| title: | Evaluation of the applicability of the methods of New Public Management in the Estonian central and local governments. |
|---|---|
| reg no: | ETF5819 |
| project type: | Estonian Science Foundation research grant |
| subject: |
5.7. Political Sciences |
| status: | accepted |
| institution: | TU Faculty of Social Sciences |
| head of project: | Tiina Randma-Liiv |
| duration: | 01.01.2004 - 31.12.2006 |
| description: | In the beginning of the eighties in most developed countries (especially in Anglo-American countries) quite a few competing new management methods and principles got the status as applicable and desirable for public sector. This general trend was called New Public Management movement including different mostly in private sector previously known management methods: Management by Objectives (MBO), Quality Management, Market Oriented Approach, Principles of Contracting Out, Customer Orientedness, etc. Through implementation of these new management methods it was hoped to increase significantly public sector efficiency and customer orientation. NPM critics that started rapidly to spread in the beginning of the nineties showed that in reality most new management principles have actually increased the chaos and organizational inefficiency. Also Estonian public organizations have implemented quite a few NPM principles during the recent years. Current project is aiming for a comprehensive analysis of management methods, concentrating on analysis and evaluation of applicability of different NPM methods in the Estonian central and local governments. During the project various practices of implementation of NPM principles in different countries will be studied, the effectiveness of these methods in Estonia and elsewhere will be compared and the evaluation of applicability of NPM principles in Estonian public sector will be delivered. Since it is currently very topical to study different management methods in public organizations, there are plenty of comprehensive analyses and research papers published concerning the issue. Unfortunately most of them are concentrating on the practices of developed countries, leaving without any attention the Central and Eastern European countries with their specifics. Management methods of public organizations like also other areas of public management have got very limited academic attention in Estonia. Majority of the previous studies has concentrated on describing of some major research project or on specific areas or organizations. Until now there is not available any broader or more comprehensive study of the field. At the same time there is a high demand for these studies since most public organizations are in the process of restructuring themselves and they are looking for the new appropriate management methods and principles. Empirical data about the Estonian central and local governments will be gathered through in-depth interviews, personal observations and written documents analysis. The preliminary hypothesis of the project is the belief that Estonian state and local governments are implementing the principles of NPM too easily without taking into account academic critics or the negative evidences appeared in Western countries. The second hypothesis of the project is the belief that public management in transitional countries has quite a few special characteristics creating even more obstacles for implementing NPM practices. ¿¿¿¿¿ |
| project group | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no | name | institution | position | |
| 1. | Tiina Randma-Liiv | TU Faculty of Social Sciences | Chair of Public Management | |
| 2. | Kristiina Tõnnisson | Tartu Ülikool | teadur | |