The principles of New Public Management (NPM) focus on applying private sector management approaches to the public sector to enhance performance.
New Public Management (NPM) is an approach designed to implement private sector styles of management in the public sector. The primary aims of this approach are to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and facilitate cost-cutting in public services.
Based on this approach, the core principles emphasized by NPM include:
- Decentralization: Shifting decision-making authority from central government bodies to lower levels or individual agencies. This allows for greater autonomy and responsiveness.
- Flexibility: Introducing more adaptable processes and structures compared to traditional rigid bureaucratic systems, enabling public organizations to respond faster to changing needs.
- Transparency: Increasing openness and accountability in public sector operations, often through performance reporting and clear public access to information.
- Privatization: Transferring ownership or control of state-owned enterprises and public services to the private sector, based on the belief that private firms can operate more efficiently.
- Market-oriented reforms: Introducing market mechanisms, competition, and contractual relationships within the public sector or between public and private entities to stimulate performance improvement.
These principles collectively aim to create a public sector that is more customer-focused, results-oriented, and cost-conscious, mirroring successful practices found in the private business world.
