open debate in the whole of Europe, and one which will naturally have its own characteristics in Catalonia.

on the equality of rights and obligations as the only basis

The Welfare State is not just a series of services and me-

for coexistence, with the identity that he considers ne-

asures designed to serve citizens. It deals with their he-

cessary in addition to a greater sense of community and

alth, their education, their accommodation, and provides

a desire to build a common heritage. Naturally, identity

for their care in their old age or if they become disabled.

cannot do without the interplay of rights and obligations.

Moreover, it can guarantee that they receive a good edu-

However, it adds the bond of a feeling of collective loyalty

cation. In addition, it is a social concept. In fact, it is a

and human solidarity, which gives it greater weight and

concept that deals with individuals. In reality, the Welfare

density. This means that when there is only citizenship,

State is no more than the application of humanist values

the demand for rights is very great, but not nearly as great

to the organization of society (and the economy as an in-

as that for the corresponding obligations. Because the

direct consequence). However, in Catalonia it also gives

substrate of loyalty and solidarity I mentioned is very

cohesion to a diverse country, which is under a great deal

weak.

of pressure.

By the way, it is a pity that the drawing up of the European

However, this raises problems of sustainability. Firstly sus-

Constitution has occurred at a time when men like Hel-

tainability from an economic point of view. This is the

mut Kohl and Jacques Delors are no longer as influential

issue of social reforms that are being discussed so much

as they were ten years ago. They could have offset the

these days in Europe. It is the issue of the social reforms

statist and individualist tendency that now predominates.

that are being carried out in Germany. Personally, I be-

Look, for example, at what the ex-Chancellor Kohl said a

lieve that in Spain and in Catalonia there is greater leeway

few days ago: ‘The EU is not a mere association of citi-

for maintaining and improving the Welfare State than in

zens, but an association of countries that respect all iden-

other European countries. Perhaps what helps me here is my perpetual tendency to be anti-Malthusian, and in our case to believe that for some time our growth rate will continue to be higher than the European average. Another thing that helps, without a doubt, is our need to continue to create social cohesion.

However, there is also a problem of sustainability from the point of view of personal and civic values. In theory, the Welfare State should improve not only the social condition of the people, but also their civic condition. It is no

70 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

minor issue. As the Scandinavians have already stated, it

with the subject matter. The discipline and the dynamics

is necessary to prevent the Welfare State dulling people’s

of effort were rejected outright. Educational experimen-

sense of responsibility. And precisely the society we need

tation strengthened creativity and initiative, but strayed

to build starting now, is the opposite of this. Its main ob-

from the values essential for driving forward any kind of

jective has to be to stimulate people’s sense of responsi-

project, not just educational ones, but projects connec-

bility. Now we have to move towards when is known as

ted with life, with the moralities of effort, hierarchy and

‘the responsible society’.

responsibility. This has had a negative effect on educa-

And whilst we are on the subject of the Welfare State, we should remember something that has been accepted in many European countries, although not here yet. We should remember that without solid families, the Welfare State will experience a crisis. And the general progress of

tion and, indirectly, on society. For years, no-one, or virtually no-one, dared to challenge the criticism ‘ which was sometimes direct, other times sarcastic, but always extremely harsh ‘ that any discrepancy in the prevailing educational ideology unleashed.

the country will suffer as a result. That is why some peo-

All this led to a state of confusion, which has had an ex-

ple, including myself, say that giving priority to a good fa-

tremely detrimental effect on the education of young pe-

mily policy is a means of creating a progressive policy and

ople and, ultimately, on the strength of the collective

that it would be reactionary not to do so. In other words,

mentality.

it would mean going against the general progress and social cohesion. It seems that we want to hide the family because it is not seen as being very ‘cool’ these days. However, the family is the driving force behind social construction. The family is the main infrastructure in society.

That is why one of the current political objectives in Catalonia must be to ensure that the Spanish legislation ‘ more decisive in this respect than the Catalan laws ‘ and also our own, in particular with less restrictive funding, allows us to strengthen family support policies in Catalonia.

Everything related to education and training, constitutes a factor that gives a country consistency. In the first place because this is a very important tool for the promotion of the individual. Remember that the possibility of the promotion of both the individual and the family, constitutes a basic ingredient of cohesion and of the general community spirit, in addition to being one of the main factors involved in a country’s general progress. I not only refer to it for this reason, but also because education is one of the fields where in Catalonia the politically correct ideology has caused the greatest chaos. And where the doublespeak I referred to earlier is most frequent. For a time, modernity meant experimenting in the field of education in order to overcome the excessive rigidity that had been at the heart of the education system during Franco’s dictatorship. This reaction led us to confuse the methods

Our education policies must be improved. But we need to avoid looking for the easy way out of simply asking for more money. We do need more money, but even the PISA (OECD Programme for International Student Assessment) report said that for the amount of money Spain invests in education the results should be better. Therefore, something else must be wrong, and some laws probably need to be changed, laws which I have to admit CiU (Convergència i Unió) voted in, as does the mentality (the one I described earlier as lacking a morality of effort, rejection of hierarchy, etc.).

Earlier I referred in passing to environmental issues. This is one of the main issues facing our society today. The debate is a healthy and necessary reaction to the levels of abuse and irresponsibility that have been reached in our society. In order to understand to what extent the ecologists’ reaction is justified, we only have to remember the environmental and human disasters in the former Communist Block countries, where extreme productivism ‘ carried out without adequate technical safeguards and without the control of public opinion or the exercise of democratic rights ‘ led to a catastrophic situation. However, to take a case in point, we know that here too we have reached alarming situations. Foolish things. Really absurd things until quite recently. Therefore, a strong reaction from the environmentalists was necessary. However, with Leadership and change management in a public setting | 71

time, this movement has created an extremely radical ide-

We need to keep on working on these concepts, bearing

ology and irrational and incoherent approaches have

in mind that new factors have arisen: new immigrations,

been adopted, which have been negative in many res-

in particular, and growing social concern. And concepts

pects and in many cases. As that politician said, in his in-

that may entail a risk for Catalonia as a people and as a

sincerity that I referred to earlier, they hold back the

nation, concepts such as multiculturality, radical relati-

country in a dangerous fashion. But these excesses are

vism, etc. And in all of this ‘ and this is the second rea-

applauded and encouraged, with an incredible amount

son for referring to it ‘ very worrying perspectives are

of passion and a capacity to exert a great deal of pres-

revealed, through a politically correct ideology, very firmly

sure, by political parties and by many sectors of the

directed at achieving collective resignation. With a high

media. And, as I explained before, this is often done very

degree of what I have called doublespeak and the capa-

insincerely, with a manipulative attitude. All this makes it

city for political and media pressure.

essential for us to be brave enough to separate the wheat from the chaff in the environmental movement; in other words to promote efficient and rational ‘ but not fundamentalist ‘ environmental policies, which are not used as a political weapon. (And I have the pleasure of being able say this, whilst at the same time recalling that my government easily met the deadlines which the EU had imposed for the fulfillment of the water purification policies, and that it was the first in the whole of the Spanish State to create a Department of the Environment).

At the heart of a lot of what I am denouncing, lies an antisystem attitude, fuelled by different types of sensibilities and different schools of thought. An anti-system attitude can be good or advantageous, as long as it is able to formulate a proposal.

However, the problem is also that due to fear, or in order to please goodness knows who, these anti-system attitudes receive incredible support, similar to the support received by the squatter movement over a long time from

In a review of basic premises for the necessary renovation of our country ideology, it is essential to speak of immigration. For two main reasons: Firstly, because it is obvious that it represents an extraordinary challenge for our identity, for our cohesion and for our coexistence. It also corresponds to two major objective facts: the demographic, economic and develop-

people with a lot of political responsibility.

Is not necessarily always wrong to criticise the system.

However, up till now, the squatter movement has not succeeded in going beyond the field of transgression. It has made no constructive proposals. And that makes it more distorting than efficient. It acts more like a brake than an engine.

mental imbalance there is in the world and the labour requirements of Catalonia and the whole of Europe in general. It is a phenomenon of great significance, which even large countries with their own state and all kinds of resources have difficulties dealing with.

What should we do? In terms of population and immigration, Catalonia has always focused on integration, organization and identity (identity in terms not only of the past, but also of projects and the future) and the acceptance of rights and obligations. And also, at all times, in conjunction with proposals of developmental policies for the countries where the immigrants come from. And we have emphasized the capital value of cohesion, coexistence and of the promotion of people and families, in other words, the profoundly human aspects of the issue.

72 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

All that I have been commenting on, in other words, the morality of disconnection, intimidation and fear in the face of serious problems, the morality of no effort, insincerity, the renunciation of concern for the future, discouragement in the face of great challenges, all this has led to a crisis in the sense of responsibility, both personal and collective. There is a deep crisis in the concept of the common good. As I said, there is a great difficulty in raising crucial issues for the future. Only the present counts.

The demand for rights has grown out of all proportion and there is a rejection, a sidestepping of obligations, in other words of the contribution of general interest. All this endangers a multitude of things, from the Welfare State to

There is no need for me to go on at length about the role that civil society should play in all this.

People frequently say that Catalonia has a consistent civil society. And it is true. On the other hand, it has always been thought that the Catalan civil society should play a particularly important role thanks to the deficit of political power in Catalonia. However, precisely for this reason, it is imperative that the direction in which Catalonia is heading, its cohesion, its leadership and its ambition, all be clearly defined. Precisely for this reason, Catalonia should constitute an example, a model and a driving force for the future of new generations or Europe’s role in the

what is known as the responsible society.

world, because it is true that many of the problems I raise

However, civil society needs to bear one thing in mind.

are not exclusively Catalan. They occur in many European

There is a danger that at times it will defend sectoral or in-

countries, and sometimes even more often there than in

dividual interests more than the general interest. And that

Catalonia.

is logical, because it is very diverse. But, precisely for this

Thus, there is a need for responsible education. The morality of responsibility needs to be strengthened and the morality of disconnection ‘ the morality of not being connected to anything ‘ has to be fought. The morality of not

reason, a few moments ago I said that efforts must be made to define the direction the country and the society is going in, and to consolidate its cohesion and its leadership.

feeling indebted to anyone. Of not feeling obliged to any-

And another thing should also be borne in mind. Civil so-

thing or anyone except oneself.

ciety is sometimes unable to make certain decisions or

A society with a greatly weakened sense of common good cannot succeed. Without this sense, a society in constant protest is gradually created. Even societies living within the welfare framework are dissatisfied. With more material elements and greater social positioning than ever before. Societies that even have quite positive qualities.

However, neither individuals nor society will benefit from

embark on certain projects. For example, often it cannot choose between opposing interests. Organized politics is required to do this. And perhaps now I should say something else. The fact that I personally am retiring from politics does not mean that I do not consider it essential for as many people as necessary to get involved ‘ the best people ‘ and dedicate themselves to the world of politics.

this.

Therefore, if any objective is worthwhile focusing on it is

Another thing we should all keep an eye on is the countr-

this one, the responsible society. People talk about the

y’s mood. It is quite possible that my speech will not have

welfare society, and that is fine. About societies in pro-

helped boost spirits up to now. Quite the contrary, per-

gress. That is also fine. About the ludic society. Well, that

haps.

depends. About the opulent society. It is also fine, in certain circumstances, but what we really need is a respon-

And I was aware of this risk. However, you will understand

sible society. Educating people about responsibility and

that speaking about these subjects in the terms I use,

all its consequences should be one of our society’s main

which will earn me more criticism than praise, can only

objectives, starting in schools and including the media,

be done when one is very sure it is absolutely necessary.

academia and the world of politics. And yet we do not do

And it is necessary. Because we are facing a huge cha-

it.

llenge. We are up against it already. And it can be overcome if we have a fighting spirit (I do) and believe that it really is possible to create an ideology and a morality that Leadership and change management in a public setting | 73

can drive us forwards (I believe it is). We simply need to

second is to use what we have properly and to value it.

believe in the country (I do).

The third is to improve what we have.

In his last speeches as President of the Federal Republic

In 1928, Vallès i Pujals wrote a very simple but educatio-

of Germany, Johannes Rau insisted that one of the pro-

nal book entitled, ‘Elogi de Catalunya’ (In Praise of Cata-

blems that his country had was its Stimmung, its mood.

lonia). This book helped me to love my country and to be

According to him, his country’s mood was not very good.

catalanista (a supporter of Catalan autonomy). And to set

A good mood is needed if a country is to go forwards.

to work to serve my country. Now the time has come to

For many years, the Catalan mood has generally been good. However, we must ask ourselves whether it conti-

write another book, with intellectual rigour, that goes into even greater depth.

nues to be good.

In the first place, I believe that there is an element of in-

It could be called ‘Elogi de Catalunya’ (In Praise of Cata-

security, of questioning and concern. In some sectors the

lonia) or ‘Ambició de Catalunya’ (The Catalan Ambition),

new political situation may contribute to this. But it is cer-

or both. Because although I am sure that someone will

tain that other factors also play a role. There is some con-

reproach me for the critical tone of my speech, it will not

fusion (even the proposals to reform the Statute are set

surprise you if I say that I am pleased to be Catalan, that

out in a confused manner). People are disappointed

I am experienced in using what we have (and I know that

about how the European issue has evolved, people had

it is a lot), and I also know that it can be improved. The-

hoped for better. The final few years of Aznar’s govern-

refore, I believe that we shall go forward.

ment created depression and the first few months of Zapatero’s government have created a little bit of hope, but in reality they have created confusion. And the intellectual message and the message about values that is being transmitted do not drive us forward or guide us. On the other hand, as I said, all this concurs with the mood in Europe, which is not very stimulating either.

A few days ago a report on the attitude of the French people was published, drawn up by all the prefects in France. It is a devastating report ‘ so much so that I hardly believe it. It says literally that ‘les français ne croient plus en rien’ (‘the French people no longer believe in anything’), and they are dominated by fear, apathy and what the French call sinistrose, a word that is difficult to translate but basically means ‘doom and gloom’. I must say ‘ since I know France quite well ‘ that I cannot believe the situation is that bad, despite what all the prefects in France say have said. But it does look like the mood in our neighbouring country is not very good.

My conclusion is that in Catalonia we are better off, much better off in this respect that France and Germany. But in any case our mood (estat d’ànim or Stimmung) requires some attention. And above all it requires three things. The first is to be satisfied with what we are. To believe in what we are, and in what we can be and what we can do. The 74 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

With a new Statute, better funding and positive political and economic developments in Catalonia and the whole of Spain and indeed Europe. But especially with good motivation, good planning and a very responsible Catalan society. The responsible society I mentioned earlier.

This book ‘Elogi de Catalunya’ or ‘Ambició de Catalunya’ could also have a third title, ‘Missatge de Catalunya’ (Message from Catalonia).

Can Catalonia, with regards coexistence, or in its ability to combine identity and internationalization, or the quality of life, or the way it receives immigrants, etc., be held up as a model? I think it can.

Catalanisme ‘ the movement for Catalan autonomy ‘ or perhaps simply Catalonia, has always felt the need to formulate and broadcast a far-reaching message. It has always tried to make its voice heard, to make its message heard beyond its borders. It has always wanted to address Spain, or Europe or the World. Or History.

This can appear almost moving, bearing in mind how things sometimes turn out. And some may say that it is ridiculous. However, there are at least three good reasons why it is good not to give up this vocation. In the first place

harm the general interest. They are bad for society and for the country.

I am one of the many people who can make a contribution. Since I have very little political responsibility ‘ and even less institutional responsibility ‘ and, above all, do not need to grab votes or to please anyone, I can do this with greater freedom than some others. What I will be able to do in the future will be far more modest than what I did in the last thirty years. Therefore, whereas the conference I gave on 21 January 1975 has been remembebecause it is not true that our message has no impact.

Secondly, the creation and broadcasting of a message for people living outside Catalonia forces us to make an effort to improve its quality. Thirdly, because this effort gives us life and meaning, it gives us an identity.

red because it signified the beginning of a great deal of political activity, today’s speech will not be so memorable. Or it might be forgotten entirely. But you will all be aware, as it says in Ecclesiastes, that for everything there is a season. A time to fight and a time to love, a time to work and a time to rest, a time to ask and a time to give.

What message can Catalonia formulate and broadcast

What counts is that people do what they have to do at a

today? There is a danger that this message could be ins-

given moment, and that they do it well. And, in my case,

pired by the prevailing atmosphere in Catalonia, which is

that I do what the country needs and expects of me. With

clearly politically and intellectually correct.

this mixture I mentioned earlier of modesty and self-esteem.

But this message would be of no interest. Because it is in turn subsidiary, a copy of a general ideology which is also correct and exhausted. But very correct, that is for sure.

Your presence here tonight inspires and encourages me.

This is what happened with the Forum. It was a success from the point of view of urban development. It made people speak about Barcelona a bit more. So, I don’t mean to be critical here. However, as a message, it went unnoticed. Because it amounted to a disoriented and confused political and intellectual ideology.

The Right Honourable Mr. Jordi Pujol i Soley is the former president of the Generalitat de Catalunya (1980-2003).

We must be, and we can be, more ambitious. Since we boast so much about the how creative we are, we should be able to invent ‘ based on our most solid reality ‘ what I said to you before: identity, but also the idea of the welcome society, quality of life but also economic ambition, diversity but also cohesion.

Everyone is called to work on these issues. And it is urgent. There are already too many people who say one thing in public and another in private about a large number of the subjects I have mentioned. Aware (and they even admit they are) that the decisions that are taken, or not taken, as a result of this sort of laziness and fear, can Leadership and change management in a public setting | 75

15

The Challenge of Organizational Change Missing leaders thus short-circuit both the major elements of a hopeful view of the potential for successful frontline change. If leaders don’t try to initiate change, supporters can’t be unleashed. If leaders don’t persist, the operation of positive feedback to expand change support doesn’t have time to occur. So the message to leaders who believe a change program has the potential to improve the performance of the organization they lead will be a simple one: ‘Do it!’

20/06/2005 - Steve Kelman

In some senses, of course, organizations change all the

existing practice. Nonetheless, numerous accounts have

time. Employees and managers come and go, new pro-

chronicled successes of American companies’ rising to

cedures get written, new products or services are intro-

the challenge of increased global competition, including

duced. Where organizational change becomes difficult

large, older firms such as IBM and General Electric, in sig-

is where it requires the modifying of embedded individual

nificant measure through changes to existing practices.

behavior patterns or the ways the organization has been

And although the phenomenon has received considerably

structured. Then change becomes hard ‘ very hard. ‘Pe-

less attention because, by media consensus, government

ople resist change,’ the mantra goes.

success is not newsworthy, a number of accounts provide

And yet, to paraphrase Galileo from a very different context, the procurement system moved. Just as sure as that organizational change is hard is that it sometimes succeeds. Change is easier when it involves adding an innovation to existing practice than when, as with the effort to reduce bureaucracy in procurement, it involves altering 76 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

examples of successful change in government.[1] A prominent feature of many of these changes is that they have made organizations less bureaucratic. So the fundamental question becomes: what explains the difference between success and failure?

Starting with the premise that ‘people resist change,’

most prescriptive literature on how successfully to

traditional system with process over results, favoring a

achieve change emphasizes particular tactics: either in-

new ideology centered around gaining better value for the

ducing attitude change (convincing people that their re-

government. A significant proportion of frontline emplo-

sistance is mistaken and that they should embrace a new

yees felt one or more of these sources of dissatisfaction,

approach) or ‘shock and awe’ (overwhelming the reluc-

though not all those feeling dissatisfaction would have

tant with the necessity of change, despite their inclina-

classified themselves as critics of the existing system,

tions to preserve the status quo, or establishing powerful

since they may also have felt countervailing reasons to

rewards and penalties tied to behavior change).

support the status quo.

The conventional ‘people resist change’ view is often

Thus, the organizational status quo is often controversial.

oversimplified and misleading, and common change stra-

It has supporters. But it also has critics. Thus, rather

tegies growing out of that view are therefore incomplete

than saying ‘people resist change,’ it is more appropriate

as well. Furthermore, the very hold that the conventional

to see initiation of a change process as unleashing a po-

view has over our thinking about organizational change

litical struggle inside the organization.

makes change more difficult. Instead, this book will argue that there is often a constituency for change as well as for the status quo. Changing big government organizations may turn out to be easier than meets the eye. In this book, I will argue that there are two little-discussed paths for successful organizational change. What I call ‘unleashing politics’ can be a path to successful change.

What I call ‘change feeding on itself’ can be a path to suc-

Under this view, when leaders at the top proclaim change, this provides supporters at the bottom with an opportunity to initiate the change they already seek. They start doing what they had wanted to do even before the change was announced. Through their actions, top leaders in effect intervene in the politics of the front lines. People who, in the absence of a signal from above, would mostly have

cessful change consolidation.

just have nursed their grievances and gone about their

Arguments for why change is hard turn out to be not

ader intervention makes the local change advocates

wrong so much as incomplete. Many people do become

stronger politically than they would otherwise have been.

attached to how they’ve done business in the past. But

This can allow a change process to gain a foothold.

the ‘people resist change’ view ignores the fact that that social arrangements often create discontent as well as satisfaction. Those discontented with established arrangements form a constituency for change. Furthermore, some people, as a general rule, actually enjoy change because they like trying new things ‘ like those who are early adopters of new gadgets - creating an additional consti-

jobs in the old way, are encouraged to rise up. And top le-

Pro-change forces, however, are seldom a majority when a change process begins. They were a minority in the case of procurement reform. How then can change eventually gather majority support? Good experiences with reform help persuade people, of course, and it is hard to imagine any change being sustained that delivers a

tuency for change.

stream of negative results. However, the consolidation of

In the case of the traditional procurement system, the

benefits. Such a view ignores the notion that support for

major source of dissatisfaction was unhappiness over the

change can feed on itself. The mere initiation of a change

lack of job autonomy that the heavy overlay of rules and

process, and the mere passage of time that the change

signoffs produced. In addition, there were other sources

goes on, themselves generate forces increasing support

of dissatisfaction with the traditional system. The spread

for change. Change can feed on itself ‘ or, to use social

of total quality management, and the ‘customer’ concept

science language, positive feedback can occur - because

associated with it, heightened concerns about tensions

a movement in one direction sets in motion forces pro-

between procurement people and the end users on

ducing further movement in the same direction. In other

whose behalf they were buying. The system’s growing bu-

words, once you get started, positive feedback, and not

reaucracy caused increased job burden and stress. Even-

just the actual benefits of the change, makes it easier for

tually, some challenged the preoccupation of the

change to get consolidated.

change does not occur simply because change provides

Leadership and change management in a public setting | 77

Change can feed on itself in two ways. First, positive fe-

are convinced of the conventional view that ‘people resist

edback mechanisms can expand support for change in-

change’, and that it is too difficult to achieve changes at

directly by increasing the extent to which a person has

the working levels of their organizations. Ironically, then,

good experience with change, independently of any fea-

belief in the conventional wisdom that ‘people resist

tures of the experience itself. The good experience in turn

change’ thus helps produce the results the conventional

works to increase change support. To take one example,

wisdom predicts.

some personality traits make it easier for people to be successful at whatever they try. One example would be feeling driven to succeed at one’s job. People driven to succeed will work hard to succeed at whatever they are asked to do; if asked to try a new way of doing business, they will work hard to do it well. This increases the chances that a person will have good experience trying

Second, leaders don’t persist long enough in the change efforts they do launch. Psychologically, it’s easy to get bored with something one has worked on for a few months, to move onto something else that is more exciting. Beyond that, one important difference between procurement reform and many other change efforts in

change, and good experience promotes support.

government is that the top leaders of the effort have no

Second, positive feedback mechanisms can directly in-

organizations to run. This makes it very difficult for them

crease support for change with the mere passage of time,

to devote large blocks of time over sustained periods to

independently of the impact of how good people’s expe-

organizational change. The odds are high that something

riences with the change have been. For example, psycho-

will ‘come up’ to occupy one’s attention other than the

logists have established the presence of what has been

change effort the leader might have originally launched.

called the ‘mere exposure effect,’ by which is meant the positive impact on a person’s attitudes towards something by simple repeated exposure to it. Before a change effort has begun, mere exposure is an obstacle to successful change, since it increases support for established practices, independently of their benefits. However, once a change has gone on long enough, the ‘mere exposure’ film begins running backwards. Now, new behaviors that have been tried often enough begin to benefit from the ‘mere exposure’ effect. The same factors that had made

other responsibilities. Other top leaders have operating

Missing leaders thus short-circuit both the major elements of a hopeful view of the potential for successful frontline change. If leaders don’t try to initiate change, supporters can’t be unleashed. If leaders don’t persist, the operation of positive feedback to expand change support doesn’t have time to occur. So the message to leaders who believe a change program has the potential to improve the performance of the organization they lead will be a simple one: ‘Do it!’

it hard for change to gain a foothold, independently of the benefits of the status quo, begin to promote support for new attitudes, independently of their benefits.

The most important message to emerge from this account of procurement reform on the front lines of government is a hopeful one. There is more potential for successful frontline change in large organizations, inclu-

Steve Kelman is the Weatherhead Professor of Public Management at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and editor of the International Public Management Journal (http://www.inpuma.net/editors.htm).

ding large government organizations, than is normally thought to exist. Successful change to existing organizational practice, under this view, doesn’t occur more often for two simple reasons. First, leaders trying to introduce such changes do so too seldom in the first place (although new leaders frequently do seek to add new policies or programs to existing ones, rather than working to change existing behavior in the organization, particularly at the working level). They may never try, because they 78 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

[1]Michael Barzelay, Breaking Through Bureaucracy (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992); David Osborne and Ted Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1992); Martin A. Levin and Mary Bryna Sanger, Making Government Work: How Entrepreneurial Executives Turn Bright Ideas into Real Results (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994); Jonathan Boston, John Martin, June Pallot and Pat Walsh, Public

Management: The New Zealand Model (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996); David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy: The Five Strategies for Reinventing Government (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1997); and Sandford Borins, Innovating With Integrity: How Local Heroes Are Transforming American Government (Washington: Georgetown University Press, 1998)

Unleashing Change A Study of Organizational Renewal in Government

by Steven Kelman Brookings Institution Press, 2005 352 pp Take a Virtual Book Tour of Unleashing Change: http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/ virtualbooktour/ kelman_05.htm

Leadership and change management in a public setting | 79

16

Managing Change and Innovation in Public Service Organisations Can public services change? Is it possible for public service organisations to be innovative? These questions are at the core of Managing Change and Innovation in Public Service Organisations. Common perceptions remain that public services are resistant to change and that innovation is the sole province of the private, forprofit sector. The possibility of public service organisations embarking on successful change programmes and establishing effective systems for promoting innovation forms the basis of the proposition for this research endeavour.

27/03/2006 - Stephen Osborne & Kerry Brown

Public service organisations (PSOs) have existed traditio-

nage change and innovation rather than retain outmoded

nally in a relatively stable environment typically charac-

processes or operate by reacting to external or imposed

terised by small-scale, incremental change and gradual

events.

development. However, the twin pressures of shrinking budgets and greater political and economic uncertainty in the contexts in which public service organisations operate have combined to break down the conventional certainties of public service operations. These forces have driven an agenda based on the need to proactively ma80 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Yet, little is known about how to successfully implement and manage change and innovation in PSOs. Studies of change efforts have focussed mainly on the private sector and, even then, ambitious change programmes have been found to fail in many studies of change initiatives (Beer and Nohria, 2000). Similarly, many studies of inno-

vation have tended to give attention to innovative practices and processes in the private sector. In order to bring a public service perspective to these issues, Osborne’s (1998a, 1998b and 1998c) work in community sector and social policy innovation is outlined and expanded to establish a set of possible blueprints and frameworks for understanding and elaborating a system of innovation in PSOs. The volatile environment of the public service is explored and the critical triggers for change and innovation examined. The issues of assessing the requirements for developing a coherent and appropriate change agenda and

prehensive evaluation of the outcomes of change.

Change efforts therefore rely on developing effective strategies to: • Set clear organisational goals; • Adopt appropriate communication strategies; • Develop linkages across the organisation; • Establish high-quality leadership and management; • Engender change receptivity; and

programme together with a systematic policy and programmatic response to establishing innovation in PSOs is outlined. The key tools and models for understanding and developing change and innovation programmes are set out and critically evaluated.

• Adopt a culture of adaptation to change.

There are a multiplexity of views about the ways to manage change in organisations. However, common themes and frameworks have been identified and their applica-

Emergent change and continuous change contexts have

bility to achieving successful change has been conside-

come to occupy a prominent place as an evolving feature

red. PSOs, in particular, add complexity to the concept of

of contemporary public services and these pose particu-

organisational change as these organisations are orien-

lar challenges for PSOs. The ability to adapt quickly to new

ted to public rather than private purposes and do not

operating approaches and institutional arrangements is

have the incentive of the ‘bottom line’ to guide behaviour

vital but residual traces of traditional frameworks and

and test outcomes.

techniques for managing PSOs, together with the propensity for incremental advances, may work against innovation and change. A way forward for understanding change and innovation in PSOs is mapped to capitalise on the benefits of a well-considered, tailored change programme and a comprehensive innovation system.

Achieving successful change is dependent on a range of factors that come into play at an organisational level. In order to promote change there is a need to: • Secure commitment at the top of the organisation;

Innovation in PSOs has been pursued as a policy goal in order to reduce the dependence of citizens and organisations on government resources but also as bottom-up demands from citizens and top-down demands from government to provide new and more responsive models of service delivery took hold.

The first step to understanding innovation in public service organisations is to determine the nature and characteristics of innovation and the attributes of successful innovative organisations. Managing innovation then derives from understanding how the innovation process can

• Determine the need for change and substantiate the direction of change; • Focus on the tangible structures and processes as well as intangible values and culture of the organisation; • Identify the potential problems related to achieving the change programme; • Follow up implementation of the change with a com-

be adapted to the public service context and fostering a climate of innovation. Innovation at both organisational and individual levels is examined.

Key issues in promoting and supporting innovation in PSOs: • Identify the level of intervention i.e. top-down or bottom-up innovation;

Leadership and change management in a public setting | 81

• Assess whether innovation suits planned or emergent approaches; • Understanding how risk should be calculated and/or shared; • Identify barriers and ways of overcoming these impediments; • Classify the approach to learning within the PSO; • Recognise the potential problems and work out ways of resolution; and, • Identify how the rewards should be allocated.

However, it is not enough to simply develop and implement a change agenda or establish a set of initiatives to foster innovation. Change and innovation need to be sustained across organisations and over time. Sustaining change is argued to be reliant on developing ‘higher order’ competencies and capabilities in relation to change. Efforts to build organisational social capital through on-going networks of relationships, both one-way and two-way communication processes, aligning reward and recognition systems to change initiatives within organisations, efforts to build culture and organisational acceptance of change are all ‘higher order’ capacities that assist in ensuring that change is maintained.

Similarly, building sustainability into organisational inno-

The typical characteristics of public innovators are iden-

vations and sustaining innovation in PSOs is an important

tified and critically examined to assist in discerning the

aspect of ensuring that innovation becomes embedded

types of behaviours that may promote an innovative ap-

as part of mainstream organisational structures and prac-

proach to public services organisation and operation.

tices. Approaches that incorporate a mix of cultural, struc-

Characteristics of innovators may include intuition and

tural and relationship elements are required. Features

creativity, critical thinking, an orientation to problem-sol-

such as defining achievable and visible goals for innova-

ving, highly developed leadership skills, ability to engage

tion, appropriate reward and acknowledgement of suc-

in social interaction and possesses a well-integrated per-

cess, systematic implementation that allows for

sonality. While these characteristics do not ensure that

regeneration and evaluation and, establishing a culture

individuals are successful innovators in PSOs, research

that supports innovation are important to ensure that in-

indicates that these elements may point to fruitful ways

novation is a key plank in the effective management and

for identifying and developing innovators in PSOs.

sustainability of PSOs.

The factors that are found to be important in achieving innovation and developing a culture of innovation in PSOs focus on three areas: individual actions; organisational structures; and, organisational environment. Salient issues to consider when applying an innovation framework to PSOs include: • Individual agency including innovation champions, supporters and advocates; • Organisational culture of innovation i.e. risk-tolerant, learning-oriented and rewards innovation;

Stephen Osborne is Professor of Public Management and Head of the Public Management Group at the Aston Business School, United Kingdom (s.p.osborne@aston.ac.uk).

Kerry Brown is Professor of Public Management at the School of Management of Queensland University of Technology, Australia (ka.brown@qut.edu.au).

• External orientation based on an ‘open system’ approach.

It is concluded that the leadership, communication, culture, type of change programme and context are all elements that contribute to the ability to manage change and innovation in PSOs. 82 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

References Beer, M. and N. Nohria (2000) Breaking the Code of Change.

HBS Press: Boston, MA. Osborne, S. (1998a) Voluntary Organisations and Innovation in

Public Services. Routledge: London.

Osborne, S. (1998b) Naming the Beast. Defining and classifying service innovations in social policy, Human Relations, 51(9): 1133-54.

Osborne, S. (1998c) Organisational structure and innovation in voluntary associations: Applying the Aston Measure, Voluntas, 9(4): 345-62.

Osborne, S. and Brown, K. 2005. Managing Change and Innovation in Public Service Organisations, Routledge, London.

Leadership and change management in a public setting | 83

17

Public Management: Old and New In summary, when it comes to managerial reform and change, countries are unlikely to wander very far from their historic paths, even when, as they have in the past, they confront revolutionary changes in their circumstances. Thus it is important to know what paths they are on, because the present is influenced in systematic ways by prior choices and conventions.

24/07/2006 - Laurence I. Lynn, Jr.

Beginning in the 1970s and quickening in the 1980s, the

been riveted by claims that a new paradigm, the busi-

ideology of managerialism began to infuse European pu-

ness-like New Public Management, is replacing traditio-

blic administration. In America, where management and

nal, hierarchical government on a global scale. By

managers had been respected for generations, an invi-

examining the evolution of managerial structures, practi-

gorated emphasis on public management was pervading

ces, and values in France, Germany, the United Kingdom,

public affairs education and practice. There ensued an

and the United States, Public Management: Old and New

era of public management reforms so international in

reveals how public management institutions and practi-

scope that the term New Public Management (NPM), coi-

ces in these, and by implication, most other countries, is

ned for that subset of neo-liberal policies initiated by Wes-

inevitably shaped by the country’s history as much as or

tminster governments, came to describe public

more than by transcendent global forces. Constitutions

management reforms of almost every kind, everywhere,

and constitutional institutions, legislatures, and courts of

including civil service, budget, and territorial reforms that

competent jurisdiction control and regulate the evolution

had long histories under other names. Almost any deli-

of national public management. Moreover, the spread of

berate effort at organizational change and development

national democratic movements, not internationalized ca-

began to be counted as NPM.

pitalism, is the most influential of recent global develop-

Discussion of these public management reforms has 84 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

ments shaping public management reform.

Public Management: Old and New reflects several con-

founded on new sources of legitimacy and new bases for

victions: that public management is a nexus where poli-

the performance of collective tasks: perhaps different

tics, law, and administration necessarily engage each

forms of rationality, different jurisprudential principles, a

other; that the comparative study of public management

different allocation of property rights, a different ideal

is essential to understanding its importance as an insti-

concerning the role of the state in protecting individual

tution of governance; that the study of public manage-

rights and creating collective goods; new habits of

ment must be both historical and analytical, both

thought and action not only among elites but more widely

descriptive and theoretical; and that public management

throughout the polity.

as a subject of teaching, research and practice must be recognized as having multiple, interrelated dimensions, including structures of delegation and control, managerial techniques and practices, and the values that come to be

As Elke Löffler and others have noted, however, the requisite political decision-making to sustain an altogether new managerial paradigm has not been happening.

institutionalized in administrative organizations.

Though there have been structural and operational re-

This argument is broadly institutional in that it traces the

occurred in the organization and practices of legitimizing

evolution of those durable governmental structures, con-

institutions: in parliaments and legislative councils, in ju-

ventions, practices, and beliefs that enable and constrain

dicial systems and administrative law forums, in political

public management policy and practice in these four ins-

conventions and traditional notions of oversight and ac-

titutionally different countries. The central argument is

countability. In the face of inertia in the political and ju-

that public management without its institutional context

dicial branches of government, it is likely that

is ‘mere’ managerialism, that is, an ideology or conceit

managerialism can do little more than supplement the

which views management principia probant, non proban-

repertoire of managerial structures and practices that is

tur as a technocratic means to achieve the end of effec-

the cumulative legacy of the centuries of effort that built

tive governmental performance without acknowledging

contemporary administrative states. In the long run, le-

the powerful influences of specific institutional contexts

gislatures and courts may not be willing to tolerate the

and circumstances on its structures, practices and va-

loss of traditional accountability implied by New Public

lues. On the contrary, public management cannot be un-

Management. That the status quo ante may no longer be

derstood as other than endogenous ‘ intrinsic ‘ to each

a preferred option, as Guy Peters has suggested, overlo-

country’s political economy. Each country’s political eco-

oks evidence of path dependency in national institutions

nomy must, in turn, be understood as a resultant of path-

and in the political dynamics that account for it.

dependent, historic processes subject, but in no predictable way, to occasional ‘punctuations’ or discontinuous changes that affect particular but not fundamen-

forms in various countries, little significant change has

In summary, when it comes to managerial reform and change, countries are unlikely to wander very far from

tal characteristics of change processes.

their historic paths, even when, as they have in the past,

To argue for convergence across countries on ‘govern-

ces. Thus it is important to know what paths they are on,

ment as a business,’ or, for that matter, on any other do-

because the present is influenced in systematic ways by

minant pattern of outcomes, one must argue that a

prior choices and conventions. American public mana-

fundamental transformation in the historic role of the na-

gement reflects the Founders’ choices concerning,

tion state and of democratic institutions, that is, in the

among other things, the formal separation of powers; Bri-

generative forces of public administration, is under way,

tish public management reflects the evolution of parlia-

transformation of a nature that ‘predicts’ the new para-

mentary sovereignty and the unity of its uncodified

digm or pattern. If the bureaucratic paradigm is ratio-

constitution. French and German public management re-

nal/legal in the Weberian sense in order to reconcile

flect the transformation of absolutist bureaucracies into

democracy with the administrative state, then a post-bu-

democratic Rechtsstaaten, albeit in different ways. Wi-

reaucratic paradigm featuring, for example, quasi-mar-

thout understanding these path dynamics, we cannot un-

kets or, alternatively, participatory democracy must be

derstand why, when it comes to public management

they confront revolutionary changes in their circumstan-

Leadership and change management in a public setting | 85

reform, America is incoherent and incremental, Great Britain can be zealous, Germany is reluctant, and France is inconsistent.

The most stable institutions in the era of managerialism have been those that guarantee the legitimacy of delegated authority: legislatures and courts. In America and in other countries as well, to the extent that their electoral politics involves the direct engagement of interest groups, elected officials will continue to be under pressure, when the legitimacy of the uses of delegated authority and resources is called into question, to enforce traditional modes and concepts of accountability. The same result is likely where the rule of law takes the form of a Rechtsstaat.

Against managerial institutions, and in a sense transcending them, then, stand the law and the courts that define and enforce it.

Laurence I. Lynn, Jr. is George H. W. Bush Chair and Professor of Public Affairs at George Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University, USA.

This article is based on the author’s Public Management: Old and New, forthcoming from Routledge.

86 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

18

Some lessons from our recent history regarding reforming the Civil Service

Credible indications suggest that reforming public sector employment could really come about this time after all. On a state level, there is the Report by the Commission responsible for the research into and drafting of the Basic Public Employee Statute (Estatuto BĂĄsico del Empleado PĂşblico) and, within Catalonia, the Report on Good Government and Administrative Transparency (Buen Gobierno y Transparencia Administrativa) has been published. Among other issues, this report indicates the need for in-depth reforms in public sector employment, for which purpose the corresponding Bill is currently being drawn up.

Independently of the pace and scope of both reforms, it would seem opportune to reflect on the lessons that we can take from the reform moves that have been approved over the last forty years.

26/09/2005 - Manuel FĂŠrez

Lessons on the state level In 1984, the first Socialist government since the re-establishment of democracy approved a partial and provisio-

with a clearly negative outcome, offers us some lessons related to this first series of reforms in the constitutional period.

nal reform of the pre-constitutional Civil Service model

The first of these is the lesson in coherence. A realistic

that had been encouraged by the government led by Opus

reform cannot be designed by deciding to carry out es-

Dei technocrats in 1964. The perspective of the time,

sential studies on its application and, therefore, viability, Leadership and change management in a public setting | 87

once the legislation has been passed. The most impor-

Civil Service as something new, in an attempt to have

tant investment of resources that a government intent on

these coexist with the classic and deteriorated system of

carrying out reforms should make comes in the diagnos-

Corps and Hierarchies in the Articulated Law of State Civil

tic phase: rigorous and exhaustive studies of the aspects

Employees (Ley Articulada de Funcionarios Civiles del Es-

to be improved, a quantitative evaluation of the human

tado), dated 1964. Twenty years later, the socialist re-

and material resources to make these changes viable

forms of 1984 reproduced the methodology of legalistic

and a realistic time-scale (it is usually good practice to

reform and, as it is widely known, also reproduced the fai-

run a pilot programme or test period, in order to get a ‘fo-

lure of tardofranquismo (a descriptive expression coined

retaste’ of the reform results).

by Alejandro Nieto who described this class of reforms as

The second of these is the lesson in realism. There was no time available to make a proper classification of jobs that equally affected the hundreds of thousands of people on the state level as well as on the autonomic region and local levels; similarly, neither was a minimal level of technology made available to carry out this job classification process. The Law had to be applied in a matter of

"paper reforms"). Regarding this syndrome, we had been alerted in 1979 by a lucid French thinker, Michel Crozier, author of a book that has already become a classic "Society is not Changed by Decree" (On ne change pas la société par décret) and which is essential reading for all reformist in the making, because as indicated by Joan Prats, in an equally inspired prologue:

four months. The result, literally, is a shoddy piece of

"Crozier’s book comes as a warning and admonition for

work, evidence of which are the provisional jobs catalo-

well-meaning though ill-informed reformers. Those are the

gues, still being used in many of our Administrations spe-

people who think that a fast diagnosis of the wrongs of

cially in local administrations, which still wait in the hope

the Administration is all that is needed, from which re-

that the State will remember to develop the basic norms

form objectives will be deduced, objectives which the le-

that are essential for drawing up real job description in-

gislative or executive power will then shape into

formation. But this did not lead to a "rebellion" among pu-

legislation, and whose transforming effect is expected re-

blic sector employees because, learning from historical

sulting from the validity and effectiveness with which, in

errors in previous reforms, legislators in 1984 made sure

principle, they are attributed. Crozier denounces the tech-

that when the new reform came into effect, nobody would

nocratic conception and the underlying ignorance of this

lose out in terms of purchasing power: the concept of the

way of thinking that leads to the imposition of changes by

personal and temporary supplement was created, and as

Decree, which only harm and impoverish the institutional

such another remunerative concept, known by its

system.

acronym (CPT), was consolidated through the trade unions.

In such delicate matters as institutions, on whose correct

And the third lesson lies in not falling into the syndrome

pends, it is impossible to take reforms lightly. Institutions

of the legislative reformer. In our administrative tradition

are not mechanical creations of Law and they cannot be

there exists the myth that reform or modernisation of the

changed by simple legal means. They are the product of

Administration takes place "miraculously", merely by

the specific history of each country and they are expres-

changing the laws; and this myth acquired the category of

sed in a series of delicate balances involving the integra-

pandemic at the hands of a young member of the Opus

ted components of a complex system. It is precisely that

Dei and Catalan university professor of Administrative

complexity which makes it impossible for them to be

Law by the name of Laureano López Rodó. He dazzled the

changed by a simple decision".

operation citizens’ confidence in collective action de-

then influential figure of the Franco regime, Carrero Blanco, and "embraced" North American ideas by backing the concepts of job and job classification, introduced clandestinely into our supposedly "Iberian" Law of Administrative Procedure in 1958 (art. 35 and seventh, final clause), and which he introduced into his reform of the 88 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Lessons affecting Catalonia Catalan legislators have followed in the footsteps of their state counterparts, which explains why the result is very

similar. The only partially innovating endeavour came

And the second lesson has to do with the need to be

about in the mid 1990s (I refer to the book, which in my

equipped with a suitable organisational structure: was

opinion should be considered required reading, written

there any previous reflection on the type of organisational

by Josep Ramón Morera: The Evolution of the Adminis-

structure, essential for managing such important chan-

tration and the Civil Service in Catalonia. An Exploration

ges? Was there any relevant organisational change be-

of the Management Systems of the Generalitat, from

fore and after 1997? How is it possible that, at this late

1980 to 2002 (L’evolució de l'Administració i la funció pú-

stage, there is still no subdivision responsible for human

bliques a Catalunya. Un recorregut pels sistemas de ges-

resources planning and evaluation within the Civil Service

tió de la Generalitat, des de 1980 fins a 2002). Between

General Directorate? Is there an organ that issues an an-

1994 and 1997 an important reform in the legislative

nual report evaluating the application of the personnel

system was introduced with a double purpose in terms of

policies and the carrying out of proposed improvements?

careers: on the one hand, to introduce the culture of eva-

Is the legal prevision applied periodically to draft an eva-

luation, to resist the deficiencies of a model weighed

luation report on work carried out with the aim of asses-

down by the excessive burden of the time factor and

sing this as merit in the job advertising process? And so

which did not stimulate good performance; and, on the

on.

other hand, to correct a series of pathologies which seriously affected the credibility of careers and the management of human resources (limiting the over use of the acting manager role, establishing criteria of professionalisation by means of creating the Technical Body for the Provision of Jobs (Òrgan Tècnic de Provisió de Llocs de Treball), launching what were called the Organisation Ma-

Independently of the ideological slant that can be given to the reforms that have been announced, we should ask ourselves if we are in fact capable of learning learn from the past and of not repeating the same mistakes. In this sense, I urge reformers to read the book written by José Antonio Marina entitled "Failed Intelligence. Theory and

nuals, etc.).

Practice of Stupidity" (La inteligencia fracasada. Teoría y

The result of this innovating attempt is in reality poor: eva-

statement that "the doggedness of our species in stum-

luation in relation to career is conspicuous for its absence

bling over the same stone not twice but two hundred

and the credibility of the model is low (general adverti-

times, gives us much to think about", makes clear the ad-

sing of jobs does not guarantee the suitability of the can-

vantages of behaving as intelligent people, organisations

didate to the position, and special job advertising

and societies.

práctica de la estupidez) which, based on the empirical

approaches usually result in the job going to the employee who provisionally holds the job, and the cover techniques ‘reports, supposed practice and interviews- are not very reliable: eight years on, the Organisation Manuals still do not include details on every job nor do they incorporate the professional profiles of candidates; reclassifications are made with a lack of objectivity; unique job positions proliferate within a mechanism of "personnel replacement", etc.).

Manuel Férez is Lecturer in the Institute of Public Management (IDGP) at ESADE, Academic Coordinator for the 1st cycle of the Executive Master in Public Administration (EMPA) and Associate Professor in the Department of Public Law at ESADE Law School.

From this result it is possible to extract, at least, another two important lessons for the future. The first lesson is that of the essential political drive and determination to fulfil the norms: a subject of this magnitude calls for strong leadership and over a long period of time (between 1997 and 2004, how many Ministers, General Secretaries and Director Generals in the Administration and Civil Service have been politically responsible for this area?).

Leadership and change management in a public setting | 89

Albert Serra, Director of the ESADE Executive Master in Public Administration (EMPA) PUBLIC Editorial Board Member

performance management models

The top 50 articles in PUBLIC | 91

19

Performance management: a tool for public managers

Managers need to translate vision and strategic objectives into the short and medium-term goals pursued by the highest echelons of government. Public managers at all levels are the ones who create value, analyse social needs, draw up strategies, and oversee processes. This is true for all tiers of government, ranging from ministries right down to local authorities.

31/05/2008 - Ver贸nica Figueroa

Public administration is undergoing radical change, which

they are to meet new social demands more effectively.

is underpinned by management values, principles and

New mechanisms are needed to give public managers

techniques (Echebarria and Mendoza, 1999). To cope

greater freedom of action. This is because the traditional

with this change, there is a need to design and implement

notion of public management as the application of a host

new, more flexible forms of administration that provide

of fiendishly detailed procedural controls is no longer ap-

greater scope for public managers. These new forms

propriate. What is needed is performance management

must be accompanied by tools that ensure management

rather than process management.

delivers the results sought. In such a scenario, public administration needs to be able to adapt to changes in the setting and in the demands made by citizens. This implies making changes to the way public institutions are run if 92 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Performance management (PM): conceptual and methodological aspects

projects or administrative reform and been seen as a tool for improving government’s efficacy and efficiency. In practice, it is linked to other tools such as strategic plan-

There is no generally accepted conceptual definition of

ning, accountability and better budgeting. Performance

performance management. However experts agree that

management draws these strands together and, one sup-

performance management is the best tool for meeting

poses, favours results over processes and red tape. This

challenges in a fast-changing world and for improving the

in turn implies clear statement of the objectives to be

quality, efficiency and efficacy of public services.

achieved (Merrien, 1999).

Among the main definitions of PM is the one formulated by the OECD (1995) which states that performance management “covers corporate management, performance information, evaluation, performance monitoring, assessment and performance reporting. In the context of the new performance trend however, a stricter definition is a management cycle under which programme performance objectives and targets are determined, managers have flexibility to achieve them, actual performance is measured and reported, and this information feeds into decisions about programme funding, design, operations and rewards or penalties” (OECD, 1995). In the documents drawn up by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, performance management is understood as: 1. A change in organisational culture after weighing up citizens' expectations; 2. Emphasis on results rather than norms and regulations;

Performance management (PM) and public managers The foregoing implies new challenges for public managers, who have had to take on new roles (OECD, 1997).

PM implementation requires a radical change in the way the public sector thinks, acts and manages given that the approach's focus is on benefits, not processes (Perrin, 2006). This in turn has other implications if PM is to be a success - changes in organisational culture, greater scope for management initiative and accountability.

In this respect, we can identify several aspects of PM that make managers’ task of creating public value easier: • Definition of a strategic framework setting out the results sought by a public administration. Here, PM is based on strategic planning providing the organisation’s “route map”, which sets out public priorities, po-

3. Mobilising the whole of public administration and ma-

wers, strategy, policies, and objectives (Sanchez,

king it accountable for results, cutting down manage-

2003). Such an approach facilitates organisational ma-

ment red tape and fostering greater transparency;

nagement, with public managers acting to ensure the objectives set out in national strategic plan are attai-

4. Measuring results by adopting suitable indicators;

ned.

5. Providing managers with a clear management frame-

• Management of the resources needed to create the

work that is both recognised and supported by the po-

strategic framework. Here, PM weaves strands toge-

liticians in charge.

ther, helping to make more efficient and effective use

Experience shows that each country and even certain

of public resources and to deliver the best results.

sectors within the government of each country have stri-

• Information systems that: allow public initiatives to be

ven to introduce performance management (Makon,

monitored; inform citizens; identify and evaluate con-

2000). Some studies show that managers in countries

tributions (balanced scorecards, indicators). PM helps

adopting PM have different ideas on what the concept

render government more transparent. Here, evaluation

means in practice (Proulx and Machiavelli, 2000).

does not merely focus on shortcomings and penalties.

In most countries, PM has been linked to modernisation

Rather, its purpose is to improve public management (Sanchez, 2003).

Performance management models | 93

• Setting up accountability and contractual systems for

or failures when they lack the power to make decisions

public managers with a view to increasing managers’

or to reach targets (Rodriguez Larreta and Repetto,

commitment and freedom of action. Public accounta-

2000).

bility institutionalises public executives’ right to manage.

• Creating scenarios and work systems that foster continuous learning in public administrations and give them a lasting competitive edge (Mendoza, 1996).

Conclusions To meet all of the foregoing requirements, managers

Verónica Figueroa is a Lecturer in the Department of Governance and Public Management, Institute of Public Affairs, Universidad de Chile. She is an academic associate at the Institute for Public Management (IDGP), ESADE, and a member of the same institution’s Research Group on Leadership and Innovation in Public Management.

need to translate vision and strategic objectives into the short and medium-term goals pursued by the highest echelons of government. Public managers at all levels are the ones who create value, analyse social needs, draw up strategies, and oversee processes. This is true for all tiers of government, ranging from ministries right down to local authorities.

However, things often prove more difficult in practice given that PM implies public bodies focus on meeting the targets set in the government’s strategic plans. In general, there is little co-ordination between senior management and line management (Makon, 2000). Accordingly, there is a growing need to overhaul the organisation of public bodies in order to ensure such co-ordination and to foster their effective management.

In this respect, PM gives management function a central role. Hence the need to ensure public management’s vital contribution is fully recognised. Here, the key issue is how to build a contractual framework that allows: (a) delegation of decision-making and accepts the right to manage; b) managers to shoulder responsibility in their respective fields.

This is particularly relevant given the hidebound nature of current public administration, whose procedures are unwieldy, slow and full of red tape. The end result is poor service and lack of competitiveness. In this respect, once objectives have been set, a PM approach should produce both qualitative and quantitative improvements as managers are given more freedom to manage resources.

Managers should not be held accountable for successes 94 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Bibliography Echebarria, Koldo, and Mendoza, Xavier (1999). “La especificidad de la gestión pública: el concepto de management público”.

In: Losada Marrodan (ed.), ‘De Burócratas a Gerentes?, InterAmerican Development Bank, Washington D. C. Makon, Marcos (2000). “El modelo de gestión por resultados en los organismos de la administración pública nacional”. V Congreso Internacional del CLAD sobre la Reforma del Estado y de la Administración Pública, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 24-27 October 2000.

OCDE (1995). Governance in Transition. Public Management Reforms in OECD Countries. OECD, Paris.

Perrin, Burt (2006). Moving from Outputs to Outcomes. Practical Advice from Governments Around the World. In Managing for Performance and Results Series. World Bank - IBM Center for Business of Government.

Proulx, Denis, and Machiavelli, Fabiana (2005). La conception de la gestion par résultats en Amérique latine. In: Revista Telescope: La Gestion par résultats dans le secteur public. Vol. 12, No. 3.

Merrien, F. (1999). “La Nouvelle Gestion Publique: un concept mythique“. In: Lien social et Politiques, RIAC, No. 41, pp. 95-103.

OECD (1997). In search of results: Performance Management Practices. Paris.

Sanchez, Fernando (2003). “Planificación estratégica y gestión pública por objetivos”. In: Serie Gestión Pública, No. 32, ILPES.

Mendoza, José (1996). “Aprendizaje organizacional para una época de cambios”. In: Gestión, Universidad del Norte, Vol. 2, pp. 1-24 Rodriguez Larreta, Horacio, and Repetto, Fabian (2000). Herramientas para una administración pública más eficiente: gestión por resultados y control social. Document 39, September. http://www.tresor.gouv.qc.ca/fr/publications/modernisation/ guide_gest-axee-resultat_02.pdf (16/07/2007)

Performance management models | 95

20

Competing for the future: strategic risk management and organisational practice

How are normative arguments about strategic risk management translated into organizational practice?

Michael Barzelay examines planning in the US air force.

15/03/2005 - Michael Barzelay

Influential tracts on strategic management implore exe-

United States Air Force in the post-Cold War period. This

cutives to ‘compete for the future’. Executives are told to

experience is the basis of the recently published book en-

visualize slowly arising hazards and to mitigate them

titled, Preparing for the Future: Strategic Planning in the

through short-run efforts, such as cultivating corporate

US Air Force.

capabilities. In short, the advice is to manage strategic risks.

During the Cold War, long-range planning in the Air Force

The argument in favour of managing strategic risks is es-

litary force structures that would effectively resist a So-

sentially a normative one: it does not describe what most

viet invasion of Western Europe and a North Korean

executives actually do. For this normative idea to serve in

invasion of South Korea. With the end of the Cold War, at-

practice, organizational leaders need insights into the re-

tention focused on reducing force structure, placing less

alities of strategic risk management. Those realities can

emphasis on the nuclear mission, and becoming an ex-

be revealed by sensitively applying organizational, deci-

peditionary rather than forward-based garrison force. Ha-

sion-making theories to experiences where leadership

ving turned this corner, the Air Force’s leadership began

groups have accepted the responsibility of managing

to think about its future contribution to the achievement

long-term, strategic risks. One such experience lies in the

of national security goals on a time-scale of 25-30 years.

96 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

focused on designing hypothetical (and unaffordable) mi-

Senior leaders collectively tackled this question during

the Fogleman-led process was timed to feed directly into

the 1996-97 period by devising and operating a novel pro-

an anticipated strategic defence review, mandated by

cess of strategic visioning and long-range planning. The

Congress and conducted by the Department of Defense.

immediate product included a strategic vision prefiguring

The process included a year long preparatory effort by a

a transition to the nation’s Space and Air Force and deli-

long-range planning Board of Directors, which has three

neating half a dozen core competences, such as preci-

star generals in key line and staff positions. It was chai-

sion engagement and information superiority. This effort

red by the vice-chief, and supported by an ad hoc staff

set the Air Force on a long-term path of innovating its ma-

group attached to the chief’s office. Preparation efforts

nagerial practices for strategy development and imple-

became intensive as the culminating event of the process

mentation, which has in turn enabled changes in

drew near. This was an unprecedented five-day senior le-

spending priorities, technological directions, and organi-

adership conference, devoted to resolving 16 major long-

zational culture. Indeed, the content of the vision itself

range planning issues and agreeing on the big issue of

has changed, after periodic efforts to reassess and revi-

whether the institution was going to acknowledge and ex-

sit it.

pand its role beyond the atmosphere, i.e., in the domain

The Air Force has developed, in effect, a distinctive ap-

of ‘military space’.

proach to managing strategic risks, one facet of which re-

The study provides an explanation of how Fogleman’s ge-

lates specifically to strategic visioning. Under the Air

neral principles of strategic visioning were designed and

Force’s approach, strategic visioning efforts were guided

improvised into a workable method for interactive thin-

by three principles: ‘backcasting from the future’, ‘collec-

king and negotiation among busy, high status individuals

tive buy-in’, and policy management. The backcasting

within the organization. This explanation ‘ which is highly

principle was meant to undercut planning routines that

sensitive to context factors ‘ provides insights into the

concentrated on predicting the long-term ramifications of

practicalities of translating normative arguments about

medium-term plans. Instead, planning efforts were direc-

strategic risk management into innovative organizational

ted at reducing the risk of a future mismatch between the

practices that are potentially effective. In this way, the

Air Force’s capabilities and the policy environment. The

book pursues CARR’s research agenda on organizations

collective buy-in principle was intended to invest the stra-

and risk, with specific application to public management.

tegic vision and long-range plan with the collective authority of the senior leadership cadre. Collective buy-in was equally intended to ensure that the process produced understanding and commitment on the part of the service’s future top leaders, all of whom were already playing important roles. The political management principle was geared to the fact that the Air Force’s long-run future depended hugely on the policy-making community’s beliefs and attitudes on national security and defence issues. The Air Force sought to convey a compelling story about its contribution to national security over the long run. As can be seen, the guiding ideas of strategic visioning touched on organizational and political dynamics, as well as on the framing of analytical tasks appropriate to strategic risk management.

The Air Force has applied these principles skilfully in developing and implementing its vision of strategy, beginning with the process led by Chief of Staff Ronald Fogleman in 1996-97. This is illustrated by the fact that

Michael Barzelay is Reader in Public Management, Interdisciplinary Institute of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Preparing for the Future: Strategic Planning in the US Air Force,

By Michael Barzelay and Colin Campbell, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2003.

Recipient of the National Academy of Public Administration’s 2004 Louis Brownlow Book Award To order a copy: www.brookings.edu/press/books/preparingforthefuture.htm Published in Risk&Regulation, No 6, magazine of the ESRC Centre for Analysis of Risk and Regulation at the London School of Economics. http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/riskAndRegulationMagazine

Performance management models | 97

Copyright: London School of Economics. All rights reserved.

98 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

21

Managerial accountability and responsibility: institutions before instruments

Through the association of public administration reform with a logic of democratic accountability on the part of governments, it is possible to transcend the technocratic and self-absorbed view which has traditionally prevailed, and to give public administration a political and institutional profile that is more in keeping with the reality in which it operates.

20/06/2005 - Koldo EchebarrĂ­a

Government accountability constitutes one of the essen-

power in the service of citizens. Accountability constitu-

tial dimensions of representative democracy. It is based,

tes the flip side of the exercise of power and it must be co-

on the one hand, on maintaining access to government,

herent with its attribution and use. In this respect, it

on the active and passive right of representation of all ci-

expresses concern for the output of democracy, as a pro-

tizens; and, on the other hand, on limiting the temporal

duct of the exercise of power, complementing a concern

and material scope of the power of representatives. Mo-

for the input, which includes the production factors of de-

reover, representative democracy has mechanisms at its

mocracy or the representative system (a distinction outli-

disposal so that governments may use the power that

ned by Sartori, 1988: 521).

they receive to the benefit of those who they represent, an objective that has proved much more difficult historically. Accountability corresponds to this second dimension of democracy and is formed by the set of rules, instruments and formal and informal devices by means of which governments must account for the exercise of power, explaining and justifying the application of this

It cannot be denied that political institutions, fundamentally those that affect the mechanisms of vertical accountability, constitute the keystone of democratic accountability. However, it is important to take account of the accountability mechanisms at the very heart of executive power, and in particular those which affect goPerformance management models | 99

vernment employees who are appointed and therefore

interests. In the accountability of the State, stages of de-

not elected, whose vertical link with the electors is only in-

velopment and methods may be observed that need to

direct. These agents and the institutions in which their

be co-ordinated with recourse to a broad conceptualisa-

work is performed are, in fact, the principal production

tion of their possibilities and limitations. The mere supe-

factors of the output of democracy, in the form of the

rimposition of accountability mechanisms may be

goods and services offered to citizens by the State. Tra-

incoherent and even detrimental. Indeed, we have wit-

ditionally, however, the accountability of public adminis-

nessed an accumulation of formal devices which have

tration and its employees has been relegated by political

done little to effectively prevent undesirable behaviour,

theory to a secondary, merely instrumental or technical

with the side effects of further eroding citizens’ confi-

role, which has led to it remaining hidden behind the cur-

dence in the virtuality of the institutions and reducing the

tain of political institutions and appearing irrelevant for

capacity for intervention of the State.

the purposes of the democratic accountability of the State.

The recent irruption of the discourse of accountability into the reform of public administration represents one way of overcoming these limitations through recognition of the key role that it plays in the configuration and exercise of power in the democratic state. This is the line taken by

Koldo Echebarria is the principal specialist in State Reform; State Division, Governance and Civil Society at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Professor at ESADE’s Institute of Public Management (IDGP).

the Scientific Council of the Latin American Centre for Development Administration (CLAD) in adopting and developing the concept of accountability in a publication which, besides offering a definition and a breakdown of the types of accountability mechanisms, includes a valuable compilation and analysis of these mechanisms in Latin America. Through the association of public administration reform with a logic of democratic accountability on the part of governments, it is possible to transcend the technocratic and self-absorbed view which has traditionally prevailed, and to give public administration a political and institutional profile that is more in keeping with the reality in which it operates.

Although accountability constitutes a most valuable ideological and practical reference when tackling the reform of public administration, it is a long way from having the capacity to offer clear diagnoses and solutions that are ready to be applied; nor is it without its risks. Clearly, the fundamental dilemma of accountability lies in the fact that if it is not developed coherently with other institutions, it may endanger the very capacity of the democratic system to accommodate interests and gain a long-term perspective. This dilemma becomes particularly serious in imperfect democratic systems, in which the political institutions that mediate between the State and society (parties, electoral system, legislature) have very limited possibilities of transcending fragmented and short-term 100 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

ECHEBARRIA Koldo; SUBIRATS Joan; LONGO Francisco; ZAPICO Eduardo; BABINO Luis and DEQUINO Diego; HINTZE Jorge; PACHECO Regina; OSZLAK Oscar; MOTTA Paulo Roberto and LIMA BANDEIRA Mariana. Responsabilización y evaluación de la gestión pública.

Caracas: CLAD, AECI/MAP/FIIAPP, 2005, 296 pp.

Among the various factors to be taken into consideration in the reconstruction and consolidation of the State as an irreplaceable instrument of society for the attainment of its welfare, one aspect that it is essential to resolve is the consolidation of a culture of evaluation which will guarantee accountability in public management in the most appropriate terms, so that democratic social control may become effective.

At present, accountability and the evaluation of public management must be seen as useful means of improving democratic governability and governance by dint of the increase in the strategic and general operation powers of the State, the management capacity of politico-institutional leadership and the democratic control of society over public management.

Conscious of the importance of this issue, CLAD has published the aforementioned work. It is a compilation of various papers presented at the last two CLAD congresses, which help to enrich approaches and tools relating to accountability and the evaluation of public management.

22

Arrows, Circles and Hybrids: Controlling Modern Government

How are public services controlled in modern government? What is common and different about such controls across different government systems? And how have those controls changed over the past generation?

Such questions are central to contemporary debates about ‘new public management’, ‘audit explosions’ and other ideas about paradigm change in modern government. But scholars are only slowly coming to examine these questions in a systematic way.

26/09/2005 - Christopher Hood

Controlling modern government is the product of a three-

these terms, the study explored what was common and

year study involving some seventeen different scholars

different about the control of three public service do-

working on the control of three different policy domains in

mains in those eight countries and how those controls

eight different countries. Building on earlier work, the

changed in each case over a generation. The three do-

study focused on four basic ways of controlling individuals

mains were prisons, higher education and the conduct of

operating in public institutions and organizations. Those

senior civil servants, and the eight countries are Austra-

four ways are mutuality (control of individuals by formal or

lia, US, Japan, France, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands

informal group processes), competition (control of indivi-

and Norway.

duals in the public sector by processes of rivalry), contrived randomness (control of individuals by more or less deliberately making their lives unpredictable in some way) and oversight (control of individuals by scrutiny and steering from some point of authority). Viewing control in

By applying this analytic framework, the study arrives at three main conclusions. First, it leads us to qualify the popular idea that oversight and audit of public services has exploded everywhere in recent decades. There were cerPerformance management models | 101

tainly audit explosions to be seen in some cases and pla-

arch and teaching. When oversight expanded, it often gai-

ces. But the pattern was far from uniform across coun-

ned its effectiveness by mixing inspection and audit with

tries and sectors. For instance, no dramatic increase in

the other three basic forms of controls, notably competi-

audit and inspection was detectable in the prison sector

tion and mutuality. Indeed, oversight in pure form rarely

in most of the countries studied. In many cases only a

seems to be a formula for effective control of government

modest increase in oversight took place and in some

and several of the more effective inspection and audit

cases oversight actually declined, as in the case of the

systems of recent decades turn out on closer inspection

Netherlands, which abolished its prisons inspectorate in

to be hybrids of competition, mutual peer-group evalua-

the 1980s. Even in the higher education sector, often

tion and oversight. So instead of advancing ‘arrow theo-

said to be the subject of some of the most dramatic ‘audit

ries’ of change in control over government, perhaps it

explosions,’ there were some clear exceptions to that

makes more sense for scholars to concentrate on circles

rule. Ironically, the US higher education system, the one

and hybrids. Only that way can we cut across and go be-

that most other national systems aim to benchmark

yond the conventional clichés and stereotypes of control

themselves against, saw little or no expansion of govern-

in modern government.

ment-sponsored audit and inspection over the past generation. Indeed, the audit explosion thesis seems to be a textbook case of selection on the dependent variable, as this study shows.

Second, this study calls into question the common stere-

Christopher Hood is Gladstone Professor of Government and Fellow, All Souls College, University of Oxford.

otype of an ‘Anglo-American approach’ to the governance of public services that is sharply distinguishable from the Continental European one, when viewed from the control perspective used in this book. The analysis shows that the UK style of controlling public services is at least as different from the US style as either style is different from the classical Continental European state forms of France or Germany. There is an ‘Anglo’ style and an ‘American’ style, but the two do not cluster together in any of these analyses. In fact, the Anglo-American style that is so often talked about turns out to be what Giovanni Sartori calls a ‘cat-dog’ ‘ a combination that is theoretically possible but does not actually exist.

Third, the study shows that all the four basic types of control have been important both in traditional and contemporary government systems. The analysis shows that competition as a way of controlling public services is not an invention of the 1980s, and indeed some important aspects of control by competition seem to have weakened in recent decades as the best and brightest have been less inclined to compete for public sector jobs than in their parents’ or grandparents’ day. Randomness and mutuality have not disappeared either, although they have appeared in different forms, for instance in the governance of higher education by forms of peer review with a substantial random component for the control of rese102 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Christopher Hood, Oliver James, Guy Peters and Colin Scott eds.

(2004) Controlling Modern Government: Variety, Commonality and Change, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, ISBN 1 84376 629 9 To order a copy: https://www.e-elgar.co.uk/web/ action.lasso?-database= ElgarTitles.fp5&-layout=lay_select&-response=../search/ Selection.lasso&CDM+SerialNo=3290&-search

23

Evidence-Based Public Policy: An Aspirational Vision

As I write this essay in the United States, we are celebrating Black History Month and in January we had a national holiday recognizing Martin Luther King, a pivotal figure in the civil rights movement. In King’s famous 1963 speech in Washington, D.C., he talked about having a dream of what America could become. I also have a dream, of what public policy and public management could, and should, become. I want to briefly describe that dream, illustrate what it might be, and speak of some of the barriers we need to overcome to make that dream a reality.

26/03/2007 - Jeffrey Pfeffer

About a year ago Bob Sutton and I published a book on

what website design would drive more users to stay on

evidence-based management. [1] Evidence-based ma-

the site longer and click on advertisements, the company

nagement is not about learning statistics or collecting

tries different innovations with different visitors to the

enormous reams of data, although understanding statis-

site, and sees what actually works.

tical inference and collecting facts are incredibly useful activities. Evidence-based management is mostly about a mind-set or perspective on how senior leaders, in both public and private sector organizations, should think about their task. First of all, leaders need to encourage experimentation: It is only by trying different things that we learn. At Yahoo, instead of sitting around debating

Leaders need to encourage learning from these experiments and the experience of everyone inside their organizations’and learning from experience requires taking time to revisit past decisions and actions and being open to admitting problems and setbacks. Many times organizations make decisions about policies and practices but Performance management models | 103

then fail to learn from those decisions because they don’t

dence-basedmanagement.com), the United Kingdom has

invest enough time in thinking about what worked, what

encouraged the gathering and use of evidence in public

didn’t work, and why. Leaders need to encourage people

policy formulation and implementation. But such efforts

to tell the truth and to face the facts, even though the

are exceedingly rare.

truth and the facts may be unpleasant and even though facts and truth are often contested and open to interpretation. In short, leaders and their organizations need to base decisions about policy on the best evidence currently available and not on beliefs or ideology, casual benchmarking, what they or others have done in the past and seems to have worked’their experience’nor on what is being advocated in the press, particularly if what is

We should hold ourselves and our private- and public-sector executives to the same standards that we hold our physicians, who are expected to know the relevant medical evidence and use that knowledge in their practice. To the extent that we encourage our organizations to practice evidence-based management, we will learn more and will translate that learning into action. By so doing, a

being advocated is not based on evidence.

dream of improving the lives of people who work in orga-

I see remarkably little interest in evidence-based mana-

a reality.

nizations and those who are touched by them will become

gement in many public organizations. So, for instance, in the United States, public schools are not doing what they need to do to educate people who can compete in the modern economy. The overall high school graduation rate is estimated to be about 70%, and in urban school districts, it is lower. The solution that has been prescribed’incentive pay for teachers’is premised on a belief that

Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

teacher motivation is a big problem and that financial incentives will help to both attract and motivate teachers.

However, research on about 100 years of experience with incentive pay in schools demonstrates its ineffectiveness.

[2] Nor is this surprising. Teachers don’t choose their career for financial rewards, student learning is based on the school environment and what parents do, not just on teacher behavior, and teacher skill, not just motivation,

[1] Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton, Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-Based Management, Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2006.

[2] Richard J. Murnane and David K. Cohen, ‘Merit Pay and the Evaluation Problem: Why Merit Pay Plans Fail and a Few Survive,’ Harvard Educational Review, 56 (1983).

matters for learning outcomes’and skill is not as directly affected by incentives.

A similarly dismal situation exists in the criminal justice system. As documented by Frank Domurad, systematic and thorough evaluation systems are virtually nonexistent in the domains of probation and parole, in part because people don’t want to hear bad news. [3] The ‘get tough’ movement in the U.S. is based on ideology, not on data.

One study of almost 400,000 offenders found that punitive sanctions increased recidivism. Another study of juveniles found that the more severe the sanction meted out, the more likely it would be that the person would engage in subsequent law-breaking activity.

As described in the website, we have begun to encourage evidence-based management in all domains (www.evi104 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

[3] Frank Domurad, ‘Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil: The Ethical Imperative of Evidence-Based Practices,’ Community Corrections Report, Vol. 13, #1 (November-December, 2005).

24

The future of performance management: lessons from the United States

The last two decades have seen an unprecedented effort at all levels of US government to measure performance.

We now have more information than ever about the performance of public organizations. However, the simple availability of this information has not led to a paradigm shift in governance that advocates the performance management hoped for.

31/05/2008 - Donald P. Moynihan

The complexity of performance measurement

formance information in the public sector. For any mode-

In part, performance management has not achieved its

• not comprehensive (there will be multiple aspects of

goals because expectations were so high. Performance

performance and multiple ways of measuring perfor-

information was never going to displace politics. Perfor-

mance);

mance advocates also misunderstood the fundamental nature of performance data, assuming that such data was objective, indicative of actual performance, consistently understood by users and likely to prompt a consensus in decision-making.

But for most public services this is not true. We need an

rately complex function performance information is:

• ambiguous (there will be multiple ways of interpreting what performance indicators mean and what we should do to improve performance), and • subjective (actors will select, present and interpret information consistent with their institutional interests).

alternative set of assumptions about the nature of perPerformance management models | 105

These assumptions form the basis of an interactive-dia-

and a basic purpose. Dialogue about performance is less

logue approach to performance information. One impli-

likely to result in disagreement.

cation of this approach is that two individuals could examine the same program, but disagree on what data best reflects program performance. Or, if they agree on what performance data to examine, they may disagree on its meaning, e.g. whether a program is performing or not.

If they agree on the meaning of performance, they may disagree on what to do next, e.g. one person might argue that a poorly performing program needs to be cut, while

Within agencies, the primary problem limiting the use of performance information for learning is simple neglect.

Performance information systems were built on the assumption that once data became available, managers would automatically use it to improve performance. But this requires managers to change ingrained behaviors, which is difficult. They can be required to produce per-

the other argues that it needs more resources to succeed.

formance data, but cannot be forced to use it.

Another implication of the interactive-dialogue model is

The next stage for performance management is to build

that the context of dialogue and mix of actors involved affects how performance information is employed. As actors use performance information to represent their goals, forums that feature a diverse group of actors will see greater contesting of data. This limits the ability of actors to come to minimal agreement on the nature of the problem and therefore constrains the search for solutions.

The interactive dialogue model helps to explain why performance budgeting reforms have struggled in the system of divided government in the United States. Executive branch officials ask agencies to create performance data and then submit this information to the legislature as part of the budget process. The legislature is suspicious of this data, or ignores it, choosing, in turn, to ask agencies to

a working knowledge of the factors that facilitate performance information use and convert this knowledge into practical advice. Most practical knowledge about performance management has centered on how to improve data quality.

Deliberate structural change to management routines can make a difference. An example is the concept of learning forums, which are dialogue routines specifically focused on solution-seeking, where actors collectively examine information, consider its significance and decide how it will affect future action. The organizational learning literature and case studies of goal-based learning offer insights into the factors that convert interactive dialogue into learning. These insights are summarized in table 1.

provide an additional set of performance data. Different branches disagree about the conclusions that arise from performance data in large part because they are using separate data. The agency representatives caught in the middle are not passive actors, but have their own policy agendas. They use performance information for advocacy purposes, collecting and presenting information that le-

Table 1: Elements of Learning Forums • Routine event • Facilitation and ground-rules to structure dialogue

gitimizes their activities and goals to external stakeholders.

• Non-confrontational approach to avoid defensive reactions • Collegiality among participants

Learning forums • Diverse set of organizational actors responsible for proThe interactive-dialogue model suggests that, in intra-ins-

ducing the outcomes under review

titutional settings that are less political and more homogeneous, there is greater potential for performance information to foster learning and improvement. Within agencies, actors share a common organizational culture 106 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

• Dialogue-centered, with dialogue focused on organizational goals

• Identify, examine and suspend basic assumptions (especially for double-loop learning) • Employs quantitative knowledge that identifies success and failure, including goals, targets, outcomes and points of comparison • Employs experiential knowledge of process and work conditions that explain success, failure and the possibility of innovation

There is limited research on learning forums, but recent quantitative research has shown that learning forums do foster performance information use.1 If there is a single practical lesson form the US experience with performance management, it is that managers need to focus as much attention toward establishing routines of learning as they currently direct toward routines of performance information collection, dissemination and verification.

Donald P. Moynihan is Associate Professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison. This research note draws from his book, The Dynamics of Performance Management: Constructing Information and Reform, published by Georgetown University Press.

References (1) See Askim, Jostein, Åge Johnsen and Knut-Andreas Christophersen (2008). “Factors behind Organizational Learning from Benchmarking: Experiences from Norwegian Municipal Benchmarking Networks”. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 18(2): 297-320. Moynihan, D. P. & Landuyt, N. 2008, "How Do Public Organizations Learn? Bridging Cultural and Structural Perspectives", forthcoming in Public Administration Review.

Performance management models | 107

25

Challenging the Performance Movement : Accountability, Complexity, and Democratic Values Performance measurement activities turn out to be much more complex than is suggested by the movement’s advocates. Experience with a range of performance activities over the past decade illustrates a series of paradoxes. Three such paradoxes can be identified ‘ ambiguous rhetoric turned into formal processes, an emphasis on immeasurable outcomes, and a critical stance on officials and professionals but ultimately relying on them. And too often, advocates of performance measurement adopt a one-size-fits all strategy.

24/07/2006 - Beryl A. Radin

These conflicts make the achievement of performance

The problems with performance activities are particularly

measurement much more difficult than is communicated

difficult because the goals of performance measurement

by the language surrounding the field. While the motiva-

are commendable. There are examples of specific per-

tion for these activities is usually legitimate, the argu-

formance measurement activities that seem to be effec-

ments for change tend to set up expectations which

tive. But all too often these efforts are difficult to absorb

suggest that performance measurement is a panacea so-

in a system characterized by complexity, multiple values,

lution to thorny problems. But the solution at times ge-

and pragmatism.

nerates consequences which actually inhibit or interfere with the achievement of performance goals.

108 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

The performance measurement movement rests on a set

These assumptions are implicit in the wide range of acti-

of assumptions that are rarely articulated. In part this is

vities that are found in the performance movement; but

because the advocates of the movement are so commit-

there are alternative assumptions for dealing with these

ted to the process that they have tended to minimize the

issues. The following figure compares the two sets of as-

obstacles to attaining them. Performance measurement

sumptions:

sometimes takes on the dimension of a religion, and its advocates put emphasis on belief and faith in the process rather than the political and organizational realities that surround the enterprise.

Comparing classic assumptions and alternative approaches in performance measurement

Issue

Classic Assumptions

Alternative Approaches

Intelligence

Clarity Universal principles Literal meanings

Multiple sources Empathy Combination of rational and symbolic modes

The Nature of the World

Linearity Discrete activities Built on the past Clarifies goals

Multiple and conflicting goals Prone to error Qualified action

Organizational Theory

Generic approaches Principles of organizations One size fits all Internal focus

Differences between public and private Differences among programs Focus on environment of organization

Professionals

Bureaucracy should control professionals Dissatisfaction with past operations Fiscal agenda predominant

Essential to program operation Training important Importance of exercising discretion Importance of quality issues

Values

Efficiency values predominant Depoliticizes decisions

Multiple values, multiple goals Difficult to quantify equity issues Collection of data on a disaggregated basis

The American Political System

Actors share strategies, values Executive and legislative branch on the same wavelength Legislative committees have common approaches Federal government pays, thus can define performance

Different actors have different strategies, values Conflict between legislative and executive branches Appropriation/authorizing differences in Congress Devolution of authority to states, localities, third sector

Numbers and Information

Information available Information neutral Know what we are measuring Can establish cause-effect relationships Better to use limited information than none

Not always available Costly Value laden Conflict over measures Not clear about cause-effect relationships Concern about biases in information sources

Performance management models | 109

One can only hope that the experience of the past decade

sential to find ways to balance analytical approaches

will be examined to provide a more realistic response to

with political strategies. The US political structure is

the problem. There are at least 10 lessons that can be

very different from a parliamentary system. The exe-

extrapolated from this past experience.

cutive branch in the US is not able to proceed on its

1. Remember that performance measurement usually takes place in a society that is diverse, with multiple populations who have differing values. There are public goods ‘ not a single public good. A diverse society such as the US experiences different perceptions and desires by region and by racial and ethnic group. Attempts to narrowly define a single set of values are not likely to be productive. Those who are engaged in performance management activities should reach out to a range of stakeholders and actors; a closed system of defining performance is not effective.

2. It is useful to think about a repertoire of performance measures, not a narrow set of measures. This reflects the diversity of a society with different expectations about programs and policies. Performance measures may not only focus on outcomes of programs but on inputs, processes or outputs. There are times when programs are constructed and approved without a clear sense of outcomes expected. In those situa-

own but must find ways to deal with Congress. And Congress has yet to find ways to take its oversight role seriously. Congressional institutions can adopt the spirit of performance measurement and not the form.

Both the authorizing and appropriations processes within Congress offer venues for discussing these tradeoffs. In addition, Congress has the ability to draw on a range of perspectives through the GAO, the Congressional Budget Office, the Congressional Research Service, and the Inspectors General in the various departments.

5. Modesty does become you. Don’t establish systems that are all or nothing. Find ways to examine your activity that allows you to revise your earlier approaches.

Performance measurement activities usually have to deal with the reality of a constantly changing environment. Not only are the specific expectations of programs changing, but issues that seem to be separate and independent are often found to be interrelated.

tions, accountability expectations may be developed

6. Involve a range of actors in the definition of goals.

around information dealing with resources available,

Your perception of these goals may be limited and not

methods of implementing a program, or by measuring

reflect the reality of all those in the policy system. The

specific outputs rather than focusing only on outco-

US policy system is not only defined by shared powers

mes.

but by fragmentation. This is true not only for the exe-

3. Provide opportunities for tradeoffs between multiple actors and conflicting values. There is rarely a onebest-way to accomplish goals, because of these varied perspectives. Actors may include program managers, departmental figures responsible for policy and budget proposals, White House staff, and a range of congressional players. These players may be involved in detailed management, planning, budge-

cutive branch but also for Congress. Multiple committees and subcommittees are involved in authorization, appropriations, and oversight decisions. It is also important to involve groups who represent a range of interests involved in a specific program, These might include representatives of both recipients of specific programs and those who are involved in providing theservice.

ting and oversight functions. In addition, these va-

7. Try to predict negative responses to the requirements.

rious actors are often balancing multiple values and

There are so many ways that individuals can game

attempting to accomplish several things at once;

the system or turn the process into a compliance ac-

these expectations are not always consistent with one

tivity. Don’t be surprised when that happens. It is not

another.

enough to be satisfied with the good intentions of ad-

4. Don’t forget that the political system provides the best approach in a democracy to achieve tradeoffs. It is es110 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

vocates of performance activity. One should anticipate different responses to these requirements, including gaming and even direct resistance. And

what seems to you to be a negative response to per-

program. When the performance requirements ap-

formance requirements may actually be rational to

pear to attack the norms of a specific profession, it is

those who appear to be ‘gaming’ the system. Try to fi-

useful to call on representatives of their professional

gure out why they are responding to you in that fas-

organization to emphasize the importance of these

hion.

professional values.

8. Be skeptical about data systems. They are rarely what you would like them to be. Information does have a life of its own and cannot be separated from interests or ideology. And creation of data systems is costly and

Beryl A. Radin is Professor at the School of Public Affairs of the American University

often difficult to put into place. There are many different types of information. What may seem to be innocuous and neutral information to one set of actors can be intimidating or inflammatory to others. In a changing society, the data that seemed to be rigorous and helpful one day may be out of date the following day. Try to develop a range of sources for information so you are not dependent on a single source for your

This article draws on Beryl A. Radin, Challenging the Performance Movement: Accountability, Complexity, and Democratic Values, 2006, Georgetown University Press.

assessments of performance. Think about a combination of both quantitative and qualitative data sources.

9. Be skeptical about panacea solutions. The complexity of society and the multiple and legitimate perspectives on programs and policies rarely lead to accomplishment of promises. Programs are often crafted in broad strokes and devised to avoid conflict and maximize the base of support. This results in programs with multiple outcome expectations. Each of these decision processes produces a unique set of relationships

and

expectations.

That

makes

the

one-size-fits-all approach very unhelpful. Remember that the goals that are established in legislation and political speeches are not always designed to be turned into action. You may need to discount that language and figure out what are realistic goals and objectives for programs and policies.

10. Develop allies in your response to the performance measurement requirements. You are likely to be more effective when you seek others who may share your perspective and concerns. This might involve those in your profession or groups that share your values. This suggests that organizations and staff facing difficult performance requirements might move outside their organization and involve various groups that represent clients, providers or others with an interest in the Performance management models | 111

Pere Puig, ESADE Professor of Economics, Universitat Ramon Llull PUBLIC Editorial Board Member

public governance models

The top 50 articles in PUBLIC | 113

26

The Concept of Governability Although governability as a concept has several pedigrees, the one I want to pursue is based upon my earlier work on governance: the two are strongly linked together (see Kooiman 2003, Kooiman 2007).

26/03/2007 - Jan Kooiman

My basic idea underlying the concept is that governabi-

on the perspectives of its observers. The systems concept

lity of any societal system or entity is conceived as the

in this paper is to be considered as a heuristic tool, wi-

propensity for its successful governance. Governors, the

thout any teleological, functional or reification connota-

governed, and the interactions among governors and the

tions. Any system - societal, natural or combinations of

governed all contribute to governability, as do all kinds of

the two - is part of a hierarchy of nested systems. Where

external influences. Governability can therefore be defi-

one wants to locate a particular system within the hie-

ned as:

rarchy also depends on the eyes of its beholders. The

The overall capacity for governance of any societal entity or system.

Interactive governance, in keeping with its basic assumptions, considers governability as a property of systems as wholes, i.e., systems that are defined as the totality of interrelations among given entities. Societal systems imply interactions, and interactions are conditions for the existence of those systems. In interactive governance, interactions and systems belong together.

What a system looks like, how it can be broken down, and what its boundaries and other qualities might be depend 114 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

more beholders with comparable ideas about a system, the stronger the concept becomes for study and for practical purposes. ( see fig 1).

Figure 1: Integrated Framework for Governability

So its conceptual starting point is to look at three major

rity with which developments within and around systems

sets of variables contributing to governability of societal

take place. Dynamics create the potential for change but

entities, including the natural resources valued by those

can have disruptive consequences. Scale concerns their

entities: those entities considered a system-to-be-

dimensions in space or time for a specific analytical or

governed (SG) , those governing these entities, labelled

applied purpose. It represents the level at which the com-

the governance system (GS), and the interrelation bet-

bined effects of diversity, complexity, and dynamics can

ween these two, worked out in terms of governing rela-

be best observed and analysed. Governability as a com-

tions or interactions (GI). All three add in varying degrees

ponent of societal systems is itself also diverse, complex,

to governability.

and dynamic. They are features that emerge at different

Governability is always changing, depending on external and internal factors. What may be high governability at a given time may be low governability at another. Similarly,

scales of those systems. The role of diversity, complexity, and dynamics scale for governability in aquaculture is shown in the following example.

what may be effective governance in one place may be ineffective in another. Governability as a whole, or any of its components can be influenced by acts of governance.

However, many external factors influence governability as well, some of which can only be poorly handled in governance or not at all. This often enhances uncertainty with respect to the governability of a societal system or entity.

Governability is an integrated whole, while each of its components (SG, GS and GI) has a conceptual basis of its own. It might be held that only people (and not nature) 'govern'. However, it can also be argued that, because of the nested hierarchy of systems, nature, in the end, governs all societal governance. These are fundamental issues only a full-fledged study of governability can deal with in a serious manner. Here it is mentioned because, in operational terms, what belongs to the GS or SG, might come up in an actual analysis of the governability of a particular societal-natural system, such as a fishery or, in fact, any other societal entity.

To understand interactive governance and governability, in particular, the boundaries between its social, political, and natural facets, one must recognise and confront their diversity, complexity, dynamics, and scale. Diversity calls attention to the specific and varying qualities of actors and other entities in an SG, its GS, and the GI between them. It is a source of creation and innovation but also implies a risk of disintegration. Complexity invites an examination of societal structures, interdependencies, and interrelations and is a condition for combining interdependencies. The difficulty is how to reduce it in an effective and responsible manner. By introducing the dynamics of systems, we call attention to the regularity or irregula-

Box 1: The Diversity, Complexity, and Dynamics in Aquaculture Aquaculture operations vary from homestead and farm ponds of less than 100 m2 to cage, pen, and pond farms covering hundreds of hectares. Small-scale aquaculture, sometimes as a part-time occupation, makes significant contribution to poverty alleviation in Asia. Coldwater aquaculture (e.g., trout and salmon farming) and warm-water aquaculture (e.g., tilapia farming) mirror the broad differences between temperate and tropical agriculture. Organic aquaculture is also developing rapidly.

Aquaculture also is considerably complex, largely because of the complex life histories of aquatic organisms and the complex technical requirements of providing for these in captivity. Farmed fish are bred in breeding programs, striving for genetic improvement of commercial traits. Fish hatcheries produce seed while fish nurseries grow those to juveniles of more viable size. Fish farmers then proceed to raise these juveniles to marketable size.

Arrangements among hatchery, nursery, farming, and post harvest operations are complex because of seasonal and other shifts in supply and demand and the advent of new technologies and products.

Interrelationships among aquaculture and other sectors are highly dynamic, especially those concerning land and water use, environmental impacts, farm workers’ health and safety, and farmed fish health, quality, and safety for consumers. Aquaculture is often risky. Unpredictable climatic conditions, operator error, equipment failure, and largely uncontrollable events such as toxic algal blooms, Public governance models | 115

the spread of aquatic diseases, and pollution all cause mass mortalities of farmed fish (Pullin, 2005).

Jan Kooiman is Professor Emeritus at Erasmus University, Rotterdam. (jkooiman@xs4all.nl)

References: Kooiman J. Governing as Governance. London: Sage, 2003.

Kooiman, J. ‘Exploring the Concept of Governability’. To be published in Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 2007.

Pullin, R. ‘Aquaculture’ in Kooiman J, Bavinck M, Jentoft S, Pullin R, editors, Fish for Life: Interactive Governance for Fisheries.

Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press; 2005: 93-108.

116 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

27

The future of global governance

Today, the problems with global governance [1] ‘and the consequences of these problems’ are becoming better understood. The closer integration of the countries of the world ‘globalization’ has given risen to a greater need for collective action. Unfortunately, economic globalization has outpaced political globalization.

19/12/2005 | Joseph E. Stiglitz

We are just beginning to develop an international rule of

Convention on Climate Change signed in 1992, and the

law, and much of the ‘law’ that has developed ‘for

Kyoto Protocol signed in 1997 provided the beginnings of

instance the WTO rules governing international trade’ are

an answer. But the world’s largest polluter refuses sign

grossly unfair; they have been designed to benefit the

the agreement, or even to alter its behaviour, regardless

developed countries, partly at the expense of the

of the consequences for others.

developing countries. We approach international issues in an ad hoc, piecemeal manner.

The institutions that do exist have undemocratic governance, and suffer from ‘smokestack syndrome’. A

International institutions are few and limited in scope

single country, for instance, has effective veto at the IMF;

and have had to be complemented by special treaties

votes are allocated on the basis of economic power, and

designed to address particular problems. Global warming

not even based on current economic standing. [2] Even

is a global environmental problem with immense potential

though the policies of the IMF (or other international

economic consequences; there is an international

economic institutions) have enormous implications for

scientific consensus on its causes, and an international

many aspects of society ‘for education, health, or the

consensus that something should be done. An

environment’ it is only the finance ministers and central

international treaty, the United Nations Framework

bank governors that have a direct say. By contrast, within Public governance models | 117

western democracies, when important economic issues

countries, capital market liberalization has led to more

are being discussed, typically all of those who are

instability ‘without faster growth. It has been risk without

affected have a voice in the decision, even if some voices

reward. [4]

are stronger than others. Today, few democracies limit voting to those with property, or apportion voting rights

There is also a recognition that some of the most

on the basis of economic wealth.

important economic problems that the international

The underlying democratic deficiencies are reflected in

huge instability in exchange rates; the festering problems

both the outcomes and the procedures ‘the lack, for

with the global reserve system; the fact that, in spite of

instance, of transparency, or accountability, and the

the seeming advances in the ability of the market to

absence of some of the basic regulations that

transfer risk, the developing countries still must bear the

democracies typically impose to prevent conflicts of

brunt of exchange rate and interest rate risks in their

interest, such as on revolving doors.

loans; or the absence of a mechanism to handle

The weakness in the democratic underpinnings has a

community faces have yet to be effectively addressed ‘the

sovereign defaults.

further consequence: it undermines the legitimacy of the

Even as we move away from the deficiencies with the

global public institutions.

formal institutions, there is a growing awareness of the

We have seen the consequences ‘the discontent with globalization is at least partly related to the failures, to the unfair trade agreements, to the economic policies by the IMF that often do more to advance the interests and ideology of financial markets than they do to promote growth, stability, or equity in developing countries. Today, few would defend the asymmetric trade agreements,

inadequacies of the informal institutions. Why, when the leaders of the world get together to discuss future economic reforms, are China, or India, or Brazil, or representatives of poorer countries, not at the table?

What is the selection principle ‘other than historical accident’ that would leave some of the most populous and largest economies in the world out?

especially the continued huge subsidies for agriculture;

But, in spite of the recognition of the problems with

few would defend the intellectual property provisions of

globalization, change has been slow. In this short article,

the Uruguay Round, which deprived the world’s poorest

I want to focus my attention on reforms of global

countries of access to lifesaving drugs for diseases like

government. I shall also discuss a few of the elements of

AIDS. Today, even the IMF [3] recognizes that, even

the system of governance that may or should eventually

though it tried to change its charter to promote capital

evolve.

market liberalization a scant six years ago, for many

Reforms I want to outline several directions that such reforms might, or should, take.

1. Changes in the governance of the World Bank and the IMF. These have been extensively discussed elsewhere. The most important are changes in voting structure and representation. Even if, or especially if, these changes do not occur quickly, it is important to have

improvements

in

transparency

and

accountability, and in conflict of interest rules. There are also informal procedural and institutional changes that would give developing countries a more effective 118 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

voice, e.g. the creation of a think-tank to help

5. Financing for Global Public Goods. Increasing global

developing countries formulate positions more

integration has made global public goods take on

effectively reflecting their interests.

increasing importance, but we rely mostly on moral

2. Changes in the governance of the WTO, including more transparency, the elimination of the green room processes, the creation of more representative processes for decision making, and the creation of an independent body to evaluate alternative proposals, in particular their impact on developing countries, to assess

whether

bilateral

and

regional

trade

agreements are more trade diverting than trade creating, and to determine before dumping or countervailing duties are imposed whether there is a prima facie case. [5] 3. Moving from the G-8 to the G-24. The informal institutions in which the leaders of the world get together to discuss global economic policies are as flawed and out-of-date as the formal institutions.

China, as one of the largest economies, and one of the major traders, should be at the table. The voices of the emerging markets, like India and Brazil, should be there too, as should representatives of the least developed countries.

4. A Strengthened Economic and Social Council. At Monterey, it was at last recognized that development is too important ‘and too complex’ to be left just to finance ministers. This is true of other aspects of global economic policy, which touch on every facet of modern life. Worse still, finance ministers and central bank governors bring a particular perspective to the discussion ‘an important perspective, but not the only one. Consider, for instance, the issue of sovereign debt restructuring. No government would entrust legislation setting forth the framework for bankruptcy to a committee dominated by creditor and creditor

suasion to generate the funding for such global public goods. Not surprisingly, there has been underfunding; moral suasion has been only partially effective. For instance, while the advanced industrial countries have agreed to provide 0.7 % of their GDP for funding assistance to developing countries, and a few European countries have exceeded that target, the world’s richest country has fallen woefully short.

Elsewhere, I have outlined a set of proposals for global funding: [6] a. Revenues from the management of global natural resources. There are a number of global natural resources ‘international fisheries, the sea bed, Antarctica, the global atmosphere, satellite slots’ and the efficient management of those resources can give rise to substantial revenues, e.g. auctioning

off

fishing

rights,

charging

for

greenhouse gas emissions, etc. b. Revenues from the issuance of ‘SDRs’ ‘global greenbacks. The deficiencies in the global reserve system are increasingly being recognized - its inefficiencies, its instability, and its inequity. Every year, some $200 to $400 billion dollars are effectively buried in the ground in the form of reserves. The U.S. benefits ‘the fact that the dollar is the reserve currency is what enables the U.S., the richest country, to consume well beyond its means.

But as the U.S. gets increasingly in debt, questions are being raised about the viability of the system.

The revenues from the issuance of SDRs could be used to finance global public goods, including development assistance. [7]

interests. But putting the IMF in charge ‘which is what

c. Taxation of global (negative) externalities, like

the IMF wanted’ would have done this. Such decisions

arms sales to developing countries, pollution, and

have to be approached with greater balance. Initially,

destabilizing cross-border financial flows.

such a strengthened Economic and Social Security Council might have to rely more on moral suasion. But, today, for instance, it is such moral suasion which in any case largely determines whether a country repays its loans.

6. Management of global natural resources and the environment, including the world’s oceans and atmosphere. Even if the international community does not seize the opportunity of revenue generation afforded by the management of global natural Public governance models | 119

resources, it is important that these resources be managed efficiently, sustainably, and equitably. There needs to be a more effective Global Environmental Agency.

7. Production and Protection of Global Knowledge Among the more important global public goods is knowledge. TRIPs can be viewed as having recognized this ‘incentives to produce knowledge depend on the ability

to

capture

rents

globally.

But

Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel laureate economist, is University Professor, Teaching at the Columbia Business School, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Department of Economics) and the School of International and Public Affairs.

Co-founder and Executive Director of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD)

TRIPs

demonstrates forcefully the flaws in currency global governance ‘a set of rules that did not reflect a balance of concerns, but rather those of America’s drug and media industries. We need to recognize that since knowledge is a global public good, it should be financed in an equitable manner; and this may not entail imposing effectively high taxes on the poorest countries and people ‘so high that they are deprived of access to lifesaving medicines.

8. A global legal infrastructure One of the most important functions of government within countries is to provide a legal infrastructure ‘the enforcement of contracts, the protection of competition, bankruptcy.

Today, increasingly, economic relations go across borders. In the United States a century ago, most of the legal infrastructure was provided by states; even though the similarity across states was sufficiently great that the legal structures that they adopted were broadly similar, the differences gave rise to a multiplicity of problems. Great efforts have been put into

providing

more

uniform

legislation,

into

harmonization. Today, as globalization proceeds, a similar process needs to occur across countries. We recognize that each country on its own may not be able to ensure competition, e.g. in the software market or the market for operating systems. It is important in creating this global legal infrastructure that it should

[1] Inspired on a paper prepared for a conference in Barcelona, 24th-25th September 2004, on From The Washington Consensus Towards A New Global Governance. Financial support from the Ford Foundation, the Macarthur Foundation, and the Mott Foundation is gratefully acknowledged.

[2] The argument sometimes put forward, that votes are related to their ‘contributions’ to the capital of the organizations, is disingenuous. China would have been willing and able to increase its capital contribution, were it allowed to do so.

[3] Prasad, E., Rogoff, K., Wei, S., and Kose, A.M. [2003] ‘Effects of Financial Globalization on Developing Countries: Some Empirical Evidence’, IMF Occasional Paper No. 220, September.

[4] See J. E. Stiglitz, Capital Market Liberalization, Globalization, and the IMF, forthcoming Oxford Review of Economic Policy; ‘Capital Market Liberalization, Economic Growth, and Instability’, in World Development, 28(6), 2000, pp. 1075-1086; ‘Capital Market Liberalization and Exchange Rate Regimes: Risk without Reward’, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 579, Jan. 2002, pp. 219-248.

[5] These issues are discussed more fully in Stiglitz and Charleton [2004].

[6] See also Report of Four Presidents.

[7] A modest version of this proposal is contained in G. Soros, On Globalization.

not be based on the lowest common denominator, e.g. the one least protective of competition. And it may be desirable to retain some duplication: For instance, the overlap in securities legislation and enforcement in the United States proved extremely important, when political pressures and incompetence led to inadequate enforcement at the national level, and New York State assumed the mantle of responsibility.

120 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz founded the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD) in July 2000 to help developing countries explore policy alternatives, and enable wider civic participation in economic policymaking. IPD is now a global network of more than 200 leading economists, political scientists, and practitioners from the North and South with diverse backgrounds and

views. The process of globalization has inspired widespread international protest, as many developing countries have struggled to achieve sustainable and equitable growth. All economic policies entail trade-offs that benefit some groups more than others, and there is no one set of policies that is best for all countries.

Yet, instead of exploring the full range of economic solutions, the international debate has often centred on a narrow range of policy alternatives. Government officials in many developing countries have expressed concern with the lack of policy options. IPD represents a positive response to these concerns. IPD analyzes the trade-offs associated with different policies and offers serious economic alternatives, while allowing the choice of policy to be made by the country's political process.

IPD efforts are intended not only to help countries find solutions to pressing problems, but also to strengthen their institutions and civil societies. Diverse stakeholders with a legitimate interest in policy outcomes often lack access to the process, information, and even the language necessary to participate effectively. IPD emphasizes diverse participation to enable broad civic involvement in economic policy making.

IPD pursues its objectives through four activities: Task Forces bring together experts from various countries to study complex, controversial economic issues and provide policy alternatives; Country Dialogues improve the quality of official decision-making on economic issues, and open discussion to a broader array of participants; Capacity-building through a Journalism Workshops program and our Journalism Primer enables civil society to participate effectively in the policy-making process, and Research improves the intellectual foundation for debate on development issues.

IPD is a collaborative effort by nearly 200 top economists, political scientists, policymakers, and civil society representatives from the developed and developing world, coordinated through Columbia University. IPD's network extends across a wide range of institutions, such as: Harvard University, University of California at Berkeley, Stanford University, Princeton University, the London School of Economics, Cambridge University, the University of Stockholm, the Hungarian Pension Guarantee Fund, the Centre for Economic and Financial Research in Moscow, the University of Delhi, the University of Malaysia, Thailand's Ministry of Justice on Legal and Judicial Reform, the Africa Economic Research Consortium, the African Institute for Applied Economics, the Centre of Studies for Institutional Development in Buenos Aires, and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in Chile.

IPD is a non-profit organization based at Columbia University. www.policydialogue.org

Public governance models | 121

28

Institutions, economic development and global governance Narcís Serra gave the graduation address, entitled ‘Institutions, economic development and global governance’ at ESADE’s Executive Master in Public Administration graduation ceremony.

13/12/2004 - Narcís Serra

The title of today’s conference allows speaking or thin-

possible to think of lasting safe conditions with so great

king about the deep transformations the world has expe-

imbalances. [1]

rienced over the last years. It allows reflecting on globalisation, because it includes the word global governance. It allows reflecting on the relationship between science and ideology, and also allows thinking over the relationship -and this is the subject I want to enlarge on-

There are more imposing examples, such as Aids. In Spain 100% of the population with Aids has health cover and access to all known drugs. It is not the same in the entire world. Samuel Berger, who was an adviser of for-

between politics and economy.

mer President Bill Clinton, has published a very interes-

Why do we have to concern ourselves with development?

directions of a new USA’s foreign policy, different from

Because we live in a world with an unacceptable distri-

President’s George W Bush. One of the facts outlined, just

bution of goods or income: the 20% of the richest popu-

to make us realise that we cannot keep on this way, is

lation has the 88.7% of the global world product, and the

that in the world, just one out of every fifty people infec-

second fifth has 11.7%. This means that 60% of the world

ted with HIV receives the necessary medical treatment.

population lives out of only 5.6% of the world income,

In Africa, just one out of every 1000 Aids infected people

which is an extremely unstable situation, not only from a

has access to this treatment. In Spain, which is not the ri-

moral point of view, but also from the selfish standpoint

chest country of the world, 100% does. We can see that

of wanting a safer world. Nowadays menaces do not

this cannot go on like this, and that we have to care for

come from states but from private organisms, terrorisms

and about it. [2]

or mafias. Being this the daily threat to our safety, it is im122 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

ting article in Foreign Affaires, about the possible

Economic Development

supplying the needed investment - which they cannot generate by themselves - with international help is John F.

Economists have worked on the causes of development

Kennedy. President Kennedy died without having had the

for many years, specially after World War II. It is logical

chance to evaluate the results of this policy. Soon after,

since, in order for economics to be useful, economic the-

however, Simon Kuznets, an Nobel prize, analysed all the

ory or economic policy should care to find how to foster

statistics available and realised that there wasn’t any

development, how to control cyclical fluctuations, that

country which had had neither a significant economic

means crisis, and how to improve income distribution to

growth, nor an increase in growth, as a consequence of

fight imbalances. Therefore, development is one of the

doubling the investment rate.

three main aims of economy but, as I now intend to show you, the results of research are not encouraging. In this

Economists didn’t fully assume it, and proof of it is the

aspect I would suggest reading ‘The Elusive Quest for

fact that this theory is still in use even among internatio-

Growth’ by William Easterly. [3]

nal organisms. Economists upholded that investment maybe did not trigger development, but was in fact a necessary factor. Therefore, investment would be a neces-

1. Investment

sary, although not sufficient condition.

Classical economists thought that international trade, free trade, was the key to development. However, after World War II, economists decided that investment, having

2. Robert Solow: from investment to technological change

machinery availability, was the key to development. That means, final product was proportional to the machinery

In their search of a sufficient factor, economists moved

stock a country had. Therefore, the key factor was to in-

from an i nitial model based on investment to a model

vest in factories, and the infrastructures needed to make

based on technological change.In this theory, the key fac-

it all work. So, how could one help an underdeveloped

tor is p, the technological progress. The developper of this

country grow? It was very easy, once the necessary in-

theory is Robert Solow. Solow added a new variable ‘ tech-

vestment to attain development was calculated, interna-

nology change ‘ to the production function, which is the

tional financial help had to be provided in order to meet

function of capital and labour. Since he was a very clas-

the gap between the country saving and the investment

sical economist, he thought that by increasing capital a

needed for development.

there would be a moment in which one could expect decreasing returns. Therefore, capital could not answer for

This is Arthur Lewis’ theory, widely accepted during the

continuous growth.

60s. [4] In those years, Rostow published a very famous book, The stages of economic growth [5], where he lite-

We can express the production function as follows:

rally said that the most determinant factor to make a

Q = B f (K, L)

country grow was to go from a 5 to a 10% investment. Ac-

where B measures the technological capacity in the trans-

cording to him, this was enough because self-sustained

formation of capital and labour into output.

growth would come later. This book, published in 1960, was the turning point of a new period.

We can express these factors as growth rates:

It is important to say that the Left agreed with this theory

ficient, and (1 ‘ a) labour share coefficient.

since it was very much in accordance with the marxist conception of initial capital accumulation. Therefore, in that moment there were no triffles about theory, to the point that there was a politician who used it as an instrument. The first president of the United States who is de-

q = p + ak + (1 ‘ a) l , where a is the capital share coe-

We can write it otherwise: q ‘ l = p + a (k ‘ l), where q ‘ I is the GDP per head, p is technologic progress rate, and a(k- I) is a proportional measure of the difference between capital and labour.

termined to help poor countries, and tries to do so by Public governance models | 123

It seemed then that the main drivers of growth had been

tical approach to this move from physical capital to

identified, since growth rate depended on technological

human capital creation. As I have said, we had to focus

progress (p), and on the increase in capital intensity (k ‘

our analysis on human capital. However, physical capital

I).

has mobility, we can relocate machines, but human capi-

This new model should be good news for underdeveloped countries, since, at first sight, technological progress

tal is much more difficult to move; we jus have to see all the obstacles we put in the way of migratory moves.

could be spread without major problems. Due to the lack

If human capital cannot be imported, inner human capi-

of capital in underdeveloped countries, an increase in it

tal formation has to be the key to economic growth in un-

would not meet decreasing returns in early stages, but ri-

derdeveloped countries. From the later seventies on, this

sing ones. Therefore, capitalist countries would invest in

was the prevailing theory.

those countries since these investment returns would be bigger than those expected at their home countries. But reality showed economists that they were wrong again. In the last twenty years, the richest 20% of the population gets 92% of direct investment, while the poorer 20% gets just 0.1%, even though expected returns should be bigger, because these countries have a smaller amount of accumulated capital. Therefore, the implementation of the model has the same defect as the Harrod-Domar model. They are models based on North-American economy, and cannot be directly applied to underdeveloped

Once again however, we bumped into reality. We could see how countries which had a very fast and strong growth of the education levels of their population, and did a great effort on education in the 80s ‘ such as Angola, Mozambique, Ghana, Senegal or Zambia ‘ almost didn’t grow, or in most cases even experienced a negative growth. On the other hand, if human capital formation furthered growth, there would be no explanation for the low growth rates (much lower than ours) of former Soviet Union, Cuba or Eastern Europe, which have a level of

countries.

human capital formation almost equal to ours.

Paul Romer, another theorist of growth, has definitely de-

At this point, we can quote again Xavier Sala Martín and

monstrated that poor countries grow at a slower pace than rich ones. Xavier Sala Martín, a catalane economist, and Roberto Barro, have demonstrated that capital accumulation answers to technological change, that it is an endogenous activity, and that therefore cannot be supplied from outside, as we will see later.

Barro, who believe that initial education level affects growth, but also believe that human capital formation does not foster growth; that it cannot trigger economic growth. What is more, in these underdeveloped countries, many times an increase in human capital formation is used to obstruct economic growth. There are times ‘ I cannot help thinking of the situation in Latin America ‘ in which the increase in human capital in the universities of

3. From physical capital to human capital Having confirmed that neither investment nor technological progress brought about development in underdeveloped countries, a new theory based on human capital arose. If we look at the composition of any country’s product, we will see that physical capital accounts for about

these countries does not help the country’s growth, but on the contrary, conditions redistribution and contributes to the maintenance of inequalities that hinder the country’s growth. Most lawyers in Colombia or Venezuela spend more time in making gross product redistribution more favourable to rich families than trying to increase the global gross product of these countries.

25% of it, while human capital, considered as a production factor, accounts for 75% of final production. For this reason, the idea that education was the most powerful tool to foster development took shape. UNESCO and even

4 From education to birth control

World Bank defended this theory until last decade.

After this new failure, economists did not lose their hope,

The economist Gregory Mankiw wanted to give a theore-

gle one out of all of them, which arose from international

124 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

and kept on developing new theories. I would like to sin-

organisms: birth control. The key to growth was to prevent

because it rewards the promise of behaving in a specific

excessive demographic growth in underdeveloped coun-

way, rather than the good performance of countries.

tries. In accordance with this theory, to spread family planning was the cheapest way to influence in the wellbeing of millions of world citizens. This was the underlying theory at the United Nations meeting at Cairo in 1994, the International Population and Development Conference.

However, as another catalan says ‘ Federico Mayor Zaragoza ‘ there is no efficient technique to reduce birth rate if potential users do not want to use family planning tools.

Family planning or sexual education are of no use if there is no demand for these tools, and therefore, birth rates will continue to increase. So, the most overriding factor to lower birth rates is girl’s education in underdeveloped countries. Only equality and a greater cultural capacity of women will allow for an efficient family control.

Altogether however, even though birth control is necessary, and despite the United Nations’ support to this theory, we have to acknowledge that birth control will never be an immediate cause of economic development.

6. From Conditional Loans to Debt Canceling There is still a sixth development theory: Debt Cancelling.

Debt cancelling is a need even though this way we reward irresponsible countries. But, we can never consider debt cancelling as a. development driver. We have to be realistic and know how to combine an ethical attitude with real help for those countries who need it.

After this sixth failure, a new, much more complex proposal has arisen: the neoliberal proposal. Neoliberals said that development could not be achieved by applying single theories like the ones we have just listed. They thought that a more complex set of reforms leading to a free market economy was needed, in order to make underdeveloped countries grow. This set of measures was called The Washington Consensus.

However, before we keep on developing this theory, and exploring the relationship between institutions and

5. Conditional financial help

growth, we will take a look at the bounds between aconomy and ideology. A very useful book for looking into

In the 90s, international institutions such as the World

these ties is Paul Krugman''s Peddling Prosperity. [6]

Bank and, to some extent, BID and International Monetary Fund, developed another theory: conditional help.

The World Bank named it ‘adjustment on growth’. What they did was to make it a condition that these countries should fight against inflation, restructure public enterprises, diminish tax deficit, and so forth; and if these conditions were accomplished, they would lend them the money. In some way we went back to the first theory, which was grounded on investment, but this time the conditions were all set from an economic point of view. Although many economists from international institutions did not accept it, this policy, has ended up being used more as a post-crisis policy rather than as a development driver. It has been a reactive policy and not a policy leading to an attitude that furthered development. What is more, we have to say that this policy has been a failure ‘ among other reasons ‘ because corruption has melt many of the effects that it could have generated, in most of the countries where it has been applied. Another reason is

Economy and Ideology: a post-Keynes Discussion John Maynard Keynes thought that the crisishad a monetary source: people wanted to amass money when they thought that a crisis was about to start. If this wish of having more cash -which means spending less -was shared by an important percentage of the population, it would trigger a lack of demand that would worsen the economic crisis. For this reason it is unfair to identify Keynes with the sole use of fiscal policy to overcome crisis. In fact, his first proposal was to use monetary policy; to increase monetary supply in the same amount that was kept away by citizens, in order to avoid a crisis. Only in very extreme situations, or when there was no reaction to this first policy, was fiscal expenditure to be used to put economy in Public governance models | 125

the track of its growth possibilities.

Keynes had an opponent in the USA, Milton Friedman, founder of the Friedman School. They said that <> be-

level matches a lower inflation level. If we wish a lower unemployment level - for example to go from U1 to U2 the consequence is a higher inflation, from P1 to P2.

cause the gaps - meaning the delays - of monetary policy

This curve ‘if it were true- was the perfect solution, be-

efficiency are so varied and unpredictable, that in the

cause supported Keynesian policies or, I would even dare

long term government action will do more harm that good.

to say, socialdmocrat policies. Hence the need of a social

Sometimes, an increase in monetary supply has an effect

agreement. In this agreement, government, unions and

in six months, but sometimes it needs twelve or eighteen;

employers decided on a reasonable level of unemploy-

and since we cannot know it precisely, the only thing we

ment and price increase. Therefore, state intervention on

get with monetary policy is disorder. Milton Friedman

the basis of a previous social agreement made sense.

didn''t want to hear about fiscal policy. Fiscal policy is public spending; which threatens private investment and private saving. In the root of this discussion between both economists - intellectual but not real, because Friedman is a posterior author -, there was a political issue: whether it made sense or not that the state intervened in the economy; that there was an economic policy. And, obviously, Milton Friedman developed a theory to try to de-

In reply to the curve, Friedman developed the theory that expectations would break Phillips’ curve. Once employers and workers believed that a price increase rate of 3% had been accepted, they would get used to it; and henceforward it would only be possible to keep employment level by accepting a higher price increase rate. Therefore, expectatives would be constantly moving the curve to the

monstrate that state intervention was not advisable.

right. Reality, however, was stronger than Milton Fried-

Years afterwards, Alban W. Phillips -a British economist

1973, not only that economy did not answer to the curve,

and professor at the London School of Economics- ente-

but also gave way to what Paul Samuelson named ‘stag-

red the discussion. He invented the curve that solved all

flation’ ‘ where high unemployment levels clash with high

keynesianism problems. Phillips found the curve that re-

inflation.

lated, with high correlation levels, unemployment and inflation, and allowed to carry out a Keynesian economic policy.

man’s theories. It demonstrated that since the crisis of

Reality was harder that Milton Friedman; but his theory inspired another North-American, Nobel Prize Robert Lucas, who developed a still more extreme theory about rational expectations, which for some time has been the

Phillips' Curve

dominant theory in economics. Lucas said that crisis happened because we do not know that we are in a crisis; because if workers knew, they wouldn’t ask for a salary increase, employers would react, etcetera, and the crisis be resolved. Keynes did not hold the opposite, but considered that adjustments could only be made in the long term, although economy would always end up readjusting. But, of course, in the long term we will all be dead.

What Keynes proposed was that state intervention could help to make a sooner adjustment.

Starting from Milton Friedman’s theory of expectations, Lucas developed the theory of rational expectations. According to it, monetary policy can only harm, because any predictable monetary policy will be added to the expectations, causing the subsequent reaction of workers, em-

As we can see in the graphic, a higher unemployment 126 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

ployers and consumers. If any predictable monetary

policy can be incorporated by economic agents, there is

*Despeses totals = Total expenses; Pressió fiscal = Fiscal

no other possible policy than a surprising one. Therefore,

pressure

the only possible policy would be a random one, and this is the antithesis of policy. As surprising as it may seem, we have lived for many years under the predominance of this theory. It has, of course, some strong weak points, as for example the assumption that workers, employers and consumers follow Central Bank indicators and monetary policy evolution all day long. This is evidently not true.

During the period of predominance of this theory, appeared what I believe is the most ideological economic stand. Lucas still said the same as Friedman; intervention is harmful. During the presidential term of Ronald Reagan, a new theory is born. It is called economy of supply,

If we display total tax income in the vertical axis, and any fiscal pressure measurement in the horizontal axis, economists of supply said that above a certain fiscal pressure level (π1), an increase in this magnitude corresponds with a decrease in total income.

This fallacy lasted two or three years, but resulted in the greatest deficit the USA had ever had, except for war periods. It succeeded for some time, among other reasons, because it was supported by a very important newspaper, the Wall Street Journal. Laffer’s curve succeeds in the context of the birth of the Washington Consensus, be-

and is based on another curve; Laffer’s curve.

cause Laffer’s curve does not only uphold no interven-

The economy of supply has two principles: the first ones

State.The underlying ideology is that the smaller the state

states that any demand policy is to fail, doesn’t matter

is, the best

tion; but underlying it there is the concept of the Minimal

whether it is carried out through fiscal spenditure or monetary fluctuations. The main causes of cycles are real, and currency has no effect on them; it doesn’t matter. The second principle states that a tax reduction is very positive for the economy, and that, besides, above a certain level, if we increase fiscal pressure, the State will get a smaller total income instead f a bigger one. That means: a tax reduction does not increase deficit.Anyway, the increase in private saving generated by the tax reduction will finance the deficit. In order to prove it, they made up a curve ‘Laffer’s curve- which has no empirical basis, but illustrates their theory.

Washington Consensus Paradoxically, the Washington Consensus was formulated by John Williamson, a moderate and sensible economist, in favour of income redistribution as a growth driver.

For this reason he put forward a more cautious formulation of the Washington Consensus than the one Reagan’s or Margaret Thatcher’s administrations would have proposed. The Washington Consensus, as Williamson defined it in 1990, consists of ten points that, when implemented at the same time, should make a country begin a period of economic growth.

Laffer’s Curve

The first one: public deficits small enough to be financed without losing inflation control. Second: public spending has to address education, health and infrastructures.

Third: tax system reform has to expand the base and enable to reduce marginal rates. Fourth: financial deregulation because interest rates have to come from the market. Fifth: flexible and open exchange rates, competitive enough to trigger exports. Sixth: replacement of any quantitative restriction to imports for tariffs, which in a second stage need to be between 10-20% maximum. Seventh: withdrawal of any barrier to foreign direct or financial investment. Eighth: privatization of al public enterprises. Ninth: repeal of legislation that restricts comPublic governance models | 127

petition or prevents the influx of new firms (labour market

rarchy for me because the economists that have created

reform was the strategic issue in this formulation). And

the concept see themselves as the only owners of this

tenth: granted property rights both for domestic and fo-

phenomenon’s analytical capacity, and therefore feel en-

reign investors.

titled to turn the hierarchy over. First generation reforms

The implementation failure of this set of reforms has been great, especially in Latin America, but also in the few Asian countries who wanted to implement it. Also in

should be justice reform, electoral legislation reform and, privatization, interest rates, etc, should be the second generation ones.

Russia an in other countries in the area of influence of

Dani Rodrick is a North-American economist of Turkish

the former Soviet Union. Some economists, among whom

origin and a professor at Harvard, who is making contri-

there is current Economy Minister of Peru, Kuczynski,

butions of great interest to the study of development.

have blamed international crisis (which have had severe

Some months ago he wrote an article Getting institutions

effects in Mexico, Argentina or Brazil) and the carelessly

right, in which he categorically explains that nowadays,

implemented measures, for this failure. That means, ac-

among all the sensible economists who study economic

cording to them, this ten principles have not been imple-

growth, the quality of institutions is considered a key fac-

mented with necessary strength.

tor to open prosperity tracks around the world. [8]

There are, of course, more sensible economists, William-

William Easterly also published an article in 2003, which

son among them, who consider its lack of care for the

I consider very relevant, since it reaches the following con-

fighting against social inequalities, the main mistake of

clusion: in order to measure countries’ real development,

the Washington Consensus’ model. Without reducing in-

GP per capita is no longer the suitable variable. The only

equalities, a country does not grow. Therefore, we do not

variable which in fact gives us an approximate measure of

have just to care about growth, but also about distribu-

the overall development degree of countries is their ins-

tion. In this sense, I think that the best study that puts

titutional development. [9]

forward ten alternative points is El disenso deWashington, by North-American economist Nancy Birdsall and Augusto de la Torre, and financed by Carnegie Endowment

The Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) has adopted this reasoning and already uses the concept of ‘de-

for International Peace. [7]

mocratic governance’ as an economic growth driver. It

But all this is not enough to solve Washington Consensus’

important. [10] According to the report’s authors, demo-

failure. In this moment there are many economists, not

cratic governance is the government capability to try, im-

only politicians, who believe that Washington Consensus

plement and hold the needed decisions to solve social

failed because it did not have an institutional reforms pro-

problems, from a democratic point of view. It makes

gram. Nowadays a new consensus is being built that con-

sense that BID takes care of this, because Latin America

siders that institutions are very important to favour an

is the paradigm both of democratic development stagna-

economic development process. This is, besides, the the-

tion, and economic development stagnation. What is

sis of this lesson.

more, it is the paradigm of the appearance of civil lack of

Firstly, economists were very cautious and made up the expression ‘mesoeconomic policies’, which referred to all those policies that allowed the smooth run of the market.

But now they have made up the concept of ‘second generation reforms’. The ten first ones- from the Washington Consensus- would be the first generation, and the second generation reforms would be justice reform, fight against crime, public sector transparency, electoral and political parties legislation improvement , etc. This is a coarse hie128 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

has defined this concept in a book entitled Politics are

safety and crime as a result of democratic stagnation.

This stagnation has led theorists like O’Donell, Argentinean professor at USA, to make up new concepts like ‘delegative democracy’ or ‘semidemocracy’, that aim to identify those situations in Latin America, where some of the formal requirements of democracy have been met ‘ elections are called- but the real requirements are not met. This means there is no political and social freedom.

There is more political than social freedom: for example, there is no right to education, to safety or health.

This diagnosis leads us towards institutions as the cru-

value. Being also an important critic of the welfare eco-

cial factor of development; but it is not easy to translate

nomy, Amartya Sen also theorized that it is socially more

it into policies, into working tools. In another article, Dani

productive to increase the less capable capacities than

Rodrik also tells us that the quality of institutions can be

those of the more capable. This way, the problem of a

not only the driver of development, but also the result.

country’s development consists in solving the privation of

[11] And Therefore, it is difficult to depict the process, a

freedom. Poverty deprives of freedom; the lack of public

causal mechanics. He suggests therefore, to distinguish

health or education services deprives of freedom; the

between stimulating or driving growth, and keeping it

lack of democracy or the restriction to political rights, or

going. Something that seems clear, is that in order to

the lack of the capacity of representation or political par-

achieve sustained growth, an evolution in the quality of

ticipation, deprives of freedom; social marginalization, de-

political institutions is needed. This is, there has to be an

prives of freedom. To solve this negotiation of freedom

increase in democratic governance. Sometimes it is

and rights implies to spark off the processes of develop-

enough to break the deadlock over one specific determi-

ment.

ning factor in each country, to further development. For example, in China, during the late seventies, it could be the lack of any market incentive. In Chile, in the eighties, it could have been an overestimated exchange rate, which is incompatible with growth. Perhaps, one only needs to remove a top from a situation or a limitation that blocks development, for growth to take off. But, in order for the process to go on once the tap has been removed, it needs the development of institutions and democratic governance.

The problem is that the aim of development is freedom, but the means are also freedom. Therefore, a lot of theoretical work is still needed, before we can find it out and can truly have a more instrumental or pragmatic approach based on this stands. There is however, an example that can help us to understand what Sen wants to say: going from the human capital theory to the human capacities one. If we believe that human capital is an important factor, we believe in its indirect value; this means, in the qualities that a person has that makes him useful to production. Instead, the concept of human capacities in-

The Integration of Politics and Institutions In the theories of economic growth, there have been some attempts at theorizing on the integration of politics and institutions, although not many. The United Nations have done it by encouraging the use of the concept oh human development as an alternative to GDP per head.

Besides, economic history professor Douglas North, has been telling for many years that the efficiency level of an economy can not be explained without considering that politics and economics are indissolubly tied together.

The theorist that has made the greatest effort on this direction is probably Amartya Sen. Amartya Sen conceives economic development as an expansion process of the real freedom the population of a nation enjoys. Economic development is not the increase in GDP per head anymore, but the development of a country citizens’ real freedom. This means that the concept of development is moved from the production of goods to the increase in people capacities to choose the modus vivendi they

cludes the indirect consequences on production, but also the ones that directly affect the person. The easiest example would be the master that we close today.

The master gives you, in theory, a knowledge and decision capacity greater than the one you previously had: a capacity to join more efficiently the productive system and, therefore, increase the country’s production. This is what it provides if we analyse it from the perspective of human capital. If you have a greater capacity to contribute to the country’s production, you will then also probably have some rent increase after this master. But even if there were no rent increase because of this greater capacity of contribution to production, you would still have a direct satisfaction increase, because after this master you have more knowledge, more contacts, and more capacity to understand some problems, what means understanding the world. After the master you have more information, more possibilities of dialog, of discussion, of political participation. What Amartya Sen wants is that we bear in mind the two dimensions that he includes in the concept of capacities. He wants us to take into account Public governance models | 129

that humans are not just simple means of production, but

in conservative approaches, but that we can apply to the

also the finality of production.

international frame, with the aim of highlighting the role

Anyway, what needs to be highlighted is that the political framework is essential for development. Amartya Sen says it, but so does sensibleness or common sense. Therefore, I think that from now on it will be very difficult for any economy theorist to consider the freedom expansion process separable from the process of economic growth.

of institutions. Imagine that we have to produce a global public good ‘safety, health or environment, for exampleand that we divide the world into two: us and the rest. We can contribute or not to obtain this global good, and so does the rest of the world. We can display the four possibilities combining the situations in which we and the rest of the world contribute to pay for this global public good.

To finish with, I would like to speak about the final dimension of this conference’s title, which is the word ‘global’. There is a Latin American economist, Osvaldo Sunkel, who ha made it very clear: development can only be given from inside, we cannot inject it form the outside.

Jose Antonio Ocampo, chief executive of the United Nations, has explained how institutional development, human capital accumulation, and social cohesion are endogenous factors. [12] But, even though they are endogenous factors, it makes sense that in this lesson we speak about a global governance because in a globalized world, this means, interdependent, a certain order and attitudes have to be promoted to give support to these endogenous processes. There are different types of international order that do not give support to these endogenous processes, and some others that do.

A very clear example is the solution of Apartheid in South Africa. Without the existence of a world public opinion, which profoundly disliked Apartheid, perhaps it would have also end, but many years afterwards. We need an international order; we need a system of international laws and institutions that support the democratization process of every country, helping at the same time to generate global public goods. We also need international order for that. This means, an international structure in favour of development as freedom. Because of this reasons, institutions are not only important at each State’s scale, but are still transcendental and absolutely necessary at international or global scale. And here we can establish a parallelism with the previous analysis: it is not enough to favour the good run of free market, given that institutions, politics, at international or global scale are also important.

In order to enlighten what I am saying, we will use the theory of the rational choice, which has been usually used 130 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

If we contribute and so does the rest of the world, we all pay and have the government property. This would be possibility number 1. Number 2 would take place if we contributed, but the rest of the world didn’t. Solution number 3 would be the one in which we wouldn’t contribute, but the rest of the world would do so. Finally, number 4 is that in which neither we nor the rest of the world would contribute. In this case, obviously, there would be no global public good. The theory of the rational choice tells us that if we give priority to private interests or, in this case, to national interests, what we desire is box number 3; that in which we do not contribute and the others pay and we all have the global public good.

The most balanced of the situations is, evidently, the first one, in which we all contribute. In situation 2, the global public good is produced, but only we pay. The theory of the rational choice says that if we uphold personal or national interests, we do not want at all this situation in which we are the only ones to pay, to take place. But the theory also says that if we consider these postulates, the equilibrium will be number 4, in which nobody contributes and, therefore, there is no global public good. This is what the rational choice theory says.

Why do we need, following this line of thought, international institutions? Why do we need multilateralism? The answer is very simple: we need it in oder to go from box

4 to box 1. This means, we need a set of rules, punishments, advantages, rewards, procedures and institutions that make the world shift from an equilibrium based on national interest defence, which leads to no contribution from anybody, to a new equilibrium in which everybody contributes.

Thank you very much for you attention.

Narcís Serra ESADE, June 28th , 2004

If the key word with Amartya Sen was freedom, here the key word is sovereignty, the commitment between sovereignty and global governance. This is the key word that has to lead us to define institutions at this international level. Countries have to give up sovereignty, accept rules and commitments, in order to increase international co-

Narcís Serra is the president of CIDOB foundation and a professor at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)

operation. We need a new balance between sovereignty

During his broad political career, he has been conseller

and global governance. There is, therefore, a parallelism

de Política Territorial i Obres Públiques de la Generalitat

between one field and the other. For example, the em-

de Catalunya (1977-79), maior of Barcelona (1979-82),

phasis on the citizen. The growth, as freedom, is focused

minister of Defence of the Spanish government (1982-

not on the product of the country, but on the citizen and

89), vice-president of Spain (1991-95) and president of

his rights. In the international model we also want the ci-

the Comissió de Règim de les Administracions Públiques

tizens, and not the states, to be benefited from the new

del Congrés de Diputats until its dissolution in 2004.

global public good.

The new role of the state, which if we do have to work for freedom is not just that of services manager, has to consist in promoting public and democratic policies at national, international and global level. If there are no democratic structures, we can not put real multilateralism into practice.

To finish with, I want to say that while having the conviction that institutions are fundamental for development, we still do not have enough theoretical knowledge of the relationships between institutions and development, to be able to translate this conviction into specific policies with granted results. And neither do we in the field of globalisation: we do not know where globalisation is taking us or the exact global governance mechanisms that we should have. But, we need to acknowledge that, despite still having many things to learn, we could go many and many kilometres in the correct direction with the knowledge about this issues that we have today.

It is clear then, that the basis of the solution to all problems is political will to solve problems. For this reason it is good to remember that when we look at the relationship between institutions and development we are in front of a political problem; a problem of political will.

[1] HELD, David (2004). Global Covenant. The Social Democratic Alternative to the Washington Consensus. London: Polity Press.

[2] BERGER, Samuel: Foreign Policy for a Democratic President.

Foreign Affairs. May-June 2004 [3] EASTERLY, William (2002). The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics. Cambridge: MIT Press.

[4] LEWIS, Arthur (1966). Development planning: the essentials of economic policy. London: Allen & Unwin.

[5] ROSTOW, W W. (1961). Las etapas del crecimiento económio. Un manifiesto no comunista. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México.

[6] Krugman, Paul (1994). Peddling Prosperity. New York: W.W. Norton.

[7] BIRDSALL, Nancy and DE LA TORRE, Augusto (2001). El disenso de Washington. Políticas económicas para la equidad social en Latinoamérica. Fondo Carnegie para la Paz Internacional y el Dilálogo Interamericano.

[8] RODRIK, Dani (2004). Getting Institutions Right. Harvard University. http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~drodrik/papers.html

Public governance models | 131

[9] EASTERLY, William and LEVINE, Ross (2003). Tropics, germs and crops: how endowments influence economic development.

Journal of Monetary Economics 50, 3-39 [10] PAYNE, Mark et al (2000). La política importa. Democracia y Desarrollo en América Latina. Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID).

[11] RODRIK, Dani (2002). Feasible Globalizations. Harvard University. http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~drodrik/papers.html [12] OCAMPO, José Antonio: Retomar la agenda del desarrollo.

Revista de la CEPAL 74, agosto 2001

132 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

29

State-Building as the Core of Capacity Development

There has been growing consensus within the development policy community that institutions and state capacity are critical of economic growth, and cannot be taken for granted in many poor countries. The problem we face, however, is that while we understand the importance of state institutions, we do not have good strategies for creating them in societies with a weak demand for them. Worse, the international community tends to help poor countries by providing services directly, bypassing and thereby weakening indigenous institutions. Solving this conundrum will be a major task for the future.

26/09/2005 - Francis Fukuyama

The idea that state-building should become a priority for

enforce rules. The old agenda of cutting back state scope

the world community may come as a surprise, given that

remains valid for many countries with excessively large

the dominant trend in world politics for the past genera-

public sectors. What many people forgot during the

tion has been the critique of ‘big government’ and the at-

1990s however was that there are important residual

tempt to move activities from the state sector to private

state functions such as providing a rule of law and other

markets or to civil society. There are two separate di-

basic public goods that can be done more or less well.

mensions of ‘stateness’, however, which need to be se-

While an optimal reform path would involve cutting both

parated. The scope of state activities has do to with the

unnecessary and counterproductive scope through pri-

number of functions or activities a state assumes, while

vatization and deregulation, residual functions would

the strength of states refers to their ability to make and

have to be simultaneously strengthened. Unfortunately, Public governance models | 133

during the 1990s, many countries lost scope and

level) which many people regard as a technical discipline.

strength simultaneously.

Economists have in recent years sought to model corruption and other types of bureaucratic dysfunction through so-called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;principal-agentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; models. The solutions to go-

Weak states are the source of problems While the agenda of reducing the scope of nation-state still remains alive in many parts of the world, the imperative for our new global economic environment has become state-building, particularly in the developing world.

In those countries, weak, incompetent, or non-existent governments have little capacity for enforcing laws or implementing policies. For example, the AIDS epidemic in Africa has infected millions of people and will take a staggering toll on lives. AIDS can be treated, as it has in the developed world, with antiretroviral drugs. There has been a strong push to provide public funding for AIDS medicine and to force pharmaceutical companies to permit the marketing of cheaper forms of their products in Africa and other parts of the Third World. While part of the AIDS problem is a matter of resources, another important aspect is government capacity to administer health programmes.

Antiretroviral drugs are not only expensive, they are also complex to administer. Unlike a one-shot vaccine, they must be taken in complex doses over a long period of time; failure to follow the regimen may actually make the epidemic worse by allowing the human immunodeficiency virus to mutate and develop drug resistance. Effective treatment requires a strong public health infrastructure, public education and knowledge about the epidemiology of the disease in specific regions. Even if the resources were there, the institutional capacity to treat the disease is lacking in many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (though some, like Uganda, have done a much better job than others). Dealing with this epidemic requires helping afflicted countries develop the institutional capacity to use what resources they may acquire.

vernance problems suggested by this approach seek to better align agent interests with those of the principals, often through redesigned monitoring and accountability systems.

While this framework provides important insights into the origins of poor governance, many problems cannot be solved through better monitoring and accountability, because many public sector outputs either cannot be accurately monitored or have very high transaction volume.

Often, workable approaches to public sector reform require changes in the normative structure of an agency or bureau and have multiple possible solutions. Public administration thus often ends up being more of an art than a science.

It is also important to keep in mind the contradiction inherent in providing public services to developing countries, while at the same time engaging in institutional capacity building. External donors and their local contractors are often better positioned to provide services in order to face the immediate needs of the population. However, in the long run, developing countries are better served by developing their own institutional capacity. The tendency of nation-builders to take over and to provide turnkey governments, as we have done under the Office of the High Representative in Bosnia or under the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, creates problems for the future because it infantilizes local actors, impedes ownership and ultimately retards long-term capacity development. There is no neat solution to this problem, but if we are serious about building institutional capacity, we will need to develop approaches that are less intrusive even at the expense of short-term service provision.

What we know about state-building

The political dimension

While we understand how institutions work and why they

Finally, we have to consider the political dimension. State

are important in the developed world, we have much less knowledge of how they can be transplanted to societies in which they are missing or weak. This is true even for public administration (i.e., institutional knowledge at a micro 134 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

weakness, in any part of the world, has international consequences because it invites outside intervention and thereby erodes the principle of sovereignty. Questions of democratic legitimacy have come to dominate disputes

between the United States, Europe and other countries in the international system. Strengthening state institutions through various forms of state-building is a task that has become vital to international security, but is one that few developed countries have mastered. Learning to do state-building better is thus central to the future of world order.

Francis Fukuyama is Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

This article includes excerpts from his book, State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century, and is based on the lecture he gave on the same subject at the World Bank on December 14, 2004.

Further information at: http://www.saisjhu.edu/Faculty/fukuyama/State-Building Follow the lecture form World Bankâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s video server at: http://www.amazon.com/exec/ obidos/tg/detail/8466618112/ qid=1127331937/sr=81/ ref=pd_bbs_1/ 10250826063758549? v=glance&s=books&n=507846

Public governance models | 135

30

The quality of institutions is key The country narratives are too rich to summarize in a brief article, and I shall not attempt to do so. However, some themes that emerge are worth sketching out as a road map to the reader. Institutions that provide dependable property rights, manage conflict, maintain law and order, and align economic incentives with social costs and benefits are the foundation of long-term growth. This is the clearest message that comes across from the individual cases considered in my last book In Search of Prosperity: Analytic Narratives on Economic Growth.

27/03/2006 - Dani Rodrik

China, Botswana, Mauritius, and Australia â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; four cases of

bureaucracy was efficient and run along meritocratic

success in our sample â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; all owe their performance to the

lines. Hard budget constraints were the rule (and not the

presence (or creation) of institutions that have generated

exception) in the public sector. There were large public in-

market-oriented incentives, protected the property rights

vestments in education, health, and infrastructure. The

of current and future investors, and enabled social and

exchange rate was set at a competitive level. However,

political stability.

policies were not uniformly "good" in the conventional,

Consider the case of Botswana, presented by Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. Per capita income in Botswana grew at 7.7 percent annually between 1965 and 1998. The proximate reasons for this outcome are easy to list. Law and order were maintained.

Diamond revenues were managed exceptionally well. The 136 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Washington Consensus sense of that word. The government in Botswana has intervened massively in the economy, and the public sector accounts for a much larger share of the economy than is true on average in Africa.

The key to Botswana, Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson argue, is that institutional arrangements have adequately

protected the property rights of actual and potential investors. The authors provide a rich, textured account of the political and historical roots of these arrangements.

In the absence of good public institutions, growth has been difficult to achieve on a sustained basis. And when growth has taken place, it has either proved fragile (as in post-1997 Indonesia) or incapable of delivering high levels of social outcomes in areas such as health, education, or gender equality (as in Pakistan). In his chapter on Indonesia, Jonathan Temple describes the Indonesian implosion of 1997 as a case of outgrowing existing, weak institutions. Pakistan's failures in social development, despite respectable growth until very recently, are documented in painstaking detail in William Easterly's chapter. Easterly attributes this failure to the "roving bandit" syndrome (Olson 2000): State institutions dominated by a highly fragmented set of military and landed elites have had little incentive to produce public goods and therefore have not done so.

State institutions are not the only ones that matter. Social arrangements can have equally important and lasting consequences for economic growth. Gregory Clark and Susan Wolcott's discussion of Indian economic history illustrates this. They argue that India's backwardness is due in large part to the inability to employ technology, and not to an inadequate diffusion of technology per se. Their evidence from the textile industry shows that while identical machines were used in India and in Britain, these machines were operated much less profitably in the for-

Trade ‘ or, more specifically, government policy toward trade ‘ does not play nearly as important a role as the institutional setting All of the successful countries in our sample have benefited from trade and foreign investment. But as the narratives make clear, specific public policies that are directed at international economic integration or disintegration do not correlate very well with economic performance once one looks at the evidence carefully.

Take Australia, for example. Australia's relative decline vis-à-vis the United States or other rich countries is often attributed to the country's inward-looking policies. But as Ian McLean and Alan Taylor note, there is a timing problem in asserting this claim. While the Australian government sharply changed its policies towards integration in the first three decades of the 20th century (imposing higher tariffs, import licensing, and a stop to Asian immigration), Australia's relative decline compared to the United States and California took place largely before this change in "growth strategy."

Mauritius provides another illustration. According to Arvind Subramanian and Devesh Roy, the level of trade protection in Mauritius has long been among the highest even within sub-Saharan Africa and has come down appreciably only in the late 1990s ‘ more than two decades after the onset of high economic growth. India was able to

mer. The problem in India is neither allocative inefficiency

double its growth rate in the 1980s prior to the liberali-

nor inadequate technology; the problem is low technical

zation of its highly restrictive trade regime, which came a

efficiency despite access to state-of-the-art technology.

decade later (see below). Yingyi Qian argues that the im-

The authors speculate that the answer lies in the nature

pact of China's growing openness to trade and direct fo-

of the employment relationship and its variation across

reign investment came mainly through domestic

societies. In productive economies, workers exert more

institutional changes.

effort in the workplace than can be justified purely by monitoring or by direct financial incentives because they expect everyone else to act in that manner. India, the authors argue, is characterized by a mutual-shirking equilibrium, rather than a mutual gift-giving equilibrium. In this view, India's poverty is largely unconnected to government policy or public institutions.

Geography is not destiny Consider Australia and Mauritius again. As McLean and Taylor stress, Australia is the only rich OECD economy that Public governance models | 137

contains large areas of tropical land. Much of Australia is

sitional institutions" â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; institutions that can differ greatly

desert or arid, with low and highly variable rainfall. Soil

from off-the-shelf, "best practice" institutions that are

quality is poor. Mauritius is a tropical country, with a high

often the object of institutional reform in the developing

degree of dependence on an export commodity buffeted

world. Transitional institutions can have the virtue of

by terms-of-trade shocks. Botswana, which has the added

being more suited to the realities on the ground on both

disadvantage of being landlocked, has obviously not suf-

economic efficiency and political feasibility grounds. Qian

fered greatly from being geographically disadvantaged ei-

shows that the Chinese leadership experimented and pur-

ther. Botswana and Mauritius both started out with

posefully crafted imperfect, but feasible institutional

extremely poor initial conditions. Good institutions, it ap-

arrangements. He discusses four specific examples: dual-

pears, can overcome geographical constraints and lousy

track reform, which liberalized prices at the margin while

initial conditions.

maintaining the "plan track" in place; township and village enterprises, which represented an intermediate form of ownership between private and state ownership; Chinese-

Good institutions can be acquired, but doing so often requires experimentation, willingness to depart from orthodoxy, and attention to local conditions

style federalism, which left the regions with significant autonomy and created healthy economic competition among them; and anonymous banking, which allowed financial development while restraining the capacity of the state to expropriate large depositors. These "transitional institutions" succeeded because of their high ratio of eco-

The narratives in this volume go beyond simply asserting

nomic benefits to political costs. They improved econo-

that "institutions matter." Indeed, one advantage of case

mic

studies is that they can provide a richer account of where

redistribution of income, large-scale (and risky) institu-

good institutions come from, the shape they take, and

tional reforms, or the expenditure of large amounts of po-

how they need to evolve to support long-term growth.

litical capital.

In Botswana's case, Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson

The Chinese example demonstrates that successful ins-

speculate that the roots of Botswana's unusually good

titutions often have heterodox elements. This is a lesson

institutions lie in a combination of factors: tribal institu-

that comes across also from the narratives on Botswana

tions that encouraged participation and imposed cons-

and Mauritius. As noted before, Botswana mixed up mar-

traints on elite behavior; the limited effect of British

ket-friendly institutions with heavy state intervention and

colonization on these tribal institutions, as the colonizers

a large public sector. Mauritius combined its outward ex-

had little interest in Botswana until relatively late; the re-

port-processing zone with centralized wage bargaining

lative power of rural interests, which created an overlap

and (for a developing society) an unusually generous wel-

between Botswana's area of comparative advantage and

fare state.

incentives

without

requiring

a

significant

the economic interests of the elites; and last but not least, the wise and foresighted leadership exhibited by post-in-

The country narratives suggest that "good" institutions â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; in

dependence political leaders. The final element in this list

the sense of institutions that promote and sustain growth

reminds us not to be too deterministic about the source

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; must often have elements that are highly specific to a

of high-quality institutions. Choices made by political lea-

country's circumstances. An approach to institutional re-

ders make a big difference.

form that ignores the role of local variation and institutional innovation is at best inadequate, and at worse

Perhaps nowhere has this been clearer than in China.

harmful. China, Mauritius and Botswana are examples of

Qian's discussion of China focuses on what he calls "tran-

countries that have done very well over extended periods

138 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

of time with a heterodox mix of institutional arrange-

incentives to provide market-fostering public goods at

ments. In effect, these countries have combined ortho-

least cost in terms of corruption and rent seeking. Thin-

dox elements with local heresies. As some of the other

king in such terms helps endogenize the concept of "good

cases discussed in this volume demonstrate, property

governance." The Mexican history with federalism provi-

rights, sound money, and open trade in themselves do

des a rich laboratory for studying the consequences of

not always do the trick. For example, Clark and Wolcott

changes in legal provisions with respect to revenue sha-

note that pre-independence (1873-1947) India's relative

ring. Careaga and Weingast argue that greater depen-

performance lagged despite institutional arrangements

dence on locally generated revenues and greater

that would be regarded as ideal by many economists: se-

electoral competition increase the provision of market-

cure property rights, free trade, open capital markets, and

fostering public goods. They present evidence that is con-

social and political stability. In his comparative analysis

sistent with these expectations.

of Vietnam and Philippines, Lant Pritchett points to the paradox that the country whose policies and institutions

Bolivia has undertaken extensive macroeconomic reform,

best fit today's conventional wisdom (Philippines) is doing

liberalization, and privatization since 1985. Yet economic

poorly, while the one with divergent institutions (Vietnam)

performance has remained lackluster. Daniel Kaufmann,

does very well.

Massimo Mastruzzi, and Diego Zavaleta attempt to sort out the institutional reasons for this failure. Their main

The experience of former socialist economies, discussed

story is that the reform agenda has not been appropria-

by Georges de Menil, further reinforces the role of local

tely targeted on the most glaring trouble spots on the ins-

context. The three countries closest to Western Europe

titutional front. Relying on a worldwide enterprise data set

(Poland Hungary, and the Czech Republic) have done very

for benchmarking, they document the large variance in

well. What seems to have been key for these countries, as

institutional quality that exists within Bolivia, with institu-

de Menil emphasizes, is their relationship with the Euro-

tions relating to macroeconomic stability generally per-

pean Union (EU). The EU provided a plausible institutional

ceived as working much better than those relating to the

model for these countries, in view of a common historical

rule of law. The authors identify petty corruption, uncer-

heritage and relatively short experience under Commu-

tain property rights, and inadequate courts as the source

nism. Furthermore, this model was backed up with the

of problems. Enterprises react to these by withholding in-

carrot of eventual accession to the EU. Consequently,

vestments and taking shelter in the official economy. An

structural reform was effective and took hold relatively

important virtue of the data set and approach taken in

quickly in Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. For

this chapter is that the authors are able to unpack "insti-

countries further to the east, this same type of institutio-

tutional quality" and show how aggregate indices or

nal reform proved to have worse "fit" and less political fe-

country averages can be misleading. The clear implica-

asibility. Hence the finding that distance from D端sseldorf

tion of the Bolivia story is that institutional and gover-

and the number of years under Communism together are

nance shortcomings vary across national contexts, and

the best predictors of a transition economy's relative eco-

that institutional reform agendas have to focus on the

nomic performance.

constraints that happen to bind the most locally.

The narratives on Mexico and Bolivia complement these macro level analyses by providing more specific detail on how institutional arrangements matter to economic performance. Maite Careaga and Barry Weingast focus on fiscal federalism in Mexico. Their key point is that good

The onset of economic growth does not require deep and extensive institutional reform

institutions are those that provide public officials with the This is one of the most important (and encouraging) lesPublic governance models | 139

sons that emerge from the country narratives. It is also a

one's own lifetime. Luckily, actual experience with suc-

lesson sharply at variance with conventional wisdom on

cessful reform provides a different lesson: an ambitious

institutional reforms, which holds that their complemen-

agenda of complementary institutional reforms is not ne-

tary nature requires a long list of such reforms to be pur-

eded to kick-start growth. As we know with hindsight, the

sued simultaneously.

Chinese reformers were able to take imaginative shortcuts that sidestepped the complementarities that might

To appreciate the logic of the conventional wisdom, here

have otherwise ruined a partial and gradual approach.

is a thought experiment. Imagine a Western economist

Dual-track price reform and the introduction of the hou-

had been invited in 1978 to give advice on reform stra-

sehold responsibility system enhanced agricultural pro-

tegy to the Chinese leadership. How would she formulate

duction incentives at the margin without requiring

her advice, in light of what we think we know today? Being

ownership reform, undercutting fiscal revenues, and up-

a sensible economist, she would presumably know that

setting the social balance in urban areas. As Qian makes

the place to start would be agriculture, as the vast majo-

clear in his narrative, this may not have been an ideal re-

rity of the Chinese population lives in the countryside. Li-

form by textbook standards, but it worked.

beralization of crop prices would be the number one item on the agenda. Cognizant that price incentives make lit-

Is China a special case? Let's look at the world's next

tle difference when farm incomes accrue to communes,

most populous country, India, which has recently mana-

she would immediately add that privatization of land must

ged to roughly double its rate of economic growth. How

accompany price liberalization. Reminded that the obli-

much reform did it take for India to leave behind its

gatory delivery of crops to the state at controlled prices is

"Hindu rate of growth'" of 3 percent a year? J. Bradford

an important implicit source of taxation, she would then

DeLong shows that the conventional account of India,

add that tax reform is also required to make up for the

which emphasizes the liberalizing reforms of the early

loss in fiscal revenues. But another problem then arises:

1990s as the turning point, is wrong in many ways. He

if the state cannot deliver food crops to urban areas at

documents that growth took off not in the 1990s, but in

below-market prices, will urban workers not demand hig-

the 1980s. What seems to have set off growth were some

her wages? Yes, that requires some reforms too. State en-

relatively minor reforms. Under Rajiv Gandhi, the govern-

terprises need to be corporatized so they can set their

ment made some tentative moves to encourage capital-

wages and make hiring and firing decisions freely. (Priva-

goods imports, relax industrial regulations, and

tization would be even better, of course.) But if state en-

rationalize the tax system. The consequence was an eco-

terprises now have autonomy, will they not act as

nomic boom incommensurate with the modesty of the re-

monopolies? Well, antitrust regulation, or trade liberali-

forms. Furthermore, DeLong's back-of-the-envelope

zation as a shortcut, can take care of that problem. Who

calculations suggest that the significantly more ambitious

will provide finance to state enterprises as they try to res-

reforms of the 1990s actually had a smaller impact on

tructure? Clearly, financial market reform is needed as

India's long-run growth path. DeLong speculates that the

well. What about the workers who get laid off from the

change in official attitudes in the 1980s, towards encou-

state enterprises? Yes, that's why safety nets are an im-

raging rather than discouraging entrepreneurial activities

portant component of any structural adjustment program.

and integration into the world economy, and a belief that

And so on.

the rules of the economic game had changed for good, may have had a bigger impact on growth than any speci-

The logic of the recommendations is impeccable, even if

fic policy reforms.

their practicality is questionable. The recipients of such advice would be excused if they reached the conclusion

In short, the experiences of the world's two largest deve-

that this reform business is too hard to accomplish in

loping economies indicate that modest changes in insti-

140 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

tutional arrangements and in official attitudes towards

economic growth.

the economy can produce huge growth payoffs. Deep and extensive institutional reform is not a prerequisite for a

Indonesia provides an apt illustration of the dangers of

takeoff in growth. That is the good news. The bad news is

letting institutional reform lag behind growth. Jonathan

that the required changes can be highly specific to the

Temple describes Indonesia as a case of "growing into

context. The "transitional institutions" of India and China,

trouble." In his view, growth was not accompanied with

to use Qian's term, look very different. And for a good re-

the good fundamentals that would have provided the eco-

ason: the binding constraints on growth differed in the

nomy with the resilience to handle adverse shocks. Indo-

two countries. The mark of a successful reform is its abi-

nesia's economic performance since the mid-1960s has

lity to concentrate effort on the binding constraints.

been facilitated by three fortuitous circumstances: oil, the green revolution, and high-growth neighbours. But rapid growth, Temple argues, made institutional weakness a great liability. Indonesia's political and economic institu-

Sustaining high growth in the face of adverse circumstances requires everstronger institutions

tions were unable to handle the adjustments required in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. The upshot is that Indonesia remains mired in a crisis that appears to have put a complete stop to its growth process. Perhaps what

India and China are both very low-income countries. So is

set countries like China and India (as well as South Korea

Vietnam, which has been growing quite rapidly under a

or Taiwan) apart from Indonesia is that these countries

Chinese-style strategy that defies conventional wisdom

have used economic growth as an opportunity to under-

on institutional reform. Pritchett, who analyzes the Viet-

take further institutional reforms along the way.

namese record and compares it to the Philippines', suggests that countries that are in the process of escaping

The collapse of growth in the case of a country like Vene-

from low-level poverty traps may be fundamentally diffe-

zuela is much harder to explain on the basis of conven-

rent from middle-income countries. The policies required

tional indicators of institutional weakness. As Ricardo

to initiate a transition from a low-income equilibrium to a

Hausmann explains in his narrative, Venezuela was seen

state of rapid growth may be qualitatively different from

as the most stable democracy in Latin America, with a

those required to re-ignite growth for a middle-income

strong party system, free press, and solid labour and bu-

country. At low levels of income, with reasonable institu-

siness organizations to negotiate social conflicts. Yet Ve-

tions and reasonable policies, it may be easy to achieve

nezuela's growth rate, once Latin America's fastest at 6.4

high growth up to semi-industrialization. But the institu-

percent per annum, has collapsed to the point where out-

tional requirements of re-igniting growth in a middle-in-

put per worker in the non-oil economy is almost half what

come country can be significantly more demanding.

it was in 1980. What happened? Hausmann focuses on

Pritchett notes that per capita GDP in the Philippines re-

two explanations. The neoclassical explanation is that the

mains lower than its level in 1982, even though institu-

decline in the value of oil exports has reduced income

tional quality (with the transition to democracy after

and correspondingly (non-traded) output. But Hausman-

1982) has increased significantly. Pritchett speculates

n's calculations suggest that this cannot account for more

that the trouble may be that uncertainty about the rules

than half of the collapse. The second factor is a rise in

of the game has increased. In his words, "what trips coun-

country risk, reflected in Venezuela's country ratings and

tries up is the transition from one set of 'institutions' to

contractual interest rates, which has reduced the desired

another." The uncertainty over the rules of the game that

capital stock. What lies behind this, according to Haus-

accompanies comprehensive, but poorly managed, insti-

mann, is the inability to settle distributive conflicts in the

tutional change is a fundamental roadblock to sustained

wake of a collapse in oil income. Venezuela has simply Public governance models | 141

become a riskier environment, which in turn has eroded the quality of public institutions and their legitimacy. This argument is reminiscent of the importance Pritchett attaches to the rules of the game. It suggests that countries can trip up even when their institutions appear strong by conventional yardsticks.

Dani Rodrik is Professor of International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government (KSG), Harvard University.

Rodrik, D. (2003) In Search of Prosperity, Princeton University Press.

Further information at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691092699/ sr=8-1/qid=1143644214/ref=pd_bbs_1/ 104-4737729-5195129?%5Fencoding=UTF8

142 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

31

Presentation of the Latinamerican Charter of Civil Service

It is difficult to reach a consensus regarding the content of an instrument such as the Latin-American Charter of Civil Service. The United Nations Organization (UNO) charged the task of drawing up the Charter to the Latin American Center for Development Administration (CLAD). Both institutions worked together in preliminary meetings, which were attended by government representatives drawn from all the countries in the region. These meetings analyzed the outline content presented by ESADE’s Professor Francisco Longo 17/05/2004 - José Manuel Sucre Ciffoni

The interests of three sectors were combined in drawing up the Charter:

• Citizens’ demands for quality public services that meet society’s ever-changing requirements.

• The State’s interest as employer, requiring the loyalty

• Citizens demands for administrative processes that

and commitment of civil servants and the efficient exe-

meet high ethical standards, in particular: integrity, ac-

cution of policies.

countability, and transparency in public service mana-

• The demand by civil servants for political neutrality,

gement.

equal job opportunities, stable employment, and pro-

The Charter was presented at the 5th Conference of Mi-

motion based on merit and professionalization of the

nisters for Public Administration and State Reform, held in

public function, based on the foregoing requirements.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia) in June 2003. The document was approved after interesting and weighty debaPublic governance models | 143

tes on the subject during the conference.

The Latin-American Charter of Civil Service harmoniously combines the interests of a democratic society.

Accordingly, it was signed by the Heads of State and Government at the 13th Latin-American Summit, which was also held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia) in November 2003. The official declaration read: ‘The 13th Latin-American Summit of Heads of State and Government hereby states its special commitment to fostering the Professionalization of Public Function and supports the principles and guidelines set out in the Latin-American Charter of Civil Service’.

In addition, the Secretary General presented and distributed the Latin-American Charter during the 58th UN General Assembly in a document numbered A/58/193. The Charter thus constitutes an official UNO document.

It was difficult to take matters forward and obtain consensus among not only Latin-American countries but also the rest of the international community during the 58th UN General Assembly.

However, the most difficult stage begins now with the development and institutionalization of the process, in which theory has to be turned into practice.

To this end, the UNO has offered its support in drawing up plans for implementing national and regional strategies for member countries who so wish.

The actions taken by the State through an efficient, modern, professional civil service mirrors the health of our democracies and is an instrument for improving citizens’ quality of life.

José Manuel Sucre Ciffoni is Head of Program of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management of United Nations Organization.

144 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

32

Challenges posed by the current expansion of the EU in eastern Europe

The 5th stage of EU expansion: expectations and challenges in the political, economic, and regulatory fields.

20/05/2004 - Pere Puig

Today, Europe finds itself in a tricky position. Some of the

nomic, and institutional arrangements. Integrating ten

EU’s larger and more developed economies - in particular

new Member States in Central and Eastern Europe will in-

the French and German ones - seem locked into low

crease the size of the Single Market and improve the bu-

growth rates and stubbornly high unemployment. The EU

siness climate in both Western Europe and in the EU

has begun to suffer from an inferiority complex, not least

accession States. The creation of a larger Single Euro-

because of the repeatedly high growth rates achieved by

pean Market (480 million consumers instead of the cu-

the Asian Tiger economies and the US economy’s recent

rrent 375 million) will allow better assignment of

remarkable performance.

resources and significant economies of scale.

Since the 1st of May this year, the EU has had to face the

Expansion will allow the application of standards and best

challenges posed by expansion to the East, with ten new

governance practices employed in the EU’s most develo-

members characterized by relatively backward econo-

ped nations, which should prove positive for the econo-

mies. This is all happening in the context of rapid globali-

mies and societies of the new Member States. These

zation and technological change, and an unfavorable

standards and best administrative practices include bet-

demographic situation. These factors are all placing enor-

ter organizational and legal systems, compliance with de-

mous pressure on the European social and economic

manding environmental norms, and food quality

model (which almost everyone wants to retain).

regulations.

The Community’s eastward expansion will have a big im-

On the other hand, integration in the EU involves massive

pact on the business world and on the EU’s political, eco-

investment by the new accession countries - especially Public governance models | 145

with regard to public infrastructure (water, energy, waste, transport, and transport networks) and manufacturing ac-

they need to modernize.

tivity.

Put another way, the process involves allowing Europe to

The positive side of EU expansion for the business com-

the economic benefits that should flow from a Single Mar-

munity is larger markets, better and more rational regu-

ket of 500 million consumers. EU expansion undoubtedly

lations, greater political and macro-economic stability,

involves big risks. Measures need to be taken to reduce

and more commercial opportunities. The negative side is

these risks, which include implementing the EU’s long-

the administrative weaknesses of the new Member Sta-

planned reforms in both the political sphere (Maastricht

tes, which threatens to seriously hinder the efficient wor-

summit) and the ecomomic one (Lisbon accords).

king of the Single Market.

recoup its historical and cultural heritage, and providing

The opportunities and benefits in the medium term are

The European Commission is spending large sums on

potentially huge. Nevertheless, the consequences of fai-

providing suitable administrative support to help the new

lure would seriously threaten the building of a united and

members come up to scratch with the EU’s systems, at

prosperous Europe.

least in the medium term. To this end, various training and experience-pooling programs have been set up to help Eastern and Central European countries adapt.

The initial enthusiasm shown by the new Member States in ‘rejoining Europe’ after the divisions of the Cold War is

Pere Puig is Full Professor of URL, Professor of ESADE and Professor of the Institute of Public Management (IDGP).

gradually giving way to worries about the negative aspects of EU extension. This is evident in the allocation of agricultural and regional subsidies. The poorest regions in the EU-15 area are the ones with most to lose.

The decentralization of public spending decisions in countries like Spain, and the risk of a cut in European subsidies in the Objective 1 group of regions could have a serious impact on local government finances. The economic impact of EU expansion on the poorest areas Mediterranean regions is another concern.

There is growing political pressure to gradually phase in the new subsidy arrangements for both winners and losers alike (regional and agricultural subsidies will only reach 4% of the new countries’ GDP in 2006). EU governments are concerned that the Community budget will break under the strain.

It should be remembered that the new Member States desperately need reform of their education systems and modernization of their public administrations. Only thus can their integration and convergence with the rest of the EU be ensured, bringing their per capita GDP closer to the Community average. Starving these countries of muchneeded EU structural funds would simply be counter-productive and rob their economies of the breathing space 146 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

BIBLIOGRAPHY AA. VV. (2002). ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Enlargement? Economic and Social Implications of the EU Prospective Eastern Expansion’, CEPR Policy, paper n.º 7, June 2002.

ALESINA, Alberto; PEROTTI, Roberto (2004). ‘The European Union: A Politically Incorrect View’, NBER Working Paper Series, 10342, March 2004.

BLANCHARD, Oliver (2004). ‘The Economic Future of Europe’, Working Paper Series, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Economics, 4 February 2004.

BUCK, Tobias; DOMBEY, Daniel (2004). ‘Missed targets: Why has the European Union failed in its efforts to match the economic strides of the US?’, Financial Times (Comment and Analysis), 25 March 2004.

MARTÍN, Carmela; TURRIÓN, Jaime (2003). ‘El impacto de la ampliación de la UE en el comercio y en los flujos migratorios y de inversión directa de España’, working document, European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Spanish branch, Madrid.

MUNCHAU, Wolfgang (2004). ‘Ground: Why Germany’s once soaring economy is failing to take off’, Financial Times (Comment and Analysis), 1 April 2004.

MUNCHAU, Wolfgang (2004). ‘Why the Lisbon process is very much alive’, Financial Times (Comment and Analysis), 1 April 2004.

VIÑALS, José (2003). ‘La economía europea en la encrucijada’, III Conferencia Anual sobre Política Económica, Empresa y Sociedad, Círculo de Empresarios, Madrid, November 2003.

ZUBIRI, Ignacio (2004). ‘Los retos presupuestarios de la ampliación de la Unión Europea’, working document, European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Spanish branch, Madrid, 2003.

Public governance models | 147

33

Devolution and decentralisation in public administration: concepts, consequences and evaluation The issue of decentralisation is a hardy perennial[1] in the academic and practitioner debates on public administration and public management. This brief article contains very general reflections about a specific, though very significant, type of the broader phenomenon of decentralisation: devolution. Devolution may be defined as the transfer of formal authority to external, legally established organisations run by elected representatives; it typically occurs from ‘upper’ to ‘lower’ tiers of government.[2] In other words, it is the vertical, territorial dimension of decentralisation.

19/12/2005 - Elio Borgonovi

In the last twenty years, devolution reforms have been on

in common a recent experience of significant interven-

the governmental agenda of many countries. In Europe,

tions of devolution. [3]

there is evidence of trends towards devolution in the (once) very centralised ‘Napoleonic’ systems of the southern, Mediterranean countries, as in the already decentralised Nordic, Scandinavian countries; the democracy with the longest history in the world, the United Kingdom, and the very young democracies in Eastern Europe have 148 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Devolution reforms are complex processes, producing diversified effects in different countries. The policy-making processes that set devolution high on the governmental agenda of a country and lead to its enactment may be extremely diversified; the problems that devolution tries to address vary remarkably; finally, the same models of de-

volution that are actually considered may be very diffe-

least broader, frameworks to evaluate devolution proces-

rent from country to country. [4]

ses would be beneficial for research and practice as well

Anyway, it is possible to provide some very broad genera-

as for policy-making.

lisations regarding devolution. First of all, devolution in

Decentralisation processes, very generally speaking,

Public Administration is a need that is called for by many

should be evaluated comparing the benefits and advan-

people in modern societies. A very well known pro-devo-

tages with the possible disadvantages and costs. That im-

lution argument is that devolution takes policy-making

plies that much research is still to be done in order to

and services provision closer to citizens, enhancing effi-

better define and classify costs and benefits of devolu-

ciency and effectiveness in the public sector (proximity

tion (i); to define significant measures for them (ii); and to

advantages).

assess and validate concepts and measures through

At the same time, devolution is a challenge for decision-

more empirically based comparative research (iii).

makers and managers. Decentralisation spreads powers,

Costs of devolution, for example, can be roughly grouped

functions and information over many levels of govern-

into two broad categories: monetary and non monetary.

ment, and creates a more complex network for public de-

Growth in public expenditure, obviously, is to be included

cision-making and services provision. Consequently, it

in the first category. (It is the dimension which is most

makes coordination more difficult and calls strongly for

often measured, although it may be difficult to demons-

more effective monitoring and control mechanisms. Res-

trate to what extent such growth depends on devolutio-

ponsibility may be a hard task, but sharing responsibility

nary processes). But how can the costs of conflicts

could be even harder.

between levels of government be significantly measured?

Finally, devolution is a problem, since it produces recurrent unintended consequences. I would like to highlight

Are very general qualitative assessments a good measure? And how should their impact be measured?

just a couple of them. Public expenditure, first of all, could

Benefits, too, are in need of clearer classification and me-

easily increase as a result of devolution processes, since

asurement. They vary considerably: from a potential hig-

new administrations are created or pre-existent ones are

her degree of democratic participation and accountability

reinforced. It especially occurs during the ‘transition’ from

to higher quality, efficiency, and effectiveness in public

a centralised to a decentralised system. Different public

services, etc.

entities, at different levels of government, could be in charge of, and therefore spending money on, the same

Finally, I would like to point out a methodological issue re-

functions or tasks.

lated to the study and the analysis of devolution proces-

Moreover, devolution leads to fragmentation (and conse-

resources from central to decentralised units: it implies

quently to diseconomies of scale) since it transfers au-

that one of the basic preconditions and requirements for

thority from the central tier of government to many

such a reform to be effective is the capacity of peripheral

decentralised units; this circumstance may be a disad-

bodies. The political, administrative and managerial atti-

vantage in the perspective of global competition. (On the

tudes and skills of the local units are vital in terms of the

other hand, it is to be noted that a well known pro-devo-

success of decentralisation. Consequently, it may be re-

lution argument states that regional/territorial dimension

asonably assumed that even a well-designed institutional

best suits the challenges of global competition).

reform to transfer functions and powers to the lower tiers

Since devolution is such a complex issue, how can it be evaluated? Are institutional designs aimed at devolution to be considered anyway beneficial? Under some circumstances, the answer would be ‘yes’, especially if the aim is just redistribution of power. Otherwise, it is to be assumed that an effort to define comprehensive, or at

ses. Decentralisation is about transferring functions and

of government is unlikely to be fully implemented if the latter are incapable of performing at a ‘sufficient’ level of effectiveness and efficiency. [5] Perhaps the study of devolution calls for stronger interaction between political science, public administration and public management approaches. [6] Public governance models | 149

Elio Borgonovi is Head of the Department of Public Administration and Health Care Management at Bocconi University, Milan.

[1] Pollitt, C. (2005) ‘Decentralisation: a central concept in contemporary public management’, in: Ferlie, E.; Lynn, L.; Pollitt, C. (eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Public Management, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

[2] Pollitt, C.; Birchall, J.; Putman, K. (1998) Decentralising public service management. London, McMillan Press.

[3] Fedele, P.; Ongaro, E. (2005) ‘A Common Trend, Different Houses: a Comparative Analysis of Devolution in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom’. Paper presented at the EGPA Conference Reforming the Public Sector: what about the citizens?, Bern, Switzerland, August, 31’September, 2, 2005.

[4] Fedele, P.; Ongaro, E. (2005) ‘A Common Trend, Different Houses: a Comparative Analysis of Devolution in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom’. Paper presented at the EGPA Conference Reforming the Public Sector: what about the citizens?, Bern, Switzerland, August, 31’September, 2, 2005.

[5] Borgonovi, E. (2005) Principi e sistemi aziendali per le amministrazioni pubbliche, Milan, Egea.

[6] Hutchcroft, P. (2001) Centralization and decentralization in administration and politics: assessing territorial dimensions of authority and power, Governance, January, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 2353

150 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

34

Political Change and a State Based on Regional Autonomy

This year, 2004, marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Spain’s first Statutes of Autonomy (i.e. for the Basque Country and Catalonia). It is possible that the event will go unnoticed by the media and highly unlikely - at least in the Basque Country - that they will be celebrated.

How is it then that such an important date can be ignored by citizens, political parties, and State institutions alike?

17/05/2004 - Rafael Jiménez Asensio

Undoubtedly the cause lies in the way in which ambitions

arly evidenced by the percentage of national spending ac-

for regional autonomy have waned over the last few de-

counted for by the country’s regional governments. It is

cades and fall far short of the high hopes of certain par-

therefore hardly surprising that regional governments now

ties during the early days of Spain’s fledgling democracy.

dispose of powerful administrations responsible for ma-

However, the changes undergone by the State over the

naging public policies for their respective autonomies.

last quarter century have been nothing short of remarka-

Nevertheless, the problems of Spain’s system of autono-

ble. The highly centralized Spain of the early years of the

mous regions lies mainly in the political sphere. Some re-

political transition has given way in little over two deca-

gions enjoy only limited legislative coverage for their

des to a country based on regional autonomies. Despite

autonomous status, while others have none at all. The

serious institutional shortcomings, Spain has neverthe-

fact is, Spain’s policy regarding political autonomy is se-

less achieved a considerable degree of administrative de-

riously flawed. The powers conferred are straight jacke-

centralization. Much of the country’s administration is

ted by core legislation, and undermined by horizontal

effectively conducted by regional government. This is cle-

competencies and the concept that regional legislatures Public governance models | 151

only regulate marginal or residual matters.

Yet none of this is particularly surprising. When it comes to political culture, Spanish citizens have largely failed to grasp the value of the regional model implied by the new model of the State. Politicians have a weak concept of decentralization. As a result, parliament and government often legislate as if Spain were still a highly-centralized State. The Basque Country and Catalonia look at the rest of Spain and are quick to reject the external trappings of Spanish culture and national feeling (language, flags, sports teams, etc.).

Perhaps twenty five years is too short a time for such a radical change to produce real changes. Be that as it may,

the 14th of March. The PSOE obtained 164 deputies who, together with 5 IU deputies, make 169 seats in all (i.e. 7 seats short of an absolute majority). There are 33 deputies who represent various nationalist parties. Adding these brings the figure to 202 deputies, radically altering the political scene (before the election, the then governing PP party enjoyed an absolute majority). In fact, the PP not only has a mere 148 seats but it is also singularly unattractive as a coalition partner. This means the PSOE can govern easily even though the party by itself does not enjoy an absolute majority.

What interests here is not this fact but rather the impact of these political changes on Spain’s model of the State.

the regional structure of the Spanish State is a problem

Despite the ease with which the PSOE can govern in the

pending solution and for which a great deal of tolerance

new parliament, it is also true that certain key decisions

and understanding is necessary if it is to be properly dealt

(e.g. passing the Budget, constitutional changes, and re-

with. As indicated, Spanish development of its regional

gulatory changes to Congress) require the support of one

autonomies is inconclusive at best and at worst has come

or more of the larger nationalist parties (i.e. ERC, CiU and

to a dead end.

PNV).

One only has to look at the various ideas being cooked

This necessarily means enacting legislation that fosters

up by Spanish politicians to realize that no one can agree

greater pluralism in Spain and hence greater regional au-

on the menu. The so-called Plan Ibarretxe (i.e. the regio-

tonomy. It would be sad if this hope were dashed.

nal government’s proposals for a Political Statute for the Basque Country) involves striking a completely new constitutional balance of power between the Spanish State and the Basque Autonomous Government. It is a clear exception to the rule, supposedly covered by the First Article of the Constitution. Proposals for reforming Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy (for which many documents and proposals are being circulated) are of a much less radical nature. They involve fine-tuning and a re-interpretation of the system of competencies. One can say that these proposals attempt to enshrine the body of constitutional jurisprudence on the autonomies in a revised Statute. I suggest this avenue is a difficult one to take. In any case, the results would only become clear once this model of reform had been fully defined. In any event, one would have to see how constitutional jurisprudence (re)interpreted any new statutes before reaching a conclusion as to their impact. The task is a difficult one.

One should nevertheless note the change in the political situation following the Spanish election, which followed close on the heels of the terrorist slaughter in Madrid on 152 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

One should note that adding the PSOE’s seats to those of the nationalist parties yields a majority that is more than sufficient to push any changes to the Statutes of Autonomy through Congress (for which only an absolute majority is required). In any case, it would be advisable to obtain the greatest consensus possible in reforming Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy. However, even should such consensus not be forthcoming, no one can reasonably challenge the legitimacy of these reforms when almost 90 % of the Catalan Parliament approves of such changes, as do 202 deputies (twenty over the absolute majority threshold) in the Spanish Congress. The irony is that the Senate, which is elected on a ‘territorial’ basis, could temporarily block any moves at reform.

Reform of the Constitution is another matter entirely. Zapatero in the proposals laid before Congress before being formally voted in as President, proposed limiting any changes to very specific points. At the moment, proposed reforms are confined to the Senate and small amendments to Section VII of the Constitution (which determines the Autonomous Regions making up the Spanish

State). The Partido Popular’s (PP) support is essential here, given that any reform of the Constitution requires a 3/5 majority in both Chambers, particularly in Congress.

This means rallying 210 Deputies - a figure that is unobtainable without the PP. If reform of the Senate and Section VIII of the Constitution were linked to Section II (Royal Succession) and incorporation of the European Constitution within the Spanish one, things would be a great deal more complicated. In this case, initial reform by a two thirds majority in Congress would involve a dissolution of parliament and the calling of new general elections. The newly-elected parliament would then have to ratify the reform proposals by a 2/3 majority for these to take effect.

In other words, the viability of constitutional reform depends on a radical change in the way the Partido Popular sees these issues - something that seems highly unlikely at things now stand.

Greater self-government does not only require reform of the Statutes but also a sea change in many State laws, which would need various amendments to enhance regional government and (particularly if Constitutional changes are ruled out) the use of special instruments to improve the scope of the competencies set out in Article 150, Sections 1 and 2 of the Constitution. The Constitutional Court’s interpretation of such changes would be of key importance to the success or failure of the venture.

The Constitutional Court needs a strong injection of judges sympathetic to the cause of regional autonomy if any new legislation is not to be rendered a dead letter. Were the Court to frustrate such attempts at reform, the Spanish political system might well take a step towards the abyss.

Rafael Jiménez Asensio is Full Professor of Constitutional Law at ESADE Faculty of Law and Professor at the Institute of Public Management (IDGP).

Public governance models | 153

35

Report on good governance and administrative transparency On 21st December 2004, the Autonomous Government of Catalonia agreed to ‘create a working group on good governance and administrative transparency, which was to draw up a report on the principles that should guide the actions of Catalan public administrations, organizations and companies ‘ as well as their political and professional managers ‘ in order to ensure transparency in the management of public resources and equality of access to the information on this management by all citizens, organizations and companies’. The working group was formed by a president and two members on the 14th January 2005. It set to work on 27th January and delivered the final report (attached document) on 27th July, sticking to the established six-month deadline with mathematical precision.

26/09/2005 - Eulàlia Vintró

Moreover, the agreement corresponded to the 2004-07

solutions required to move forward and attain the above-

Catalan Government Programme. I quote, word for word,

mentioned objectives’.

‘it is necessary to strengthen the democratic quality of our political and administrative system and to make the management of its organizations and institutions more transparent’. It aimed to ‘obtain an independent assessment of the current situation and an estimate of the re154 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

What emerges from a reading of these statements is not simply the considerable scope of the contents and the limited time in which to address them, but also the inherent complexity of a simultaneous debate on political and

administrative systems. For these reasons, the group in-

adcasting good practices, publicizing salaries and sanc-

itially rejected all references to the representative politi-

tions, free access to all public documentation with limi-

cal system. However, it expressed the urgent need for

ted and reasonable exceptions’ In short, the government

political reform (even greater than the need for any ad-

is also going in the right direction when they count on ci-

ministrative reform) that materialized in ‘an electoral law,

tizens to contribute to the exercise of public office instead

a law for territorial organization, a law for the financing of

of turning it into an inextricable trap, full of difficulties and

political parties and a law to regulate the public media’.

only accessible by the initiated in the best case scenario

Moreover, the group stated that the adoption of ethical

‘ or, in the worst case scenario, into a breeding ground for

principles and managerial transparency by elected and

string-pulling, cronyism and corruption.

professional leaders ‘is not so much dependent on whether new laws are made, as on whether the existing laws are complied with and that these laws are enforced’.

Above all, it is a matter of the effective determination to ensure that everyone ‘ starting with the Administration it-

Aware that an improvement in transparency and good governance does not simply consist of a catalogue of proposals and recommendations, as stated in point number two of the report, I would just like to reiterate the contents,

self ‘ observes the law and that these laws are applied.

since the catalogue of proposals and recommendations

So, once the field of action in the administrative system

participation of all citizens, commits fully to:

had been defined, the next step was to analyze its function, its actors, its actions and its transparency, after first reflecting on the values that should shape good governance. Based on eight documents, prepared by members of the group, on the context of the task, the administration and public office, the specialized area of autonomous institutions, high-ranking positions, public companies, contracting, aids and subsidies, transparency and access to information and collective group debate sessions, as well as specific contributions by other experts in different fields, 58 proposals and recommendations were drawn up, which form the core of the report sent to the President of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia.

It is not simple, and probably not reasonable, to summarize or select just a few of the proposals and recommendations. They constitute the results of a process of rewriting and simplification carried out jointly by people

will be useful if the Government, with the informed active • The definition of citizenship values for Catalonia.

• The constant defence of these values in their words and actions, making sure these remain coherent and consistent, and explaining it in this way.

• The adoption of a series of cascading measures, promoting these values, in all government ministries and public companies, as well as in the rest of the public administrations.

• The training of all public employees in these values and in their implementation.

• A search for complicity with all the social sectors in defence of this, paying particular attention to the public and private media.

• The inclusion of these values in all the agreements the government promotes inside and outside of Catalonia.

with different professional and political backgrounds, and benefit from a certain degree of unity and balance. Thus, it is preferable to read all of them together and in full.

However, I think it is important to stress that by formulating the task, and even more importantly ‘ as all members of the group hope ‘ by applying the proposals delivered,

Eulàlia Vintró is a professor of Greek at the Universitat de Barcelona and member of a working group on good governance and administrative transparency.

the Autonomous Government of Catalonia is on the right track. This path has already been followed by other European governments and some international organizations when establishing codes of conduct, services charters, strict measures of incompatibilities, positive actions, bro-

She was a member of the Catalan Parliament and deputy mayor of Barcelona City Council. In different terms of office, she was a councillor for education, youth and culture, and also for social welfare.

Public governance models | 155

Tamyko Ysa, Principal Researcher of the ESADE Research Group in Leadership and Innova (GLIGP) - PUBLIC Editorial Board Member

Collaborative management for the design and execution of public decisions

ation in Public Management The top 50 articles in PUBLIC | 157

36

Various activities for managing interorganisational networks In a previous issue of PUBLIC, we revised some of the basic concepts concerning inter-organisational networks. In particular, we focused on why and how this type of network is created. In this second part, we look at the various models that exist for the management of the network.

20/06/2005 - Àngel Saz-Carranza

Network management conceives the manager as a mediator or a manager of processes, and is far removed from the classic conception of inter-organisational focus, which holds the manager as a controller of the system. Network management assumes changing definitions, empowering through information and a fragmented authority structure in which there is no room for directing from above down, since networks are usually flat, as pointed out by the Dutch experts Kickert, Klijn and Koopenjan and the Americans Agranoff and McGuire.

The most representative management models for collaboration and the networks along the various ontological lines are as follows: game management and network constitution by Kickert, Klijn and Koopenjan, which belong to the bibliography on political networks; Huxham’s collaborative advantage model; Ring and Van de Ven’s dynamic model for corporate alliance; Ebers’s theory on inter-organisational networks; and Bardach’s interagency 158 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

collaborative capacity model.

These contribute to the development of the scope of network management in two ways. On the one hand, some authors, such as Kickert, Klijn and Koppenjan, and Huxham and Vangen, focus on the activities required to manage the network; and on the other, some authors, such as Ebers, Bardach, and Ring and Van de Ven, focus on providing conceptual tools for enabling the understanding of the collaboration or the network, and for considering the network as a system.

The following section looks at the first group, i.e. the activities for managing the network, and we describe these activities in a three-dimensional way: (1) the level at which activity is to be influenced (structure or interaction); (2) the nature of the activity (idealistic or pragmatic); and (3) the point of implementation (perceptions, actors and rules).

The level of influence of the activities: the network or the game According to Kickert, Klijn and Koppenjan, and Agranoff and McGuire, one dimension regarding activities is the level at which they are to exert an influence. The first level is that of the structure of the network, and the second is that of actor interaction, what they refer to as ‘game’. In any case, both levels receive continuous feedback. Whereas the games are influenced and limited by the structure of the network (the rules, mechanisms and network members), the games modify the structure. The games are set in the framework of the network, which acts as their platform. Consequently, network management can be divided into the structuring of the network and game management.

When defining the rules for accessing the network (who enters, who doesn’t and how they enter) or the objective of the network (e.g. if it is to be a network for the coordination and exchange of information or a network producing a service), we are influencing the network structure.

However, when we moderate a meeting among members on the network or when we decide the agenda of the meeting, we are influencing the level of interaction.

the decision-taking process.

Levels of implementation of the activities: perceptions, actors and rules Finally, and in accordance with the categorisation proposed by Kickert, Klijn and Koppenjan, an ulterior dimension appears: the point of implementation or application of the activity. As we have mentioned, an activity can be idealistic or pragmatic, and can seek to influence the scope of the network or the interaction. However, the object to which the activity is applied, or the point of implementation, is another dimension that determines what an activity affects.

An activity can be managed by the actors, the institutions or the perceptions, which means that the games or the structure can be influenced by actions exerted on the actors, perceptions or on the institutionalised rules. As with the network and the game, these three points of intervention are also deeply interrelated. There are activities that seek to influence the perception held by the actors of a network or game. Others include or exclude actors from a game or from the network. There are also activities aimed at modifying the rules of a game or the network.

The nature of the activities: idealistic or pragmatic

Consequently, an activity carried out by a coordinator for

Huxham and Vangen identify the nature of the activities

structure or the game; it will act on the perceptions, rules

as an ulterior dimension. Activities can be idealistic or

or actors; and it will be either pragmatic or idealistic.

the management of a network will always involve these three dimensions. All activities will seek to influence the

pragmatic. Idealistic activities are absolutely explicit and inclusive, whereas pragmatic activities use the imbalance of power and information to progress towards achieving the network’s objective.

The first category of activities includes those which support the actors who wish to belong to the network; those which empower the actors by placing an adequate infras-

Àngel Saz-Carranza is Research Associate at ESADE's Institute of Public Management and at Research Center for Leadership in Action, Wagner School of Public Service, New York University.

tructure for participation at their disposal; those which seek to rebalance the internal differences on the network; and those which mobilise the network by motivating actors and supervising the correct operation of the network.

References

To the contrary, pragmatic activities include those which,

AGRANOFF, Robert; McGUIRE, Michael. 2001. ‘Big questions in

for example, manipulate the agenda to impose items, or

public network management’. In: Journal of Public Administra-

those which exclude participants at certain moments in

tion Research and Theory 11 (No. 3).

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| 159

BARDACH, Eugene. 1998. Getting agencies to work together. The practice and theory of managerial craftsmanship. Washington: Brookings Institution Press.

EBERS, Mark. 1997. The formation of inter-organisational networks. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

HUXHAM, Chris; VANGEN, Siv. 2000. ‘Leadership in the shaping and implementation of collaboration agendas: how things happen in a (not quite) joined-up world’. In: Academy of Management Journal 43 (No. 4).

KICKERT, Walter; KLIJN, Erik-Hans; KOOPENJAN, Joop. 1997. Managing complex networks. London: Sage.

RING, Peter; VAN de VEN, Andrew. 1994. ‘Developmental processes of cooperative inter-organisational relationships’. In: Academy Management Review 19 (No. 1).

160 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

37

Network Knowledge Management Adds Public Value

Today’s managers in the public and nonprofit sectors are increasingly knowledge managers. They must become leaders in organizing the human resource connectivity needed to solve difficult problems. Work in public organizations increasingly values interactive human contributions based on bodies of knowledge, that is mixes of framed experiences, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provide frameworks for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. Managing knowledge is designed to identify, extract and capture an organized entity’s ‘knowledge assets,’ and in the case of public organizations use it to add public value. That clearly proved to be a primary aim of the networks of governmental and nongovernmental organizations in my study of their internal operations.

26/03/2007 - Robert Agranoff

Managing Within Networks[1] examines in detail the ope-

king with local governments and nongovernmental orga-

rational requisites of fourteen of these emergent entities,

nizations to address cross-boundary issues, particularly

incorporating federal and state government officials wor-

intractable problems at the field level. These networks

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are in different areas: transportation, economic and rural development, communications systems and data management, watershed conservation, wastewater management and services for the developmentally disabled. The study identifies four different types of networks based on their purposes, and focuses on differences between organizational and traditional management structures and leadership, the kinds of public value added by networks, the relationship between networks and public bureaucracies, as well as how the networks engaged in knowledge management (KM).

Knowledge management (KM) has two dimensions, explicit knowledge, or that which can be codified and communicated easily in words, numbers, charts or drawings, and tacit knowledge, embedded in the senses, individual perceptions, physical experiences, intuition and rules of thumb. KM is the process of bringing together explicit and tacit knowledge and displaying and manifesting it, as it involves skilled interactive or collaborative perfor-

or at its board/steering committee meetings.

Finally, most networks directly served some of the KM needs of their partner agencies through formal reports, responses for data requests, supplying modeling and planning data, circulating policy reports, sponsoring inagency forums and report sessions, providing technical expert linkages between the PMN and specific agencies, and in some cases providing agency-requested studies.

All of these KM activities are now supported by the use of different types of information and communications technology: E-mail, teleconferencing, web-based geographic information systems, decision-support software, and the like. These are essential tools since partners are situated in disparate organizational locations. However, because of the collaborative nature of their tasks, they were not a substitute for face-to-face, the normal mode of detailed KM work. In the same way that organizations seek structured predictability, networks try to use their open-ended

mance.

processes of coordinating purposeful individuals who can

In the networks the process of KM in many ways defined

blem confronting the collaborative undertaking. They are

the major focus of their standing committees and working

part of the distributed knowledge systems that are crea-

groups. First, essentially all of them began by surveying

ted across boundaries, possessing somewhat fewer cons-

the universe of data and information that its partners de-

traints or rule-bound actions, approaching those

veloped or could access. They also searched for external

problems that are beyond the scope of any one agency

data bases of use. Second, extant data was then used to

or organization.

develop their ‘own source’ explicit knowledge, through such means as libraries, map inventories, strategic plans, fact sheets and policy guides, focused studies, surveys, conferences and workshops, electronic bulletin boards, process reviews, long range plans, models and simula-

apply their unique skills and experiences to the local pro-

Engagement in KM by the networks revealed several interesting challenges to the field of public sector/nonprofit management. Most important, the networks did not operate as hierarchies, but as ‘communities of practice’,

tions, and market studies.

that is self-organized systems that share the capacity to

Third, tacit knowledge was rarely formally codified, but it

mutual engagement. This process involved managers

was regularly approached through stakeholder consulta-

and specialists working at the same table on common

tions, best practices booklets, workgroups as ‘communi-

cross-agency problems.

ties of practice,’ study project report panels, expert presentations, specialized workshops, SWOT workshops, hands-on technical assistance, community leadership development sessions, forums on ‘what works,’ direct agency outreach, ‘help desks,’ and public hearings.

Fourth, the PMNs tried to organize the explicit/tacit interface not through codification but through informal feedback on the myriad of KM activities they engaged, usually through some informal post-project assessment 162 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

create and use knowledge through informal learning and

They also took advantage of the presence of participating epistemic communities, that is professionals from different disciplines and organizations who share common outlooks and solution orientations. This was particularly the case with the networks that involved transportation, communications technology, watershed management, rural development, economic development, and developmental disabilities.

Another challenge involved the need to go beyond tech-

arning communities that were devoted to enhancing and

nical solutions and secure political support. Any network

utilizing human resources in their self-constructed non-

agreement or action required the political knowledge that

bureaucratic and interdisciplinary cultures.

policy support would be forthcoming by the top governmental decision-makers.

Further, the networks regularly found the need to combine interdisciplinarity with disciplinarity, as they worked on creating their own problem-related policy/program knowledge. Partners were constantly asked to input important legal and professional requisites and at the same time yield ground when necessary to make a solution

Robert Agranoff is Professor Emeritus at theSchool of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University-Bloomington and collaborates with Government and Public Administration Program at Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset.

work with the person from another discipline sitting next to them.

Finally, ‘discoverers’ proved to be needed in the policy knowledge seeking game, particularly in discovery

[1] Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, June 2007 http://press.georgetown.edu/detail.htm?id=1589011546

through deliberation. Working together, these networks tried to emulate Senge’s learning organizations (Peter M. Senge. 1990. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. New York: Doubleday). This means continually expanding collective capacities for creative futures by adaptive and generative learning, enhancing our ability to be creative.

In the era of wicked public problems human capital is the most essential ingredient to finding solutions. As the late management guru Peter Drucker often said, contrary to Frederick W. Taylor a century ago, one does not manage people, the task is to lead people. The keys to such leadership of human capital, involve Thomas Davenport’s (Thinking for a Living: How to Get Better Performance and Results from Knowledge Workers. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2005) eight rules for contemporary managers: 1) participation by managers in the work instead of overseeing work; 2) from organizing hierarchies to organizing communities; 3) retaining workers rather than hiring and firing them; 4) building knowledge skills rather than manual skills; 5) assessing invisible knowledge achievements instead of evaluating visible job performance; 6) building knowledge-friendly cultures instead of ignoring culture; 7) fending-off bureaucracy rather than supporting it; 8) relying on a variety of human resources, wherever they may be located, instead of reliance on internal personnel. As interorganizational public entities the 14 networks followed virtually all of these ‘new managerial’ precepts. In regard to KM they are leCollaborative management for the design and execution of public decisions

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38

Governing cities and territories in the network society Traditionally, territory responded to the image of a hierarchy of cities with strong financial and institutional centrality, industrial peripheries and tertiary areas where neither urbanisation nor industrial agglomeration had arrived. Over the last twenty years, however, territory has undergone various transformations: processes of de-urbanisation, counter-urbanisation and peri-urbanisation, generating a new image: the network territory.

19/12/2005 - Quim BruguĂŠ, Ricard GomĂ i Joan Subirats

The main catalyst for this transformation is to be found

which two movements may be seen: a movement towards

in the relativisation of the concept of proximity; that is to

decentralisation (massive and visible) and another to-

say, in the rejection of the classical view according to

wards centralisation (selective and qualitative). We may

which the organisation of territory was based exclusively

identify two levels in the spatial representation of terri-

on spatial relationships of proximity. But now, without the

tory: a local level and a global level. The first refers to in-

determining factors of physical distances, space reinfor-

dividual cities and interprets space in terms of proximity

ces its relational potential. Insofar as the flows of rela-

and the interactions that this facilitates. On the second

tionships acquire importance when it comes to

level, however, space is perceived as a network of flows

constructing the space, the network (as a representation

and relationships that links the cities regardless of the

of links and relationships) becomes an analytical refe-

physical distances separating them. The first level refers

rence for its understanding.

to a physical space and the second to a virtual space.

From this point of view, what has happened in European territory over the last two decades is a complex process in 164 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

They are different spaces, yet compatible with each other: the city is simultaneously physical and virtual, close and relational.

These finer points are crucial to understanding current

dynamics and the increase in the number of players),

territorial dynamics. If the local space (the city) had been

what is the fundamental difference between traditional

totally annihilated by global space (the network), the inter-

government and new governance? From our perspective,

actions of proximity would have lost all importance and

we are rethinking the forms rather than the aims of go-

we would only see the territory as a network in which the

verning. The new forms of governance should continue to

lines would be the fundamental element and the nodes

assure us that it is possible to pursue a collective interest

(the cities) would be empty of content. However, in reality

and mediate between individuals, for if we were to call

there is a very different situation: a situation in which ci-

this aim into doubt, we would not be talking about capa-

ties, as much or more than in the past, seek to behave

cities to govern, but about other things. The forms of go-

and perform as a unified collective player. Thus the local

vernment, on the other hand, are indeed undergoing

node is an important element, a letter of introduction wi-

profound transformations. In order to analyse these, we

thout which being present on the lines of the global net-

consider it appropriate, in the first place, to identify the

work makes no sense.

key characteristics of traditional forms of government

In this way, the double logic of territory obliges its units to move in two directions as well. On the one hand, they have to accept the relational nature of territory, and consequently develop strategies for connection and linking that enable them to form part of the global network. On the other hand, in order to be able to develop their role in the network (to be influential and taken into consideration), they must act like an internally unified player; that is to say, they must assert their economic capacities, their social capital and their physical appeal through internal pacts that enable them to speak to the rest of the world in unison.

and, at a later stage, to evaluate to what extent new governance is reformulating these. Thus, we have considered that the traditional model of government is characterised by two fundamental elements of form: specialisation and authority. By specialisation we mean that the appearance of government takes place in parallel with a precise attribution of tasks and powers. That is to say, there are areas for which government is responsible and other areas for which it is not, and a wall has been raised between these, a frontier that is very similar to the one used by the Nation state to distinguish what is external from what is internal. The metaphor of the container could also be applied to government: we put quite a broad

Moreover, the transformations in territory which we have just described obviously lead to transformations in the ways that it is governed. The network-territory calls for political organisation that adapts to its special characteristics and which therefore transcends a continuous, over-simplified and hierarchical view of the exercise of government.

set of responsibilities inside it, while what is found on the outside is completely alien to it. This same logic applies when government shares out its responsibilities among various territorial levels: different drawers appear inside the container in which specific responsibilities are placed. What we put inside a drawer forms part of the responsibilities of that governmental level, while what is left outside does not concern it. From this perspective, there

Faced by the permanence of the State as a relevant political player and the appearance of simultaneous localism and globalisation processes, analysts have put forward the idea of multilevel government. In this scenario, the capacities of government depend on the relationships that are established with a network of many public and private players. Thus the new governance responds to the complexity of the times by taking on and provoking a double complexity: operating from vertical interaction (multilevel) and from the inclusion of a growing number of players (network). However, apart from the most apparent transformations (such as the appearance of negotiation

is nothing more annoying for traditional government than an unpaired sock: when the left sock appears in one drawer and the right one in another, traditional government heads feel extremely uncomfortable and do not rest until they have united the socks and decided which is the drawer, the only drawer, where they should be kept.

The new forms of government, on the other hand, would not show the same obsession for specialisation: the government is not a container and the different territorial levels are not drawers where the pieces in the container are to be distributed. Physical borders give way to flows in the governmental field, too. Multilevel government and

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network government entail the disappearance of what is

refore, is concentrated in the management of networks

interior and what is exterior, the abolition of the borders

that show simultaneous features of competition and co-

between what is public and what is private, and between

llaboration.

the various levels of what is public. In turn, the disappearance of this specialisation means that the emphasis in the tasks of government shifts from the players to the content. That is to say, what is important is not the attribution of functions and responsibilities to a particular level of government or a certain public or private institution, but rather the policy being promoted and the objectives that this pursues. Around this policy, the different players and various governmental authorities share responsibilities and functions.

Can internal collaboration be compatible with external competition in this multilevel government set-up? We do not know exactly, although we do know that this is perhaps the most important challenge for the new governance. A challenge that, in principle, would mean that the different governmental levels must simultaneously have sufficient autonomy to design their development projects from the internal network of players and sufficient vision to comprehend that they must also join together in a cooperative way for greater projects (external network).

We have identified traditional government's second characteristic feature of form as the exercise of authority.

Specialisation in functions, furthermore, facilitated the exercise of this authority in a monopoly, as there was no competition in the area of the functions and responsibilities previously assigned. The physical walls of the governmental container also prevented any possibility of collaboration. The government, in other words, neither competes nor collaborates with anyone, it just exercises its responsibilities with the authority that has legitimately been assigned it.

In our opinion, the arguments set out in the above paragraph do not reflect what actually happens. In reality, public monopoly of authority is a fiction, since the different levels of government compete and/or collaborate with each other and with other players in civil society. This situation is puzzling to some extent, because if the task of

Quim Brugué, Director General of Citizen Participation for the Generalitat de Catalunya and Lecturer at the Institute of Government and Public Policies of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).

Ricard Gomà, Councillor of Social Welfare at Barcelona City Council and Lecturer at the Institute of Government and Public Policies of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).

Joan Subirats, Professor of Political Science at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Director of the Institute of Government and Public Policies at the same university.

government consists in obliging us to co-operate in favour of a collective interest, how can it oblige us without resorting to authority? How can it defend a common good that is not the result of interaction ‘ co-operative or competitive - between different partial interests?

We academics have found an answer to this question that is generic and therefore still unsatisfactory: what government should do to govern without resorting to authority is to manage the network in such a way that it ends up governing through influence. At the same time, the flows and relationships that characterise the networks (those which the government must manage) can be competitive or collaborative, whereby we return to the pre-Hobbesian forms of regulation. The new capacity of government, the166 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

This article summarises some of the points which the authors have developed more extensively in J.Subirats (co-ordinator), 2002, Redes, Territorio y Gobierno. Nuevas respuestas locales a los retos de la globalización (Networks, Territory and Government. New local responses to the challenges of globalisation, Barcelona Provincial Council, Barcelona..

39

Dialogues at the Forum

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (UNESCO Constitution). And it is to these minds that the dialogues have been addressed.

13/12/2004 - Mireia Belil

It started as a game, but in the process it ended up by be-

manity? What framework of values and rules are we appl-

coming the framework for the conclusions of the Forum

ying to do this and what framework do we wish to apply in

Barcelona 2004 Dialogues. At first there were three, then

the future? These are the questions around which the

five, and finally a long list of words beginning with D; and

more than fifty dialogues have been structured.

although the list is not exhaustive, the core themes of debate, agreement and disagreement from 141 days of gatherings are all included: dialogue, development, dignity, democracy, diversity, dona (woman in Catalan), drets (rights in Catalan), duties, doability, desires, dreams...

Dialogue as the main regulator of relationships between individuals, countries and communities; human dignity and human rights as the basic framework for coexistence; participatory and representative democracy as the best known system of political coexistence; cultural diversity as an essential part of humanityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heritage; human development as an individual and collective opportunity for social change; the social, economic and political integra-

Much has been said about globalisation and its effects on our lives and relationships. In the light of all this information, it is clear that we cannot expect to feel secure in an unjust world, a world that casts the majority of its population into irrelevance. There is growing conflict, confrontation and dissonance between movements oriented towards homogenisation and global integration and others that promote the recognition, renaissance and consolidation of different religious, ethnic and cultural identities. As has already been observed on numerous occasions, we have learnt that in order to prevent globalisation from leading to hegemony, diversity and respect

tion of women as a basic premise...

for difference must be nurtured; and in order to avoid con-

These concepts are the result of 141 days of debates, pre-

there is a need to build bridges of dialogue, to define com-

sentations, dialogues, agreements and discussions about

mon values, to give everyone opportunities for life and to

everything that matters to us. How are we sharing our pla-

make ample room for justice.

frontation and exclusion as a result of this difference,

net? How are we establishing and consolidating our huCollaborative management for the design and execution of public decisions

| 167

Over the course of almost five months, the Forum dialo-

right to informa-

gues have helped us to gain a greater understanding of

tion, which will

the challenges, the conflicts, the opportunities, and above

make Barcelona

all the people who have a role to play in the 21st century.

a beacon of free-

The dialogues have gathered a variety of voices together:

dom of expres-

some which are not always invited and seldom listened to;

sion;

and others which can be heard so often that they form

deployment

part of the familiar cultural landscape around us.

the Barcelona de-

The Forum dialogues have not been neutral. In all of them the aim has been to contribute towards reflection on global issues, which also have repercussions at a local level.

The dialogues have been the fruit of enormous networked efforts involving hundreds of organisations and thousands of people in Spain and the rest of the world. We have brought together social and cultural leaders, activists, intellectuals and ordinary citizens, all of whom have freely expressed their ideas and proposals in this arena of light and shade which symbolises the relationship between the local and the global.

There have been debates about how to achieve a greater degree of economic, cultural and political equality between peoples, since inequalities can be found at the root of many conflicts. Innovative ways of handling political, ethnic or cultural conflicts have been explored; and proposals have been drawn up to establish new ways in which to interrelate and to govern our interdependence. A consensus in favour of the solutions has not always been reached, nor has there been unanimity on some of the diagnoses of the problems, but this is precisely where the richness of these gatherings lies. These agreements and disagreements have thrown up a wide variety of standpoints and ideas, which will serve as a basis for initiatives aimed at changing and reappraising the future, in order that the planet and indeed humanity may survive.

We have added actions to our words. We have devised, proposed and given impetus to specific local and global initiatives which will help to fulfil the dreams expressed by so many voices. We must work hard in order to bring a number of proposals to fruition: the application of Agenda 21 for culture, which makes culture a key element in de-

the of

velopment agenda in accordance with the referendum A more just form of globalisation is possible, in order to establish proposals that will make globalisation an opportunity for all peoples. For its part, the Barcelona Global Compact Centre, which will give continuity to the dialogue The role of the company in the 21st century, jointly organised by ESADE, IESE and the Instituto de Empresa, will work on the development of the ten principles of the World Agreement, which promotes corporate social responsibility and dialogue with all the parties involved. It has been a collective effort, with progress slow at times, a movement forward in the dark with doubts and uncertainties, without a predetermined road map; a process which has highlighted projects already in progress, which have received the benefit of continuity, while new undertakings have also been commenced.

At all events, the persons who have gathered at the Forum are not naïve. They are aware that one requirement for a more just world is the transformation of the distribution and the mechanisms of power. They have made it clear that each of us has a role to play in the process to make this change possible. They know that one word does not change things on its own, but when linked with many other words it can make a difference. In short, they know that desire for change ―another D― and dreams continue to be dynamic forces of creativity and utopia.

More information about the Dialogues, the participants, their conclusions and their legacy can be found at www.barcelona2004.org

velopment; the consolidation of the draft of the Water convention, through which initiatives to ensure that drinking water is supplied to all are recognised and implemented; the establishment of the Observatory on the 168 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Mireia Belil is Dialogues Director for the Universal Forum of Cultures ‘ Barcelona 2004.

40

The CLAD International Congress: a democratic forum for debate on public administration

The IX International Congress of the Latin American Centre for Development Administration (CLAD) has just been held in Madrid. Its unqualified success is, perhaps, a reliable demonstration of just how unrealistic those of us were who believed that it was not viable to hold an annual congress with the capacity to constantly attract participants on a sustained basis.

13/12/2004 - Nuria Cunill

One thousand people attended the Congress in Madrid, half of whom were speakers. Thus, over the course of three days, some five hundred presentations were made, providing a great variety of ideas, experiences and reflections on different topics linked with the reform of the State and the modernisation of public administration in more than thirty-five countries. On the strength of these figures, we may arrive at a truly thought-provoking conclusion: the public sphere attracts interest; therefore, there are good reasons to anticipate that it will be held in increasing esteem in the future. This is quite significant in the light of the fact that, up until a few years ago, the mere mention of the word public used to cause suspicion and generate a certain sense of devaluation among those

involved in this sector.

In fact, the massive circulation of information, knowledge and experiences which took place at the Congress serves as testimony to a general awareness once again that efforts to improve public services can lead to the creation of better societies; furthermore, it can be seen that the quality of public policies is a matter that also concerns the quality of the market.

Another important point that was confirmed by the CLAD Congress is the possibility of a smooth exchange between the world of teaching and government bodies. In Madrid, there were many panels with members of both these sec-

Collaborative management for the design and execution of public decisions

| 169

tors. It is also worth highlighting the fact that among the participants there were many civil servants, public sector managers and ministers, who, anonymously and in true democratic spirit, showed that they were prepared to discuss their ideas.

These public forums, of which the CLAD Congress is an outstanding example, are also very encouraging. Firstly, because in bringing together different forms of logical and rational expression, they pave the way for a different approach to social problems, an approach in which the solutions are constructed socially from a pluralist perspective. Secondly, because in a world which is increasingly relational, this type of forum offers people the opportunity not only to get to know and understand one another better, but also to jointly exercise responsibility for others, which surely constitutes one of the cornerstones of the public structure.

These events are now eagerly awaited. This is just one more sign that this field is of interest to many people.

Nuria Cunill is Director of the Documentation, Information and Publishing Production programme, as well as the Research and Studies programme of the Latin American Centre for Development Administration (CLAD).

The documents from the congresses may be consulted at: http://www.clad.org.ve/siare/biblo/biblo_a.html

170 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

41

Two Possible Futures for Public Administration

Although there have been significant transformations of public administration over the past few decades, there is no reason to think that there will be any less change in the foreseeable future. The public sector in the first decade of the 21st Century is far-removed from that traditionally associated with government. Under the old approach, the public sector was staffed by large, hierarchical organizations staffed largely by career civil servants and managed through seniority-based pay and grading (see Walsh and Stewart, 1992). The general pattern of change over the past few decades has been to decentralize the public sector, moving service provision out of ministries and using QUANGOs, agencies, and various arrangements with private sector actors instead (see Peters, 2001; Pollitt and Talbot, 2004). Even when government ought to deliver services itself, it often uses the “softer” instruments associated with the “New Governance” (Salamon, 2001).

15/12/2008 - B. Guy Peters

One possible future for public administration is “more of

result of another group of reforms aimed at involving the

the same” (i.e. the New Public Management and the “de-

public as both clients and citizens in public decisions (see

centralizing” reforms just mentioned). Many of these re-

Peters, 2001). Although many scholars and practitioners

forms have been successful in achieving their goals of

have questioned the goals of management reforms, it is

enhanced efficiency and of reducing some of the typical

clear that decentralization and devolution of the public

bureaucratic dysfunctions of conventional public admi-

sector will continue and in some countries and policy

nistration. Likewise, there is some evidence that the pu-

areas, become more accentuated.

blic sector has become more open and democratic as a Collaborative management for the design and execution of public decisions

| 171

While the managerialist and democratizing changes in

Making this dual pattern of development within the pu-

the public sector will persist, and perhaps even intensify,

blic sector effective will require ways of weaving the two

they have produced their own problems. This opens the

strands of change into a single governance fabric. It is

prospect of centralized controls being placed over de-

clear, for example, that both over-centralized steering of

centralized structures and programs. This is in part a re-

traditional forms of governing and the fragmentation as-

action on the part of politicians who believe they were

sociated with NPM reforms have caused major dysfunc-

elected to provide policy direction to government but find

tions. Furthermore, allowing each strand of change to

that imposing this direction is difficult in the reformed pu-

develop on its own is likely to lead to conflict rather than

blic sector. The return to the centre is also driven by some

effective government. Weaving the two main strands to-

administrative leaders, who argue that the creation of

gether is vital for providing a mixture of central steering

more autonomous organizations and the emphasis on

and decentered service provision.

managerial autonomy have only worsened existing problems of coordination and coherence in the public sector.

Finally,

citizens

may

even

demand

some

strengthening of the centre as a way of ensuring greater

Striking the right balance between these types of governing activities may differ across political systems, and across policy areas. States of a federal or corporatist na-

accountability.

ture may find coping with autonomous service providers

Although there is some move back to the centre when it

ted histories of service provision. Likewise, social servi-

comes to government (Christensen and Laegreid, 2007),

ces and labor market policies appear easier to

it is clear that the command and control instruments that

decentralize than do programs such as taxation or even

underlay older forms of central steering are unlikely to

many aspects of industrial policy.

prove viable. The public sector may return to greater central control but this control will be exercised through a variety of ‘softer” administrative and policy instruments.

These instruments will include performance management, or “results steering”, and the use of guidelines, benchmarks and voluntary agreements. Although performance management might be thought of as a standard NPM component, it can be used to establish goals centrally and to then let managers decide how to achieve those goals. Various other approaches to strategic management are also available to help organizations maintain substantial operational autonomy while also working toward centrally established goals. For example, prime ministers in several countries have established programs for prioritizing issues and programs, and relating existing public organizations to those strategic goals.1 There is a trend towards greater central priority-setting by central agencies–ministries of finance, prime minister’s offices and the like. While devolving many decisions to more or less autonomous organizations, these organizations recognize the need to maintain some control over the rest of the public sector, albeit through less intrusive mechanisms. Many of the older instruments –notably the budget– will be used in ways that give devolved organizations and actors substantial autonomy.

172 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

and fragmentation easier than those with more integra-

The public bureaucracy service will be central to this process of weaving together the various strands of contemporary governance. As decentralized governing processes emerged, bureaucracy often found itself greatly empowered and given more discretion in making decisions. On the other hand, many of its traditional functions were allocated to market actors or to civil society, even though the responsibility for remotely steering those programs stayed with public servants. The senior civil service may have lost some of its policy advice functions but the role of the civil service in managing relationships with society has become even more important for making policy effective.

The boundary-spanning role has thus become a more important part of civil servants’ work, enabling them to press for central objectives in the face of competing decentralized solutions. Playing this dual role is tough given divided loyalties and competing demands. Such role conflicts may eventually lead us back to a more traditional career civil service that knows where its loyalties lie and believes in creating public value.

In addition to playing the boundary spanning role more intensively, the civil service has often also reasserted a formal bureaucratic style of governing (Olsen, 2006). The

use of “softer” methods for implementing programs has produced some benefits but also has undermined the

1 The best example of this is the issues management program in the Finnish government.

predictability and equity that are associated with Weberian bureaucracy. Such probity and equity may be especially important for consolidating democracy in countries whose bureaucracies traditionally enshrined other forms of government. However, even in countries that have long had a professional civil service, reasserting some of the values eroded by the “free market” ethos may help to reestablish more conventional patterns of government.

To sum up, reforms in public governance tend to foster the need for additional reforms. Over the last few decades, governments have sought efficiency by involving private sector actors and dismantling some of the formal structures and procedures of governing. Those reforms meant finding ways of reasserting control from the centre, as well as of ensuring the equity and predictability of government decisions. The decentralizing reforms in public service played a crucial role in linking government and private sector actors. Re-centralization of the public service must knit together devolved service delivery activities with the more formal, bureaucratic system. This is one of the current challenges for governing, but it certainly will not be the last.

B. Guy Peters is Maurice Falk Professor of American Government, Michigan State University, 1970, University of Pittsburgh.

References: Christensen, T., and P. Laegreid (2007) New Public Management: Transformation of Ideas and Practice (Aldershot: Ashgate).

Du Gay, P. (2004) In Praise of Bureaucracy (Buckingham: Open University Press).

Olsen, J. P (2006) “Maybe It Is Time to Rediscover Bureaucracy”, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 16, 1-24.

Peters, B. G. (2001) The Future of Governing, 2nd. Ed. (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas).

Pollitt, C., and C. Talbot (2004) Unbundled Government (London: Routledge).

Salamon. L. M. (2001) “Introduction”, in Salamon, ed. The Handbook of Policy Instruments (New York: Oxford University Press).

Walsh, K., and J. Stewart (1992) “Change in the Management of Public Services”, Public Administration, 70, 499-518.

Collaborative management for the design and execution of public decisions

| 173

Angel Saz-Carranza, Executive Coordinator of the PARTNERS Programme in Public-Private

public-private cooperation

cooperation

The top 50 articles in PUBLIC | 175

42

Public-private relationship management in the production of public goods and services The production of public goods and services is adopting multiple forms, practically all of these based on cooperation between different social and economic agents. Public administrations, social organisations and companies collaborate in many areas and, in particular, they increasingly work together in designing and implementing public policies. Exclusively public or exclusively private formulas are no longer the only solutions; they are not even the main alternatives possible. Every day, new options are appearing between both formulas which allow for a better fit between public policy objectives, the means to reach these and company and civil society expectations.

29/02/2008 - Albert Serra

New production methods for public goods and services

nistrations, but other forms of relationships and cooperation are growing incessantly. One of these is the focus of this brief reflection. The creation of public value is a

Relationships between the administration, organised civil

key factor in the development of modern societies

society and companies are definitively interlaced and

through the production of public goods and services, ge-

completely interactive. Hierarchical positions are main-

neral interest services and concerted actions and colla-

tained in certain ambits, often demanded by the admi176 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

boration out of mutual interest. It is also one of the stra-

creases the ability to respond for the system as a whole.

tegic bases to add value and it is a key tool to implement

It also significantly stimulates the implementation of al-

the majority of public policies. Exclusively public or exclu-

ternatives for public policies. The development of these

sively private formulas are no longer the only solutions;

strategies, as tends to occur with any complex alternative,

they are not even the main alternatives possible. Between

can be seen from different logics and perspectives. The

the Fordist state and privatisation, there is an increasingly

foundations we consider ideal to develop these work me-

larger space available for innovation, quality and effi-

thods fully are as follows:

ciency in managing public policies. Every day, new options are appearing between both formulas which allow for a better fit between public policy objectives, the means to reach these and company and civil society expectations.

This new scenario ranges from the regulation of strategic markets, the simple purchase of support goods and services, and managing the provision or production of strategic systems for public services such as healthcare,

• The public-private cooperation scenario, in the limited sense we propose here, is seen as a strategic instrument supported on the specialisation and differentiated skills of the various agents in order to achieve the optimal management of public policies, thereby making the government’s objective and the requirements and conditions that private companies and social organisations are subject to both compatible and synergetic.

education or taking care of addictions to managing large

• For its development, public-private cooperation requi-

infrastructures and structuring voluntary alliances and

res political and social legitimacy, an explicit definition

partnerships which allow for objectives and strategies to

of objectives aimed at the creation of public value and

be shared. Over the last few decades, a set of instru-

consistent and completely transparent accountability

ments has been created in these areas which has led to

mechanisms, all this from the institutional and corpo-

a substantial improvement in the implementation of pu-

rate settings endowed with legal, economic and finan-

blic policies.

cial

As such, a scenario has arisen in which cooperation between the public sector, social organisations and companies has become the best option to implement a very relevant part of public and general interest policies and to satisfy users. In addition, we can add that managing public sector, private and civil society resources through stable and formalised cooperation and partnership formulas offers a new paradigm for sustainable economic development in the 21st century. Public-private cooperation and sponsorships are already a key tool in public and private policies for the development and management of infrastructures, space and strategic services which support economic and social activity.

authority.

The

rigorous

practice

of

this

accountability must be a part of any public activity, especially when we refer to public-private cooperation.

• Public-private cooperation management requires a learning and cultural change in terms of perceptions and management instruments, a change in the roles of the different agents participating in this cooperation and a change among the public and private executives charged with managing this cooperation. To this day, publicprivate relationships are fundamentally based on stereotypes and on the continued attempts to force each party’s system of objectives onto the other. The sustainability and consistency of these cooperative efforts require new developments in their respective management

models,

they

require

eliminating

mutually-held stereotypes, unfamiliarity and ignorance, and they require a search for a way to make the diffe-

The challenges faced by public-private cooperation

rent systems of objectives compatible, systems which are, by definition, different and cannot be subordinated mechanically to one or another.

Overcoming the public or private dichotomy or the even simpler view which reduces the question of state and

We are still a long way from these working conditions in

market presence to “public policies” or “privatisation”

public-private cooperation. And we are even further still in

supposes the reformulation along a continuum of possi-

terms of a global understanding of the cooperation

bilities of private-public interaction and exponentially in-

system itself than we are from the development of conPublic-private cooperation | 177

crete management tools. But these tools will not lead to suitable results in a scenario plagued by mistrust and mired in the desire to merely win a substantial bid or to bureaucratically manage highly complex and technical processes. Public-private cooperation is based on the differentiation of roles and objectives. From this differentiation we can see the complementary nature between both groups of agents more clearly. And this complementariness is a source of added value, synergy and strategic sustainability for public policies and public-private cooperation itself. The success or failure of public-private cooperation

depends,

in

good

measure,

on

the

management skills available in this scenario.

Albert Serra is Director of the PARTNERS Programme within the ESADE Institute of Public Management (IDGP) and Director of the ESADE Executive Master in Public Management (EMPA).

178 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

43

Managing partnerships for collaborative advantage

Partnership is, today, almost synonymous with public management. Almost every branch of public policy making and service delivery now involves working with those in other organizations. Governments around the world are mandating their public bodies to join together over a very wide range of initiatives. But this does not stop with public organizations. In many cases, they also require the involvement of ‘the community’ (however that may be interpreted) and many public services and projects are now delivered through public-private partnerships.

19/12/2005 - Chris Huxham & Siv Vangen

The rhetoric of partnership is inspirational. In principle,

For more than 16 years we have been working with parti-

almost anything is possible if you can draw on the re-

cipants involved in partnerships, alliances and networks

sources of others. As a partnership facilitator once put it

across a wide range of public arenas, including those con-

to us, ‘when it works well, you can feel the collaborative

cerned with health promotion and delivery, community

energy’. There is no question that, for some, working

planning, criminal justice, substance abuse, education

through partnerships, alliances, networks or other colla-

and skills, economic development, poverty alleviation,

borative arrangements is a very positive experience lea-

community care, learning disability, careers development

ding to useful outcomes that could not otherwise have

and the environment. From this work, we have developed

been achieved. But collaborating can also be a very frus-

the theory of collaborative advantage. Collaborative ad-

trating experience. Managers who have to make it work in

vantage refers to the synergy that can be gained from co-

practice often comment about slow progress and the pain

llaborating when it goes well. Collaborative inertia relates

or sheer effort that accompanies it, even when success-

to the pain, effort or slow progress that is often the expe-

ful outcomes are eventually achieved.

rienced reality. The obvious question that these two conPublic-private cooperation | 179

cepts raise is: If collaborative advantage is what managers seek through partnering, why is collaborative inertia so often the practical outcome?

ii. Complexity. The world that faces those who seek to collaborate is complex. Each issue brings with it its own set of dilemmas, which interact with each other. It is not possible to discuss or manage any of them without considering the others. iii. Multiple views. Differences in perspectives are inevi-

This is the question that our research programme addresses.

When participants speak about what causes them pain or reward in partnering, the same types of issues are raised time and time again. For example, there are almost always problems with agreeing aims for the collaboration because the variety of organizational and individual agendas that are present in collaborative situations makes reaching an agreement difficult. This is not surprising if you consider that it is the bringing together of different resources and expertise that provides the basis for collaborative advantage. This difference ‘without which there would be no point in collaborating’ leads to different reasons for involvement and different levels of prioritization of the collaborative initiative. The diversity of partners that is the essence of collaborative advantage also brings with it a number of practical issues. Participants who bring diverse professional expertise to the table are also likely to draw on varying types of professional language.

Thus, even apparently simple terms can be misinterpreted. Similarly, different organizations have different ways of doing things. Both cultural and procedural differences can make it difficult to carry out tasks collaboratively, which would easily be accomplished within a single organization. Suspicions relating to power and trust between

table in multiparty situations. The differences relate to all aspects, including: definition of aims; interpretation of what is going on during aim negotiations; understandings about the collaborative structures and the way they see each others' involvement in these; the extent to which trust is being extended and received; who holds the power; and so on. iv. Dynamics. Collaborations do not stand still for very long. Aims change over time. Collaborative structures change rapidly as partners develop, merge, restructure and so on, and this affects the stability of trust relationships. The balance of power shifts as partners learn from each other and as their interest in the joint endeavour changes. v. Frustration of intention. Activities undertaken with the intention of moving a collaboration forward are frequently thwarted by dilemmas and difficulties so that the outcomes are not as intended. Logistical issues and other priorities often get in the way of intentions.

Misaligned or mutually misunderstood aims can also have this effect because they make it difficult to predict the actions and reactions of others. Defensiveness and aggression arising from suspicion and perceptions of power imbalance can also act this way.

partners add another layer of challenge for managers.

There is not enough space to outline all of the pain and reward issues here, but we can summarize them by identifying some fundamental characteristics of collaborative situations, all of which play a part in the tendency towards collaborative inertia. i. Contradictions, tensions and dilemmas. Underlying all of the ‘pain and reward’ issues is a mass of challenges that cannot be easily resolved. In all cases it is difficult to know how to choose the best managerial actions from the range of possibilities available.

Image 1: A tool for exploring partners’ motivations Although the issues concerned with aims, language, power, trust, and so on all overlap, it is possible and useful to explore each separately. For example the Aims Table is a simplified version of a tool that can be used to ex-

180 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

plore the motivations of partners. It is a template that can guide thinking about the aims that each of the significant partner organizations and individual participants might be bringing to the table. It emphasizes the fact that some aims will not be genuine, some have not been stated and that others will have been kept hidden deliberately. Obviously, it is not possible to know others’ hidden agendas, but it is possible to speculate on whether they may have some and even to try to make an ‘intelligent guess’ at what they might be. Trying to ‘fill in’ each of the cells for the other partners can be enlightening, whether it is done quickly ‘‘back of an envelope’ style’ or as a major investigative exercise. Gaining this kind of insight into partners’ expectations and aspirations can be very helpful in understanding and judging how best to work with them.

Tools are available that can guide thinking about many of the other issues.1 In practice, working in depth with just one or two of these can be extremely empowering. They do not provide clear-cut answers ‘the ‘fundamental characteristics’ listed above suggest that these could never exist’ but they do help significantly in developing a view about how to make a collaboration work to the desired ends.

Chris Huxham is a Senior Fellow of the Advanced Institute for Management Research and a Professor of Management at the University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business.

Siv Vangen is a Senior Lecturer at The Open University Business School.

1This article is based on material from Managing to Collaborate: The Theory and Practice of Collaborative Advantage. (Chris Huxham and Siv Vangen, Routledge, London, 2005, ISBN 0-41533919-7 (hbk) 0-415-33920-0 (pbk)). The book contains much fuller accounts of the issues raised here as well as tools to guide management thinking about them in real partnering situations.

The full version of the Aims Table is available there. Copies can be obtained from: Direct Sales, FREEPOST SN926, Andover, Hants SP10 5BR. Tel: +44(0) 1264 34 3071. Fax: +44(0) 1264 34 3005. Email: book.orders@routledge.co.uk

Public-private cooperation | 181

44

How Can Public-Private Partnerships Shape the Delivery of Public Services in Europe?

In this article the author attempts to demonstrate the link between the development of the phenomenon of public private partnerships (PPPs) and the delivery of public services in the European Union. Regarding The Initiative for Growth, the Council has approved a series of measures designed to increase investment in the infrastructure of trans-European transport networks and also in the areas of research, innovation and development,[1] as well as the delivery of services of general interest.[2] 29/02/2008 - Christopher H. Bovis

The Development of Public Private Partnerships at the European Level Public private partnerships represent a contractual format between public authorities and private sector undertakings. Such format has a variety of outlets delivering infrastructure projects, as well as services and projects in areas of transport, health, education, safety, public utilities, waste management and water distribution. [3] PPPs demonstrate three distinctive characteristics: • the relatively long duration of the contractual rela182 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

tionship; • the funding source for the project or public services; • the strategic role of the private sector in delivering public services.

Government and public authorities in the member states often prefer PPPs for the following reasons: First, budgetary constraints confronting national governments prevent the commitment of upfront funding required for large-scale and long-term projects to deliver a

public service. Secondly, there is a widespread assump-

The contractual public private partnership

tion that private sector know-how will benefit the delivery of public services. [4] Thirdly, the accounting treatment

The contractual model of a public private partnership re-

of public private partnerships and their residual contracts

flects on a relation between public and private sectors

benefit national governments as the assets involved in a

based solely on contractual links. It involves different in-

public-private partnership should be classified as non-go-

terfaces where tasks and responsibilities can be assig-

vernment assets, and therefore recorded off balance

ned to the private partner, including the design, funding,

sheet for public accountancy purposes, [5] subject to two

execution, renovation or exploitation of a work or service.

rather draconian risk assessment conditions i) that cons-

In this category, concession contracts and arrangements

truction risk and ii) that at least one of either availability

such as the private finance initiative (PFI) or arrange-

or demand risk are borne by the private sector partner in

ments of similar contractual nexus create the link bet-

a PPP arrangement.

ween public and private sectors.

The acid test is whether the PPP option offers real value added compared with the conclusion of traditional public contracts. [6] European acquis communautaire does not lay down any special rules covering the award or the contractual interface of PPPs. However, PPPs must be examined in the light of the rules and principles resulting from the European Treaties, particularly as regards the principles of freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services (Articles 43 and 49 of the EC Treaty), which encompass in particular the principles of transparency, equality of treatment, proportionality and mutual recognition and the

The institutional public private partnership The joint venture model of public private partnerships involves the establishment of an entity held jointly by the public partner and the private partner. [10] The joint entity thus has the task of ensuring the delivery of a work or service for the benefit of the public. Direct interface between the public partner and the private partner in a forum with a legal personality allows the public partner, through its presence in the body of shareholders and in the decision-making bodies of the joint entity, to retain a

public procurement Directives. [7]

relatively high degree of control over the development of

The European Commission has already taken initiatives

circumstances. It also allows the public partner to deve-

under public procurement law to deal with the award of

lop its own experience of running the service in question,

public private partnerships. In 2000 it published an In-

while having recourse to the support of a private partner.

terpretive Communication on concessions and Commu-

An institutional public private partnership can be put in

nity public procurement law [8] the outlines of the

place, either by creating an entity held jointly by the public

concept of concession in Community law and the obliga-

sector and the private sector, or by the private sector ta-

tions incumbent on the public authorities when selecting

king control of an existing public undertaking.

the projects, which it can adapt over time in the light of

the economic operators to whom the concessions are granted.

The Green Paper on Public Private Partnerships distinguishes two major formats of public private partnerships: the contractual formant, also described as the concession model; and the institutional format, which is often described as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;joint-venture modelâ&#x20AC;?. [9]

Public Private Partnerships and models in delivering public services The phenomenon of public private partnerships represents a genuine attempt to introduce the concept of contractualised governance in the delivery of public services.

Although the public sector has always depended upon traditional models of corporatism to disperse public services, there is mounting evidence that the role and the involvement of the state in the above process is under Public-private cooperation | 183

constant review. The private finance initiative can be des-

cation factor in their contractual arrangements but mainly

cribed as an institutionalised mechanism in engaging the

the adversarial environment and the compromised quality

private sector in the delivery of public services, not only

of the deliverables, contractualised governance appears

through the financing but mainly through the operation

to prioritise the value-for-money principle, which has pri-

of assets. The private sector assumes a direct responsi-

marily qualitative attributes.

bility in serving the public interest as part of its contractual obligations vis-Ă -vis the public sector. The motive and the intention behind such an approach focus on the benefits which would follow as a result of the private sectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s involvement in the delivery of public services.

Efficiency gains, qualitative improvement, innovation, value-for-money and flexibility appear as the most important ones, whereas an overall better allocation of public capital resources sums up the advantages of privately fi-

Both corporatism and contractualised governance should be delivered through a system that guarantees accountability, openness and competitiveness. Such a system for the delivery of public services is encapsulated in the European public procurement regime, which is expected to be the most appropriate delivery process for public private partnerships. Contractual award arrangements are entirely covered by the public procurement Directives,

nanced projects.

which provide for a disciplined, transparent and relatively

Both the private finance initiative and the phenomenon of

tracts. [11] What remains is the development of compre-

public-private partnerships do not alter the character of

hensive guidelines for the deployment of private finances

the contractual relationship between the private and pu-

in the delivery of public services and the embedment of

blic sectors, for such character is predominately determi-

relevant legislation [12] that empowers public authorities

ned by other factors attributed to the legal order in

to contractualise their governance. The public private

question. The contractual relationship between the pri-

partnership regime needs to benefit from a simplification

vate and public sectors is not merely determined by the

and standardisation process, so a kind of routine similar

fact that one party to the agreement is a public authority,

to that reigning the award of traditional public procure-

but mainly by reference to the appropriate forum for ac-

ment contracts can assist the demand and supply sides

cess to justice, or the relevant remedial availability. Under

in delivering more privately financed deals. However, the

both traditional corporatism and contractualised gover-

relative volume of public private partnerships projects is

nance, the contractual nexus between the private and pu-

not the critical factor in determining its success. It is ra-

blic sectors maintains the same characteristics, which are

ther the value-for-money element that is expected to crop

influenced by the disposition of the relevant legal and ju-

up through the involvement of private entrepreneurship in

dicial system. What the Private Finance Initiative does

the delivery of public services.

change is the thrust of that contractual relationship. The integral nature of corporatism evolves around the notion of public ownership of assets destined to serve public interest. The Private Finance Initiative brings an end to the notion of public ownership and instead introduces the concept of service delivery in the relevant contractual relationship between private and public sectors. The private sector is no longer a supplier to the public sector but ra-

swift system for the award of public procurement con-

Public private partnerships as a concept-tool of public sector management have, in theory, a promising future. In reality, they should be benchmarked against traditional publicly funded systems, both in qualitative and quantitative terms. Only then one can assess their merits and impact upon the delivery of public services with reasonable confidence.

ther a partner through a concession. It seems that there is a quasi-agency relationship between the private and public sectors, in the sense that the former provides the relevant infrastructure and in fact delivers public services on behalf of the latter. Where corporatism was always delivered under considerable budgetary constraints, a fact that reflects not only the relative balance of powers between the demand and supply sides and the risk allo184 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Christopher H. Bovis JD, MPhil, LLM, FRSA is H.K. Bevan Chair in Law at Law School, University of Hull.

[1] See Conclusions of the Presidency, Brussels European Council, 12 December 2003.

[2] See COM (2003)270 final.

[3] See Bovis, “Financing services of general interest, public procurement and state aids: The delineation between market forces and protection”, European Law Journal, Vol.11, No.1, 2005.

[4] See Communication from the Commission of 23 April 2003 "Developing the trans-European transport network: Innovative funding solutions - interoperability of electronic toll collection systems", COM (2003) 132, and the Report of the high-level group on the trans-European transport network of 27 June 2003.

[5] See Eurostat, (Statistical Office of the European Communities), press release STAT/04/18 of 11 February 2004.

[6] See Communication from the Commission to the Council and to the Parliament “Public finances in EMU 2003”, published in European Economy No. 3/2003 (COM (2003) 283 final). For a critical analysis, also see Bovis, “Public Procurement in the European Union: Lessons from the past and insights to the future”, Columbia Journal of European Law, Vol. 12, No.1, 2006.

[7] See Bovis, “Developing Public Procurement Regulation: jurisprudence and its influence on law making”, 43 Common Market Law Review, 2006, pp. 461-495. The new public procurement regime includes Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of Council of 31 March 2004 relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of public works, supply and services contracts, and Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 relating to the coordination of procedures for the award of contracts in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors.

Moreover, in certain sectors, and particularly the transport sector, the organisation of a PPP may be subject to specific sectoral legislation. See Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 of the Council on access of Community air carriers to intra-Community air routes, Council Regulation (EEC) No 3577/92 applying the principle of freedom to provide services to maritime transport within Member States, Council Regulation (EEC) No 1191/69 on action by Member States concerning the obligations inherent in the concept of a public service in transport by rail, road and inland waterway, as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1893/91, and the amended proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on action by Member States concerning public service requirements and the award of public service contracts in passenger transport by rail, road and inland waterway (COM(2002) 107 final).

European Public Law, Vol.12, No. 1, 2006, pp. 73-109.

[10] The Member States in the European Union use different terminology and schemes in this context (for example, the Kooperationsmodell, PPPs, Joint Ventures).

[11] An often negatively criticised feature of the PFI process has been the lengthy negotiation stage and the prolonged pre-contractual arrangements. This represents a considerable (recoverable) cost which would be reflected in the final deal. See Financial Times, 24/07/98, where it was reported that lengthy negotiations due to the lack of clear guidelines and standard contractual forms presented a serious deterrent factor in concluding PFI contracts. The average PFI gestation period is 28 months compared with 12 months in traditional public procurement contracts.

[12] Prior to 1997, there was considerable uncertainty as to the legal position of the parties to a privately financed project.

The relevant legislation did not provide in concreto for the rights and obligations of the private sector and threatened with ultra vires agreements concluded between certain public authorities (local authorities and health trusts) and the private sector. It was unclear whether these authorities had explicit or implied powers to enter into such contracts, a situation which left privately financed transactions in limbo. As a consequence, the National Health Service (Private Finance) Act 1997 and the Local Government Act (Contracts) 1997 have been enacted in order to clear all legal obstacles. Both acts have introduced a “clearance system” where the relevant authorities must certify a prospective PFI deal with the government, checking not only its vires but the whole commercial viability and procedural delivery mechanism of a privately financed contract.

[8] See Interpretative Communication on concessions under Community law, OJ C 121, 29 April 2000.

[9] See Bovis, “The New Public Procurement Legal Framework”,

Public-private cooperation | 185

45

Collaborations between the public and private sectors in Latin America: in search of complementareity This article proposes discussing associations between the public and private sectors, bearing in mind that the State model which supports, legitimizes, regulates and promotes these collaborations is often not ideal. In general, Latin American public administrations need to be strengthened institutionally in order to guarantee they will be able to associate with the other actors in civil society. Moreover, and above all, they must ensure that these associations between the public and private sectors strengthen the State’s institutional capacities and do not weaken them.

26/09/2005 - Alfred Vernis

In 2001, M. Friedman pointed out that, ten years earlier,

In order to reflect on the coordination between the public

he had advised countries moving away from communism

and private sectors in Latin America, one needs to start

towards democracy to do three things: ‘Privatize, priva-

from the premise that the relation between both spheres,

tize and privatize’. But now he says he was wrong and that

throughout our countries’ history, has helped draw up the

establishing the rule of law is probably more basic than

predominant state model.

privatization (interview with Milton Friedman, Gwartney and Lawson, 2002). [2]

186 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

It is important that Latin America finds its own model for collaboration between public administrations and private

organizations within this global movement for collaboration between the public and private sectors. At the same

From the Liberal Rule of Law to the Relational State [3]

time, it is necessary to learn from the relational models from different administrative cultures and traditions. In

Figure 1, attempts to sum up ‘ graphically and succinctly

this short article, we propose a model based on the idea

‘ the evolution of the State model and the public admi-

of a relational society; a society in which there are many

nistration model in most western countries over the last

actors to be considered, who have to share the responsi-

few decades and to show its relation with the develop-

bility for finding and implementing the solutions to the

ment of the social environment and the public-private as-

challenges faced by today’s societies.

sociation model.

An understanding of the evolution of the liberal rule of law

An increase in the associations between the public and private sectors

towards the relational State is fundamental if one wants to analyze the associations between the public and private sectors in Latin America.

The problems with societies all over the world ‘ as shown

Figure 1. Model of the State and the public administra-

by public management literature and practical experience

tion, social environment and public-private association

‘ have led the public sector to redefine its roles. As we

STATE MODEL

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION MODEL

SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

PUBLIC-PRIVATE ASSOCIATION

Liberal Rule of Law

Bureaucratic Administration

Development of the Market

Welfare State

Managerial Administration

Development of Democracy

Public Administration Public Market Company Non-profit Organization Public Administration Subordination to the State Company Non-profit Organization

Relational State

Entrepreneurial Administration

Economic Globalization

have mentioned, this has involved a quantitative and qualitative increase in collaborations between public administrations and private organizations (for-profit and non-profit). This phenomenon, which some have placed under the generalized umbrella term of State privatization, has been influenced by pragmatic, economic, ideological, commercial and populist motivations.

Historically, the public/private dichotomy has led the pu-

Public Administration Complementary Collaboration Company Non-profit Organization

Source: Based on Xavier Mendoza (1995)

blic sector to being identified with the State and the private sector with civil society. We need to try to put an end to this simplification and insist that a strong State does not imply a weak civil society, and vice versa: a strong civil society does not imply a weak State.

Collaborations between the public and private sectors can become important mechanisms for responding to market failures and the weakening of the public administrations. When neither the market, nor the public administrations nor the organizations of civil society are able to supply public goods or to meet social needs on their own, it is often necessary to mobilize public and private resources. And an effective and efficient way of doing this is through the association between both sectors. However, it is important to point out that collaboration is not the only tool, nor is it always the best response to a specific problem.

The West: from the liberal rule of law to the relational State It is important to remember that in the so-called ‘Western countries’, there was a move ‘ over a short period of time ‘ from a liberal rule of law, inaugurated by Bismarck’s Prussian social legislation, towards a welfare State, which was inaugurated by the German socialists at the end of the 19th century and re-launched with the New Deal after the Stock Market Crash in 1929.

The evolution from a liberal State was not easy. It focused on the idea of developing legislation to provide minimum protection to workers and creating a welfare State based on the search for criteria to increase collective wellbeing. In the administrative sphere, whilst the first idea was based on bureaucratic administration, the second was based on a managerial type of administration.

Public-private cooperation | 187

It was at this historic moment, which we can situate at

strong welfare State, it was necessary to evolve towards

the end of the 20th century, that the welfare State ente-

this State model that we have called relational, in Latin

red a period of crisis, or rather was forced to reconsider

America attempts are being made to move from a liberal

its actions. This welfare State developed in a context of

rule of law ‘ often weak or non-existent ‘ towards the pa-

strong economic expansion, which enabled high levels of

rallel construction of a welfare State and a relational

satisfaction to be reached in the European and North

State.

American populations up until the mid 1980s. Indeed, it was after this that the relationship between the public and private sectors began to be examined in depth, and when Anglo-Saxon researchers started to speak of the mixed economy, quasi-markets, the shadow State, the subcontractor State and the public-private partnership

In Latin America, as occurred in the former communist block countries, and in Asia and Africa during the 1980s and 1990s, the reduction in the size of the State, privatization, became a political issue of the first magnitude. International financial institutions recommended a series

(Vernis, 1995).

of measures aimed at reducing the degree of State in-

In Latin America too there have been references to the

hington Consensus.

emergence of a ‘new’ welfare State. Mendoza (1995) calls it the relational State, a State that ‘recognizes the complexity and interdependence present in social issues and which assumes that these problems can only be solved with the active collaboration of society itself’ (1995:11). Bresser (1997) refers to the importance and the value of the non-State public sector: greater support from the public administrations to the third social sector does not mean less State. It does not mean that we are privatizing the welfare State. In fact, it means quite the opposite ‘ the welfare State is being publicized.

Going back to Figure 1, it should be pointed out that the public administration model that this new State model needs corresponds to that of an entrepreneurial public administration, in which the managers and civil servants count on the support of public organizations, which allow them to generate social initiatives and innovations in order to deal with the challenges facing society. In this relation, public administrations, companies and social organizations collaborate in a pragmatic fashion and each of them carries out the activities that generate the greatest amount of social value.

tervention in the economy, which was known as the Was-

The problem was that, as a result of the application of these measures, ‘during the process of reducing the role of State, many countries weakened their State’ or created ‘weak or even non-existent institutional capacities’ (Fukuyama 2004) A priori, one might think that if a series of services are transferred to a third person, it is possible to concentrate on a series of basic functions and strengthen the capacities related with these functions (which in the business world are known as core competencies). However, in Latin America privatization often led to the ‘substitution’ of the State, given that instead of helping increase the State’s capacities, it reduced them. Therefore, this region started off with a negative experience in the association of the public and the private sectors, which means many public managers approach this issue with great caution.

Naturally, this lack of State capacity is very relevant to the issue at hand, since it is impossible to organize relations between public and private companies if the public sector has no institutional capacities. In other words, if the State is incapable of drawing up or implementing certain public policies, or promulgating the laws necessary to support these policies, of providing itself with an effec-

Latin America: the lack of institutional capacity As we mentioned earlier, in our opinion is very important for public-private associations established in Latin America to understand the evolution we present in Figure 1. If, in the case of Spain, without having finished building a 188 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

tive and efficient bureaucratic administration, or maintaining a high level of transparency and accountability or of ensuring that the laws are complied with, it is hard to imagine that anyone will want to collaborate with it. No doubt only organizations that can ‘use the State for their own interests will want to collaborate, and not those that

work for the common good’.

To sum up, this article proposes discussing associations between the public and private sectors, bearing in mind that the State model which supports, legitimizes, regulates and promotes these collaborations is often not ideal.

In general, Latin American public administrations need to be strengthened institutionally in order to guarantee they

Estado (7th Latin American Conference for Public Administration Ministers and State Reform), organized by the CLAD, which led to the signing of the Madrid Consensus (for more information: http://www.clad.org.ve/consensomadrid.html).

[2] Quoted by F. Fukuyama (2004: 38).

[3] The concept of the relational state was first formulated by X. Mendoza in 1990.

will be able to associate with the other actors in civil society. Moreover, and above all, they must ensure that these associations between the public and private sectors strengthen the State’s institutional capacities and do not weaken them.

Alfred Vernis is a Professor at the Institute of Public Management (IDGP) at ESADE and is Director of the program on the Managerial Function in NGOs (FGONG).

Bibliography: Bresser Pereira, L.C. (1997) Reforma del Estado en los años 90: Lógica y Mecanismos de Control. Barcelona: Círculo de Montevideo.

Fukuyama, F. (2004) La construcción del Estado. Barcelona: Ediciones B. Mendoza, X. (1995) Las transformaciones del sector público en las democracias avanzadas: del Estado del bienestar al Estado relacional. Santander: Universidad Internacional Menéndez y Pelayo.

Mendoza, X. (1990) ‘Técnicas gerenciales y modernización de la administración pública en España’, Documentación Administrativa, pp. 261-290.

Vernis, A. (1995), La relación público-privado en la provisión de servicios sociales. Barcelona: Centre d’Investigació, Formació i Assesorament (CIFA) ‘ Diputació de Barcelona.

[1] This short article is an extract from the paper given by the author on 23rd June 2005 in Madrid at the VII Conferencia Iberoamericana de Ministros de Administracion Pública y Reforma del

Public-private cooperation | 189

46

Service delivery policies

The critical capacity of the new policy-maker is the capacity that enables him or her to know why it is not possible to reach a particular goal and what the appropriate response to this fault detected is. This implies outstanding knowledge management capacities both inside and outside the institution.

15/03/2005 - Joan Prats

The formulation of policies for the delivery of public services corresponds to a simple model which includes the following stages: firstly, politicians identify the problem and draw up the broad outlines of a solution; secondly, civil service managers and experts design a policy by means of a suitable combination of tools: legislation, funding, incentives, communication, new institutions and directives; thirdly, implementation is assigned to the corresponding department, agency, local government or

lure and frustration. This is due to the following reasons: 1. Governments only have a limited control over the people and the institutions on which the quality of delivery depends. Even in apparently vertical and centralised structures such as health bureaucracies, the margins of autonomy granted to professional groups or their trade unions are considerable. In many key areas of government, the improvement of results for citizens has

private organisation, and finally the goals are achieved.

a critical dependence on the behaviour of third parties,

In reality, this model only proves successful if the process

third sector or the private contractors who always have

is linear and has few intermediaries, if the lines of ac-

a margin of effective discretionality with respect to le-

countability are simple, if the orders are clear (to avoid

gislative commands or financial incentives.

leaks), and if rewards and penalties are established for each link in the implementation chain. However, in the world today the conditions in which the model will function seldom exist, and so its application often leads to fai190 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

be these local authorities, the police, the judiciary, the

2. Few policies are implemented once they have been fully formulated. The traditional model assumes that the policy-makers have all the necessary knowledge to know

what will work and produce the best results. In this way the arrogant approach is taken of applying an as yet untried policy on a national scale. However, reality forces us to adopt a more modest attitude and to recognise that without prior experimentation, we cannot know how a particular policy will work, and the fact that

Consequently, new models of policy-making are currently

it may work well in one place does not guarantee that

being tested. The initial supposition appears to be the

it will be successful everywhere, since the implemen-

quality of delivery: obtaining the best results depends on

tation environments may be very different. In these

the quality of the policy-making. This can only be achieved

conditions, experimentation, evaluation, the sharing of

if all the practical and operational issues involved in im-

lessons learned, and a new form of relationship bet-

plementation are taken into account, if the policy-making

ween the centre formulating the policy and the centres

responds to a realistic and precise knowledge of the di-

that implement it, as well as between these latter cen-

versity of social environments in which the policy must be

tres themselves, are all of key importance to obtaining

applied, if the policy-maker has the capacity to conti-

results.

nuously improve the policy, and if all the players who have

3. The traditional model is contradictory with respect to the lessons learned in areas of management such as

a role to play in the implementation of the policy have an appropriate understanding of it.

business or the military, in which the improvement of

The viability of these new models demands that the prin-

results often depends on successfully combining clear,

cipal centre formulating the policy should have the capa-

centrally set objectives with the capacity of managers

city to formulate valid judgements about whether the

who possess local knowledge to adapt to the circums-

implementation is positive or negative and what must be

tances. The aim of the traditional model to apply cen-

done to improve it. One prerequisite is the realistic and

trally

sensible setting of goals which reflect the results expec-

defined

solutions

is

considered

to

be

inappropriate.

4. The quality of delivery does not depend on a linear mechanism, but on various systemically integrated elements which include regulation, institutions, funding, human resources, technologies, etc. If all these ele-

ted and which frontline staff can internalise. A further prerequisite is the establishment, whenever this is possible, of effective measurements of performance, in such a way that all those involved in the quality of delivery may learn of these in time.

ments are not taken into account at the design stage,

The critical capacity of the new policy-maker is the capa-

it is fairly probable that implementation problems will

city that enables him or her to know why it is not possible

arise.

to reach a particular goal and what the appropriate res-

5. Many priorities of modern governments (especially in the fields of crime, education, health, the environment and welfare) depend not only on the improvement of services, but also on a change in cultures and behaviour.

6. The interdependence between public policies. It is not very likely that a single policy, however well designed and implemented, will be sufficient to meet the biggest challenges to governments, such as tackling social exclusion or the race for competitiveness, for example.

These challenges almost always require a combination of policies, and they raise important problems of organisational and institutional design.[1]

ponse to this fault detected is. This implies outstanding knowledge management capacities both inside and outside the institution. For example, the non-achievement of goals may be due to poor central management, poor local management, poor design of the policy or of its goals, an unexpected change in the environment, public opposition, inadequate funding, inadequate incentives, inadequate human resources or technology strategies, inadequate regulatory frameworks, the fact that many of the players involved do not share the policy, failures in programming, etc. Making judgements of this kind requires an expert analytical capacity on the part of the formulating centre, with experience preferably acquired in previous jobs on the front line; it requires access to multiple sources of inPublic-private cooperation | 191

formation and assessment (including users, public employees, inspections, measurements, etc.), as well as the use of external consultancy.

Joan Prats i CatalĂ is Director of the International Institute of Governability of Catalonia.

The International Institute of Governability of Catalonia is a research and training centre established as a public consortium by the Generalitat de Catalunya, ESADE and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. For more information: http://www.iigov.org.

[1] See Mulgan, Geoff; Lee, Andrea. Better Policy Delivery and Design: A Discussion Paper. Performance and Innovation Unit: March, 2001.

192 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

47

Outsourcing management

The paradigm of network management and, therefore, of the formation of a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;partnershipâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; between the public sector and various private profit and non-profit-making agents is a management option that is wholly recommendable as a means to achieve effective and efficient public services. However, the advantages of outsourcing and network management turn into drawbacks and problems linked with a deficiency in the governance of the system, when there is no conceptual framework of the outsourcing which identifies the services and the areas of public action which are a priority target for outsourcing, and those services and public areas that should never be outsourced. Problems also arise when the outsourcing is not planned, and when there is no control or evaluation of either the effectiveness or the efficiency of the services and the initiatives outsourced.

15/03/2005 - Carles RamiĂł

Some observations on the phenomenon of outsourcing

for certain public services to be managed by private organisations. Some data are available which demonstrate the considerable impact that the phenomenon of out-

During the last decade a strong tendency has emerged

sourcing has had in Spain over the last few years. In this Public-private cooperation | 193

respect, according to a study by Manpower, between 1995 and 2002 one third of the growth in public services staff was channelled by private organisations. In Catalonia, in particular, there has been a large increase in the number of private organisations that provide public ser-

cial services.

• The logic of negotiation on the part of the Administration with the social agents’very aggressive in the field of public employment’on economic and labour condi-

vices.[1]

tions has reached the point of blocking the system. This

The paradigm of network management and, therefore, of

longer assume certain impacts of these agreements,

the formation of a ‘partnership’ between the public sec-

and so they must opt for outsourcing in order to escape

tor and various private profit and non-profit-making

from this circle of labour negotiation.

agents is a management option that is wholly recommendable as a means to achieve effective and efficient public services. Outsourcing of public services is technically a good decision, and in political spheres it should be seen as a neutral strategy which can be adapted to any ideological framework and which serves to optimise public resources. However, the advantages of outsourcing and network management turn into drawbacks and problems linked with a deficiency in the governance of the system, when there is no conceptual framework of the outsourcing which identifies the services and the areas of public action which are a priority target for outsourcing, and those services and public areas that should never be outsourced. Problems also arise when the outsourcing is not planned, and when there is no control or evaluation of either the effectiveness or the efficiency of the services

is due to the fact that public administrations can no

Another issue which, from the outset, cannot be dismissed is that private organisations that provide public services may also manage inefficiently, due to poor management and/or their intention to maximise profits to the detriment of quality. In a classic survey by Domberger and Rimmer [4] on the effects of the external contracting of various public services on quality, the conclusion is reached that there is no correlation between outsourcing and an increase in the quality of public services. At all events, in the situations in which a loss of quality in public services is detected due to a process of outsourcing, this may be linked, according to one of the few studies made on this subject, [5] with the deficiencies of public administrations when they come to define the specifications of contracts, with their capacity to se-

and the initiatives outsourced.

lect suppliers, and finally, with their capacity and inves-

The first problem with respect to outsourcing is that, in

outsourced.

many cases, the motivations behind this strategy are not proactive (as revealed in a study by Accenture, [2] which highlights the improvement in the speed and quality of the service, in addition to the increase in professional experience and access to the new technologies), but rather, according to some empirical studies, [3] they become reactive, and this is related with two problems characteris-

tment in control and evaluation of the services

The previous point implies that the resources that the Administration must invest in the planning, control and evaluation of services should be assigned to these outsourced services. In this respect, it is worth underlining that there can only be a guarantee that the private organisations that provide public services offer quality, if

tic of the management of public employees:

the Public administration exercises its prerogatives of

• The rigidity associated with the management of public

quality of outsourced services, the Administration must

employees has caused many public administrations to

control them. Unfortunately, most of the public adminis-

freeze the numbers of their regular staff. This situation

trations in Spain do not exercise a genuine quality con-

has led to the outsourcing to private agents of all those

trol of the public services which they have outsourced.

new competencies assumed by public administrations.

In this respect, it is not by chance that the competencies that are outsourced most are those which are currently undergoing a process of growth, for example, those related with the environment and emerging so194 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

planning, control and evaluation to the full. To ensure the

Another problem is that in Spain there are no limits to outsourcing. If account is taken of the opinion of political and professional managers in the public sector and the empirical data on what is being outsourced, one reaches the

conclusion that all the competencies, functions and ser-

a common outsourcing strategy that takes account of

vices for which the public administrations are responsi-

the following aspects:

ble can be managed by private agents. [6] In this way, there is outsourcing, for example, of the services that hold confidential information about citizens and public employees themselves, matters linked with security and defence, highly delicate services that affect the fundamental rights of citizens, regulatory and inspection policies of public administrations, internal services (personnel management, economic management, computing), etc. There is no general or specific conceptual guide (by management sector or by type of public administration) that defines which sectors should never be outsourced, according to criteria of social impact, sensitivity of the sector, security, confidentiality, etc.

• Opting for an integrated outsourcing model (the driving force is decided by the central authorities of the Administration), or a decentralised model in which each department, agency, etc., decides on its own outsourcing strategy.

• Definition of what type of private agents it is wished to give priority to in outsourcing policy: profitmaking companies or organisations from the third sector, small organisations (which only provide a particular service in a specific public field), or large organisations (which provide several types of public services to many departments). It must be remembered that the Administration has the capacity, if it acts proactively, to co-ordinate the entrepreneurial

Some proposals for promoting the ordered and controlled outsourcing of public services 1) Definition of a conceptual framework that establishes

fabric of public service delivery that it deems most suitable in accordance with its interests (and not only with the interests of the natural operation of the market).

which services and spheres of public action must be

3) Safeguarding the legal mechanisms of control of the

given priority, which must follow the usual process,

management, the results and the impact of the ser-

which will be considered minority, or which will be ve-

vices outsourced (for example: a general set of regu-

toed to prevent the possibility of their being outsour-

lations, specifications, etc.). The majority of public

ced. Clearly, the most important aspect of this

administrations consider that this aspect is difficult

conceptual framework is to establish a double cata-

to put into operation unless the following requirement

logue of services and public actions: on the one hand,

is successfully resolved.

those services and actions which, in response to criteria of general interest, criteria concerned with the defence of citizens’ rights or a potential loss of control on the part of the Administration, etc., must be excluded from any global or partial outsourcing strategy (for example, security, defence, regulation of fundamental rights, management of confidential citizen information, etc.), and on the other hand, a catalogue of services and actions which may under exceptional circumstances be outsourced, but which must be bound by supplementary criteria of control and evaluation (for example, internal services of administra-

4) Design of a plan so that part of the Public administration may periodically take responsibility for the control and evaluation of the services outsourced.

Capacitation of staff so that they may perform these functions.

5) Establishment of a central unit (an agency or another type of organisational model) which takes responsibility for the control and final evaluation of the outsourcing of an entire Administration or of an entire administrative level (local government, for example).

tions’personnel management, economic management, computing, etc.,’unprecedented new actions and services, etc.).

2) Planning, in the entire sphere of an Administration, of

Carles Ramió is Vice-Rector of Programming, Teaching and Evaluation at Pompeu Fabra University.

Public-private cooperation | 195

[1] In this respect, the autonomous communities divide into two groups based on the extent to which public administration therein relies on private management. On the one hand, there are the communities which opt for a high degree of outsourcing (Catalonia, the Basque Country, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, Galicia and Murcia), and on the other hand, those which rely little on outsourcing (Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Asturias, Madrid, Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha). Source: OLIVÉ, J. Estudio Manpower sobre el empleo público [Manpower study on public employment] (2004).

[2] ACCENTURE. ‘Outsourcing in Government: pathways to value’.

Public Sector Executives Series (2003).

[3] RAMIÓ, C.; SANTOLARIA, J. L’externalització a la Generalitat de Catalunya [Outsourcing in the Autonomous Government of Catalonia]. Directorate’General for Administrative Organisation: Barcelona (2001).

[4] DOMBERGER, S.; RIMMER, S. ‘Competitive tendering and contracting in the public sector: a survey’. In: International Journal of Economics and Business, 1 (3), 1994.

[5] Conducted by the Australian Industry Commission (1996).

[6] SANTOLARIA, J. ‘La externalización en Cataluña’ (‘Outsourcing in Catalonia’). Doctoral thesis [yet to be presented]. Universitat de Barcelona: Barcelona (2003). This work analyses all the examples of outsourcing undertaken in Catalonia over the course of four years (published in the official provincial and autonomous gazettes) and shows all the competencies and public actions which have been outsourced by an Administration.

196 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

48

Economics and politics of local privatization

Why a book on local privatization? Because the subject is an important one, and its relevance is growing. In the last few years a great change has taken place in the management of local services in Spain. The data presented in this research work indicate that private production has become the predominant mode of production in solid waste services, while its share is around 40% in water supply services. Despite this, a comprehensive study of this subject has yet to be undertaken in Spain from a perspective of economic and political analysis.

13/11/2006 - GermĂ Bel

This publication seeks to contribute to knowledge and

what extent is it employed? (3) Why has privatization

analysis of local privatization in Spain. Furthermore, it

taken place? and (4) What economic effects has privati-

aims to provide those in positions of responsibility in local

zation had?

governmentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;politicians and technical staffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;with some useful and illustrative thoughts on the employment of privatization as an instrument of reform of the local public sector, and more generally, as an instrument of reform at any level of government , since all governments can use concession systems for the production of services whose

The opening chapters of the book focus on conceptual, theoretical and historical issues related with local privatization. The chapter What is privatization? is strongly recommended, since it contains material of relevance to the remainder of the book. This chapter specifies the use

provision is public.

of the concept, its different forms, and its applications to

The contents of the book are structured around the study

troversial issues are also analysed, most notably: Is con-

of four basic issues: (1) What is local privatization? (2) To

tracting out a form of privatization or not? Certainly,

local public services. Some confusing aspects and con-

Public-private cooperation | 197

contracting out does not involve the transfer of physical

Therefore, competition appears to be more relevant than

assets. However, there is a transfer of an economic asset:

ownership. As for water services in particular, the accu-

a service contract or a franchise agreement. The rights

mulated international evidence is clear and robust: there

on any financial surplus that may result from this activity

are no systematic differences in productivity and effi-

are transferred to the outside contractor, and the right to

ciency between public and private production.

residual earnings is a central element of what is understood by ownership. Hence the pertinence of the use of the term privatization with reference to contracting out.

Finally, the concepts of provision, production and financing of a service are defined. Unless clear and precise distinctions are drawn here, it is not possible to understand the essence of concession systems in general, and of local privatization in particular. This clarification facilitates an understanding of why the contracting out of local services may be considered as privatization in the strict

Based on an analysis of theory and the empirical evidence available, it is possible to outline some of the generic

conditions

that

would

make

privatization

recommendable. Firstly, there must be a genuine need for reform, either because the service is poor, or because it is excessively costly. Reform is complicated and expensive, and it is not advisable to follow fashions. If the service really does need a reform, privatization is an option, but it is not the only one. Analysis should be made of the

sense of the word.

possibility of undertaking an internal reform of the orga-

The central chapters contain a review of the empirical li-

methods of co-operation between public and private sec-

terature. In this respect, the study is focused on solid

tors. If this internal reform is not viable or is too complex,

waste and water supply services. These two services are

privatization may be the solution.

among the local services of greatest economic relevance, and they are the object of greater empirical attention internationally than any other local service. The final chapters of the book are devoted to an analysis of local privatization in Spain, based on data from a broad survey of Spanish town councils directed by the author and ex-

nization of the service, or of establishing more gradual

Privatization may be particularly suitable when the conditions of the service allow contracts to be established which are as complete as possible and which govern the relationship between the government and the outside contractor appropriately. Finally, the leaders who have pri-

pressly undertaken for this research.

vatized a service must understand that they cannot wash

The aim to achieve economies of scale may have served

services tend to be monopolies. The absence of supervi-

as an incentive for privatization. Moreover, the balance

sion of the privatized service is the surest recipe for the

between the transaction costs (administration, supervi-

failure of the reform.

sion) arising from contracting out and its potential benefits has also had an influence. There is not a significant association between the ideology of local politicians and the decision to privatize. Politicians are much more pragmatic than ideological. It is probable that motivating factors related with costs and the operation of the service are combined with interests of a practical political nature, which may tilt the balance both in favour of and against the decision to privatize, depending on the type of service considered and the relative strength of the particular interests present.

The relationship between cost saving and privatization is a highly complex one, and it is different in each service.

In general, competition for the production of the service is associated with an improvement in the cost conditions.

198 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

their hands of its operation. Due to their very nature, local

Paradoxically, one of the clearest and most permanent benefits of privatization may have been to prompt the reform of the service in town councils that have maintained public production. The spread of privatization has succeeded in achieving an equivalent effect to that created by the threat of bankruptcy for managers of public services, since an important alternative has emerged in response to the very poor operation of public production: recourse to a private company. Avoiding privatization is a good incentive for improving internal organization in the public sector.

On the other hand, those town councils which have reformed and maintained public production are, in turn, benefiting the town councils that have privatized. One of the

main problems detected with privatization is the tendency towards highly concentrated market structures, which make competition for the contract very difficult. This confers enormous power on the company that is already established. The maintenance of public production in the environment preserves a potential alternative to private production. Therefore, it may act as an element of competitive discipline, impeding the tendencies towards the monopolization of the private sector.

In short, the existence of a certain balance between public and private production may be desirable, since it stimulates the internal reform of those town councils which maintain public production, and a possible alternative to the poor operation of private production is preserved. This is one more indication that public and private spheres can be of mutual assistance.

Germà Bel is a Professor in the Department of Economic Policy at the University of Barcelona and currently a Visiting Scholar at the J.F. Kennedy School of Government of the University of Harvard.

Author: Germà Bel Editor: Fundación Rafael del Pino.

Published by Marcial Pons (Madrid, 2006) VI Catalan Economy Society Prize

Public-private cooperation | 199

49

The Public Sector and Private Management: Desirable Convergence The evidence is that countries advance faster and in a more sustainable fashion when the public sector unleashes the energy, enthusiasm and commitment of society as a whole. This aim can only be achieved by working together and creating forums that foster trust and knowledge, and hence a more fluid relationship between the public and private sectors. While this is no easy task, it is the only possible path.

27/03/2006 - Adolf Tod贸

Economics is the science of managing scarce resources,

the market provides a reasonable solution to the first two

which generally have alternative uses. Accordingly, that

issues. In other words, the market allocates resources ef-

all economic systems attempt to answer three very basic

ficiently. Even so, we know that there are imperfections in

questions: what should be produced?; how should it be

the market such as: monopolies; external costs borne by

produced?; and for whom should it be produced? The first

society in general (e.g. pollution); certain goods that the

two questions concern mechanisms for allocating re-

private sector cannot supply (e.g. major infrastructure).

sources to the production of those goods and services

The market allocates resources inefficiently in such

that satisfy the needs citizens consider to be priorities.

cases, thus justifying State intervention.

Both questions therefore refer to efficiency. The third question concerns the distribution of goods and services

In any event, public intervention in the economy is usually

and therefore has to do with equity.

justified in terms of ensuring equity. While the market can

Economic theory tells us that (under certain conditions)

that are extremely unjust. The market only satisfies the

200 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

allocate resources very efficiently, it may do so in ways

needs of those who can pay and it is therefore incapable

ficiency considerations. This means setting efficiency

of ensuring production meets demand from those lacking

benchmarks, which should be transparent and made pu-

the wherewithal. In some cases, this yields wholly unac-

blic. Such benchmarks would be used to hold the public

ceptable results. Here we are talking about social goods

administration accountable for the results it obtains with

(or, in Prof. Musgrave's terminology, merit goods) which

public money. A system of incentives also needs to be es-

everyone should have access to by virtue of his citizens-

tablished in order to improve the results yielded by a given

hip of an advanced, cohesive society. I refer in particular

quantity of funding.

to universal health care and public education. In my view, the general funding of such goods and services must rest primarily with the public sector. Trusting the private sector to provide such goods through the market would only produce an unjust, fractured society, which in turn would

This does not involve privatising education, health, or any other public goods, nor is that the intention. Rather, it is a question of reforming the model to ensure a more efficient use of public resources, even though this involves

have serious consequences for the economy as a whole.

private management. The tools, management methods,

Having said this, it is one thing to argue the need to pu-

be used to produce publicly-funded goods and services

blicly fund such services but quite another to insist that

more efficiently. Such an approach will help us break the

these services be publicly provided and managed. Let me

mould with the hidebound patterns of the past. It will also

clarify this. The new globalisation paradigm poses a host

help remove the scales from the eyes of those who mis-

of challenges to companies and countries alike. These

takenly believe that the State can meet all economic

challenges need to be properly tackled if they are to be

needs and those who cling to the notion that markets are

turned into opportunities for progress and development.

the panacea for everything.

Nowadays, concepts such as entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and competitiveness are of capital importance.

Furthermore, time is of the essence. What needs to be

and incentive systems used in the private sector should

The evidence is that countries advance faster and in a more sustainable fashion when the public sector unleas-

done has to be done fast.

hes the energy, enthusiasm and commitment of society

The very nature of corporations makes most of them

gether and creating forums that foster trust and kno-

highly aware of the new model. Hence companies attempt

wledge, and hence a more fluid relationship between the

to take the measures needed to respond to new challen-

public and private sectors. While this is no easy task, it is

ges in order to survive the winds of globalisation blowing

the only possible path.

as a whole. This aim can only be achieved by working to-

through the world. Public administration, on the other hand, tends to be glacially slow at adapting to change.

The problem lies in the fact that the competitiveness of companies and countries depends greatly on the framework established by the public sector - i.e. existing in-

Adolf Tod贸 is Director General of Caixa Manresa and a lecturer at ESADE.

frastructure, the quality of education and health systems, and the flexibility (or otherwise) of the public administration. Put baldly, we cannot hope to have innovative, competitive companies unless the public administration exhibits the same qualities.

That is why I believe there is plenty of scope for improvement in Spain's public administration. Furthermore, these opportunities should be grasped without taking ideological positions on the issue. I fully realise that finding solutions will be both difficult and time-consuming. However, the model of public management should be based on efPublic-private cooperation | 201

50

Co-payment Vested interests and preconceived ideas weigh heavily against the likelihood of change in the health system. It is very easy to create fear about the consequences of change in favour of the status quo. The sustainability of the public funding of the health system is at stake, but nothing seems to perturb the current interests. We are struggling with an outdated, universalist system, based on the Scandinavian model forgetting that Catalans are not as wealthy as the Scandinavians and do not share the same cultural values.

13/12/2004 - Guillem López Casasnovas

At present, it appears highly likely that the total health

partment of Economy and Finance assumes responsibi-

care costs in our country will increase. It is less likely that

lity for the whole issue, to the detriment of the coherence

the public component generated by general tax revenue

of health care policy and therefore of people’s health and

will increase at the same rate. Without doubt whether or

welfare.

not to raise taxation is a political decision. However, there is no prospect on the horizon either of an increase in tax pressure or of any substantial change in the transfers of money in the fiscal relations between Catalonia and the State. In this context, a certain degree of schizophrenia predominates within the local authorities. However, good intentions are one thing and the reality of life another: health authorities do not seem able to reconcile the requirements with the fact that public resources are limited.

Because of these factors, in many welfare states a De202 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Nothing can be free for everyone, especially something of the highest quality. Also, perhaps more importantly, not all of the services and treatments facilitated by technology are of the same value or have the same therapeutic affect. Their additional benefits do not necessarily always justify the additional cost. Therefore, it is time to grasp the nettle. Action by local authorities is essential in order to define the catalogue of services, the selective financing of services and the screening of treatments whose

efficiency has not been verified. If this is not done, it is possible that our system will always be underresourced.

One tidy solution would therefore be to limit the public services covered, using universal and socially responsi-

Guillem López Casasnovas is a Full Professor in Economics at the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF).

ble criteria, in favour of complementary insurance for the use of services that may not be covered. The premiums could be regulated and communal, which is not the same as the alternative of direct payment by the user of the service.

Paying for a service at the point of use is always more regressive than paying complementary premiums in advance. Such premiums are socially responsible insofar as they are communal, since the consumer who is fortunate enough not to fall ill helps finance those who are not so lucky. Moreover, with regards the inequalities that these forms of insurance can create, provided that the services not covered are correctly assessed, they should have very little real affect on the population’s state of health.

In general, if direct payments are made by people only when they become ill, it is very difficult to correct undesirable inequalities retrospectively (through tax expenditure, co-payments that are supposedly income-linked, etc.).

Additional co-payments may also be necessary. Although this needs to be examined further, we already know that their generalization usually favours untidy solutions, which focus more on the objective of collecting money than on the analysis of the efficiency of the services themselves. Thus, financial and clinical aspects should never be separated in the decision-making process.

So, today the debate over the future of health care financing in our country ‘ with so many preconceptions such as the notion that equity can only be maintained by taxation, or the notion that decentralization always leads to a decrease in the degree of social cohesion, or that problems can be solved by greater expenditure ‘ runs the risk of coming up against a brick wall. In any case, this debate reminds us of the inadequacies of the Catalan health care financing system and the limitations of our government’s financial autonomy.

Public-private cooperation | 203

Manuel FĂŠrez, Professor at the ESADE Institute of Public Governance and Management (IG

GDP)

Yes, but ... (by Forges)

Antonio Fraguas (Forges) is a cartoonist.

Cartoons published on 26.03.2007, 13.11.2006, 27.03.2006 and 19.12.2005 respectively.

The top 50 articles in PUBLIC | 205

A sharp eye: Spot which one's the civil servant and which one's the temp.

Forges every day at: www.elpais.es

206 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

All about Forges at: www.forges.com

Instances, legitimations, signatures, salute, sealed, ...

Forges every day at: www.elpais.es

All about Forges at: www.forges.com

Yes, but ... (by Forges) | 207

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…Yeah right!

Forges every day at: www.elpais.es

208 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

All about Forges at: www.forges.com

Secretariat of State for Administrative Restructuring

Secretariat of State for Administrative Restructuring -Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve dropped your knitting -Heaven forbid!

Forges every day at: www.elpais.es

All about Forges at: www.forges.com

Yes, but ... (by Forges) | 209

Pablo García, Associate Director of the ESADE Institute of Public Governance and Manage PUBLIC Editorial Board Member M. Jesús Binefa, Secretary of the ESADE Institute of Public Governance and Management

indexes of authors and articles

ement (IGDP)

t (IGDP)

The top 50 articles in PUBLIC | 211

index of authors 37. Network Knowledge Management Adds Public Value | Robert Agranoff 20. Competing for the future: strategic risk management and organisational practice | Michael Barzelay

161 96

48. Economics and politics of local privatization | Germà Bel 39. Dialogues at the Forum | Mireia Belil 33. Devolution and decentralisation in public administration:

167

concepts, consequences and evaluation | Elio Borgonovi

148

the Delivery of Public Services in Europe? | C. H. Bovis

182

44. How Can Public-Private Partnerships Shape

16. Managing Change and Innovation in Public Service Organisations | Kerry Brown 38. Governing cities and territories in the network society | Quim Brugué 40. The CLAD International Congress: a democratic forum for debate on public administration | Nuria Cunill

11. Reflections on a Biographical Approach to Leadership and Innovation | Jameson W. Doig 21. Managerial accountability and responsibility:

197

80 164 169 57

institutions before instruments | Koldo Echebarría

99

and Managing Human Capital Capacity in the 21st Century | Ali Farazmand

32

6. Strategic Public Personnel Administration: A Conceptual Framework for Building

18. Some lessons from our recent history regarding reforming the Civil Service | Manuel Férez 19. Performance management: a tool for public managers | Verónica Figueroa A sharp eye: Spot which one's the civil servant and which one's the temp | Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

29. State-Building as the Core of Capacity Development | Francis Fukuyama 212 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

87 92 205 133

38. Governing cities and territories in the network society | Ricard Gomà 10. Anchoring Leadership in the Work of Progress | Ronald A. Heifetz

22. Arrows, Circles and Hybrids: Controlling Modern Government | Christopher Hood 43. Managing partnerships for collaborative advantage | Chris Huxham 34. Political Change and a State Based on Regional Autonomy | Rafael Jiménez Asensio 4. Concepts that define public management as an international academic field| Lawrence R. Jones

13. Leader-Centrism: “It’s the Followers, Stupid!” | Barbara Kellerman 15. The Challenge of Organizational Change | Steve Kelman 26. The Concept of Governability | Jan Kooiman 10. Leading with an Open Heart | Marty Linsky 50. Co-payment | Guillem López Casasnovas

3. Managing in political contexts. Managing in public service contexts | Carlos Losada 17. Public Management: Old and New | Laurence I. Lynn, Jr. 1. Management as a Practice | Henry Mintzberg 24. The future of performance management: lessons from the United States | Donald P. Moynihan

9. Learning Leadership | Joseph S. Nye

16. Managing Change and Innovation in Public Service Organisations | Stephen Osborne 12. Leadership for a Changing World | Sonia Ospina 7. A look at organizational commitment | Manel Peiró 41. Two Possible Futures for Public Administration | B. Guy Peters 23. Evidence-Based Public Policy: An Aspirational Vision | Jeffrey Pfeffer 2. The Essential Public Manager | Christopher Pollitt 46. Service delivery policies | Joan Prats 32. Challenges posed by the current expansion of the EU in eastern Europe | Pere Puig 14. Times for reflection | Jordi Pujol 25. Challenging the Performance Movement : Accountability, Complexity, and Democratic Values | Beryl A. Radin

47. Outsourcing management | Carles Ramió 30. The quality of institutions is key | Dani Rodrik

164 45 101 179 151 27 63 76 114 51 202 23 84 16 105 42 80 60 36 171 103 20 190 145 66 108 193 136

Index of authors | 213

36. Various activities for managing inter-organisational networks | Angel Saz-Carranza 5. Training to develop public managers’ competences | Ricard Serlavós 28. Institutions, economic development and global governance | Narcís Serra 42. Public-private relationship management in the production of public goods and services | Albert Serra

27. The future of global governance | Joseph E. Stiglitz

38. Governing cities and territories in the network society | Joan Subirats

31. Presentation of the Latin-american Charter of Civil Service | José Manuel Sucre Ciffoni 49. The Public Sector and Private Management: Desirable Convergence | Adolf Todó 43. Managing partnerships for collaborative advantage | Siv Vangen 45. Collaborations between the public and private sectors in Latin America: in search of complementareity | Alfred Vernis

8. Ethics in the public service | Manuel Villoria

35. Report on good governance and administrative transparency | Eulàlia Vintró

214 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

158 30 122 176 117 164 143 200 179 186 38 154

chronological index Political Change and a State Based on Regional Autonomy | 17/05/2004 - Rafael Jiménez Asensio

151

Presentation of the Latin-american Charter of Civil Service | 17/05/2004 - José Manuel Sucre Ciffoni

143

Challenges posed by the current expansion of the EU in eastern Europe | 20/05/2004 - Pere Puig

145

Training to develop public managers competences | 24/05/2004 - Ricard Serlavós

30

Ethics in the public service | 27/09/2004 - Manuel Villoria

38

Leadership for a Changing World | 27/09/2004 - Sonia Ospina

60

Institutions, economic development and global governance | 13/12/2004 - Narcís Serra

122

Dialogues at the Forum | 13/12/2004 - Mireia Belil

167

Co-payment | 13/12/2004 - Guillem López Casasnovas

202

A look at organizational commitment | 13/12/2004 - Manel Peiró

36

The CLAD International Congress: a democratic forum for debate on public administration | 13/12/2004 - Nuria Cunill

169

Competing for the future: strategic risk management and organisational practice | 15/03/2005 - Michael Barzelay

96

Concepts that define public management as an international academic field | 15/03/2005 - Lawrence R. Jones

27

Times for reflection | 15/03/2005 - Jordi Pujol

66

Service delivery policies | 15/03/2005 - Joan Prats

190

Outsourcing management | 15/03/2005 - Carles Ramió

193

Managing in political contexts. Managing in public service contexts | 15/03/2005 - Carlos Losada

23

Management as a Practice | 20/06/2005 - Henry Mintzberg

16

The Challenge of Organizational Change | 20/06/2005 - Steve Kelman

76

Various activities for managing inter-organisational networks | 20/06/2005 - Angel Saz-Carranza

158

Chronological index | 215

Managerial accountability and responsibility: institutions before instruments | 20/06/2005 - Koldo Echebarría

99

Report on good governance and administrative transparency | 26/09/2005 - Eulàlia Vintró

154

Arrows, Circles and Hybrids: Controlling Modern Government | 26/09/2005 - Christopher Hood

101

State-Building as the Core of Capacity Development | 26/09/2005 - Francis Fukuyama

133

Collaborations between the public and private sectors in Latin America: in search of complementareity | 26/09/2005 - Alfred Vernis

186

Some lessons from our recent history regarding reforming the Civil Service | 26/09/2005 - Manuel Férez

87

The future of global governance | 19/12/2005 - Joseph E. Stiglitz

117

The Essential Public Manager | 19/12/2005 - Christopher Pollitt

20

Managing partnerships for collaborative advantage | 19/12/2005 - Chris Huxham i Siv Vangen

179

Devolution and decentralisation in public administration: concepts, consequences and evaluation | 19/12/2005 - Elio Borgonovi

148

Governing cities and territories in the network society | 19/12/2005 - Quim Brugué, Ricard Gomà i Joan Subirats

164

The quality of institutions is key | 27/03/2006 - Dani Rodrik

136

Managing Change and Innovation in Public Service Organisations | 27/03/2006 - Stephen Osborne i Kerry Brown

80

The Public Sector and Private Management: Desirable Convergence | 27/03/2006 - Adolf Todó

200

Anchoring Leadership in the Work of Progress | 24/07/2006 - Ronald A. Heifetz

45

Challenging the Performance Movement : Accountability, Complexity, and Democratic Values | 24/07/2006 - Beryl A. Radin

108

Public Management: Old and New | 24/07/2006 - Laurence I. Lynn, Jr.

84

Economics and politics of local privatization | 13/11/2006 - Germà Bel

197

Leading with an Open Heart | 13/11/2006 - Ronald A. Heifetz & Marty Linsky

51

Evidence-Based Public Policy: An Aspirational Vision | 26/03/2007 – Jeffrey Pfeffer

103

The Concept of Governability | 26/03/2007 - Jan Kooiman

114

Network Knowledge Management Adds Public Value | 26/03/2007 - Robert Agranoff

161

A sharp eye: Spot which one's the civil servant and which one's the temp | 26/03/2007 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

205

216 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Reflections on a Biographical Approach to Leadership and Innovation | 23/07/2007 - Jameson W. Doig

57

Strategic Public Personnel Administration: A Conceptual Framework for Building and Managing Human Capital Capacity in the 21st Century | 31/10/2007 - Ali Farazmand

32

How Can Public-Private Partnerships Shape the Delivery of Public Services in Europe? | 29/02/2008 - Christopher H. Bovis

182

Public-private relationship management in the production of public goods and services | 29/02/2008 - Albert Serra

176

Leader-Centrism: “It’s the Followers, Stupid!” | 31/05/2008 - Barbara Kellerman

63

Performance management: a tool for public managers | 31/05/2008 - Verónica Figueroa

92

The future of performance management: lessons from the United States | 31/05/2008 - Donald P. Moynihan

105

Learning Leadership | 01/09/2008 - Joseph S. Nye

42

Two Possible Futures for Public Administration | 15/12/2008 - B. Guy Peters

171

Chronological index | 217

people who have contributed to PUBLIC...

PUBLIC’s editorial board would like to thank all those whose articles have made this publication possible. The following people have contributed to PUBLIC.*

Muhittin Acar, Associate Professor of Public Administration at Hacettepe University, Turkey.

Robert Agranoff, Professor Emeritus at theSchool of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University-Bloomington and collaborates with Government and Public Administration Program at Instituto Universitario Ortega y Gasset.

Mario Alguacil (EMPA 2007), director of Technologies, Knowledge Management and Budgets at Sant Feliu de Llobregat Town Council.

Oriol Alsina (FGAP 2006), an economist. He took part in the last WTO summit in Hong Kong.

Hector Arámbula, is reading a PhD in Management Sciences at ESADE. I. N. Baranov, Associate Professor at St. Petersburg State University’s Faculty of Management and Cochairman of the Board of ASPE. Miquel Barceló, President of 22@BCN SA. Enric R. Bartlett, Lecturer in Public Law at the ESADE Law School.

218 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Michael Barzelay, Reader in Public Management, Interdisciplinary Institute of Management, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Germán Bastida (LISP 2002, FGAP 2003, EMPA 2004), a member of the governing board of the Fundación Nueva Cultura del Agua [New Water Culture Foundation] and director of the Casa de l’Aigua [Water House] (Tortosa), the stable headquarters for the FNCA’s diffusion and scientific exchanges.

Germà Bel, Professor in the Department of Economic Policy at the University of Barcelona and currently a Visiting Scholar at the J.F. Kennedy School of Government of the University of Harvard.

Mireia Belil, Dialogues Director for the Universal Forum of Cultures ‘ Barcelona 2004.

Francesc Belver, Mayoral Deputy for Human Resources and Technology, Hospitalet de Llobregat Council.

Alfredo Berges, responsible for Quality on Saragossa City Council.

Xavier Bertrana, political scientist and Deputy Director of Analysis and Futurology in the Presidential Department of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Deborah Blackman, Associate Professor at the National Institute for Governance, University of Canberra, Australia.

Bob Bonwitt, Head of the Sigma Programme (OCDE).

Elio Borgonovi, Head of the Department of Public Administration and Health Care Management at Bocconi University, Milan.

Christopher H. Bovis JD, MPhil, LLM, FRSA is H.K. Bevan Chair in Law at Law School , University of Hull.

Eugeni Bregolat, the trade delegate of the Spanish Trade Mission in the USSR from 1974 to 1978. He was also director general of the International Department in the cabinets of the presidents of the Spanish governments of Adolfo Suárez and Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo. Spanish Ambassador to Indonesia (1982-1987), the People’s Republic of China (1987-1991 and 1999-2003), Canada (1991-1992) and Russia (1992-1996), he was also political chief in the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1997 to 1999.

Finally, he was a special envoy ambassador to the World Culture Forum held in Barcelona in 2004.

Kristoffer Brix Bertelsen, Programme Director at CBS Executive, Public Programmes Area, Copenhagen Business School.

Kerry Brown, Professor of Public Management at the School of Management of Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

Quim Brugué, Director General of Citizen Participation for the Generalitat de Catalunya and Lecturer at the Institute of Government and Public Policies of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).

People who have contributed to PUBLIC... | 219

John M. Bryson, professor at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. He is part of the Institute’s Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center.

Francisco Cardona, Principal Administrator at the Sigma Programme (OCDE).

Linda L. Carli, Associate Professor of Psychology at Wellesley College.

Dario Cavenago, Professor at CRISP – Interuniversity Research Center for Public Services, MilanoBicocca University.

Denita Cepiku, Researcher at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”. She was Assistant to the Chair of the OECD - Public Governance Committee from 2002 to 2006.

Massimo Cermelli, a doctoral student at the University of Deusto and research assistant at the Basque Institute of Competitiveness (Deusto Foundation).

Angie Chan, Coordinator of the Program Leadership for a Changing World at the Research Center for Leadership in Action, Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University (NYU).

Sang Ok Choi, Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Administration and Public Policy at California State University, Dominguez Hills.

Demi Chung, Associate Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Sydney.

M.ª Luisa Clares Martínez, Corporate Director of Human Resources for BSM, S.A. Amelia Clarke, PhD Candidate in Strategy at the Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University.

She is also a Research Fellow at the Aspen Institute, a Sessional Instructor for the McGill School of the Environment, and the Past President of the Sierra Club of Canada.

Thomas Clarke is Director of the Centre for Corporate Governance, University Technology Sydney (UTS).

Steven Cohen, Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.

Enric Colet, member of the Data Protection Advisory Council of Catalonia, pofessor of Information Systems of ESADE, and professor of the Institute of Public Management (IDGP).

Neus Colet (EMPA 2004), Head of the Departmental Secretariat of the Consultative Board on Public Contracts for the Generalitat of Catalonia Ministry of Economy and Finance. Óscar Cortés Abad, Vice President of the ESADE Alumni Public Management Club in Madrid and editor of the blog i-public@.

Daniela Cristofoli, Post Doctoral Research Fellow in the Public Management Department, Bocconi University and Researcher at Bocconi Centre for Innovation in Governments.

Barbara C. Crosby, associate professor at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. She is part of the Institute’s Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center.

220 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Jorge E. Culebro Moreno, Research Professor in the Department of Institutional Studies, Metropolitan Autonomous University, Mexico.

Nuria Cunill, Director of the Documentation, Information and Publishing Production programme, as well as the Research and Studies programme of the Latin American Centre for Development Administration (CLAD).

Mariana Dates, Press Coordinator of AOK Spain.

Marie-Thérèse Deleplace, Institute of Management and Economic Development (IGPDE), Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industry, France.

Robert B. Denhardt, Director of the ASU School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University.

Janet Denhardt, Professor at ASU School of Public Affairs, Arizona State University.

Geert Dewulf, Professor of Planning & Development at University of Twente, The Netherlands and Visiting Professor at Harvard University.

Jameson W. Doig, Senior Scholar in the Woodrow Wilson School and Professor of Politics and Public Affairs Emeritus, Princeton University, and Director of the Guggenheim Summer Internship Program.

Brian Dollery, Professor at the School of Economics at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia.

Leon van den Dool, Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Patrice Dutil, Director of Research, Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC).

Alice H. Eagly, Professor and Chair of Psychology and Faculty fellow of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University.

Koldo Echebarría, principal specialist in State Reform; State Division, Governance and Civil Society at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Professor at ESADE’s Institute of Public Management (IDGP).

William Eimicke, Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.

Joan Manuel Espuelas, Head of Information Systems at the Directorate-General for Citizen Participation of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Ali Farazmand, Professor at the School of Public Administration, Florida Atlantic University.

David Feehan, Executive Director of the International Downtown Association.

Marvin Feit, Professor and Dean, Ethelyn R. Strong School of Social Work.

People who have contributed to PUBLIC... | 221

Paul C. van Fenema, Associate Professor at Netherlands Defense Academy, the Netherlands. He holds a PhD in Business Administration from Erasmus University, the Netherlands and has held positions at RSM Erasmus University and Florida International University.

Manuel Férez, Lecturer in the Institute of Public Management (IDGP) at ESADE, Academic Coordinator for the 1st cycle of the Executive Master in Public Administration (EMPA) and Associate Professor in the Department of Public Law at ESADE Law School.

Jesús Fernández (EMPA 2006), Veterinary Curator of land mammals at Madrid-Parques Reunidos Zoo. Regina Ferrando (EMPA 2003), Chief of the Mayor's Office at Premià de Mar Town Council.

Verónica Figueroa, PhD Student of Management Sciences at ESADE and collaborator of the Public Management Institute (IDGP).

Antonio Fraguas (Forges), cartoonist. His work is published daily in EL PAIS. Francis Fukuyama, Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University.

Francisco Gaetani, Resident Representative Advisor of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Brazil.

Albert Galofré, an international consultant specialised in public management and an academic collaborator with the ESADE Institute of Public Management.

Mila Gascó, senior analyst at the Institut Internacional de Governabilitat de Catalunya.

Thomas Gebhardt, Programme Manager of the Master of Public Management Programme at the University of Potsdam, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences.

Eduard Gil, Associate Director of ESADE’s Institute of Public Management (IDGP) and a member of the EFMD’s Public Sector Committee.

Ricard Gomà, Councillor of Social Welfare at Barcelona City Council and Lecturer at the Institute of Government and Public Policies of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).

Amanda Goodall, ESRC Research Fellow at Warwick Business School, University of Warwick.

Elizabeth A. Graddy, Professor of Public Policy and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs at the University of Southern California School of Policy, Planning, and Development.

Carsten Greve, Research Professor at the International Centre for Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School.

Siegfried Gudergan, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

222 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Chao Guo, Assistant Professor of Non-Profit Management at the University of Georgia, USA. Brian Head, Professor at the Institute for Social Science Research, The University of Queensland, Australia.

Ronald A. Heifetz, King Hussein Bin Talal Lecturer in Public Leadership at John F. Kennedy School of Government (KSG), Harvard University. Founder of the Center for Public Leadership, KSG, Harvard University.

Jorge Hintze, the Director of TOP, the Centre for Technical Development and Assistance in Technology for the Public Organisation.

Erik Højbjerg, Associate Professor at Copenhagen Business School’s Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy and serves on the International Summer School in Public Administration and Management steering committee.

Christopher Hood, Gladstone Professor of Government and Fellow, All Souls College, University of Oxford.

Chris Huxham, Senior Fellow of the Advanced Institute for Management Research and a Professor of Management at the University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business.

José Inostroza, Research Assistant of the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Chile.

Rafael Jiménez Asensio, Professor of Constitutional Law at ESADE Faculty of Law and Professor at the Institute of Public Management (IDGP).

Judy Johnston, Associate Professor in theFaculty of Business at the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia.

Lawrence R.Jones, George F. A. Wagner Professor of Public Management in the Graduate School of Business and Public Policy, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, USA and President, International Public Management Network.

Kate Joyner, School of Management, Queensland University of Technology.

Tomàs Juste (EMPA 2003), Research and Development Manager of the Department of Town and Country Town and Public Works of the Catalan Government.

Robert Kaplan, Founding partner of Kaplan DeVeries Inc. and holds a senior role at the Center for Creative Leadership; he has a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from YaleUniversity.

J.Ivar Kappert, PhD student at the Netherlands Defense Academy and Tilburg University.

J.Edward Kellough, MPA and Ph.D. Program Director at the Department of Public Administration and Policy School of Public and International Affairs, The University ofGeorgia.

People who have contributed to PUBLIC... | 223

Steve Kelman, Weatherhead Professor of Public Management at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and editor of the International Public Management Journal.

Barbara Kellerman, the James MacGregor Burns Lecturer in Public Leadership at Harvard University's John F.Kennedy School of Government. She was the Founding Executive Director of the Kennedy School's Center for Public Leadership, from 2000 to 2003; and from 2003 to 2006 she served as the Center’s Research Director.

Monica Kennedy, Researcher at the National Institute for Governance, University of Canberra.

Mike Kennerley, a Research Fellow in the Centre for Business Performance, Cranfield School of Management.

Masao Kikuchi, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Management, Department of Public Management, School of Business Administration, Meiji University, Tokyo, JAPAN. Jan Kooiman, Professor Emeritus at Erasmus University, Rotterdam.

Martin Laffin, Professor of Public Policyand Management and member of the Centre for the Study of Cities and Regions at Durham Business School.

Jorge Landaburu, Coordinator of the Government Macrostructure subcomponent, State Modernisation Project, Presidency of the Cabinet of Ministers, Argentina.

Sandra León Alfonso, Research fellow at theCentro de EstudiosAvanzados en Ciencias Sociales [Centre of Advanced Studies in Social Science] at the Instituto Juan March de Estudios e Investigaciones [Juan March Institute of Study and Research] Marty Linsky, teaches at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he chairs several of the School's executive programs on leadership. He consults widely on leadershipand communications in the United States and abroad. A graduate of Williams College and Harvard Law School, Linsky has been a journalist and politician, having served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Alejandro Litovsky, Senior Advisor to theKeystone project: Accountability for Social Change, developed by AccountAbilityinLondon,UnitedKingdom.

Elke Löffler, Chief Executive of Governance International.

Francisco Longo, Director of the Institute of Public Management (IDGP), ESADE. Guillem López Casasnovas, Full Professor in Economics at the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF).

Carlos Losada, Director General of ESADE and Professor of the Institut of Public Management (IDGP).

Laurence E. Lynn, Jr., George H. W. Bush Chair and Professor of Public Affairs at George Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University.

224 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Manila Marcuccio, Junior Assistant Professor, Bocconi University, Milan and Secretary General at "Sviluppo Globale" European Economic Interest Grouping.

Laura Mariani, Researcher at CRISP – Interuniversity Research Center for Public Services, MilanoBicocca University.

Marcello M. Mariani, Professor in the Department of Management, University of Bologna.

Jordi Marín Puigpelat (LISP 2001), Director General of Fundació TecnoCampus.

Caio Marini, Professor at Fundação Dom Cabral.

Albert Martín (FGAP 1992), Director General of the Catalan Government’s Organisation Department.

Rafael Martínez Puón, has a PhD in Governance and Public Administration from the Ortega y Gasset Research University Institute. He is currently the technical coordinator of the Unit of Human Resources and Professionalization of the Ministry of Public Function in Mexico.

Humberto Martins, Professor at Universidade de Brasília.

Frédéric Marty, Professor at CNRS – GREDEG – Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, OFCE – Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris.

Willy McCourt, senior lecturer at the Institute for Development Policy and Management of the University of Manchester.

Linda McLoughlin, a Management Consultant with Leadership Works, Dublin, Ireland.

Ana Isabel Melo, Lecturer at Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal.

Manuel Mesa Vila, Head of the General Secretariat, Centre for Andalus Studies.

Louis Meuleman, Director of the Dutch Advisory Council, RMNO, Senior Lecturer at Nyenrode Business University, Guest Lecturer at several other universities, and Chair of the Netherlands Association for Public Management (VOM).

Pietro Micheli, Centre for Business Performance, Cranfield School of Management.

Henry Mintzberg, Cleghorn Professor of Management Studies at McGill University’s Faculty of Management Ramon Mora (FGAP 2003, EMPA 2005), Head of the Area of Civic Action, Sant Boi de Llobregat Town Council.

Josep-Ramon Morera i Balada, Head of the Local Research Service of the Directorate General for Local Administration (Catalan Government).

Donald P. Moynihan, Associate Professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison.

People who have contributed to PUBLIC... | 225

David Murillo Bonvehí, a researcher in the ESADE Institute for Social Innovation and assistant professor in the ESADE Department of Social Sciences.

Katherine C. Naff, Associate Professor in the Public Administration Department, San Francisco State University.

Greta Nasi, Assistant Professor in the Public Management Department, Bocconi University and Researcher at Bocconi Centre for Innovation in Governments.

Andy Neely is Deputy Director of the Advanced Institute for Management Research, Chairman of the Centre for Business Performance at Cranfield School of Management and Managing Director of The Performance Practice.

Lloyd G. Nigro, Professor of Public Administration and Urban Studies at the Department of Public Administration and Urban Affairs, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., University Distinguished Service Professor and former Dean of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is also the Sultan of Oman Professor of International Relations at the same institution.

Isidre Obregon, President of the Catalan Association of Public Management (ACGP).

Janine O'Flynn, Lecturer in Public Sector Management at the University of Canberra, Australia.

Stephen Osborne, Professor of Public Management and Head of the Public Management Group at the Aston Business School, United Kingdom.

Sonia Ospina, Co-Director of the Leadership in Action Centre of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University.

Xavier Padrós, Director General for Public Contracts in the Generalitat of Catalonia Ministry of Economy and Finance and an academic collaborator for the ESADE Institute of Public Management (IDGP).

Josep Palet (FGAP 2002, EMPA 2004), Chief Executive of Deloitte Barcelona.

Eduard Pallejà i Sedó (FGAP 2001), Director General of the Fundació Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC).

Pedro Parada, Professor in the Department of Business Policy at ESADE. Jordi Pardo (EMPA 2003), Secretary-General of the Department of the Interior the Catalan Government.

Manel Peiró, Director of the Health Care Management (DSIS) programme and professor at ESADE’s Institute of Public Management (IDGP).

James L. Perry, Chancellor's Professor at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA. 226 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

B. Guy Peters, Maurice Falk Professor of American Government, Michigan State University, 1970, University of Pittsburgh.

Jeffrey Pfeffer, Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.

Christopher Pollitt, Professor of Public Management, Centre for Public Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Scientific Director, Netherlands Institute of Government; Editor, International Review of Administrative Sciences.

Joan Prats, Director of the International Institute of Governability of Catalonia.

Marcel Prunera, Director of the programme for the promotion and tracking of strategic projects of the Economic Secretariat, Ministry of the Economy and Finance, Generalitat de Catalunya.

Pere Puig, Full Professor of URL, Professor of ESADE and Professor of the Institute of Public Management (IDGP).

The Right Honourable Mr. Jordi Pujol i Soley, former President of the Generalitat de Catalunya (1980-2003).

Bríd Quinn, Lecturer in the University of Limerick’s Department of Politics and Public Administration and serves on the International Summer School in Public Administration and Management steering committee.

Edwin Quintanilla, General Manager of the Supervisory Body of Investment in Energy (OSINERG) of the Peruvian government and a PhD student on the ESADE-ESAN PhD Programme.

Beryl A. Radin, Professor at the School of Public Affairs of the American University.

Carles Ramió, Vice-Rector of Programming, Teaching and Evaluation at Pompeu Fabra University. Álvaro V. Ramírez Alujas, Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering of the Universidad de Chile and is managing partner of Red Matriz Consultores SRL. Delphine Resteigne, Chair of Sociology at the Royal Military Academy, Belgium.

Norma M. Riccucci, Professor and Director of the PhD Program at the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers University.

Gregory Richards, the Cognos Professor of Performance Management at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario Canada. Prior to his posting at the Telfer School, he worked as a manager in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

Miguel Rivera-Santos, Assistant Professor of Strategy at Babson College.

Claude Rochet, Professor of Public Management and of Technology Management at the Institut de Management Public d’Aix-en-Provence, Université d’Aix Marseille III, France, and a Researcher with LAREQUOI, Laboratoire de Recherche en Gestion, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.

People who have contributed to PUBLIC... | 227

José Manuel Rodríguez Álvarez, Deputy Director General of Institutional Relations and Local Cooperation in the Ministry of Public Administrations (MAP) and Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM).

Mercedes Rodríguez (EMPA 2004), Director of General Services at Santa Coloma de Gramenet Town Council.

Dani Rodrik, Professor of International Political Economy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government (KSG), Harvard University.

Maria J. Rosa, Assistant Professor in the Departamento de Economia, Gestão e Engenharia Industrial (DEGEI) da Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal and Researcher at The Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies (CIPES).

Carlos Rufin, Assistant Professor of Management at Babson College and Faculty Director for Babson’s Institute of Latin American Business.

Denis Saint Martin, Professor of Public Administration & Policy at Université de Montréal and Sciences Po Paris.

Miquel Salvador, Lecturer at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF).

Bea Sanz, international consultant in institutional development, and an Associate Lecturer in ESADE's Institute of Public Management and Administration (IDGP).

Cláudia S. Sarrico, Assistant Professor in the Secção Autónoma de Ciências Sociais, Jurídicas e Políticas (SACSJP) da Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal and Researcher at The Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies (CIPES).

Angel Saz-Carranza, Research Associate at ESADE's Institute of Public Management and at Research Center for Leadership in Action, Wagner School of Public Service, New York University.

Marguerite Schneider, Assistant Professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology School of Management.

Ricard Serlavós, Professor of Human Resource Management of ESADE and Professor of the Institut of Public Management (IDGP).

Albert Serra, Director of the PARTNERS Programme within the ESADE Institute of Public Management (IDGP) and Director of the ESADE Executive Master in Public Management (EMPA).

Narcís Serra, President of CIDOB Foundation and Full Professor of Economic Theory of Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB).During his broad political career, he has been conseller de Política Territorial i Obres Públiques de la Generalitat de Catalunya (1977-79), maior of Barcelona (1979-82), minister of Defence of the Spanish government (1982-89), vice-president of Spain (1991-95) and president of the Comisión de Régimen de las Administraciones Públicass del Congreso de los Diputados until its dissolution in 2004.

228 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Xavier Sisternas (FGAP 1991), Head of the Technical Office in the Department of Justice of the Catalan Autonomous Government and lecturer at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF).

Joseph Soeters, Professor at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences Organisation Studies, Tilburg University.

Miekatrien Sterck, Researcher at the Public Management Institute, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

Joseph E. Stiglitz, Nobel laureate economist, University Professor, Teaching at the Columbia Business School, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Department of Economics) and the School of International and Public Affairs. Co-founder and Executive Director of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue (IPD).

Joan Subirats, Professor of Political Science at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Director of the Institute of Government and Public Policies at the same university.

José Manuel Sucre Ciffoni, Head of Program of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management of United Nations Organization.

Catrien. J.A.M. Termeer, Professor of Public Administration and Policy at Wageningen University and Research Centre.

Fred Thompson, Grace and Elmer Goudy Professor of Public Management and Policy at Atkinson Graduate School of Management, Willamette University.

Robert Thompson, Professor at the School of Management, Faculty of Business, Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

Adolf Todó, Director General of Caixa Manresa and a lecturer at ESADE. Benedetta Trivellato, Researcher at CRISP – Interuniversity Research Center for Public Services, Milano-Bicocca University.

Alex Turrini, Assistant Professor in the Public Management Department, Bocconi University and Researcher at Bocconi Centre for Innovation in Governments.

Daniel J.W.B. Uiterwijk, PhD student at the Netherlands Defense Academy and Tilburg University.

Joaquim Valls Arnau (FGAP 1992), Secretary of the Pension Control Commission of the Diputació de Barcelona [public agency serving Barcelona municipalities] and CEO of CEMICAL. Giovanni Valotti, Full Professor in the Public Management Department, Bocconi University and Director of Bocconi Centre for Innovation in Governments.

Siv Vangen, Senior Lecturer at The Open University Business School.

Noralv Veggeland, Professor at the Centre for Public Policy Innovation (CPPI), Lillehammer University College, Norway.

People who have contributed to PUBLIC... | 229

Alfred Vernis, in charge of ESADE’s SEKN project, and Professor of the Institute of Public Management (IDGP), and is Director of the program on the Managerial Function in NGOs (FGONG).

Manuel Villoria, Director of the Political Science and Public Administration Department at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos.

Eulàlia Vintró, Professor of Greek at the Universitat de Barcelona and member of a working group on good governance and administrative transparency. She was a member of the Catalan Parliament and deputy mayor of Barcelona City Council. In different terms of office, she was a councillor for education, youth and culture, and also for social welfare.

Borja Vivanco, postdoctoral scholar at ESADE. Arnaud Voisin, Ministère de la Défense – Direction des affaires financières GREMAN – Institut d’Administration des Entreprises, Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis.

Mario Waissbluth, Professor of the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Chile and Member of the Public Management Council, ratified by the Chilean Senate for the period 2004-2010.

Mike Wallace, Professor of Public Management at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, and Associate Director for Capacity Building, Advanced Institute of Management Research.

Steven Van de Walle, Lecturer in Public Management, School of Public Policy, The University of Birmingham.

Joe Wallis, Professor of Economics and Public Administration at the School of Business and Management at the American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Montgomery Van Wart, Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Administration at California State University, San Bernardino.

Clay G. Wescott, Director of the Asia-Pacific Governance Institute.

Michael C Wood, Executive Dean of Curtin Business School, Curtin University of Technology.

John C Wood, Deputy Vice-chancellor of Edith Cowan University.

Joan Xirau (FGAP 1996, LISP 2001 y EMPA 2003), Director of the Centre for Legal Studies and Specialised Training at the Departament of Justice of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Kaifeng Yang, Associate Professor of Public Management at Florida State University, USA. Tamyko Ysa, Lecturer at ESADE’s Institute of Public Management (IDGP), and serves on the International Summer School in Public Administration and Management steering committee.

*Position when they wrote their article.

230 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

list of published articles PUBLIC 17 Two Possible Futures for Public Administration 15/12/2008 - B. Guy Peters The Importance of Effective and Responsible Contract Management 15/12/2008 - Steven Cohen & William Eimicke Private-public Partnership and Local Economic Development: Critical aspects in design and implementation 15/12/2008 - Dario Cavenago, Laura Mariani & Benedetta Trivellato Public-Private Partnerships and the Introduction of Private Finance in Public investment 15/12/2008 - Frédéric Marty & Arnaud Voisin Is Talent Management a Real Solution to the Skills Shortage?

15/12/2008 - Deborah Blackman & Monica Kennedy (Book review) New Insights About How Public Service Motivates People 15/12/2008 - James L. Perry Why it is so hard to adjust to new ways of policymaking? Barriers for new modes of horizontal governance: A sensemaking perspective 15/12/2008 - Catrien. J.A.M. Termeer Politics, Administration and Citizens: Towards a New Sort of Relationship 15/12/2008 - Óscar Cortés Values of Public Management after New Public Management: A Report from the International Summer School in Public Management 2008 15/12/2008 - Kristoffer Brix Bertelsen Mexico’s Public Administration’s Management Improvement Programme (MIP) 15/12/2008 - Rafael Martínez Puón List of published articles | 231

Looks like you could be doing with a vacation…schmuck 15/12/2008 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

PUBLIC 16 Learning Leadership 01/09/2008 - Joseph S. Nye An Introduction to Metagovernance as Public Management 01/09/2008 - Louis Meuleman Accountability When Hierarchical Authority is Absent: Views from Public-Private Partnership Practitioners 01/09/2008 - Muhittin Acar, Chao Guo & Kaifeng Yang Growing Trend of Outsourcing and "Smart Buyer Problem" in Public Management 01/09/2008 - Masao Kikuchi Organisational Evolution 01/09/2008 - Jorge Hintze Can Economists and Management Experts Collaborate Together to Make Sense of Reform and Leadership in the Public Sector?

01/09/2008 - Joe Wallis, Brian Dollery & Linda McLoughlin Implementing Public Sector Performance Management: Building a Performance-Oriented Culture 01/09/2008 - Gregory Richards Public Management Reforms and New Forms of Control. The Institutional Design and Implementation of New Regulatory Agencies 01/09/2008 - Jorge E. Culebro More Examples from Australian ‘Public-Private Partnerships’: Will We Ever Learn?

01/09/2008 - Judy Johnston & Siegfried Gudergan Small is (no longer) beautiful, network is. But can you manage it? Evidence from local government networks in the Lazio Region 01/09/2008 - Denita Cepiku Governance Structures and Performance Measurement and Management in the Portuguese and British Higher Education Systems 01/09/2008 - Ana Isabel Melo There’s something to be proud of! This hospital holds the European Healthcare Manager record 01/09/2008 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

PUBLIC 15 Leader-Centrism: “It’s the Followers, Stupid!”

31/05/2008 - Barbara Kellerman 232 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Luis F. Aguilar, Governance: conceptual normalisation and new issues 31/05/2008 - Hector Arámbula New features of The Public Works and Procurement of Goods and Services Act 30/2007 31/05/2008 - Manuel Mesa The present situation makes public function and administration organisation policies impossible 31/05/2008 - Josep-Ramon Morera i Balada The Future of Public-Private Partnerships 31/05/2008 - Geert Dewulf Public Private Partnerships: A Prudent Fiscal Approach To Foster Capital Accumulation 31/05/2008 - Demi Chung Performance management: a tool for public managers 31/05/2008 - Verónica Figueroa Building Change Capable Public Organisations 31/05/2008 - Robert Thompson Wicked Problems in Public Policy 31/05/2008 - Brian Head The future of performance management: lessons from the United States 31/05/2008 - Donald P. Moynihan Measuring and Comparing the Performance of Portuguese Secondary Schools: A confrontation between metric and practice benchmarking 31/05/2008 - Cláudia S. Sarrico & Maria J. Rosa Induced Coopetition and Emergent Cooperation: An international Study on the Opera Houses Sector 31/05/2008 - Marcello M. Mariani Presentation of the PARTNERS Programme’s New Series of Publications: Lessons on the Management of Public-Private Partnerships 31/05/2008 - Albert Serra I’m tired of all the mayhem at the hospital: I’m going to resign as Head of Department...

31/05/2008 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

PUBLIC 14 How Can Public-Private Partnerships Shape the Delivery of Public Services in Europe?

29/02/2008 - Christopher H. Bovis Public-private relationship management in the production of public goods and services 29/02/2008 - Albert Serra The New Law on Public Sector Contracts as Seen from the Public Management Perspective 29/02/2008 - Xavier Padrós & Neus Colet

List of published articles | 233

Contracting for Public Services 29/02/2008 - Carsten Greve Network Characteristics and the Impacts on Network Performance 29/02/2008 - Sang Ok Choi Playing Managerial Roles in Military Operations 29/02/2008 - Delphine Resteigne & Joseph Soeters Through the Labyrinth: The Truth About How Women Become Leaders* 29/02/2008 - Alice H. Eagly & Linda L. Carli Why Experts Should Be Led By Experts: The Case of Universities 29/02/2008 - Amanda Goodall Why councils need to make proposals for meeting today's needs and challenges.

29/02/2008 - Ramon Mora Economic development and social capital: the case of the region of Sicily 29/02/2008 - Massimo Cermelli A model of democracy for Bolivia [1] 29/02/2008 - David Murillo You forgot to fill in three blanks, attach a photocopy of your ID, and kiss my feet, but don’t worry – I’ll take care of this right away* 29/02/2008 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

PUBLIC 13 Strategic Public Personnel Administration: A Conceptual Framework for Building and Managing Human Capital Capacity in the 21st Century 31/10/2007 - Ali Farazmand Assessing the performance and career development of civil servants 31/10/2007 - Albert Galofré Leadership in a Shared-Power World 31/10/2007 - Barbara C. Crosby & John M. Bryson Collaborative Strategic Management: Success Factors per Process Phase 31/10/2007 - Amelia Clarke PPPs as strategic alliances: Understanding the differences and similarities between PPPs and business alliances 31/10/2007 - Miguel Rivera-Santos & Carlos Rufin Public Private Network Dynamics: Opening the Black Box 31/10/2007 - Daniel J.W.B. Uiterwijk, J. Ivar Kappert & Paul C. van Fenema Luis F. Aguilar Villanueva (2006). Gobernanza y gestión pública, Mexico, Fondo de Cultura Económica, ISBN 978-968-16-8133-3 31/10/2007 - Hector Arámbula 234 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Economic reform and political reform in China 31/10/2007 - Eugeni Bregolat Much caffeine about nothing. Explaining local government responses to institutional reforms [1] 31/10/2007 - Daniela Cristofoli, Greta Nasi, Alex Turrini & Giovanni Valotti Paths of Public Innovation in the Global Age. Nordic Flexicurity 31/10/2007 - Noralv Veggeland Get a move on, Fernández; We're the laughing stock of european productivity!

31/10/2007 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

PUBLIC 12 Reflections on a Biographical Approach to Leadership and Innovation 23/07/2007 - Jameson W. Doig Understanding the Dynamics of Leadership in Different Settings 23/07/2007 - Montgomery Van Wart Performance Budgeting Reform: An International Overview 23/07/2007 - Miekatrien Sterck Do attributes of innovative administrative practices influence their adoption? An exploratory study of US local government [1] 23/07/2007 - Marguerite Schneider Macrostructure. The building of the State and public goods: main conclusions 23/07/2007 - Jorge Landaburu Report: Study Trip on Participatory Budgeting to the Paris Region 23/07/2007 - Elke Löffler State of Georgia Civil Service Reforms: Some Lessons Re-Learned 23/07/2007 - Lloyd G. Nigro & J. Edward Kellough Sant Feliu de Llobregat’s role in the development of ICTs 23/07/2007 - Mario Alguacil Jó; qué zurcido más cutre le has hecho... Siendo el Gerente del hospital bastante bien servido va a salir de la intervención. Pero... Tú te callas, pelota.

23/07/2007 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

PUBLIC 11 Evidence-Based Public Policy: An Aspirational Vision 26/03/2007 - Jeffrey Pfeffer The Civil Service of Catalonia: a 2007-2010 reform agenda 26/03/2007 - Xavier Sisternas List of published articles | 235

The Concept of Governability 26/03/2007 - Jan Kooiman Network Knowledge Management Adds Public Value 26/03/2007 - Robert Agranoff Tips for Leaders Who Want to Grow and Improve 26/03/2007 - Robert Kaplan Citizens’ Trust in the Public Sector 26/03/2007 - Steven Van de Walle The Demise of Civil Service Protections in the U.S. Federal Government?

26/03/2007 - Norma M. Riccucci & Katherine C. Naff Lead Organization Service Delivery Networks 26/03/2007 - Elizabeth A. Graddy Managing Change in the Public Services 26/03/2007 - Mike Wallace Turning Plans into Action: Public Administration Reform in the Asia-Pacific Region 26/03/2007 - Clay G. Wescott A sharp eye: Spot which one's the civil servant and which one's the temp 26/03/2007 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

PUBLIC 10 Economics and politics of local privatization 13/11/2006 - Germà Bel Leading with an Open Heart 13/11/2006 - Ronald A. Heifetz & Marty Linsky Performance Measurement in the English Public Sector: Searching for the Golden Thread 13/11/2006 - Pietro Micheli, Andy Neely & Mike Kennerley Making Local Government Work. An introduction to Public Management for Developing Countries and Emerging Economies 13/11/2006 - Leon van den Dool The Dynamics of Public Networks 13/11/2006 - Ángel Saz-Carranza The Emerging Influence of Networks in Public Organizations and the Governance of Knowledge Networks 13/11/2006 - Thomas Clarke Dynamic Evolution in Public Private Partnerships: The Role of Key Actors in Managing Multiple Stakeholders 13/11/2006 - Kate Joyner 236 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Instances, legitimations, signatures, salute, sealed, ...

13/11/2006 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

PUBLIC 09 International Summer School in Public Management 2006 24/07/2006 - Tamyko Ysa Anchoring Leadership in the Work of Progress 24/07/2006 - Ronald A. Heifetz European Foundation for Management Development Conference 2006: ‘The post-bureaucratic paradigm: A new era for public management?’

24/07/2006 - Eduard Gil The Dance of Leadership: The Art of Leading in Business, Government, and Society 24/07/2006 - Robert B. Denhardt & Janet Denhardt The Human Factor in Governance: Managing public employees in Africa and Asia 24/07/2006 - Willy McCourt Making Business Districts Work 24/07/2006 - David Feehan & Marvin Feit Mainstreaming as a way of improving the Public Administration, in a context of local services systems development 24/07/2006 - Ramon Mora Challenging the Performance Movement : Accountability, Complexity, and Democratic Values 24/07/2006 - Beryl A. Radin Rules Are not Enough: The importance of political discourse and policy argumentation 24/07/2006 - Denis Saint Martin & Fred Thompson Public Management: Old and New 24/07/2006 - Laurence E. Lynn, Jr. The winding path of the professional career service in Mexico 24/07/2006 - Rafael Martínez Puón Peter Drucker and Public Management 24/07/2006 - Michael C Wood & John C Wood I can't imagine what the hospital's accounts must be like...

24/07/2006 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

PUBLIC 08 Coming to Terms with ‘Gomery’: The future of the Public Service of Canada 27/03/2006 - Patrice Dutil List of published articles | 237

The quality of institutions is key 27/03/2006 - Dani Rodrik Managing Change and Innovation in Public Service Organisations 27/03/2006 - Stephen Osborne & Kerry Brown Performance, the Human Resources era 27/03/2006 - Marie-Thérèse Deleplace A results-oriented model of government management 27/03/2006 - Caio Marini & Humberto Martins The Public Sector and Private Management: Desirable Convergence 27/03/2006 - Adolf Todó Animal management: Are there good managers in the animal world?

27/03/2006 - Jesús Fernández Public services and the WTO: a look skywards 27/03/2006 - Oriol Alsina Public Management Club of the ESADE Alumni Association: initial activities for 2006 27/03/2006 - Roser Roca & Maria Jesús Mier The European Foundation of Management Development (EFMD) is jointly developing the first European-scale programme for public managers in collaboration with ESADE and five other schools 27/03/2006 - Eduard Gil From confrontation to consensus: The Reform of the State in Chile 1990-2005 27/03/2006 - Mario Waissbluth & José Inostroza Si, si, si, si, si, ¡Y una leche...!

27/03/2006 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges)

PUBLIC 07 The future of global governance 19/12/2005 - Joseph E. Stiglitz The essential public manager 19/12/2005 – Christopher Pollitt Managing partnerships for collaborative advantage 19/12/2005 - Chris Huxham & Siv Vangen A Public Value Framework for Contractual Governance 19/12/2005 - Janine O’Flynn Reforming the public sector in Russia 19/12/2005 - I. N. Baranov

238 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

What can be learnt from the experience in Latin America?

19/12/2005 - Pedro Parada Devolution and decentralisation in public administration: concepts, consequences and evaluation 19/12/2005 - Elio Borgonovi Governing cities and territories in the network society 19/12/2005 - Quim Brugué, Ricard Gomà & Joan Subirats Comparative British Central-Local Relations: Recent Developments in England, Scotland and Wales 19/12/2005 - Martin Laffin Who should be held accountable for public policies in a decentralized State?

19/12/2005 - Sandra León Alfonso Is public management a moral science?

19/12/2005 - Claude Rochet Secretariat of State for Administrative Restructuring 19/12/2005 - Antonio Fraguas (Forges) Challenges facing the public sector in the 21st century 19/12/2005 - Josep Palet

PUBLIC 06 Report on good governance and administrative transparency 26/09/2005 - Eulàlia Vintró Arrows, Circles and Hybrids: Controlling Modern Government 26/09/2005 - Christopher Hood State-Building as the Core of Capacity Development 26/09/2005 - Francis Fukuyama The International Summer School in Public Administration and Management 2005 26/09/2005 - Erik Højbjerg & Bríd Quinn Public-Private Collaboration in Strategic Projects 26/09/2005 - Marcel Prunera New water culture, values and management. New Water Culture and public values that must be protected 26/09/2005 - Germán Bastida The Ombudsman's contribution to improving public administration 26/09/2005 - Enric R. Bartlett Approaches to Quality in Public Management 26/09/2005 - Alfredo Berges

List of published articles | 239

Participation and empowerment of civil society: keys for building social capital within the framework of European co-operation with African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries (ACP) 26/09/2005 - Bea Sanz Collaborations between the public and private sectors in Latin America: in search of complementareity 26/09/2005 - Alfred Vernis Some lessons from our recent history regarding reforming the Civil Service 26/09/2005 - Manuel Férez

PUBLIC 05 The International Summer School in Public Administration and Management, ready to go!

20/06/2005 - Thomas Gebhardt & Tamyko Ysa Management as a Practice 20/06/2005 - Henry Mintzberg The Challenge of Organizational Change 20/06/2005 - Steve Kelman Autonomy of the electricity regulatory body in Peru 20/06/2005 - Edwin Quintanilla Various activities for managing inter-organisational networks 20/06/2005 - Àngel Saz-Carranza NGO accountability as social learning 20/06/2005 - Alejandro Litovsky Widening the Scope of Management Accounting Systems: Stimuli from Autonomization Processes 20/06/2005 - Manila Marcuccio An approach to the evaluation of public policies for transition to the knowledge society 20/06/2005 - Mila Gascó Managerial accountability and responsibility: institutions before instruments 20/06/2005 - Koldo Echebarría The State reform process and the modernization of public management in Chile. Lessons, experiences and learning (1990-2003) 20/06/2005 - Álvaro V. Ramírez Alujas Evolution of local government CEO models in Europe: challenges and difficulties in defining a shared professional arena 20/06/2005 - Xavier Bertrana Deloitte has carried out a study entitled ‘Future perspectives of resources for the care of dependent persons. The residential sector’.

20/06/2005 - Josep Palet

240 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

PUBLIC 04 Competing for the future: strategic risk management and organisational practice 15/03/2005 - Michael Barzelay Public Management Policy Making under Lula: Bold initiatives, uncertainty steps, and troubled learning 15/03/2005 - Francisco Gaetani Citizens give their opinions about management and Public Administration 15/03/2005 - Joan Manel Espuelas The electronic signature at Santa Coloma de Gramenet Town Hall 15/03/2005 - Mercedes Rodríguez Annual conference of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) 15/03/2005 - Eduard Gil Concepts that define public management as an international academic field 15/03/2005 - Larry Jones Service delivery policies 15/03/2005 - Joan Prats Outsourcing management 15/03/2005 - Carles Ramió n+i+e+k ‘ government, the government and public management in the knowledge society 15/03/2005 - Jordi Marín Managing in political contexts. Managing in public service contexts 15/03/2005 - Carlos Losada Book review: Privatizing Education 15/03/2005 - Pere Puig Times for reflection 15/03/2005 - Jordi Pujol

PUBLIC 03 Institutions, economic development and global governance 13/12/2004 - Narcís Serra Project 22@: a commitment to knowledge-based industries 13/12/2004 - Miquel Barceló The CLAD International Congress: a democratic forum for debate on public administration 13/12/2004 - Nuria Cunill 2005 Conference of the European Foundation for Management Development: ‘Change management in the public sector: modernising public management to modernise the public services" 13/12/2004 - Eduard Gil List of published articles | 241

Co-payment 13/12/2004 - Guillem López Casasnovas Enterprising civil servants?

13/12/2004 - Xavier Sisternas The management of relations between universities and the territory: the roles of stakeholders and public management 13/12/2004 - Eduard Pallejà A look at organizational commitment 13/12/2004 - Manel Peiró Dialogues at the Forum 13/12/2004 - Mireia Belil Administrative reforms in Central Europe: The SIGMA Programme 13/12/2004 - Francisco Cardona & Bob Bonwitt Barcelona received two of the four prizes awarded by Telecities and Deloitte at the 2004 edition of "eCitizenship for All.’ 13/12/2004 - Josep Palet

PUBLIC 02 Ethics in the public service 27/09/2004 - Manuel Villoria Leadership for a Changing World 27/09/2004 - Sonia Ospina Legal administration and public management 27/09/2004 - Joan Xirau What kind of local public administration do we need to provide an adequate response to the real needs and expectations of our cities?

27/09/2004 - Ramon Mora Americans overseas for John Kerry 27/09/2004 - Mariana Dates Public Administration Pension Plans: An Opportunity?

27/09/2004 - Joaquim Valls The participation of the Catalan Association of Public Administration in the process of reform of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia 27/09/2004 - Isidre Obregon and Joan Manuel Espuelas The Development of Public Function in Spain's Autonomous Regions - Caught between Inertia and Timid Innovation 27/09/2004 - Miquel Salvador

242 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

Data protection: a new duty for public managers 27/09/2004 - Enric Colet Social capital and multiculturalism: Implications for public policies 27/09/2004 - Verónica Figueroa Results of the EFMD Annual Conference: More (GOOD) Leaders for the Public Sector: Cases, experience and background in managing leadership development 10/06/2004 - Eduard Gil Assessment of four years of the Non-Governmental Organization Management programme (FGONG) held in Barcelona and Madrid between 1999 and 2003 27/09/2004 - Borja Vivanco The impact of European and international reforms on local government. What is happening at an institutional level and what are the practical implications?

27/09/2004 - José Manuel Rodríguez Samuel Husenman and public management 27/09/2004 - Francisco Longo

PUBLIC 01 Welcome to PUBLIC! 10/05/2004 - Carlos Losada Welcome to the ESADE's Institute of Public Management (IDGP) !

06/05/2004 - F. Longo Where the AOC (Catalan e-government project) slots into the Catalan government's new organization chart 17/05/2004 - Albert Martín Plan for implementing ICT in Santa Coloma de Gramanet 17/05/2004 - Mercedes Rodríguez A framework for excellence in local administration 17/05/2004 - Francesc Belver What kind of management does the Association foster? Presenting the Catalan Association of Public Management 17/05/2004 - Isidre Obregon Challenges posed by the current expansion of the EU in eastern Europe 20/05/2004 - Pere Puig Experimenting with Accountability: the case of Italian local government 17/05/2004 - Manila Marcuccio Training to develop public managers’ competences 24/05/2004 - Ricard Serlavós

List of published articles | 243

Basic concepts regarding inter-organizational networks 17/05/2004 - Àngel Saz Review of the book: Los nuevos instrumentos de la gestión pública [New Public Management Tools] 24/05/2004 - Pere Puig Presentation of the Latin-american Charter of Civil Service 17/05/2004 - José Manuel Sucre Ciffoni Political Change and a State Based on Regional Autonomy 17/05/2004 - Rafael Jiménez Asensio ESADE Holds The Social Enterprise Knowledge Network (SEKN) Meeting 17/05/2004 - Alfred Vernis

244 | The top 50 articles in PUBLIC

List of published articles | 245

Eduard Gil, Academic Collaborator at the ESADE Institute of Governance and Public Mana and ﾃ］gel Saz-Carranza on an ESADE Alumni Public Management Club visit to the Picasso

agement (IGDP), o Museum in Barcelona

the artistic side: the graphic line

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The artistic side: the graphic line | 249

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The artistic side: the graphic line | 251

ESADE Institute of Public Governance and Management Av. Pedralbes 60-62 08034 Barcelona (+34) 932.806.162 http://www.esade.edu/public

HENRY MINTZBERG, JOSEPH E. STIGLITZ, FRANCIS FUKUYAMA, DONALD P. MOYNIHAN, JOSÉ MANUEL SUCRE-CIFFONI, CHRISTOPHER POLLIT, CARLOS LOSADA, RONALD A. HEIFETZ, DANI RODRIK, LAWRENCE R. JONES, RICARD SERLAVÓS, ALI FARAZMAND, JOSEPH S. NYE, JAMESON W. DOIG, SONIA OSPINA, BARBARA KELLERMAN, MANEL PEIRÓ, MANUEL VILLORIA, JORDI PUJOL, STEVE KELMAN, KOLDO ECHEBARRÍA, CHRISTOPHER HOOD, JOAN SUBIRATS, GERMÀ BEL, RICARD GOMÀ, JEFFREY PFEFFER, GUILLEM LÓPEZ CASASNOVAS, LAURENCE I. LYNN, JR., MANUEL FÉREZ, MARTY LINSKY, KERRY BROWN, JAN KOOIMAN, NARCÍS SERRA, MICHAEL BARZELAY, BERYL A. RADIN, PERE PUIG, SIV VANGEN, VERÓNICA FIGUEROA, QUIM BRUGUÉ, ELIO BORGONOVI, ROBERT AGRANOFF, ANGEL SAZ-CARRANZA, RAFAEL JIMÉNEZ ASENSIO, EULÀLIA VINTRÓ, ADOLF TODÓ, B. GUY PETERS, ALBERT SERRA, CHRIS HUXHAM, MIREIA BELIL, CHRISTOPHER H. BOVIS, NURIA CUNILL, ALFRED VERNIS, JOAN PRATS, STEPHEN OSBORNE, CARLES RAMIÓ, ANTONIO FRAGUAS (FORGES)