PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION VERSUS NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

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Maintenance of democratic principles

Political office bearers and public officials operate within a particular political system. It is therefore incumbent upon these officials to function in accordance with the demands of such a system. For example, in a democratic system both political office bearers and public officials must take cognizance of democratic principles such as involving others in delivering their public functions because this is what is expected of them particularly by the electorate. These normative factors account, in the main, for the difference between public administration and private administration. Public administration is viewed broadly enough to encompass the totality of administrative actions performed in the public sector with a view to promote the general welfare of the populace. The activities do not occur in vacuum but rather within a framework of a political process and manifest in the spheres of government authority such as legislative, executive and the judiciary. It may be added that public administration is undertaken within the parameters of specific government structures at various levels of government i.e. local, regional, national and international (Ströh & Van der Westhuizen 1994:9).

Management

Management is a concept that can be defined in a variety of ways by different authors. However, Ströh (2001:7) has defined management “as a continuous and integrated process whereby certain individuals with authority ensure institutional goal-setting and optimum realisation of objectives.” So the aim of management is to give direction in the institution and facilitate the optimal achievement of organisation goals by effectively and efficiently using resources at the disposal of the organisation. Management is recognised as an integrated process because those in management positions focus on a great variety of tasks and roles almost at the same time. These tasks and roles are essential for the successful operation of an organisation. It is also recognised that the process focuses on organisational goals or objectives and the optimum achievement thereof as a responsibility of those in management positions (Ströh & Van der Westhuizen 1994:12). All this clearly indicates the significant role that management in general plays in the success of any organisation be it in the public or private sector. Management being goal-oriented in an organisational context refers to the performance of specific functions by these in exalted positions in organisations.

Decision making

In an organisational context, making things happen the way they should depends to a large extent on the ability to make and implement the right decisions. Therefore decision making cuts across the spectrum of functions in an organisation and therefore represents its brain and nervous system (Graft 1993:344). It involves making a choice between alternatives in an attempt to deal with a situation for which the need for a solution is perceived. Ströh & Van der Westhuizen (1994:61) defined decision making “as a conscious choice of the most suitable alternative from among the identified solutions, but that such choice is dependent on and is the result of a process of activities which has, as its aim, the making of a choice.” Decision making can be viewed as a process that begins with the understanding of the situation or problem and culminates in the knowledge of the action to be taken so that the subordinate workers can be led to undertake it.

Controlling

Controlling is a regulatory task of management that is aimed at ensuring that things happen the way they should. In this context, management ensures that the organisation is on track in pursuit of its goals. This entails the monitoring of performance of an organisation or part thereof so that deviations from the set goals can be identified and, if need be, corrective measures instituted to bring the organisation back on track (Arnolds, Tamangani & van der Merwe 2001:153). Control can be viewed as a continuous process so that whenever errors occur they can be detected and rectified before a lot of waste can be incurred by an organisation. In order for the management functions to be carried out effectively and efficiently, the public manager must be in possession of some specific skills. Some of these are considered below.

ANALYSIS OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR

The private sector is an important element in this thesis and therefore needs to be explained in some detail. It should be noted that the public and private sectors perform different, albeit interrelated roles in the establishment of a productive economy. As a result, there should be close co-operation between these sectors working jointly in the national interest (Porter 2003:14). In particular, these two sectors need each other and therefore should co-exist in a symbiotic manner.

TABLE OF CONTENTS :

• CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
  • 1.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 1.2 BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
  • 1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT AND HYPOTHESIS
  • 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
  • 1.5 PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
  • 1.6 FOCUS AND FRAME OF REFERENCE
  • 1.7 DESIGN AND RESEARCH METHOD OF STUDY
  • 1.8 TERMINOLOGICAL CLARIFICATION
  • 1.9 EXPOSITION OF CHAPTERS
  • 1.10 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER 2: THE NATURE OF THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS
  • 2.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 2.2 ORGANISATION THEORY: THE CLASSICAL APPROACH
    • 2.2.1 Taylor’s scientific management
    • 2.2.2 Fayol’s principles
    • 2.2.3 Weber’s bureaucracy
  • 2.3 ANALYSIS OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR
    • 2.3.1 Guardian state
      • 2.3.1.1 Accountability
      • 2.3.1.2 Legality
    • 2.3.2 Redistributive state
    • 2.3.2.1 Equity
    • 2.3.3 Productive state
    • 2.3.3.1 Efficiency
  • 2.4 TWO COMPETING PHILOSOPHIES OF PUBLIC SERVICE PROVISION
    • 2.4.1 Public interest of the welfare – maximizing state
    • 2.4.2 Private markets and public organisations
    • 2.5 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION VERSUS NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
    • 2.5.1 Public administration
    • 2.5.1.1 Administration
    • 2.5.1.2 Concept of public administration
    • 2.5.1.3 Normative factors
    • (a) Acknowledgement of constitutional supremacy
    • (b) Public accountability and responsibility
    • (c) Criterion of efficiency
    • (d) Requirements of administrative law
    • (e) Maintenance of democratic principles
    • ( f) Respect for personal information
    • 2.5.1.4 Weaknesses of the public sector
    • 2.5.2 New public management (NPM)
    • 2.5.2.1 Management
  • 2.5.2.2 Management functions
  • (a) Planning
  • (b) Decision Making
  • (c) Leadership
  • (d) Controlling
  • 2.5.2.3 Management skills
  • (a) Technical skills
  • (b) Human skills
  • (c) Conceptual skills
  • 2.5.2.4 Management context
  • 2.5.2.5 Concept New public Management
  • 2.6 ANALYSIS OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR
  • 2.6.1 Overview of the private sector
  • 2.6.2 Genesis of private organisations
  • 2.6.3 Distinguishing private organisations
  • 2.6.4 Operations of the private sector
  • 2.6.4.1 Marketing
  • 2.6.4.2 Innovation
  • 2.6.4.3 Private sector management
  • 2.6.5 Weaknesses of the private sector
  • 2.7 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER 3: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF PUBLIC-PRIVATE
  • PARTNERSHIPS
  • 3.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 3.2 PRIVATISATION OF STATE ENTERPRISE
  • 3.2.1 Definitions of privatisation
  • 3.2.2 Privatisation policy drivers
  • 3.2.2.1 Economic arguments
  • 3.2.2.2 Ideological arguments
  • 3.2.2.3 Managerial efficiency and privatisation
  • 3.2.2.4 Arguments against privatisation
  • 3.3 PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP
  • 3.3.1 Definitions of public-private partnership
  • 3.3.2 Comments on definitions of PPPs
  • 3.3.3 Nature of PPPs
  • 3.3.4 Components of PPPs
  • 3.3.4.1 Public partner
  • 3.3.4.2 Private partner
  • 3.3.4.3 Members of the public
  • 3.3.4.4 PPP agreement
  • 3.3.5 Models of public-private partnerships
  • 3.3.5.1 Design, build, operate and finance (DBOF)
  • 3.3.5.2 Design, build, finance, and transfer (DBFT)
  • 3.3.5.3 Design, build, finance, own, and operate (DBFOO)
  • 3.3.5.4 Concession
  • 3.3.5.5 Joint venture
  • 3.3.5.6 PPP model for delivering secondary education
  • 3.3.6 Purposes of PPPs
  • 3.3.6.1 Achieve value for money
  • 3.3.6.2 PPPs enhance quality of public service delivery
  • 3.3.6.3 Innovative and creative approaches
  • 3.3.6.4 Harnessing resources
  • 3.3.6.5 Stimulate financial assistance
  • 3.3.6.6 Reduction in scope of government
  • 3.3.7 Risk management
  • 3.3.8 Critique of PPPs
  • 3.4 ANTECEDENTS OF SUCCESSFUL PPPs
  • 3.4.1 Rules and regulations
  • 3.4.2 Education and training
  • 3.4.3 Leadership
  • 3.4.4 Feedback system
  • 3.4.5 Transparency and accountability mechanisms
  • 3.4.6 Fairness and mutual trust
  • 3.4.7 Selection of the right partner
  • 3.4.8 Feasibility study
  • 3.4.9 Proper risk allocation
  • 3.4.10 Clear output specifications
  • 3.5 CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER 4: SECONDARY EDUCATION
  • 4.1 INTRODUCTION
  • 4.2 EDUCATION
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  • 4.2.1 Definition of education
  • 4.3 SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT IN PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
• CHAPTER 5: PROVISION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION THROUGH PPPs
• CHAPTER 6: RESEARCH METHODS
• CHAPTER 7: EMPIRICAL RESEARCH DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

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PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP IN THE PROVISION OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN THE GABORONE CITY AREA OF BOTSWANA