Edoardo Ongaro

Public management reform in Italy: explaining the implementation gap

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to outline the sets of factors influential on the implementation of public management reform in the politico‐administrative context of Italy.Design/methodology/approach – Provides a combination of different research designs, multiple case studies on regional governments.Findings – Some broad sets of factors affecting implementation of public management reform have been identified They include: characteristics of the administrative tradition and features of the politico‐administrative context; the design of the reform package and the coalition of interests sustaining the reform; behavioural triggers; and the building over the time of management capacity at the level of individual public sector organisations.Research limitations/implications – Research limitations include the availability of empirical evidence given the width of the phenomenon under investigation, as well as the broader caveats that apply to researching vast and complex problems like those concerning manag...

Public Management Reform and Modernization

Since the 1980s, a wave of reforms of public management has swept the world. The investigation into the effects of such major transformations has, however, been unbalanced: important countries have received only limited attention. This timely book fills the gap by investigating the dynamics of contemporary public management reform in five European countries that gave shape to the Napoleonic administrative tradition – France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain.

Process management in the public sector

Process management is a managerial approach characterised by the focus on business processes that can provide an important contribution to the management of public sector organisations. The significance of this approach for the management of inter‐organisational relations in the public sector is highlighted. A model for the analysis of the factors enabling the implementation of process management in the public sector is proposed. The Italian experience of the one‐stop shops for businesses is studied; the relevance of process management approaches for the success of this reform is shown. Implications for public managers at all levels of government are discussed.

Introduction: the reform of public management in France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain

Purpose – This paper aims to outline the contents of the special issue on public management reform in countries in the Napoleonic administrative tradition, discussing alternative explanatory frameworks, and proposing paths for future research.Design/methodology/approach – This article provides reviews of the papers in the special issue.Findings – Some broad sets of factor affecting implementation of public management reform in Napoleonic countries are outlined, schematised in a specific table, and discussed in the light of potential alternative frameworks, like cultural analysis.Research limitations/implications – Research limitations include the availability of empirical evidence given the width of the phenomenon under investigation (public management reform in five countries). Implications for the development of a broader comparative research agenda on countries in the Napoleonic administrative tradition (and others) are proposed.Originality/value – The special issue, of which this paper provides an ove...

Disaggregation, autonomy and re-regulation, contractualism

Abstract The spread of semi-autonomous organizations for the execution of public functions has attracted academic interest. There seem to be two main research agendas, one investigating broad issues of autonomy and control of Non-Departmental Public Bodies, another one focused on the narrower phenomenon of executive agencies. Especially the latter may benefit from the operationalization of commonly used concepts like: disaggregation, autonomy and re-regulation, contractualism. The article adopts an analytical framework based on these concepts to investigate executive agencies in Italy. Findings of interest for the international scholarly debate include: the limitations to the consideration of contractualism as an autonomous unit of analysis; the influence of the politico-administrative context on the actual utilization of performance contracting; the (apparently limited) role of re-regulation, and its sensitivity to the context; the importance of considering a wide range of factors in a combined way in explaining agency form; the consideration that ‘modern’ agencies are varied and not standardized solutions; the limitations that apply to the use of the so-called ‘tripod’ model of agency.

NPM, administrative reforms and public service motivation: Improving the dialogue between research agendas

This article makes use of the Italian case of administrative reform to investigate the changes in the public service motivation (PSM) of public employees and managers after two decades of new public management (NPM)-inspired reforms. It emerges that NPM reforms may be associated with a reduction of the stock of PSM; however, important qualifications apply. By providing so far entirely unavailable evidence about PSM in both the public and the private/commercial sectors in Italy, the article also contributes the empirical bases for the development of comparative research on the interrelation between trajectories of administrative reform and changes in the drivers of motivation of public servants. Points for practitioners Public management reforms may have an effect in terms of accretion or depletion of public service motivation (PSM), in its turn likely to be conducive to improved performance of the public sector. Policymakers should include in the design and evaluation of public sector reforms the potential impacts on the drivers of the motivation of public servants. PSM is also a factor that may be profoundly influential on the dynamics of reform processes, to be systematically considered by reformers in different jurisdictions.

The Napoleonic Administrative Tradition and Public Management Reform in France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain

This chapter investigates contemporary features of the inherited Napoleonic tradition in five countries — France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain — and analyses its influence on the dynamics of public management reforms. The first part of the chapter outlines in more detail than was attempted in Chapter 2 the main features of this administrative tradition, while also giving an account of the extent to which there is variation among the countries within the family. One question posed is whether these five contemporary states are showing any signs of ‘drift’ or departure from this tradition in recent times. The analysis section follows the fourfold clustering of variables set out in the introductory chapter as a means of identifying the main features of an administrative tradition, namely: the relationship of state to society; the relationship of the public bureaucracy to other state institutions; the relative importance attached to law and management; and the extent to which accountability depends on law as the primary mechanism for controlling bureaucracy. Later sections review recent reforms and ask questions about the impact of tradition on these reforms.

Governance and intergovernmental relations in the European Union and the United States

This book represents a major attempt to draw together two fundamental streams of research; Intergovernmental Relations and Multi-Level governance. Combining US and European schools of thought, this timely volume outlines key areas of convergence and divergence. IGR concerns interactions within the public sector and is traditionally favoured in America, whereas MLG is more pertinent to the crossroads of the vertical (intergovernmental) and horizontal (state-society) dimensions and is considered foremost a European approach. The principal objective of this book is to bridge the gap between academic communities on either side of the Atlantic. Prominent scholars have gathered together for this volume and their various contributions, both individually and as a whole, provide a fresh and novel perspective on IGR and MLG and their interconnections. This innovative book will be of particular appeal to scholars and students of political science in America, Europe and beyond as well as practitioners in US and EU governments. The companion volume Policy, Performance and Management in Governance and Intergovernmental Relations is also available from Edward Elgar Publishing.

A Common Trend, Different Houses: Devolution in Italy, Spain and the UK

The dynamics of the implementation process of devolution reforms differ significantly from country to country. Part of the explanation for this lies in the differences in the politico-administrative system and the status of public management reforms. Factors affecting devolution are examined in this article. Implications for policy-makers and public managers, especially regarding the policy transfer of devolution reforms, are discussed.

Strategic management in public services organizations : concepts, schools and contemporary issues

Strategic Management and Public Service Organizations sets out to connect two traditionally disparate academic literatures: those on strategic management and on public management reforming. This is an important gap which is filled by this strongly research-connected text. The authors argue that the strategic management field is of increasing importance to public managers internationally, given continuing and important reforms in the public sector. This initial observation has important consequences for the requisite work practices, skills and knowledge bases of current public managers, as they will be increasingly asked to act as strategic as well as operational managers. The book critically discusses long run public management reform processes including the New Public Management reform wave but also further and relevant non- or post-NPM reform processes and how they increase the ‘strategic space’ in which decentralised public sector organisations that influence policy or deliver key services now operate.