Managing Human Resources in light of New Public Management Ideals: Corroboration from an Australian Public Sector Organization
Keywords:
Management control system, human resource management, new public management, public sector, Australia, structuration theoryAbstract
Since 1980s the Australian public sector has been dominated by the New Public Management (NPM) ideals and introduced private sector management practices. The NPM ideals created changes to the structure, processes and human resources of public sector organizations with the objective of getting them to run well. Against this background the wide-ranging reforms and NPM ideals related to human resource practices in the Australian public sector offer a context for the present study. The present study intends to explore in-depth how human resource management practices, one of the important management control tools are implicated in an Australian public sector organizations and its wider organizational setting. A Government Department in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has been adopted as a field of investigation for the purpose of this exploration. The qualitative research approach was adopted and data was collected in the case study tradition. The main data sources were archival official documents and interviews. The primary interview method used in this study was unstructured and open-ended. In addition, the researchers used direct observation to supplement and corroborate the archival documents and interview data. Empirical evidence collected on the organizations suggests that implementing human resource management practices in the researched Government Department were a response to pressures from NPM reform initiatives in Australia. The objectives of implementing these human resource management practices in the researched organization were to facilitate goal congruence between the organizations and the people within it. By enhancing our understanding of human resource management practices within this public sector organizations, this research will provide a better understanding of the human resource management control mechanisms of the public sector organizations in the context of implementing NPM ideals.
References
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Azizi, N., Zolfaghari, S., & Liang, M. (2010). Modeling job rotation in manufacturing systems: The study of employee’s boredom and skill variations. International Journal of Production Economics, 123(1), 69-85.
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Bevir, M., Rhodes, R. A. W., & Weller, P. (2003). Traditions of governance: Interpreting the changing role of the public sector in comparative and historical perspective. Public Administration, 81(1), 1-17.
Blonder, I. (2010). Public interests and private passions: A peculiar case of police whistleblowing. Criminal Justice Ethics, 29(3), 258-277.
Buelens, M., & Van den Broeck, H. (2007). An analysis of differences in work motivation between public and private sector organizations. Public Administration Review, 67(1), 65-74.
Campion, M. A., Cheraskin, L., & Stevens, M. J. (1994). Career related antecedents and outcomes of job rotation. The Academy of Management Journal, 37(6), 1518-1542.
Carlin, T. M. (2006). Victoria’s accrual output based budgeting system- delivering as promised? Some empirical evidence. Financial Accountability and Management, 22(1), 1-19.
Colley, L. (2001). The changing face of public sector employment. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 60(1), 9-20.
Conrad, L. (2005). A structuration analysis of accounting systems and systems of accountability in the privatised gas industry. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 16(1), 1-26.
Crawford, L., Costello. K., Pollack, J., & Bentley, L. (2003). Managing soft change projects in the public sector. International Journal of Project Management, 21, 443-448.
CSD. (2010-2011). Annual Report Volume 1. ACT. Australia.
DHCS. (2007a). Service Delivery Platform. ACT. Australia.
_____. (2007b). Guide to Performance Management. ACT. Australia.
_____. (2007c). Union Collective Agreement 2007-2010. ACT. Australia.
Doyle, M., Claydon, T., & Buchannan, D. (2000). Mixed results, Lousy process: The management experience of organizational change. British Journal of Management, 11(Special Issue), S59-S80.
English, L. (2002). Emasculating public accountability in the name of competition: transformations of state audit in Victoria. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 14(1-2), 51-76.
Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
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Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Berkeley: University of California Press.
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Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1981). Effective Evaluation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Halligan, J. (2009). Performance and public management in Australia and New Zealand. International Conference of the Institute of Public Administration. Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1-4 November.
Hesse-Biber, S. N., & Leavy, P. L. (2010). The Practice of Qualitative Research. London: Sage Publications Inc.
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_______. (1995). The new public management in the 1980’s: Variations on a theme. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 20(2-3), 93-109.
Hoque, Z. (2006). Introduction. In Hoque, Z. (ed.). Methodological Issues in Accounting Research: Theories and Methods. UK: Spiramus Press Ltd.
Hoque, Z. 2008). Measuring and reporting public sector outputs/outcomes: Exploratory evidence from Australia. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 21(5), 468-493.
Irvine, H., & Gaffikin, M. (2006). Methodological insights: Getting in, getting on and getting out: Reflections on a qualitative research project. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 19(1), 115-145.
Jansen, E. P. (2004). Performance measurement in governmental organizations: A contingent approach to measurement and management control. Managerial Finance, 30(8), 54-68.
Karl, K. A., & Sutton, C. L. (1998). Job values in today’s workforce: A comparison of public and private sector employees. Public Personnel Management, 27(4), 515-527.
Keating, P. J. (1993). Performance and Accountability. 1 July, Canberra.
Kellough, J. E., & Nigro, L. C. (2005). Dramatic reform in the public service: At- will employment and the creation of a new public workforce. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 16(3), 447-466.
Kloot, L., & Martin, J. (2007). Public sector change, organizational culture and financial information: A study of local government. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 66, 485-497.
Lavigna, R. J. (2002). Best practices in public- sector human resources: Wisconsin state government. Human Resource Management, 41(3), 364-384.
Malmi, T., & Brown, D. A. (2008). Management control systems as a package-opportunities, challenges and research direction. Management Accounting Research, 19(4), 287-300.
Maor, M. (1999). The paradox of managerialism. Public Administration Review, 59(1), 5-18.
Martin, J., & Coventry, H. (1994). Human resource management: From structural change to managerial challenge. In Stewart, J. (ed.). From Hawke to Keating-Australian Commonwealth Administration 1990-1993. Australia: Centre for Research in Public Sector Management, University of Canberra & Royal Institute of Public Administration.
McKay, K. (2003). Two generations of performance evaluation management systems in Australia. Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration, 110, 8-20.
McPhee, I. (2005). Outcomes and outputs: Are we managing better as a result? CPA National Public Sector Convention, 20 May.
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation. California: Jossey-Bass.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Source book. London: Sage Publications.
Moll, J., & Hoque, Z. (2000). Rationality, new public management and changes in management control systems: A study of managing change in an Australian local government setting. Sixth Interdisciplinary Perspective on Accounting Conference. Manchester, 10-12 July.
Mulgan, R. (2000). Comparing accountability in the public and private sectors. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 59(1), 87-97.
National Health and Medical Research Council. (1999). National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans: Aus Info.
Noblet, A., Rodwell, J., & McWilliams, J., (2006). Organizational change in the public sector: Augmenting the demand control model to predict employee outcomes under new public management. Work and Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organizations, 20(4), 335-352.
O’Flynn, J. (2007). From new public management to public value: Paradigmatic change in managerial implications. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 66(3), 353-366.
Otley, D. T., & Berry, A. J. (1980). Control, organization and accounting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 5(2), 231-244.
Otley, D., Broadbent, J., & Berry, A. (1995). Research in management control: An overview of its development. British Journal of Management, 6, S31-S34.
Parker, L. D., & Guthrie, J. (1993). The Australian public sector in the 1990s: New accountability regimes in motion. Journal of International Accounting Auditing & Taxation, 2(1), 59-81.
Parker, R., & Bradley, L. (2000). Organizational culture in the public sector: Evidence from six organizations. The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 13(2), 125-141.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Queensland Treasury. (2002), Overview of the Queensland Government’s Shared Service Initiative. Brisbane: Queensland Government, Australia.
Robson, L. S. et al. (2007). The effectiveness of occupational health and safety management system interventions: A systematic review. Safety Science, 45(3), 329-353.
Rondeaux, G. (2006). Modernizing public administration: The impact on organizational identities. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 19(6), 569-584.
Sahlin-Andersson, K. (2001). National, international and transnational constructions of new public management. In Christensen, T., & Laegreid, P. (eds.). New Public Management: The Transformation of Ideas and Practice. England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
Salauroo, M., & Burnes, B. (1998). The impact of a market system on the public sector: a study of organizational change in the NHS. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 11(6), 451-467.
Sinclair, A. (1991). After excellence: Models of organizational culture for the public sector. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 50(3), 321-332.
Ulrich, D. (1995). Shared services: From vogue to value. Human Resource Planning, 18(3), 12-24.
Walsh, P., McGregor-Lowndes, M., & Newton, C. J. (2008). Shared services: Lessons from the public and private sectors for the nonprofit sector. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 67(2), 200-212.
Webb, W. (2010). Public management reform and the management of ethics: Incompatible ideals for the developing state? International Journal of Public Sector Management, 23(7), 669-684.
Worrall, L., Cooper, C. L., & Jamison, F. C. (2000). The impact of organizational change on the work experiences and perceptions of public sector managers. Personnel Review, 29(5), 613-636.
ACT Government (2007), Public Sector Management ACT 1994: A1994-37. Republication No. 24. ACT. Australia.
Azizi, N., Zolfaghari, S., & Liang, M. (2010). Modeling job rotation in manufacturing systems: The study of employee’s boredom and skill variations. International Journal of Production Economics, 123(1), 69-85.
Barrett, G., Murphy, S., & Miller, R. (1994). Financial management reform. In Stewart, J. (ed.). From Hawke to Keating- Australian Commonwealth Administration 1990-1993. Australia: Centre for Research in Public Sector Management, University of Canberra & Royal Institute of Public Administration.
Bevir, M., Rhodes, R. A. W., & Weller, P. (2003). Traditions of governance: Interpreting the changing role of the public sector in comparative and historical perspective. Public Administration, 81(1), 1-17.
Blonder, I. (2010). Public interests and private passions: A peculiar case of police whistleblowing. Criminal Justice Ethics, 29(3), 258-277.
Buelens, M., & Van den Broeck, H. (2007). An analysis of differences in work motivation between public and private sector organizations. Public Administration Review, 67(1), 65-74.
Campion, M. A., Cheraskin, L., & Stevens, M. J. (1994). Career related antecedents and outcomes of job rotation. The Academy of Management Journal, 37(6), 1518-1542.
Carlin, T. M. (2006). Victoria’s accrual output based budgeting system- delivering as promised? Some empirical evidence. Financial Accountability and Management, 22(1), 1-19.
Colley, L. (2001). The changing face of public sector employment. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 60(1), 9-20.
Conrad, L. (2005). A structuration analysis of accounting systems and systems of accountability in the privatised gas industry. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 16(1), 1-26.
Crawford, L., Costello. K., Pollack, J., & Bentley, L. (2003). Managing soft change projects in the public sector. International Journal of Project Management, 21, 443-448.
CSD. (2010-2011). Annual Report Volume 1. ACT. Australia.
DHCS. (2007a). Service Delivery Platform. ACT. Australia.
_____. (2007b). Guide to Performance Management. ACT. Australia.
_____. (2007c). Union Collective Agreement 2007-2010. ACT. Australia.
Doyle, M., Claydon, T., & Buchannan, D. (2000). Mixed results, Lousy process: The management experience of organizational change. British Journal of Management, 11(Special Issue), S59-S80.
English, L. (2002). Emasculating public accountability in the name of competition: transformations of state audit in Victoria. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 14(1-2), 51-76.
Geertz, C. (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Giddens, A. (1976), New Rules of Sociological Method: A Positive Critique of Interpretative Sociologies. New York: Basic Books, Inc.
Giddens, A. (1979). Central Problems in Social Theory. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd.
Giddens, A. (1984). The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Giddens, A., Duneier, M., Appelbaum, R. P., & Carr, D. (2011). Introduction to Sociology. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1981). Effective Evaluation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Halligan, J. (2009). Performance and public management in Australia and New Zealand. International Conference of the Institute of Public Administration. Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1-4 November.
Hesse-Biber, S. N., & Leavy, P. L. (2010). The Practice of Qualitative Research. London: Sage Publications Inc.
Hood , C. (1991). A public management for all seasons. Public Administration, 69(Spring), 3-19.
_______. (1995). The new public management in the 1980’s: Variations on a theme. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 20(2-3), 93-109.
Hoque, Z. (2006). Introduction. In Hoque, Z. (ed.). Methodological Issues in Accounting Research: Theories and Methods. UK: Spiramus Press Ltd.
Hoque, Z. 2008). Measuring and reporting public sector outputs/outcomes: Exploratory evidence from Australia. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 21(5), 468-493.
Irvine, H., & Gaffikin, M. (2006). Methodological insights: Getting in, getting on and getting out: Reflections on a qualitative research project. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 19(1), 115-145.
Jansen, E. P. (2004). Performance measurement in governmental organizations: A contingent approach to measurement and management control. Managerial Finance, 30(8), 54-68.
Karl, K. A., & Sutton, C. L. (1998). Job values in today’s workforce: A comparison of public and private sector employees. Public Personnel Management, 27(4), 515-527.
Keating, P. J. (1993). Performance and Accountability. 1 July, Canberra.
Kellough, J. E., & Nigro, L. C. (2005). Dramatic reform in the public service: At- will employment and the creation of a new public workforce. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 16(3), 447-466.
Kloot, L., & Martin, J. (2007). Public sector change, organizational culture and financial information: A study of local government. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 66, 485-497.
Lavigna, R. J. (2002). Best practices in public- sector human resources: Wisconsin state government. Human Resource Management, 41(3), 364-384.
Malmi, T., & Brown, D. A. (2008). Management control systems as a package-opportunities, challenges and research direction. Management Accounting Research, 19(4), 287-300.
Maor, M. (1999). The paradox of managerialism. Public Administration Review, 59(1), 5-18.
Martin, J., & Coventry, H. (1994). Human resource management: From structural change to managerial challenge. In Stewart, J. (ed.). From Hawke to Keating-Australian Commonwealth Administration 1990-1993. Australia: Centre for Research in Public Sector Management, University of Canberra & Royal Institute of Public Administration.
McKay, K. (2003). Two generations of performance evaluation management systems in Australia. Canberra Bulletin of Public Administration, 110, 8-20.
McPhee, I. (2005). Outcomes and outputs: Are we managing better as a result? CPA National Public Sector Convention, 20 May.
Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation. California: Jossey-Bass.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Source book. London: Sage Publications.
Moll, J., & Hoque, Z. (2000). Rationality, new public management and changes in management control systems: A study of managing change in an Australian local government setting. Sixth Interdisciplinary Perspective on Accounting Conference. Manchester, 10-12 July.
Mulgan, R. (2000). Comparing accountability in the public and private sectors. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 59(1), 87-97.
National Health and Medical Research Council. (1999). National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans: Aus Info.
Noblet, A., Rodwell, J., & McWilliams, J., (2006). Organizational change in the public sector: Augmenting the demand control model to predict employee outcomes under new public management. Work and Stress: An International Journal of Work, Health & Organizations, 20(4), 335-352.
O’Flynn, J. (2007). From new public management to public value: Paradigmatic change in managerial implications. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 66(3), 353-366.
Otley, D. T., & Berry, A. J. (1980). Control, organization and accounting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 5(2), 231-244.
Otley, D., Broadbent, J., & Berry, A. (1995). Research in management control: An overview of its development. British Journal of Management, 6, S31-S34.
Parker, L. D., & Guthrie, J. (1993). The Australian public sector in the 1990s: New accountability regimes in motion. Journal of International Accounting Auditing & Taxation, 2(1), 59-81.
Parker, R., & Bradley, L. (2000). Organizational culture in the public sector: Evidence from six organizations. The International Journal of Public Sector Management, 13(2), 125-141.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Queensland Treasury. (2002), Overview of the Queensland Government’s Shared Service Initiative. Brisbane: Queensland Government, Australia.
Robson, L. S. et al. (2007). The effectiveness of occupational health and safety management system interventions: A systematic review. Safety Science, 45(3), 329-353.
Rondeaux, G. (2006). Modernizing public administration: The impact on organizational identities. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 19(6), 569-584.
Sahlin-Andersson, K. (2001). National, international and transnational constructions of new public management. In Christensen, T., & Laegreid, P. (eds.). New Public Management: The Transformation of Ideas and Practice. England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
Salauroo, M., & Burnes, B. (1998). The impact of a market system on the public sector: a study of organizational change in the NHS. International Journal of Public Sector Management, 11(6), 451-467.
Sinclair, A. (1991). After excellence: Models of organizational culture for the public sector. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 50(3), 321-332.
Ulrich, D. (1995). Shared services: From vogue to value. Human Resource Planning, 18(3), 12-24.
Walsh, P., McGregor-Lowndes, M., & Newton, C. J. (2008). Shared services: Lessons from the public and private sectors for the nonprofit sector. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 67(2), 200-212.
Webb, W. (2010). Public management reform and the management of ethics: Incompatible ideals for the developing state? International Journal of Public Sector Management, 23(7), 669-684.
Worrall, L., Cooper, C. L., & Jamison, F. C. (2000). The impact of organizational change on the work experiences and perceptions of public sector managers. Personnel Review, 29(5), 613-636.
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2019-12-31
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