4) The Award for service innovation.
The criteria for assessing service quality focus on both quantitative and qualitative dimensions. Quantitative criteria focus on percentages of citizens satisfied with a service, convenience for citizens getting a service, shortening of waiting times for service delivery, and numbers of public service users within a service unit per day. Qualitative criteria center on streamlining of service providing processes and their usage time, service facilitations, citizen-focused services, and promoting officers’ comprehensive knowledge related to their jobs. Since the Award was introduced in
2003, these have been continuously implemented in the Thai public sector until the present. Some evaluation criteria might be modified according to changing circumstances. From the beginning of the Award until the present, the number of services voluntarily put forward for it have increased continuously. (Office of the Public Sector Developement Commission, 2007b: 4-15)
Furthermore, since B.E. 2546 (2003) OPDC have considered strategies and guidelines to develop adherence by public officials to a core set of values, grouped under the acronym “I AM READY” – Integrity, Activeness, Morality, Relevancy, Efficiency, Accountability, Democracy, and Yield, with the aim to facilitate change in cultural norms, values, and attitudes of public officials to bring about more effective performance in the public sector, improvement of work methods, a focus on honesty, diligence, patience, responsibility, and determination to achieve desired results (Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, 2003: 117). In addition, the change in cultural norms, values, and attitudes of public officials, and the change management developments for public sector administrators have been considered as well. Public sector administrators have also been trained to be change leaders, able to effectively manage change, and to create change management innovation in their organizations. The “Blue Print for Change” has been formed as a guide for change management in government authorities. Efficiency improvement, quality development, and strengthening government officials’ competencies were proposals of the Blue print for Change.
Under the principles and intentions of The Royal Decree on Criteria and Procedures for Good Governance B.E. 2546 (2003) to create responsive public administration with citizens at the center of government activities, the OPDC
published the New Public Management Techniques and Methods Handbook: Citizen- centered Approach to Public Administration in B.E. 2549 (2006), which has been used as an operational handbook for responding to and satisfying the needs and wants of citizens. This handbook proposes a paradigm shift in public service. Traditional public services that prioritize the input permeated with rules and regulations in order to guarantee the legitimacy, accuracy, and equitability of public services have been transformed to objective achievement, output, outcome, and value for money of public services, including service quality and customer satisfaction. The handbook describes five procedures of Citizen-centered public service which are customer and stakeholder identification, public service identification, customers’ or stakeholders’ needs and wants surveys, administrative resource identification, and public service quality improvement. (Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, 2006c)
Furthermore, along with the Thai Public Sector Development Strategy B.E. 2546-2550 (2003-2007), it requires all government agencies to transform their working processes and procedures. The OPDC with the cooperation of the Thailand Productivity Institute has designed and implemented the Public Sector Management Quality Award (PMQA) – based on the Malcolm Baldridge National Award. The three objectives of PMQA are to enhance the working ability of government agencies in line with the Royal Decree on Criteria and Procedures for Good Governance B.E. 2546 (2003), to enhance working abilities corresponding with international working quality standards, and create a framework for evaluating and following up the quality of public administration and administrative performance of government agencies. (Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, 2006a: 3-6)
PMQA itself is based upon a rigorous set of criteria, the so called “Criteria for Performance Excellence”, which consist of seven categories. One of those categories that directly relates to this area of study is “Category 3 – Customer and Market Focus” which examines how an organization determines requirements, expectations, and preferences of customers and markets, and how the organization builds relationships with customers and determines the key factors that lead to customer acquisition, satisfaction, loyalty and retention, and to business expansion. (Evans,
2005: 63-65)
In conclusion, from the past until the present the Thai public sector has made efforts to reform the bureaucratic system, by many means, in different periods of time, and in diverse situations. The reform in the past aimed to rule, control, and maintain the ruler’s power rather than to provide citizens fundamental public services. The basic format of the Thai political system, its form of government, and public administration system was originally copied from that of India which was long established, and also influenced the normal life of Thais and society. The status of people depended on their class which is an example of feudalism in Thai society. The implementation of centralization has harmonized with Thais’ way of life and society. This can be seen today in Thai society, especially in rural areas of the country. Throughout the past the Thai bureaucratic system and public administration, bureaucratic culture and top-down courses of action have been widely accepted by civil officers. Public services have been provided by the government’s needs, not by citizens’.
During the past couple decades, the Thai bureaucratic paradigm has been changed by the influence of good governance, NPM, and the utilization of private sector management tools. Public services have been provided not only for government’s necessities but also citizens’ wants and needs. Public service users are customers and citizens of the state rather than clients or constituents who always need government support. Citizen-centered government has been the new paradigm of government officials and public administration, instead of the traditional bureaucratic system.
However, the performance of the public sector has not been widely studied. The application of NPM and Marketing in the Thai bureaucratic system has not led to sufficient responsiveness to citizens’ requirements. There are not many systematic or academic studies on theories and practices relating to NPM and Marketing. This study attempts to fill this gap.
4) The Award for service innovation.
The criteria for assessing service quality focus on both quantitative and qualitative dimensions. Quantitative criteria focus on percentages of citizens satisfied with a service, convenience for citizens getting a service, shortening of waiting times for service delivery, and numbers of public service users within a service unit per day. Qualitative criteria center on streamlining of service providing processes and their usage time, service facilitations, citizen-focused services, and promoting officers’ comprehensive knowledge related to their jobs. Since the Award was introduced in
2003, these have been continuously implemented in the Thai public sector until the present. Some evaluation criteria might be modified according to changing circumstances. From the beginning of the Award until the present, the number of services voluntarily put forward for it have increased continuously. (Office of the Public Sector Developement Commission, 2007b: 4-15)
Furthermore, since B.E. 2546 (2003) OPDC have considered strategies and guidelines to develop adherence by public officials to a core set of values, grouped under the acronym “I AM READY” – Integrity, Activeness, Morality, Relevancy, Efficiency, Accountability, Democracy, and Yield, with the aim to facilitate change in cultural norms, values, and attitudes of public officials to bring about more effective performance in the public sector, improvement of work methods, a focus on honesty, diligence, patience, responsibility, and determination to achieve desired results (Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, 2003: 117). In addition, the change in cultural norms, values, and attitudes of public officials, and the change management developments for public sector administrators have been considered as well. Public sector administrators have also been trained to be change leaders, able to effectively manage change, and to create change management innovation in their organizations. The “Blue Print for Change” has been formed as a guide for change management in government authorities. Efficiency improvement, quality development, and strengthening government officials’ competencies were proposals of the Blue print for Change.
Under the principles and intentions of The Royal Decree on Criteria and Procedures for Good Governance B.E. 2546 (2003) to create responsive public administration with citizens at the center of government activities, the OPDC
published the New Public Management Techniques and Methods Handbook: Citizen- centered Approach to Public Administration in B.E. 2549 (2006), which has been used as an operational handbook for responding to and satisfying the needs and wants of citizens. This handbook proposes a paradigm shift in public service. Traditional public services that prioritize the input permeated with rules and regulations in order to guarantee the legitimacy, accuracy, and equitability of public services have been transformed to objective achievement, output, outcome, and value for money of public services, including service quality and customer satisfaction. The handbook describes five procedures of Citizen-centered public service which are customer and stakeholder identification, public service identification, customers’ or stakeholders’ needs and wants surveys, administrative resource identification, and public service quality improvement. (Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, 2006c)
Furthermore, along with the Thai Public Sector Development Strategy B.E. 2546-2550 (2003-2007), it requires all government agencies to transform their working processes and procedures. The OPDC with the cooperation of the Thailand Productivity Institute has designed and implemented the Public Sector Management Quality Award (PMQA) – based on the Malcolm Baldridge National Award. The three objectives of PMQA are to enhance the working ability of government agencies in line with the Royal Decree on Criteria and Procedures for Good Governance B.E. 2546 (2003), to enhance working abilities corresponding with international working quality standards, and create a framework for evaluating and following up the quality of public administration and administrative performance of government agencies. (Office of the Public Sector Development Commission, 2006a: 3-6)
PMQA itself is based upon a rigorous set of criteria, the so called “Criteria for Performance Excellence”, which consist of seven categories. One of those categories that directly relates to this area of study is “Category 3 – Customer and Market Focus” which examines how an organization determines requirements, expectations, and preferences of customers and markets, and how the organization builds relationships with customers and determines the key factors that lead to customer acquisition, satisfaction, loyalty and retention, and to business expansion. (Evans,
2005: 63-65)
In conclusion, from the past until the present the Thai public sector has made efforts to reform the bureaucratic system, by many means, in different periods of time, and in diverse situations. The reform in the past aimed to rule, control, and maintain the ruler’s power rather than to provide citizens fundamental public services. The basic format of the Thai political system, its form of government, and public administration system was originally copied from that of India which was long established, and also influenced the normal life of Thais and society. The status of people depended on their class which is an example of feudalism in Thai society. The implementation of centralization has harmonized with Thais’ way of life and society. This can be seen today in Thai society, especially in rural areas of the country. Throughout the past the Thai bureaucratic system and public administration, bureaucratic culture and top-down courses of action have been widely accepted by civil officers. Public services have been provided by the government’s needs, not by citizens’.
During the past couple decades, the Thai bureaucratic paradigm has been changed by the influence of good governance, NPM, and the utilization of private sector management tools. Public services have been provided not only for government’s necessities but also citizens’ wants and needs. Public service users are customers and citizens of the state rather than clients or constituents who always need government support. Citizen-centered government has been the new paradigm of government officials and public administration, instead of the traditional bureaucratic system.
However, the performance of the public sector has not been widely studied. The application of NPM and Marketing in the Thai bureaucratic system has not led to sufficient responsiveness to citizens’ requirements. There are not many systematic or academic studies on theories and practices relating to NPM and Marketing. This study attempts to fill this gap.
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