There is no denying the fact just before the emergence of Bangladesh in the middle of 1970; the intact Western globe materialize to have moved into the essence of managerial as well as Financial reforms. Moreover, these restructuring policies actually demonstrate to show up certain general features. They all tend to be more or less managerial reforms. The trend in the track of public management reform is perceptible in the United States, Great Britain, and other Western European management, but on the other side of the globe as well, in Australia, New Zealand and other ‘Western’ countries. The style of reports on developments of administrative reforms of the OECD authenticate that most developments point in the same direction, which is the introduction of ideas, models and techniques of public management, that is the adoption of business management techniques, a greater service and client orientation, the preamble of market process and competition in public administrations.

The adoption of the Public Management Reform is linked with the rise of neo-liberalism and its political variants such as ‘Reaganism’ and ‘Thatcherism’. Hood sees its origin as a marriage of two different streams of ideas: the new-fangled institutional finances and business type ‘managerialism’. According to Linda Kaboolian, the preamble of new public management imparts two extra-ordinary chances to the scholars. She promulgates, ‘The Public Management Reform strategy provides scholars of public administration and public management two extra-ordinary opportunities. The first is to see the unfolding of an international reform movement defined by clearly articulated principles. A phenomenon of this magnitude is a natural object of empirical inquiry to scholars. The second opportunity is to engage in theoretically grounded empirical work and theory building that crosses the boundaries of the disciplines that have studied the public sector’.

In developed states, the orthodox welfarist model of improvement has largely been displaced by the new public management revolution, which involves a major rethinking of the state of its relations with the market. The radical critique of the centralized, inefficient, unaccountable, over-extended state has produced a transformative conception, and intensive efforts to run this conception into practice. Later the new public management has been focussed as an ideological system, featured by the introduction of ideas generated in private sector settings within public sector organisations.

In a recent analysis of public management reforms, it is over and done with that despite differences in nature, size and approach to reforms, a common agenda has developed, ‘a new paradigm for public management has emerged, aiming at fostering a performance-oriented culture in a less centralised public sector’. According to the OECD, this new public management paradigm is characterised by the following eight main trends:

1. developing authority, providing flexibility
2. improving the management of human resources
3. ensuring performance, control, accountability
4. optimising information technology
5. developing composition and choice
6. improving the quality of regulation
7. providing responsive service
8. strengthening steering functions at the centre

Hood presented his widely known definition of ‘new public management’ in his inaugural address in London School of Economics, based on the OECD review.

1. Hands on professional management
2. Competition
3. Standards and performance measures
4. Private sector style management
5. Output controls
6. Discipline and parsimony
7. Disaggregating of units

The components of new public management were both structural (disaggregated organisations and greater competition) and managerial (more visible hands-on management, private sector management practices, tighter cost control, explicit measurement and greater emphasis on out put controls). While the justification for the reforms was founded on the need to make the delivery of public services manageable and accountable, to avoid waste and reduce costs, to encourage competition and customer responsiveness, to apply proven private sector practices and to focus on results, it lead to changes away from a uniform and inclusive public sector and from ‘qualitative and implicit standards and norms’ towards an environment of fewer procedural constraints, more discretionary powers, and to performance-related pay and less secure conditions of employment.

After F.W.Taylor’s ‘The principles of scientific Management’, the various management theories and schools have been developed. There is one theory, model and technique of business management. The trend to introduce business like management in government therefore seems not so much inspired by scientific reason as it is by the ideological Zeitgeist. Several authors have examined the phenomenon of managerial reforms in western administrations, and various more or less different typologies have been published. What they all have in common is at least the following three characteristics:

1. business management techniques,

2. service and client orientation,

3. Market-type mechanisms such as competition.

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‘In Britain, PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORM has two divergent strands: managerial and the new institutional economics. Managerial refers to introducing private sector management in the public sector. It stresses: hands-on, professional management, explicit standards and measures of performance, managing by results, and value for money and more recently closeness to the customer. It is often synonym for the ‘3Es’. The new institutional economics refers to introducing incentive structures (such as market competition) in to public service provision. It stresses desegregating bureaucracies, greater competition through contracting-out and quasi-markets and consumer choice’

The introduction of businesslike management began in the British civil service when Margaret Thatcher created the Rayner scrutinies. Mr. Rayner came from a private office and presided in the cabinet office over a project group, which had to support the many scrutinies in the various departments. The terms of reference for the scrutiny team which produced the report ‘Improving Management in Government: ‘The Next Steps’ “to identify the progress achieved in improving management in the civil service” and “to identify the institutional, administrative, political and attitudinal obstacles to better management and efficiency that still remain”. This report recommended reducing the civil service to a small “core” of policy makers and “transferring” other officials to work under free standing agency boards. The ‘agencies’ should be established to carry out the executive functions of government within a policy and resources framework set by a department. Next step report was published in 1987 with view to ensure higher efficiency, better quality, and more value for money-by granting more autonomy to the executive service delivery agencies. Germany, the concept of PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORM adopted in different name, which is called New Steering Model. It is evident that France does not particularly have an Anglo-Saxon tradition in respect to state, government and civil service.

New public management in Belgium is associated with a more business-oriented style of management, cutting back on public spending and privatisation. The tradition of neo- corporatism, however, is still firmly in place. In the new structures of the Autonomous Public Enterprises, conventional political and interest groups are settling down in the executive boards with a view to controlling the policy of the public organisations. In these circumstances the freedom of action of the PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORMs is likely to continue to be limited.

The advent of new public management to Ireland seems to be already changing the climate and culture of public sector organisations, at the same time as there has been no fundamental structural change in the machinery of government; a more results oriented approach is developing. Relations between the new public manager and politics remain unchanged, both sides seeming to be happy with the present situation: the new public manager has continued to be adverse to politics, seeing that area as best left to political adverse, program managers and the private offices of politicians.

The Nordic countries have also tagged along the concept of PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORM but they adopt it on the basis of their own administrative requirement. Markku Temmes believed, “The PUBLIC MANAGEMENT REFORM doctrine seems to have become a water shade in the recent administrative policy of the Nordic countries. Denmark has been a pioneer in applying Public Management Reform, and Danish solutions have been quite typical Public Management Reform- type solutions, although the administrative policy followed has been more carefully pursued than in the Anglo- Saxon countries”.

In Finland, the reform of public sector management, which started in the late 1980s, has spread rapidly throughout all levels of government. Public Management Reform was identified within 134 organisations. Most public managers are located in three types of organisations: result-budgeted and net-budgeted agencies; institutions and business action plans; and public enterprises and state owned companies. These are concentrated in industry and trade, communications and training, and public utilities. Finland has been the most coherent and determined applier of Public Management Reform among the Nordic countries. This impression may have been partly created by the fact that Finland’s radical reforms have come within a fairly short period of time, the year’s 1987-95.

After careful pore over the practice of public management system in the western democracies, it obviously focuses that a major transformation has been made in the public sector management through this new concept. It is true that the main thrust for Public Management Reform began when the western democracies felt that existing government machineries are not functioning well with traditional concept of management. The success of Public Management Reform influenced the donors to introduce this concept in developing countries as condition of their loan. Developing countries are heavily suffered with the huge manpower in the public sector though these peoples are not giving proper service because of their inefficiency and traditional system of management. ‘Developing countries seem intent on following new public management as an organising principle for their societies. This is occurring with encouragement from the World Bank and other international agencies as an effort to overcome their endemic problems of development and the failure of earlier model of development economics and development administration’.

About Author

Kh. Atiar Rahman is a prominent author as well as a poet. he has many publications in national and International media. He was born in the district of Kushtia.

The demand for Minneapolis computer rentals and short-term computer hardware leasing arrangements will spike at summer’s end when the Republican Party convenes in Minneapolis-Saint Paul for the 2008 Republican National Convention. The National Journal’s Congress Daily reports that “the political counterpart of Moore’s law” will be operative both in the Twin Cities and in Denver, where the Democratic Party will hold its National Convention at the end of August. “With each quadrennial national political convention,” the National Journal notes, “the use of information technology seems to grow exponentially.”

By way of example, in 2004 only 12 online bloggers received press credentials to cover the RNC that was held in New York City. The RNC has announced that it will credential over ten times that figure to blog on the RNC that will be held at Saint Paul’s Xcel Energy Centre, September 1st to 4th. Matt Burns, the RNC’s director of communications, has estimated that between 175 and 200 independent bloggers will be credentialed for this year’s convention.

The RNC’s Committee on Arrangements (COA) is expecting more than 45,000 delegates, alternate delegates, party officials, volunteers, media members and convention guests to show up for the 2008 gathering of the G.O.P. faithful. The COA has contracted with more than 100 hotels for accommodation and there are nearly 50 venues spread out amongst Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Bloomington where separate events will be held as adjuncts to the main convention.

With the number of venues putting on events and the vastly greater number of mainstream and independent journalist covering those events, demand for computer equipment and technical support to bring off what promises to be an intensely high-wired convention week will be prodigious. At the macro level, blue chip technology providers like Microsoft, which is the RNC’s official technology provider, Qwest Communications and Google, the RNC’s official innovation provider, have already begun preparations in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. At the micro level, computer rental and rental equipment providers are ramping up to fill the demand for the computer hardware, peripherals and A/V equipment that will be required at the auxiliary venues and events away from the main convention site.

The demand for bandwidth is likely to be atrocious. The COA has arranged for USTREAM.TV to stream live coverage of the RNC from the convention site and for ShadowTV to provide continuous live and archival coverage of the convention proceedings from the Xcel Center. Arrangements are also being made to stream live coverage of the convention in Spanish as well as English.

Qwest, the RNC’s official telecom provider, is putting down over 100 miles of fiber optics and copper cable to provide a gigabyte of bandwidth just to facilitate the demand for coverage of proceedings from inside the convention, while outside Verizon Wireless is anticipating a 150% increase in data transmissions over its broadband network during the convention.

Just as the demand for products and services from hotel rooms to caterers to rental cars will peak during convention week, so too will demand for the computer hardware and technical support to set up, maintain and troubleshoot the digital infrastructure underlying the convention. National firms specializing in computer rental, equipment rentals and computer support are now beginning to shift resources and prepare their logistics to handle the coming peak in demand. Preparations are being made to transfer equipment, resources and personnel from other regional centers to the Twin Cities in order to handle the demand for Minneapolis computer rentals that will be necessary to host the wide array of convention events and to bring live coverage of the G.O.P.’s festivities to the world.

About Author

For more information on Minneapolis computer rentals visit http://www.VernonComputerSource.com or call 1-800-827-0352 to let us help you determine your computer rental needs.

Tammy Duckworth: Let’s Have More Heroes Like Her

By Carol Forsloff

We need real heroes these days, not made up ones. We need heroes who keep their hero status not just in the trenches of days gone by but as a life pattern. We need heroes who are women as well as men so our children have models of both sexes doing jobs that aren’t stereotyped as male-female. I have never met Tammy Duckworth nor do I live in Illinois where she is presently running for her Congress, but I admire her and therefore am compelled by that admiration to write this article. That’s because Duckworth is the kind of model for women in politics that we need, and in fact a model for every politician today.

The title of hero has been earned by Duckworth many times. After graduating from college and looking forward to eventually receiving a Ph.D., Duckworth decided to join the military and serve her country that way. As an officer she was sent to Iraq where she was a helicopter pilot. On one of her missions in 2004 a grenade propelled by an enemy rocket hit the helicopter where she was the co-pilot. Duckworth lost both her legs in the resulting explosion. She also lost much of the use of one of her arms. For this heroism Duckwroth received both the Purple Heart and Air Medals among a number of decorations.

Following a long period of rehabilitation, Duckworth left the military service but not her dedication to her comrades, other veterans. She started a career in public service, first as an advocate for other veterans and now as the Director of Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs. In her post as Veterans Affairs Director Duckworth helped design and expand unique programs to serve veterans in mental health, employment, housing and health care.

Still that isn’t all there is to Tammy, although the reader can discern that what I’ve written already shows someone of high integrity and ability. Still Tammy is more than the sum of all this. She serves as a model for others in other ways. She speaks fluent Thai as well as Indonesian and has researched and published articles about environmental issues. In spite of the fact that Duckworth qualifies for total disability under VA guidelines, she has refused medical retirement in order to develop her life to working in public service. She has also become quite an athlete, runs marathons, does scuba diving, swims regularly and keeps a good sense of humor and upbeat attitude in the face of phantom pain, which she continues to experience, and disabilities. Rather than despairing about her condition she has embraced life and her future.

Duckworth considers the war in Iraq, and in that sense has the same concerns as Barack Obama. She has testified about veterans and the war before Congress and also spoke at the Democratic Convention about her concerns on the issues.

Today Duckworth is running for Congress opposing heavily Republican-financed Peter Roskam, a conservative Republican. Max Clelland, a double amputee of the Vietnam War, was defeated by Republicans in the State of Georgia who associated him with terrorism. The nation and the State of Illinois now has an opportunity to redeem that terrible deed by electing Tammy Duckworth as testimony to the change in how we treat those who take the responsibility to defend this country, even if they disagree with some of its missions.

These days when the patriotism of good people is challenged, it’s important to have people who rise above the petty issues and declare themselves loving human beings who embrace life itself, not just the concerns of a single country. Tammy Duckworth is evidence that an individual can meet awful challenges and be victorious. That’s the kind of hero we need these days, and let’s continue to honor these people among us and let no one ever question their dedication to duty.

Duckworth is the kind of young woman we should all want in politics and for our young people. She can’t stand up and smile on two strong legs into the camera like Sarah Palin, but she speaks in loving tones with an open heart about new beginnings and looks to a second chance today and tomorrow. That’s a good message for all of us who worry about our finances, our futures, our physical problems and our needs. Duckworth is truly a model for all of us, men, women, politicians, citizens and the children today and in the future.

About Author

Carol Forsloff is a professional journalist/editor/publisher who has written extensively and has several books in print, one of which is Sarah Palin: Hot Ticket to Nowhere, and the companion title Sarah Palin, the Issues Through Her Prism are available at Amazon.com and ready for download at http://www.sarahpalinsecretlife.com and http://www.thehouseofaloha.com/Books.html. The online edition of her paper is http://www.therealviews.com, her blog coffeewithcarol.blogspot.com. Stop by and read Carol’s advice from her diverse background as teacher, counselor and journalist over four decades.

I’m ready for something other than a Donkey or an Elephant. What would be a Michael Bloomberg, 3rd party, symbol anyway? Does he need one? The bottom line is that we know all too well how the four leading candidates for the two positions fare in the public eye. Each of the four candidates left standing are just too predictable and only one (Obama) seems to have any chance at uniting the masses.

The Republicans go through the primary season letting whomever wins the majority of the votes, get the spoils. The Democrats go through the priamry season spending tens of millions of dollars only to allow all that to be offset by the Super Delegates who are back room play-makers, and political croonies that can flaunt the will of the people and do whatever they please.

The Democrats are split on demographic lines, between blacks and Latinos, old and young, upscale and downscale. The Republicans are split over attitudinal lines: conservatives vs. liberals. Huckabee caters to the fundamentalist-evangelical crowd. McCain caters to the patriotic and war-oriented. Hillary caters to the “establishment”- the down-n-dirty let’s win at any cost crowd. Obama caters to those that are tired of business as usual.

What would Bloomberg bring to the table?

Harold Ickes was all for kicking Florida and Michigan out of having any delegates (9 months ago). Now that his candidate is behind (Hilalry), he wants them in. It’s hard to find any integrity in politics. The current rules came out of the 1988 contest, in which Jesse Jackson felt his voters were underrepresented. The problem is that the contest between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has been so close that neither has built a significant lead — or is likely to do so in the contests still to come.

You can hear the cries now, echoing the Florida controversy of 2000. “Count every vote” will be Clinton’s cry — the argument Al Gore’s forces made. “Don’t change the rules after the game is played” will be Obama’s cry — the argument of the Republican lawyers. The Florida fiasco polarized the nation because the arguments that each side made were in line with its basic ideas of fairness. A brokered democratic convention is just what this nation needs. NOT!

Are we ready to do this all over again?

Obama fans will see this as an attempt to steal the nomination from the people’s choice. Clinton fans will argue that denying representation to the nation’s fourth and eighth largest states, both closely divided in the last two elections, would be political suicide. The Democrats’ determination to design a system all their constituencies would consider fair threatens to produce a confrontation whose result, whatever it is, will be bitterly regarded by large and important party constituencies as profoundly unfair.

Ah the best laid plans of mice and men, donkeys and elephants, Democrats and Republicans!

About Author

ernie@lrchouston.com

Watching the Democratic convetion there’s a sense of deja vu, like haven’t we been here before? And the answer is YES and the answer is NO. How many times around the mountain did the Hebrews have to go, how many wasted years out there in the desert looking for the Promise Land that wasn’t all that far off. But, while the Democratic Convention has many past memories, there’s some new stuff there.  

It’s been said that if we don’t learn about and from history, we will commit the same mistakes until we do learn from those leassons. Life is a matter of going round and round because we seem to learn very slowly. Look at how many times you’ve repented of the same thing, year after year.

The good news is that though we’re making the rounds again, we’re doing it from a higher point of view. The circle is also a spiral (upwards). Though I must admit that some are spiraling- downwards!  

And this is what was at the heart of the Mayan time machine, the long count calendar. Daniel Pinchbeck wrote, “The center of the Mayan worldview was a vision of vast cycles or cosmic spirals of time, embodied and expressed by a seething pantheon of extravagant dieties, hero twins, and major monsters“. Translation of tongues would be?  

If one will take the time to view history in a broad time capsule, you can see how each religious system has built on top of another. As man’s consciousness has grown, we’ve stood on the shoulders of past cultures and savants. With their insight, and they had much, we get a different view than if we stand only in our shoes, or even if we take our shoes off and stand on holy ground.

How much progress are you making each year- in your spiral of life?

About Author

As a spiritual-futurist my commentaries and articles deal primarily with an interpretation of current events in light of macro-universal forces at play.