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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

THE NEED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

Administrative reform is embarked upon with the belief

that administrative deficiencies might be responsible for

the malfunctioning of agencies in Public Administration.

When these malfunctions are not correcting themselves

then reforms as interventions are embarked upon to

correct them. In this sense administrative reforms are

man-made, deliberate, planned and induced. Various

factors within an administrative set up may cause

dissatisfaction which might necessitate administrative

reforms.

One of these is when an organization’s performance fails

to meet organizational needs or objectives/goals etc. e.g.

the difference between performance and goals therefore

what is and what ought to be. Failure to meet

organizational goals may be expressed in terms of

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2
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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

1. Finance

Financial resource may not be enough to meet the

organizational demands therefore the capital outlet may

need expansion in the form of more funds to enable the

organization meet its financial obligations as and when

they fall.

2. Human resource

Sometimes the skills, abilities, competence and

knowledge of human resource are not meeting the

requirement of the organization. As a result, the goals of

the organization may not be achieved and the need for

reforms arise.

3. Structural

With time the designed organizational chart fails to meet

the organizational needs and the structures become

inadequate in meeting the modern needs of the

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2
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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

organization. It therefore becomes necessary to embark

upon administrative reforms.

4. Inability to respond to future societal needs

In cases where administrative institutions might be

meeting their present stated objectives but demonstrate

an inability to respond to future societal needs reforms

become inevitable. E.g. one of the reasons for the

education sector reforms was accessibility but the

shortage of teachers makes this object self defeating.

5. Inefficiency

In some cases, the institution might be performing

(effective) but it might not be efficient in terms of cost

-including human resource utilization- and therefore not

getting value for money.

6. Inability to shoulder new responsibility

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2
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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

Additionally, the system might be meeting its original

demands but it might be ill-equipped technically to

shoulder extra responsibility. E.g. the police use old and

inefficient equipment but are meeting their original

demand of maintaining law and order. However recent

killings in crowd dispersal show that they are ill-equipped

is shoulder that responsibility.

7. International standards and environment

The international environment and its standards might

also compel a country to undertake reform measures in

its Public Administration. The international environment

provides the external environment which Public

Administration deals with. New technologies in the

international arena, new financial arrangements as well

as new ideas might lead to changes in a country’s Public

Administration.

8. Political influence and considerations

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2
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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

The dominant political view held by a national leadership

might influence the way in which Public Administration

should be transacted.

This dominant view which draws its inspiration from

ideology might not just affect administrative institutions

but society as a whole. E.g. Taleban (Afghan) believe that

women should not work in offices but be housewife etc.

THEORIES SUPPORTING ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

1.Structural functionalism

Almond, Coleman and Merton put across the view that

political and administrative systems may be compared in

terms of performance of specified functions by specified

structures. Thus the performance of these functions have

effects on other functions which impinge on the system

as a whole.

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2
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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

Relating structural functionalism to administrative

reforms, it may be said that if Administrative structures

are not performing their expected functions then there is

the need to consciously intervene to correct the anomaly.

2. Systems theory

Goodman and Davis argue that a system is an aggregate

of element interlinked by certain laws which indicate how

the elements in the system relate to one another and also

how they relate to the outside world.

This relationship is to ensure that the system performs its

functions smoothly but when a part or the whole system

is facing a crisis and cannot achieve its expected

objectives there is the need to embark upon

administrative reforms.

RATIONALE FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

Administrative reforms are embarked upon with the hope

that administrative deficiencies which create problems in

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2
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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

Public Administration will be corrected. In several cases

these deficiencies do not self-correct themselves.

STRATEGIES FOR ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

After realizing that an administrative system is not

performing to expectation and having diagnosed what is

wrong, a workable strategy has to be evolved for

handling the problem.

A strategy simply refers to the way we conceive the

reform and the way we implement it. It is therefore

possible that one or a combination of strategies might be

used in the implementation of the policy.

Factors to consider in choosing a strategy

In designing or choosing strategies for Administrative

Reforms several factors come into consideration

• Cost involved in the strategy

• Public reaction to the strategy

• Dislocations that may occur due to the strategy

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2
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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

• Cultural environment within which the strategy is

taking place

• Timing of the strategy

FORMS OF ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

Strategies may be considered from the point of view of

tempo and scope. Under the scope there can

1. Comprehensive strategies

The comprehensive or total strategy takes a holistic view

of the organization. It is an across-the-board strategy

which involves a complete overhaul of the administrative

system. This strategy is normally embarked upon when

the failings or deficiencies of an administrative system

are so pervasive that the reformer has no option but to

totally shake up the system. The advantages of the

comprehensive approach is that no area of the

administrative system is left untouched. However this

strategy has the disadvantage of being expensive in

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2
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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

terms of resources needed to design, implement and

evaluate its.

2. Limited strategies

This strategy considers a specific or narrow aspect of the

system. i.e. reform is normally confined to specific

section of an administrative system. This approach can

be applied when a particular part of the whole structure is

not functioning properly. This means that this approach is

not very radical and is more of a step by step approach.

This is known as instrumentalism in administrative

reform. The advantage of the limited approach is that one

can focus on specific issues and the achievement of

objectives might not be too difficult since monitoring and

evaluation becomes a lot easier. The disadvantage

however is that it closes up administrative reforms to

only specific sections of the administration without

opening up the total organization to the reform measure.

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2
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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

CONSTRAINTS TO ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS

Administrative reform is not just a change but an

artificially induced change because it is humans who

intervene in the administration. Whatever it is, it affects

the status- quo. The degree of impact will therefore

depend on the barriers that will confront the reform. At all

cost, people will resist the reform and it is this resistance

that put impact on the reforms.

1. Loss of entrenched interest

The entrenched interest can be financial or otherwise.

When the politicians or bureaucrats are aware that there

is going to be a loss in financial interest they tend to

resist the reform process.

2. Interest as a status symbol

Reform may involve sharing of finance and status with

decentralized units. This dispersal of power also means

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2
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ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMS [PUBLIC ADMIN] September 24, 2008

dispersal of status. Once there is going to be a loss of

status, ways are found to thwart the reform process.

3. Fear of the unknown

4. Timing

5. Lack of trust of the reformer (implementer)

6. Resistance based on cultural grounds

7. Resources

Justice Bawole
UGBS, Box LG 78, legon,
nyigmah@yahoo.com
Office : Graduate block , Room S2