THE NEW PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 59
“entrepreneurial” federal agencies to assess the needs of customers, to set
standards for the delivery of services, and to take those steps necessary to
meet those standards. Similar language and approaches were taken at the
state and local level, as governments and their agencies sought to “reinvent”
themselves as customer-driven operations. In other countries, comparable
efforts were undertaken, actually in many cases predating the United States’
efforts in this regard. The British “Citizen’s Charter” movement set minimum
standards of service, backed by ministerial authority, and in some cases even
provided redress when those standards were not met. Similar efforts were
undertaken in other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, France,
and Belgium.