New public management and the conceptual upheaval of human resource management ; Naujoji viešoji vadyba ir konceptualus žmogiškųjų išteklių valdymo virsmas

Abstract

During the last decades of the 20th century most world states, Lithuania being one of them, started different reforms of a public sector that were aimed at transforming M.Weber's described ideal, legislative and rational bureaucracy and increasing the effectiveness of public institutions and their activity. According to the theorists of these reforms (Osborne, Gaebler, 1992; Hughes, 1998; Pollitt, Bouckaert, 2003), inflexible, centralized bureaucracies developed during industrial periods have become ineffective and unproductive; moreover, they cannot function effectively and successfully in a rapidly changing knowledge society and economy. Thus, they should be changed into more flexible, result oriented, modern management models developing the partnership of public and private sectors (Skietrys, Raipa, Bartkus, 2008). This aspiration is the main stimulus to turn to a business sector under the market conditions and to base on New Public Management (NPM) modernizing the structures of administration culture taking into account the challenges of the time under consideration. NPM ideas and their introduction are directly linked with human resources (HR) of public institutions. HR is the main and most valuable asset that is managed by the institutions of a public sector. Activity effectiveness depends on it. According to M. Armstrong (2006), human resource management (HRM) is a strategic, complex approach to the most important aspect of an organization, i.e. to people who individually and collectively support the realization of organizational objectives. This approach explains the fact that HR is the main factor of any changes having its culture and aspirations that can stimulate or hinder changes related to the change from public administration (PA) to NPM. [.]