Eficiency în Public Administration

Since independence, the Malaysian public service has been entrusted with the in task of socioeconomic development and nation-building. To ensure success a series of administrative reforms or modernization efforts in the public service were undertaken.

Each reform effort can be seen as a product of environmental factors (particularly economic conditions and societal demands) and the developmental policies and objectives of the Government. The administrative reforms introduced since independence can be classified into the following focus areas,

namely:

(a) Structural changes;

(b) Improved productivity and delivery of services;

(c) Office automation and information systems technology for the public sector;

(d) Measuring efficiency and effectiveness;

(e) Improving performance reporting in the public sector;

(f) Total quality management;

(g) Attitude and behavioural changes;

(h) Strengthening statistical capacity;

(i) District administration.

Upon independence, the Government inherited the administrative machinery left by the British. The primary orientation of the colonial bureaucracy was towards the maintenance of law and order, revenue-collection and a restricted developmental role. Known as the maintenance administration phase, it covered the pre- and post-independence period (1950s and 1960s).

The major impetus for change, however, was provided by the Esman-Montgomery report to the Malaysian Government of 1966, which recommended major changes in public administration, education and training. The report represented a milestone in Malaysian administrative reforms because it led to a change in approach and philosophy that resulted in a shift from maintenance administration to development administration. The primary message of the report was that the administrative system must focus on change and that civil servants must become the key agents of change. The primary role envisaged for the public sector was the promotion of development and institution building.

The Malaysian economy was characterized by high growth in the 1960s, and the Government's plan to provide a wider range of goods and services to the populace required the creation of new institutions and the streamlining of others. The creation of new organizational structures as instruments of development must be seen as a major reform effort, albeit at a structural level, to provide new and expanded services. With the formation of Malaysia in 1963, the focus on institution building and development administration became even more fervent as the Government embarked on more development projects to ensure the success of the new political entity.

There was a need for a civil service that could deliver more effectively and efficiently the new and expanded services and implement socio-economic development programmes. Based on the recommendation of the Esman-Montgomery report, the Government established the Development Administration Unit (DAU) within the Prime Minister's department to reorient the public sector in its operational style and thinking - and to focus on development rather than solely on maintenance functions. The Unit was established as a centre for reform efforts and was charged with identifying and implementing administrative improvements in the public service. Since its establishment, the Unit has conducted a number of important studies on organizational structures, processes and procedures and has made a series of recommendations to bring about

administrative changes in the public service.