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Introduces an edited collection of papers concerning the impact of New Public Management (NPM) reforms on the government systems of developing countries. NPM reforms, with their emphasis on entrepreneurial dynamics, reinstatement of market forces for providing public services, & transformation of managerial behavior, are being internationalized to countries with developing or changing economies. The methods of transferring the NPM reform model, its total acceptance or adaptation to local conditions, & the end results are part of the public management debate. The introduction contains a brief synopsis of the work of each contributor; many were advisers to the Presidential Commission on the Transformation of the Public Service in South Africa in 1998. Issues include privatization & regulation, civil service reform, decentralization, contracting & market mechanisms, improved services delivery, human resources management, & information technology. 34 References. L. A. Hoffman

The implementation of the New Public Management (NPM) model by the UK & New Zealand is critically analyzed to reveal the merits & demerits of this public management reform. From the 1980s, both countries have moved toward privatization, changed the management of public expenditure, & restructured their central bureaucracies in the attempt to efficiently deliver quality public services at reduced cost. The UK, the most committed advocate of NPM, has nevertheless approached reform without a formal strategy or document, while New Zealand has approached NPM with a systematic blueprint & a more radical concept. The experiences of both France & the People's Republic of China illustrate the difficulties of developed & transitional economies in transferring the model across cultural boundaries & confirm that local political cultures are the determiners of such policy transfer outcomes. The UK experiment has received much criticism, & the author questions the validity of considering NPM a successful model. The World Bank & other donor organizations have encouraged developing countries to adopt NPM without regard for the critical literature or adverse results. 9 Tables, 81 References. L. A. Hoffman