Role of New Public Management Practices in Service Delivery in the Public Sector: Case of the State Department of Public Works - Kenya
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Date
2021
Authors
Endeki, Duncan Ndeda
Minja, David
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IAJAH
Abstract
In democratic systems, citizens are
becoming more conscious of their rights,
and they are increasingly demanding
public sector organizations to be more
efficient in the delivery of services. As
such, there is a demand for public
organizations to be more agile and
responsive to consumer needs. One of the
doctrines that are pivotal in promoting the
idea of increasing public sector efficiency
is the New Public Management (NPM)
theory as developed countries such as
United Kingdom, New Zealand, and the
United States have tested the model
successfully in their civil service. The
theory propounds that public sector
organizations can improve their
productivity if they adopted market and
economic principles just like the private
sector when it comes to offering public
sector services. In that regard, the purpose
of this study was to investigate whether the
marketization of public services using the
New Public Management model in the
State Department of Public Works can
increase public sector efficiency.
Therefore, the researcher investigated
whether decentralization of public
services, demand for accountability, and
citizen satisfaction, which are the central
tenets of the NPM model, have a causal
relationship with public sector efficiency.
To attain this goal, the researcher used a
descriptive research design to establish the
causal relationship. Besides, the researcher
utilized a sample of 242 respondents
sampled purposively and nonprobabilistically from a possible 643
employees of the State Department of
Public Works. The findings of the study
were palpable in demonstrating the
intersectionality between public sector
efficiency and the three predictor
variables—demand for accountability,
citizen satisfaction, and decentralization of
services. The regression analysis yielded
the following result: R(240) = 0.786,
p<0.05, R2 0.618. These results depict that
the correlation between efficiency in
public sector service delivery in the SDPW
and the predictor variables was strong and
positive, bearing a Pearson correlation
coefficient of 0.786. More importantly, the
causality between the predicted and
predictor variables was 0.618, as
illustrated by the coefficient of
determination (R2). Notably, a coefficient
of determination of 0.618 indicated that
61.8% of the variance could be explained
by the three predictor variables. These
results were statistically significant as the
p-value for the ANOVA test was less than
0.05 for model fitness and predictive
value. The researcher, therefore, concluded
that demand for accountability, citizen
satisfaction, and decentralization of
services were strong constructs in
explaining public sector efficiency as
proposed by the New Public Management
theory. As such, it is plausible to
generalize the view that marketization of
the public sector, especially in developing
countries, can bolster the delivery of
public services.
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Citation
Endeki, D. N., & Minja, D. (2021). Role of new public management practices in service delivery in the public sector: case of the state department of public works-Kenya. International Academic Journal of Arts and Humanities, 1(2), 188-209.