Current Trends of Development of New Public Management - Essay Example

The program aims to achieve discipline in the labor force in order to attain greater productivity. The professional role of the management is made very clear and is implemented strictly. The managers are given a certain amount of freedom to perform their functions independently and freely. The program has been trying to implement the concept of indirect control instead of direct authority. The strategic objective is to create a process of management that involves value commitment and appropriate incentives. It tries to ensure that the managers believe in the right things and that they remain adequately motivated. The principle also aims to achieve quality improvement. This is achieved by emphasizing delegation and devolution. The right information systems are used for the purpose. Here, the contractual and market operations are given more emphasis. Most importantly, a proper system of performance measurement is implemented which goes through regular auditing and inspection (Kolthoff, Huberts & Heuvel, 2007, p.3).

Development of New Public Management- Current Trends
The present scenario of new public management focuses on management reforms that are result-oriented. It recognizes the importance of efficiency, quality, and market values. Some of the authors have claimed that the new result-based management reforms would be effective in enhancing political and democratic accountability. The program is based on the application of the modern concepts of management and technology. The reform initiative aims to enhance “the political capacity to deliver sustained economic change” (Cranfield School of Management, 2004, p.23). It works on upgrading universities as well as other research and technology centers and encourages them to generate new ideas and concepts. It would also encourage them to bring about changes in the entrenched system. The present reform is based on the idea of the development of a conceptual framework to reform a literate and articulate society. The issues that would be catered to, for implementing the policy changes include the development of competent managers especially in the country’s small scale sector, the impact of technology, the use of communication, encouragement of ideological and professional modes of thinking which is complemented by the power of professional associations and unions (Cranfield School of Management, 2004, p.23). “Area-based initiatives” (Cranfield School of Management, 2004, p.23) are considered to be one of the important features of the new public policy. The aim is to achieve goals and objectives by combating social exclusions. It also aims to achieve improvement in the operations of the public sector. The program aims to deliver targets by the implementation of performance management. The use of indicators, targets, and milestones are given priority in the achievement of targets (Cranfield School of Management, 2004, p.23).

Future Prospects of New Public Management
The 1980s witnessed a number of managerial techniques in the public sector, but “behind these surface manifestations of change lies the rise of new sets of key managerial ideas and beliefs” (Ferlie, 1996, p.9). The application of new public management has been adopted not only in the UK but in many other nations. It is said that the program has a lot more potential than the mere improvement of managerial qualities. It would also enhance democratic accountability and market values. The program has gained popularity because it is based on modern concepts and ideas. It includes a budget-oriented model which measures the improvement of public management. There is another model which is planning-oriented and aims to enhance the accountability of the public sector. It is said that the program has not been able to attain the desired success due to inadequate technology usage. However, the future looks bright for the program. One of its recent development is the integration of democratic and modernization goals. This is aimed to be achieved and addressed by the minimum use of technology and information. Persistent efforts have been going behind the system in order to resolve the obstacles in the implementation of the process.  Efforts have also been taken to remove the incompatibility between democracy and NPM applications (Cranfield School of Management, 2004, p.25