J.L.M. Hakvoort

Public–private transformations. Institutional shifts, cultural changes and altering identities: two case studies

The central question of this article is which changes in cultural orientation arise during institutional transformation within public–private hybrid organizations. The article presents a theoretical review, using the Dutch interaction model, in which various models of institutional transformation and cultural change are brought up. We present two case studies which are part of an inter–university study of hybridization and processes of privatization.

Public Governance in Europe: A Historical- Institutional Tour D’Horizon

This chapter presents an international and historical overview of various types of states, administrations and ways of public governance in different European countries and the United States. The aim is to broaden the present debate about public management developments in Western administrations by placing it in an international comparative perspective, as well as a historical institutional one. The point of departure of this chapter is that the assertion that administrative reforms in Western countries converge towards one common ‘new public management’, is too simple. Indeed, managerial reforms are inevitable because of the underlying budgetary stress, but the national circumstances do matter, do exercise influence, and do differ. The main thesis of this chapter is that the institutional context of a particular state and administration is relevant for the form and content the reforms assume there, and for their success and failure. Introducing ‘public management’ reforms irrespective of the underlying institutional foundations of a country’s state and administration, is doomed to be a quickly fading fashion. Western states and administrations do differ considerably in many relevant respects. Understanding these differences requires insight in to their institutional backgrounds, and hence into the history of their state and administration. Before embarking on this tour d’horizon, let us further elaborate the main thesis.

International benchmarking of public organizations: a critical approach

The measuring and valuation of the performance of organizations in the public domain continue undiminished as focal points of public interest. Output-oriented and efficient organizations in the public sector are considered self-evident. From the start, companies in the private sector have served as examples, since it is assumed that generally in that category of business there is a good insight in the cost price of the products the organization produces, the cost structure of the organization itself, customer orientation, and so on. Translating the insights gained in the private sector for the public sector seemed more a matter of time than one of problems to be conquered in the course of this transition (Heinrich and Lynn, 2000). Unlike the production in private companies, the production of organizations in the public sector is often difficult to identify, and it is even less easy to completely express it in (financial) ratios. This may be partly explained by the circumstance that the heterogeneity of products in the public sector is greater. A different and more dominant explanation for the measuring — and valuating — problem in the public sector is formed by the various values which together determine the appreciation for what is produced. In the public domain, not only efficiency and effectiveness are concerned, but also values such as accuracy, reliability, verifiability, safety, legal equality and democratic content. That diversity of values has its effect on the day-to-day internal management of public organizations.