Trends and the Future of Public Service Essay Example for Free

Trends and the Future of universal Service EssayIntroductionPublic serve organizations atomic number 18 the welkins that always receive considerable attention form the judicature. Beside their currently lower take aim of setance compargon to private organizations, the attention is given due to governmental responsibilities is fulfilling demands of the wad. Recently, the popular benefit field is evolving, partly due to the influence of a new management system called Outejaculate Based Management.In this paper, I am discussing the contents and philosophy of the Outcome Based management approach and how it influenced the in the globe eye(predicate) portion sphere in United States. Outcome Based ManagementII.1. Emerging TrendOutcome ground management (OBM) is the managerial framework that emphasizes more on forward looking activities. This managerial approach focuses on why atomic number 18 things done and what turn out unquestionablely been done. In a simple senten ce, the term encourages managing for real results. The term is frequently identified with the sentence better planning generates better outcomes. The managerial framework branch gained attention of universe organizations managers because of its commitment toward results.The globe run is always known lo follow behind the private sector because of its weak commitment toward real compassments. This is reveled in various sectors of the public sector, including the environmental sector, wellness sector and even child-c argon. These sectors required a system that works based on real-hard results, and OBMs characteristic that put forth concretion between run delivered and actual goal achievements is a controlling catalyst in the adoption of this concept into the public receipts sector.II.2. Elements of OBMThere are several elements of OBM. The starting line is the outcome itself. Outcome is the impact, result or consequences for the organization of related parties. If the outc ome of a particular drift matched existing corporate objective, then the company obligate successfully performed the OBM. The second element of OBM is the service given. They are tools to achieve the outcomes determined earlier. The third element is the Key carrying into action Indicators. The performance indicators function as an compend tool that determines whether the targeted outcomes are achieved or not.The traditional perspective perceived a company to perform 3 important activities, which are planning, budgeting and reporting. According to the OBM perspective however, these activities bath be explained further using a mountain chain of detailed abut, which includes construction of corporate goals and strategic outcomesFormulation of mission statement and the strategic planFormulation of budgets, including key performance indicator targetsDelivery of servicesPerformance reporting in annual reportsPerformance assessmentOutcomeOutcome is simply the reason why corporate a ctivities are performed. There are actually three levels of outcomes, the initial is corporate goals. It is the highest level of outcome and the most global one. The second is called strategic outcomes, which relate corporate goals into these parties the people in general (comm social unity), the environment, the economy, the region and governance. Considerations of these factors brought to the finding of strategic outcomes. The third is called agency-level outcomes, which functions are to detail the general outcomes into more specific targets. The formulation of agency-level outcomes is the final step before performing the servicesClearly defining corporate outcomes are important element of the OBM application. This is true because the outcome learning entrust be used to direct the organization in spite of appearance its activities. For example, the outcome education is in the main used by the corporate management to trigger corrective actions like identifying task areas th at requires attention identify best practices prompt employees and to perform planning and budgeting activities. The outcome objective can also be used by outdoor(a) parties to perform economic analysis, tin informed commentary, and perform benchmarking.Services The adjoining step in OBM by and by properly defining the right goals, strategic level outcomes and agency level outcomes is defining how severally unit could ease up to the achievement of organizational goals. OBM stresses on the importance in finding the link between the craved outcome and the services delivered. This is necessary because according to the OBM resource should be allocated to any unit unless it can contribute to the achievement of organizational goals. Alignment between the goals and the service provided is a must because once much(prenominal) an alignment is achieved the collection of costs and performance data is easier to perform.After defining the specific agendas of each unit of the organizatio n, the next step within OBM is reviewing the service agendas. The common practice in OBM organizations is by developing a service checklist that ordain enable them to evaluate whether the services delivered are the right ones.Performance Indicators The third step in the application of OBM is developing performance indicators. The presence of the right performance indicators will allow performances to be measured, evaluated, and improved. The general performance indicators in OBM are divided into two categories, which are effectiveness indicators and efficiency indicators. The two categories should have at least three characteristics, which are relevance, appropriateness and fair representative ness. Defining these indicators enables the organization to perform continuous improvement by identifying emerging issues and specify the best services to deal with the issues, and furthermore, improve organizational accountability.II.3. Experts Opinion about OBM The ideal implementation of t he OBM concept supposedly generates the following conditionsEncourages information sharing between employees and externally with clients, partners, etcEncourage communication of organizational achievementsEasier and more effective reporting activitiesincrease flexibility and scalabilityLead to effective use of available business information for analytical reporting, decision reservation and forecasting.Improve operational efficiencyIncreased profitability from relationship with partners and suppliersDrive operating staff toward the achievements of strategic results, etcTaking account of these achievements, the OBM concept is generally benefiting organizations as a whole, particularly the less committed public service organizations. There are however, obstacles that must be faced.In the process of defining outcomes and unit donation to that outcome, there are individuals and parts of the organization that are reluctant to share data due to aid of inaccuracy or more often, unfavor able interpretation. The second challenge is caused by the tendency of people that have invested in their data collection to be unwilling to share the information due to the loss of credit in the work involved.The third challenge is cost oriented. Some data required to achieve accurate measuring are more expensive than distinguishables. The fourth challenge is simply caused by the fear of being judged for something that we cannot control. In many sectors, like the environmental and health sectors, there are often uncontrollable variables that considerably feign the achievements of organizational goals. Including these factors in the evaluation system will be inaccurate and furthermore, most likely capture the source of discontent ness among employees.II.4. Identification of the Trend Organizations and institutions that use OBM concepts generally have specific characteristics within them. The implementation of OBM is similar in various sectors despite the different services offe red by the sectors. The implementation can be detected in the form of steps performed to identify goals and linking them to services performed. The meat of resources and time use to each step might differ from one industry to the others depending on the difficulty of performing each step, but the steps that are performed are generally within the same order.For example, in the environmental public services, the step of resources committed to define the desirable outcome is quite enormous and significantly larger than other sectors This is due to the difficult nature of defining the suitable environmental targets to be achieved from environmental projects. In health care sector and child care sector on the other hand, identifying what services to perform in order to achieve identified goals are the most difficult step and the one requires most observations. These sectors however, are all performing similar elements of the OBM approach.Implications for the Public ServiceIII.1. Uniqu e Sector Public service is generally known as governmentally-run organizations which all resources are generated from the government and thus, from the public themselves. If we are to study the development of this sector however, it is necessary to reveal how the public service sector is rationally different from the private sector. The most base difference is the fact that in the private sector, most activities started at the supply side. Technology, for instance, is known as a tremendous catalyst from the supply side of business in the private sector that generates dramatic veers in various industries. In the public service sector on the other hand, the main intervention that leads to change originated from the demand side. Ironically, there are generally little chances to charge the public directly for the services they receive. governmental taxes are the media that connects the payment between the public and the public sector workers. In addition of becoming a tool of deliveri ng what the public needs, the public sector is also the tool to create a balance in the private sectors operations. In the transport and utilities sector for example, where networks grows and the element for natural monopoly is strong, public involvement is required to close out market failures and the abuse of market positions (Franois, 2003). In the light of this unique complex body part, we can logically guest that the line with public service sector is actually the presence of the government as an intermediary party itself. In the private sector, people are work for their customers and they gain payments from them as well. This trade between service and payments happens dynamically and each side can influence the trade. In other words, it is easier for the private sector workers to influence the amount of payment they will receive. In the public sector on the other hand, people are working for the government. Workers are not in direct trade of service and payments as the pri vate sector. It is harder for them to influence the amount of payment they will receive (Glaeser, 2003). In discussions of why productivity and efficiency in the public sector is often considered worse than the private sectors, many factors are mentioned, but the condition revealed above is one of the reasons often mentioned. The private sector workers are generally more motivated because in their frame of mind they have a way of influencing their own destiny. The public sector workers on the other hand, are working for different people than the one signing their checks. Knowing that the reference of their work will not influence their salaries, public sector workers are subject to a declining working motivation (Disney, 1998).III.2. Challenges In addition to the general problem mentioned above, there are also other issues that are parts of the new development of the public service sector in United States. Political leaders indicated the need to recruit the next extension of publi c sector workers. It is believed that the public service sector environment today has already evolved into phases that are out of the older-generations league. The new system of management requires new workers with the ability to learn and adapt to the evolved conditions of the public service sector.Others however, believed that such a change will not be beneficial due to the similar image of the job. Workers at the public service sector are still viewed as a public servant, a phrase which are highly unpopular in American society. Despite the enhanced system of management, if the government is unable to maintain change this image, the new workers are still going to be the new generation of public servants, in the sense that they have minimum bargaining power over the services they provide and salaries they receive.Another issue in the public service sector, particularly in the United States is the ageing structure of the public service workers. Statistics indicated that with the rel uctance of young people in entering the sector leave completely old people within the sector. This will obviously mean a degradation of management quality within the public service sector. Another study indicated that information deficiency is significant problem in managing public services. The information regarding desired outcome are generally owned by the lowest people in the managerial chain, while the strategic decisions are made by the government which has little doorway to the information (Challenges, 2008).III.3. Implications of the OBM ApproachIII.3.1. New Systems The application of the OBM approach to the public service sector might source several of the problems mentioned earlier. For example, the lack of motivation could be solved by better focus on actual results and linking organizational objectives directly to services performed. Successful application however, requires adaptation to the steps and elements of the OBM approach. In the public service organization, t he desired outcomes can be those specified in the annual budget statements or those identified in legislation and specified by the related authority. For example, the general outcome of a public sector could be accessible, reliable and safe public transport system, or a fair and independent criminal quest service. In the public service organizations, these general outcomes can then be translated into the agency-level outcomes. Furthermore, the use of outcome information in the public service organizations, can internally improve the budget setting process, while externally it can improve agency control, make it easier for other agencies to make contributions to the organization (Hundley, 1991). In the next step, OBM leads the public sector organization to specify agency-level services that are required to achieve the agency-level outcomes. This is generally performed by the devising of a service checklist. The service checklist consist of questions like what service are delivered, what outcome are the services addressing, what results are the service addressing.Afterwards, the OBM approach takes the public service organization to developing performance indicators. For the public service organizations, cost efficiency indicators could be cost per student graduated, cost per license issued, etc productivity indicators include students taught per teacher, cases determined per officer, etc. Overall, the benefits brought by the new approach includeGreater public transparencyEnhanced cognition in identifying best practicesIncreased ability in assessing performance against targetIncreased ability in investigating reasons of failure in meeting specified targets(Hatry, 2003)III.3.2. New Skills Required In light of the elements and process demanded by the OBM approach, the new skills required areSensitivity to new Information To better perform the first step of the OBM approach, which is defining goals and outcomes, members of the public service organization need to be sensitive of the demands exist in the surrounding environment. This is related to the fact that public sector organizations exist to serve the public rather than to achieve organizational profit.Communicating informationThe people that are exposed to new information generally come from the lowest structure of the organization. Thus, the organization must design a system and furthermore, the skills to communicate information up to the highest level of management.Linking service activities to established goalsUnder the OBM approach workers at the public service organization are demanded to constantly see the linkage between the goals, outcome defined agency-level outcome and finally the service performed. This will provide them with clear logical frame of thinking, especially in decision making activities.ReferenceChallenges and Trends in Public Administration. 2008. Retrieved January 2008 from unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/ public/documents/ASPA/UNPAN006965.pdfDisney, R., and Gosl ing, A. 1998, Does it Pay to Work in the Public Sector?, Fiscal Studies, 19(4), 34774.Franois, P. 2003, Not-for-Profit preparedness of Public Services, The Economic Journal, 113(486), C5361.Glaeser, E. L. 2003. The Governance of Not-for-profit Organizations. Chicago, IL, University of ChicagoPress.Hatry, H. P., Morley, E., Rossman, S. B. Wholey, J. S. 2003. How Federal Programs Use Outcome Information Opportunities for Federal Managers. discipline Academy of Public AdministrationHundley, G. 1991. Public and Private-sector Occupational Pay Structures, Industrial Relations, 30(3), 41734.