Best Practice Versus a Diagnostic Approach to Public Service Reform: The Malaysian Experience
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- First Online: 01 January 2023
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- Noore Alam Siddiquee 2 &
- John Antony Xavier 3
Administrative reform; Best practice solutions; Problem-solving approach; Public management reform; Public sector reform
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Best practice reforms are those believed to be effective at delivering results and have already produced best outcomes elsewhere. They can therefore be used as exemplars of successful reform. Diagnostic reform refers to a problem-oriented approach that rejects universal solutions and places emphasis on identifying and fixing problems in a given context.
Introduction
Public service reforms are commonplace in developing countries. They seek to improve governmental performance and deliver public services in tune with popular expectations. Despite proliferation of reform initiatives, cases of successful reform are few and far between. In fact, much of the recent evidence points to the failure of reform programs (see, World Bank 2008 ). While existing theories make competing claims, empirical work on successful reforms remains scarce. Consequently,...
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College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
Noore Alam Siddiquee
Graduate School of Business, National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
John Antony Xavier
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Correspondence to Noore Alam Siddiquee .
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Siddiquee, N.A., Xavier, J.A. (2022). Best Practice Versus a Diagnostic Approach to Public Service Reform: The Malaysian Experience. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66252-3_3496
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Towards “cognitively complex” problem-solving: Six models of public service reform
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- 10.1111/dpr.12306
T1 - Towards “cognitively complex” problem-solving: Six models of public service reform
AU - Mccourt, Willy
U2 - 10.1111/dpr.12306
DO - 10.1111/dpr.12306
M3 - Article
SN - 0950-6764
JO - Development Policy Review
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Models of public service reform : a problem-solving approach (English) This paper identifies six models of public service reform that have been practiced in developing countries over the past half-century. It critically reviews their implementation, discussing them as attempted solutions to problems that have arisen in the policy process in ...
The models are: public administration; decentralization; pay and employment reform; New Public Management; integrity and corruption reforms; and "bottom-up" reforms. The paper seeks an explanation for their disappointing performance in the political economy of reform, with an emphasis on how learning from failure can be the paradoxical ...
Abstract: This paper identifies six models of public service reform that have been practiced in developing countries over the past half-century It criticy reviews their implementation, discussing them as attempted solutions to problems that have arisen in the policy process in different countries The models are: public administration; decentralization; pay and employment reform; New Public ...
Abstract and Figures. This paper identifies six models of public service reform that have been practiced in developing countries over the past half-century. It critically reviews their ...
Models of Public Service Reform: A Problem-Solving Approach . Willy McCourt. 1. Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network Public Sector Board. JEL Codes: H11, H83, I18, I28 . Acknowledgements: This paper has benefitted greatly from comments by Naaz Barma, Nick Manning and Gary Reid.
Yusuf Abdullahi Manu, PhD. Abstract The inability of the public service to deliver effectively public goods and services and high incidence of ghost workers have justified the need to reform the public service to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Nigeria. To this end, this paper examines the public service reforms and the Millennium ...
Downloadable! This paper identifies six models of public service reform that have been practiced in developing countries over the past half-century. It critically reviews their implementation, discussing them as attempted solutions to problems that have arisen in the policy process in different countries. The models are: public administration; decentralization; pay and employment reform; New ...
This article proposes "cognitively complex problem‐solving" as a refinement of the recent problem‐solving approach to public service reform, and as an addition to existing political and institutional explanations for the frequent failure of reform. It substantiates the new problem‐solving model by identifying and selectively reviewing ...
Willy McCourt in a paper entitled Models of Public Service Reform: A Problem Solving Approach , presented at a World Bank policy seminar. (World Bank Policy Research Working Paper WPS 6428, April 2013, Washington DC, online at https://documents.worldbank.org ) The decision to review the paper was borne out of the need to point out
There are three models: Public Administration (PA-statist and bureaucratic), New Public Management (NPM-competitive and minimalist) and New Public Governance (NPG-plural and pluralist). McCourt (2013) summarizes these as follows: The "Old" public administration. The prevailing approach to public administration drew on a model of bureaucracy ...
Models of Public Service Reform In applying a 'cognitively complex' approach to problem-solving, we cannot make bricks without straw. If we are serious about respecting the specific priorities of developing country policymakers, and compensating for past cognitive deficiencies, then we will need a variety of tools.
Models of Public Service Reform: A Problem-Solving Approach . × Close Log In. Log in with Facebook Log in with Google. or. Email. Password. Remember me on this computer. or reset password. Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link. ... Models of Public Service Reform: A Problem-Solving Approach. willy mccourt.
Under the best practice model, governments adopt models of public service reform that have produced results elsewhere ... The "best fit" model adopts a "diagnostic approach" to problem solving. It seeks to base reform design on empirical evidence gathered from the ground and focuses precisely on where shoe pinches the most. That is, it ...
Abstract. This paper proposes 'cognitively complex problem‐solving' as a refinement of the recent problem‐ solving approach to public service reform, and as an addition to existing ...
TY - JOUR. T1 - Towards "cognitively complex" problem-solving: Six models of public service reform. AU - Mccourt, Willy. PY - 2018. Y1 - 2018
This paper identifies six models of public service reform that have been practiced in developing countries over the past half-century. It critically reviews their implementation, discussing them as attempted solutions to problems that have arisen in the policy process in different countries. The models are: public administration; decentralization; pay and employment reform; New Public ...
This paper proposes 'cognitively complex problem-solving' as a refinement of the recent problem- solving approach to public service reform, and as an addition to existing political and institutional explanations for the frequent failure of reform. In order to substantiate the new problem-solving model, it identifies and selectively reviews six models of reform that have been practiced in ...
This article proposes "cognitively complex problem-solving" as a refinement of the recent problem-solving approach to public service reform, and as an addition to existing political and institutional explanations for the frequent failure of reform. It substantiates the new problem-solving model by identifying and selectively reviewing six ...
Apr 2013. Willy Mccourt. This paper identifies six models of public service reform that have been practiced in developing countries over the past half-century. It critically reviews their ...
Towards "cognitively complex" problem-solving: Six models of public service reform
Downloadable! This article proposes "cognitively complex problem‐solving" as a refinement of the recent problem‐solving approach to public service reform, and as an addition to existing political and institutional explanations for the frequent failure of reform. It substantiates the new problem‐solving model by identifying and selectively reviewing six models of reform that have been ...
the Public Governance Directorate) explores how systems approaches can be used in the public sector to solve complex or "wicked" problems such as child abuse and domestic violence. Through the analysis of case studies, it describes how systems approaches can make public services more effective and resilient. The report contributes to the ...
I define public service reform as 'interventions that affect the organization, performance and working conditions of employees paid from central, provincial or state government budgets.'i I take a problem- solving approach, viewing the different reform interventions as ways of dealing with the problem situation as different national ...