Public Services Management - Essay Example

Organisational culture shapes the different procedures within the organisation and serves to either obstruct effective goal attainment and problem-solving or facilitates achievement of objectives (Yilmaz and Ergun 2008). Differences in organisational culture in the public sector versus the private sector are substantial. The public sector is largely characterised by having bureaucratic management systems with a much higher emphasis on establishing control and compliance systems than building flexibility.

In the private sector, there is much more emphasis on human relations and human resources, hence employees are engaged and consulted in much higher frequency than in public organisations. This essay describes the disparities between public sector culture and commercial businesses, with an emphasis on bureaucracy, internal talent collaboration, motivational strategy development, and the quality of leader/member exchanges. Research indicates that there are significant differences between private and public sector organisational cultures and, as a result, this disparity creates a variety of negative consequences related to contemporary public service management.

Historically, the public sector in the United Kingdom has been dominated with bureaucratic management systems whereby decision-making is highly centralised and there is little to no consultation with employees in the process of solving organisational problems. However, in response to changing external conditions and new privatisation of public services, it was becoming recognised by public sector administrators that there was a need for decentralisation in order to build a more motivated, committed and collaborative team environment.

Known as New Public Management, the goal was to improve managerial accountability, break down the hindrances of consensus management, and generally incorporate some of the more effective and foundational management ideologies used in