Some people may interchange the term ‘public management’ with ‘public administration’, but they are actually two different fields in relation with the adoption and implementation of public policy, as well as the delivery of public service.
In particular, public management is a sub-discipline of public administration, focusing primarily on carrying out managerial activities of public sector organisations.
Public management professionals strive to enhance the quality and efficiency of services provided to the public by government agencies and departments by way of interpreting public policies and programmes that are established and coordinated by public administrators.
These professionals operate within the workflow of either the internal or external management of public sector organisations.
Within the organisation, they are required to understand ways of managing risks and changes by keeping up to speed with the latest development on any societal condition that can affect the organisation’s capability to function effectively.
Doing so enables them to undertake preventive and proactive measures to minimise identified risks and equip public service employees with the necessary knowledge and skills to adapt to the potential instability that the aforementioned condition can cause in the organisation.
Outside the organisation, public management professionals take the initiative to establish collaborations with the private sector to adopt and implement public policies.
Here, they work alongside private sector companies and even other public sector organisations to ensure effective and efficient implementation of public programmes.
They achieve this by performing various tasks, including coordinating public service employees to partake in certain projects or assisting targeted communities to secure funding required to carry out public programmes.
It is important to take note of the difference between public management and public administration. While public administrators develop policies and establish guidelines on implementing them, public managers looks at how public service employees should achieve the goals of these policies.
Additionally, public managers utilise a hands-on approach when introducing public policies and programmes; in contrast, public administrators have control over the rules, regulations and hierarchy influencing the institution of these policies.
Yet, these two types of professionals and their effectiveness in carrying out their roles are essential and complementary in ensuring the success of any public policy that aims to enhance the lives of citizens.
Furthermore, they possess similar knowledge and skills such as public finance, leadership, strategic thinking, interpersonal communication and lifelong learning.
Most importantly, they are key in addressing challenges facing public policy and management:
- The potential impact brought about by austerity, in terms of how it could compound social and economic problems and decrease available resources to tackle them simultaneously.
- Globalisation, i.e. international, national and local problems are interconnected to a greater extent, leading to larger implications affecting governments.
- Challenges resulting from digital technology, which demands the need to reshape relationships between governments and their citizens.
- The changing dynamics of organisational boundaries, meaning that collaboration across sectors – public, private, non-governmental, civil society, etc. – are becoming more vital than ever, with no room for a ‘silo mentality’.
