Management Tools For Creating Government Responsiveness.pdf

Management Tools For Creating Government Responsiveness: The Liquor Control Board of Ontario as a Context for Creating Change By Rosemary McInerney and David Barrows Introduction New approaches to management in the public sector are imperative as governments enter the new millennium. Market dynamics have created challenges for public organizations, with the emergence of the global economy, advances in technology, increased societal demands, and the need to provide more social services with fewer 1 resources. As well, a widespread desire for increased organizational scrutiny has increased the pressure for change, given more accessible globalized information systems and heightened media attention critical of government inefficiencies in service delivery. Response mechanisms have emerged within the private market to meet these recent challenges but government organizations have been slower to respond. This is understandable, given fiscal constraints and the bureaucratic process axiomatic to governments. However, a new approach, which incorporates modern strategic management tools, is necessary for the public sector to achieve improved performance and overall service quality. While current public policy models have certainly started to reflect a shift away from traditional thinking about organizational design and public management, a systematic process for creating and sustaining improved performance that reflects changes in the environment is clearly absent. Evidence does exist to suggest change is affecting the public sector, and this change is manifest in the metamorphosing structures and processes of many public organizations. It is within this context that this case study is presented. The guiding principles in any strategic management process, whether in the public or private sector, are about understanding what changes are nee