PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT REFORM IN THE LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC: A CASE OF THE MINISTRY OF PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSPORT
Keywords:
New Public Management, Public Sector Management Reform, Ministry of Public Works and TransportAbstract
This study aimed to examine the application of NPM concept in public sector management reform in Laos through a case study of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT), to seek to know the way and challenges of using NPM in the reform. This study was conducted by the qualitative research method collecting data by interviewing 10 government officials and learning from the public documents from the past to present. The data were analyzed by seeking its essence.
The research findings were found that the Lao PDR has adopted a NPM approach to public sector management reform involving processes such as organization downsizing, organizational restructure, and a shift to greater competition in public service. These concepts were applied in the MPWT. However, the NPM principle was not used in its entirety but was adapted and adopted by considering the situation and systems of the ministry and political views. At the same time, there are some challenges in applying this NPM concept to Laos’ public sector management concerning the administrative systems, economic and social conditions, including the lack of a budget for reformation. The complicate in the organizational style and the capacity of human resources make it difficult to change, This can cause slowness in public sector reform in Laos, including in the MPWT.
References
Hood, C. (1991). A public management for all seasons?. London: Royal Institute of Public Administration.
Hughes, O. E. (2012). Public managment and administration: An introduction. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kattiyasack, S. (2018). Result of Work Implementation in 2017-2018 and Direction of 2019-2020 of MPWT. Vientiane Capital: Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
Ministry of Finance (2020). Focused measures of Laos government to save public expenditure in 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from http://www.mof.gov.la/index.php/2020/22/03/2021-laiymarttakarn/
Ministry of Public Works and Transport. (2006). Development plan of ICT. Vientiane Capital: The Ministry.
_______. (2015). Five Year Development Plan (2016-2020) of Public Works and Transport Sector. Vientiane Capital: The Ministry
_______. (2019). Instruction No. 05949/PWT.CO on Regulation Enformcement for Management of Investment Permission in Public Works and Transport Sector. Vientiane Capital: The Ministry.
O'Neill, A. (2021). Gross domestic product of the ASEAN countries from 2010 to 2020. Statista, Retrieved April 1, 2021, from https://www.statista.com/statistic/796245/gdp-of-the-asean-countries
Onxayvieng, C. & Tan, S. (2015). Public personnel administration reform: effect on civil service management and innovation in Lao PDR. International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE), 19.
Pfiffner, J. P. (2004). In Benz, H. S. & Sommermann, K. P. (Eds). Traditional Public Administration versus The New Public Management: Accountability versus Efficiency. (pp.443-454). Berlin: Institutionen bildung in Regierung und Verwaltung: Festschrift fur Klaus Konig.
Slater, R. & Keoka, K. (2012). Trend in the Governance Sector of the Lao PDR. Vientiane Capital: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
The World Bank. (2014). Water Supply and Sanitation in Lao PDR: Turning Finance into Service for the Future. Lao PDR: The World Bank.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Journal of MCU Social Science Review
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
In order to conform the copyright law, all article authors must sign the consignment agreement to transfer the copyright to the Journal including the finally revised original articles. Besides, the article authors must declare that the articles will be printed in only the Journal of MCU Journal of Social Sciences. If there are pictures, tables or contents that were printed before, the article authors must receive permission from the authors in writing and show the evidence to the editor before the article is printed. If it does not conform to the set criteria, the editor will remove the article from the Journal without any exceptions.
