employee empowerment

Incompetence, Corruption or Better Administration?

Employee Empowerment of New Public Management:

by Fredric D. Mack

Spring 2014

for Dr. Rick Davis

Criminal Justice Administration 505

Jacksonville State University

Incompetence, Corruption or Better Administration

Employee Empowerment of New Public Management:

Although New Public Management did not become a popular term into the

1970’s, it began to take shape long before with key pioneers that paved the way for

new ideas and government reinvention. These reformations boasted new and ancient

ideas that combined scientific, technological, economic, political and social factors

that revolutionized the management practices, civil service and administrations. These

ideas focused on shifting traditional hierarchical practices into more efficient,

effective methods (Larbi, 1999).

During a period where civil service positions were filled based on good family

background, education attainment, social status, patriotic service, reformers begin to

case out more fair, honest and impartial approaches. The Pendleton Act of 1883 was

the first federal civil service law, which added sparks to the idea of efficient

government, and history was made. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was credited with

reforming the notoriously corrupt NYPD as President of Police Board (Kania/Davis).

It is by progressive and active successes like these that the new ideas paved the way

for New Public Administration.

The goal of New Public Management ultimately is to increase competence,

control corruption and inevitably create better administrations. Whereas, traditional

practices of the bureaucrat in general are low risk and slow to act. These routines of

“kicking the can down the road” usually only provide temporary fixes to the “wicked

problems” of modern government issues by satisficing. New Public Management

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offers remedy through employee empowerment. But, does this decentralized

discretion breed incompetence, corruption or lead to better administrations? This

research will discuss the issues, pros and cons of employment empowerment sought

by New Public management as it relates to criminal justice and public administrations.

In order to come to a substantial conclusion, this study will use classic scholastic

articles and examples to explore (1) Pioneers of New Public Management theories (2)

Regulation verses deregulation (3) Inner checks and external checks on administrators

and (4) Injustices of discrimination, racism and corruption).

Pioneers of New Public Management

There are numerous pioneers that paved the way for calls of reformation in

public administration. Although there is, as Woodrow Wilson defines as, a dichotomy

of public administration, new theories and studies of psychological, sociological and

scientific management advancements were also translated into the criminal justice

system. This “dichotomy” would distinguish the sometimes conflicting goals of

administrative or executive, legislative and judicial forms of the U.S. government.

Wilson’s famous 1887 essay, “The Study of Administration” went beyond the focus

of personnel problems and the most recent reforms to the federal civil service by

Pendleton Act of 1883, shifting focus to organization and methods of government

offices (Shafritz / Hyde, 2008).

Upton Sinclair’s whistleblowing through “The Jungle” help exposed the

horrible conditions of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. This was among the first

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efforts of controlling corruption in government agencies. Fredrick Taylor’s scientific

management added principles that bonded the cooperation between man and

management that emphasized company efficiency, employer-employee relations and

overall work quality. All of these contributions and many others were monumental in

government reinvention through-out history (Shafritz/Hyde, 2008).

Mary Parker Follet was another pioneer and visionary in the revolution of New

Public Management. Her studies highlight the need for discretion and decentralization

that is seen in judicial law today. This is one issue surrounding the idea of employee

empowerment which lies at the very heart of given orders that need to be carried out

daily. Almost 40 years after Woodrow Wilson’s essay, “The Study of

Administration”, Mary Parker Follett’s article, “The Given of Orders” was published.

Although scientific management or government reinvention was still relatively new

ideas of this period, Mary Parker Follett’s contributions were ahead of her time. Items

in this particular study compliment works of A.H. Maslow’s “Theory of Human

Motivation”, and McGregor’s discussion of “Theory X and Theory Y in “The Human

Side of Enterprise. Maslow’s theory proposed that human motivations are based on

physiological need for satisfaction. McGregor offers relative theory of two opposing

management styles. Theory X disregards concept of self-motivated subordinates,

while Theory Y seeks to accommodate those physiological needs.

Mary Parker Follet takes on the common sense of giving orders and offers a

completely different approach. Traditionalists tend to focus more on the order itself,

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whereas Follet believes focus on the situation surrounding the order is a way to ensure

the “order” is fully understood. Kania/Davis, 2012 give excellent examples of this

concept by pointing out the instant decisions police officers, prosecutors, judges,

corrections and parole officers must make to satisfy current issues that many times

cannot wait for constant command. Follet addresses the lack of understanding,

unquestioning obedience and other issues in her article. She offers the psychological

explanations that habit patterns, emotions or beliefs contribute to the order response.

Mary Parker Follet points out that, “orders will not take the place of

training….Our job is not how to get people to obey orders but devise methods by

which we can best discover the order of the situation. When that is found, the

employee can issue it to the employer, as well as the employer to the employee

(Shafritz/Hyde, 60). She emphasizes that the two extremes of tyrannical control vs the

boss with a lack of authority should be avoided. When understanding the huge role

“bossing” plays in the giving of orders, it brings light to Maslow’s Theory of Human

Motivation”. Maslow wrote, “Not only the integration of the organism must be taken

into account, but also the possibility of isolated, specific, partial or segmental

reactions (Shafritz/Hyde, 111).

Mary Parker Follet adds to psychological discussions in administrations of

egoistic impulse and instinct self-assertion. Of course, on the subject of giving orders,

it is very important to understand that human beings instinctively have a need to

govern ones’ self (Shafritz/Hyde). This idea supports

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4| her authority vs. consent claims that individuals are reluctant to be subordinate,

even though they are subordinates. She makes another excellent point that although

supervisors or managers are in charge or “over” their subordinates; both manager and

employee are “under” the situation. Therefore, this highlights the necessity to place

more emphasis on the situation rather than the order.

Follet asks, “Can you honestly expect people merely to obey orders and at the

same time take the degree of responsibility which they should take (Shafritz/Hyde,

62)?” There is the possibility of higher quality if the employee possessed the desire to

fulfill the order, as well as the knowledge, self-respect, accountability and overall

responsibility to the situation. Also, the situation may change before an additional

order comes, or after the original order is given. In this case, the order cannot keep up

with the situation. However, if more emphasis is put on the situation than the order,

then the order and situation would be closer related. This can inevitably produce better

end results to the given order (Shafritz/Hyde, 62). Ms. Follett’s article concluded with

three fundamental statements: “The order should be the law of the situation, the

situation is always evolving, and that orders should involve circular not linear

behavior.” Circular behaviors are those receptive as well as directive. It is

collaboration and promotes team work. Her intentions are to show that with these

fundamentals that old conceptions of orders have changed; therefore business should

change as well (Shafritz/Hyde, 62).

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Regulation vs Deregulation

The New Public Management’s principles of “steering” rather than “rowing”

can lead to better administration under certain premise. The employee empowerment

associated with NPM offers many positive solutions to government time management,

cost efficiency, service and overall effectiveness of administration. ((Shafritz/Hyde,

2009) addresses this decentralization in the article, “Administrative Decentralization

and Political Power” by stating, “The justification for “decentralization” will be

couched in terms of efficiency-the need to speed decisions in the field without loss of

coordination among field personnel in different bureaus.” Third-party government

preserve more time for agencies to devote more time to difficult and more demanding

projects while ensuring management of other responsibilities. For example, offenders

may be granted furloughs, or temporary release from prison to a work/study release

program or halfway-house. These educational or work institutions are then

responsible for over-seeing these individuals under conditional circumstances.

Although they have stipulations, they are given the empowerment of limited

discretions left up to the contracted institution.

Employment empowerment can result in negotiations and ideas not generally

sought from public employees in traditional bureaucratic environments. Employees of

criminal justice administration often come from very diverse backgrounds with skills

and knowledge legitimately necessary to conduct a better rounded discussion of

possible solutions. This can help with the limitations of bounded-rationality associated

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with decision-making (Kania/Davis, 2012). It certainly may be one of the reasons

juries made up of random individuals from the public are called to decide verdicts of

alleged offenders. This idea holds true that not one person holds knowledge in every

possible situation, therefore, if a range of education, skill and experience is increased,

then the likelihood for better results should be directly proportional.

Leonard White recalls Oliver Sheldon’s “Philosophy of Management” in the

article, “Introduction to the Study of Public Administration. “Management has

gradually become a profession. Its tasks have increased in difficulty, responsibility

and complexity until today it touches all the sciences, from chemistry and mechanics

to psychology and medicine. It calls to its service, therefore, men and women with

tact and ideals, with the highest scientific qualifications and with a strong capacity for

organization and leadership. It is employing lawyers and doctors, accountants and

artists and by directing their professions, is forming a supreme profession of its own

with implications consequent upon such a line of progress of standards, qualifications,

apprenticeship and technique (Shafritz/Hyde, 49).

With any type of government administration regulation, there are tensions.

These tensions will only increase with the growing concern of public assistant,

defense, infrastructure and socioeconomic challenges. The United States constitution

is guided by regulations. It is basically a list of regulations built not to prevent

freedom, but rather preserve it. If one truly considers in what condition the U.S. would

be without these regulations, it will become clearer to understand why regulation

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plays such important role in democratic government today and should not be taken

lightly. After all, these regulations seek to deter major issues of criminal acts. The

tensions however, do not necessarily stem from the fact that there are regulations, but

to what extent must regulations be allowed and how much regulation is too much

regulation?

Although there is much hype over de-regulation or too much governmental

involvement, the diversity and culture of this country will continue to enforce

regulations into daily living with no chance of total de-regulation. Deil Wright agrees

in the article, “Federalism, IGR, and Intergovernmental Management.” “Today, the

complexity, variety and seemingly intractable nature of inter-jurisdictional problems

appear biased against major, strategic, or dramatic changes in the roles and functions

of different political jurisdictions (Rosenbloom, 511).

Public safety, possible market failures, environmental protection and equal

employment are only a fraction of the necessary reasons for regulations. These actions

are taken to maintain reasonable level of ethics. When all or most of society expects to

gain; and all or most of society expects to pay, there does not seem to be much

tension. This is referred by Rosenbloom as majoritarian politics. However, interest

group politics may fuel tensions because a particularly small group benefits at the cost

of another group. There are also great tensions with client politics because even

though costs may be distributed at very low per capita among a large number of

people, it can be debatable if it is in the public’s best interest. Therefore, public

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interest groups get involved. The managerial approach seeks effectiveness that often

conflicts with that of the political approach-responsiveness to broader constituencies.

Similarities are few and far between. However, one similarity exists between

competition motives of both surrogate markets and antitrust enforcement.

NPM’s existence in a regulatory environment where legal and political

approaches are often controlling will be limited because of its emphasis on customer

service for regulates. One opposition NPM have with those approaches is its

willingness to trust regulates and become partners with them. This shows that how

great tensions may be with the principles of governmental regulations. One of the

biggest oppositions to NPM is the concept of customer service verses public service.

The traditional bureaucracy denounces any references to the public being seen as

customers as some NPM reformers suggest. Although the public servant or

administrators work to provide a service to the public, there are factors that

distinguish the customer from the public.

Since the public sector do not seek to earn a profit, generally speaking, the

public does not always get what they want. Inmates, prisoners, offenders are a part of

the public, but they are not customers of the government. This brings up another

point. The public services provided by the government are extended for the public as a

whole rather than individuals.

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Inner checks and external checks on administrators

Concepts of inner and external checks on public administrators sometime seem

to be in pursuit of dissimilar outcomes, but at times the concepts are quite compatible.

For example, the traditional approach seeks to maintain “loyalty” through hierarchical

means with-in the administration, while NPM seeks to achieve “loyalty” through trust

and employee empowerment. The similarity is in their intent to control corruption.

The dissimilarity is in the means of control. As David Rosenbloom suggests, “There

are several incompatibilities of these “checks.” The traditional perspective favors

internal audits to prohibit and deter corruption, whereas NPM diminishes the

possibility of substantial corruption by its favor or external legislature oversight.

Traditional, political, NPM and legal perspectives all agree on accountability

necessities for administrators, government and state employees. This way, law

makers, criminal justice managers, and judicial workers are all subject to the same law

that they uphold.

Another incompatibility exists with this accountability. The maintenance of

accountability associated with traditional management perspective, unlike the political

approach can become more involved than necessary, which then makes its emphasis

on efficiency, economy and effectiveness counter-productive. Max Weber explains in

the article, “Bureaucracy”, that “The political official-at least in the fully developed

modern state-is not considered the personal servant of a ruler. Today, the bishop, the

priest, and the preacher are in fact no longer, as in early Christian times, holders of

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purely personal charisma. The super-mundane and sacred values which they offer are

given to everybody who seems to be worthy of them and who asks for them

(Shafritz/Hyde, 45).”

The legal approach complements inner and external checks for all those other

approaches. This is not because there is not tension between the approaches. Rather,

the tension is what makes the legal approach both compatible and necessary for the

power balance. While the legal approach appears to resemble other perspectives in

that it emphasizes the need for clear rules of conduct and enforcement mechanisms to

assure compliance, it also acknowledges public administrators’ right to disobey

unconstitutional orders and with clear right to engage in whistle-blowing.

The judicial responsibility to the rule of law is yet another attempt to share the

goal of loyalty seeking. On the contrary, David Rosenbloom points outs that, “the law

may contain loopholes that could be exploited by public administrators, for their

personal gain” (pgs. 532-533). Inner checks and external checks are both compatible

and incompatible with-in the prospective of the different approaches. It is easy to see

how their compatibilities complement administration; however, their incompatibilities

make them all the more relevant to the concerns of criminal justice and public

administration.

Injustice of Discrimination, Racism and Corruption

The NPM does not believe that results-oriented public administration will breed

incompetence or corruption. As long as it continues to embrace employee diversity,

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administers may succeed in being very competent. On the other hand, workers can

still be prone to show favoritism or discriminate therefore certain deters or

preventions should be in place. The more public employees are empowered, the more

accountable they must be for their actions. Contract monitoring, citizen and customer

surveys, inspections, complaint follow-ups and performance-measuring are a few

regulation tools that may help prevent corruption. Nevertheless, one of the biggest

hurdles is strategizing legal or cost issues associated with surprise inspections or

construct surveys in a way that do not become counter-productive in cost efficiency.

Although NPM’s employee empowerment is not an exclusive remedy for criminal

justice and public administration, it adds key ideals and values that could inevitably

lead to better administration.

The idea that two separate courts can come to seemingly different conclusions

for similar cases is interesting because there is a lot that can be noted from the

analysis of the factors that determine the end results. This shows just how

interpretations of law and analysis of policy can cause conflict or even injustices.

Regarding Grutter v. Bollinger, the following quote is the determining factor of the

case: “Effective participation by members of all racial and ethnic groups in the civic

life of our nation is essential if the dream of one nation indivisible is to be realized

(Rosenbloom, 2009).” The decision is totally rational, seemingly justified and

commendable because the institution encourages minorities and diversity. Mary

Parker Follett offered relative views that, “Court decisions often settle arbitrarily

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which of two ways is to be followed without showing possible integration of the two,

that is, the individual is often left with an internal conflict on his hands. This is what

both courts and business administration should to prevent, the internal conflicts of

individuals or groups (Shafritz/Hyde, 59).” This is much easier said than done when

involved in the tug of war between the powers of government.

The determining factor in Gratz v. Bollinger is the 20 or one-fifth of the points

added to test scores in order to acquire ethnic diversity. There are concerns that these

decisions are “too race based” and the institution is actually acting unconstitutionally

in order to achieve a specific goal. This discussion helps usher in New Public

Management ideas that brought about affirmative action. Affirmative action was a

new approach to achieve equality because of the reality that racial discrimination still

exists. Government administrations should encourage diversity in general. In proves

valuable for all ethnic groups and the public. This is the prime definition of

representative government. It is a government that truly reflects the people it serves.

But, is giving advantages to one group constitutional?

What makes this discussion even more interesting is the comparison to

veteran’s preferences. There is a justification; arguably, the government should make

the transition back to civilian life easier in exchange for solder’s bravery of risking

their lives for the country’s freedom. As far as affirmative action goes, it may also be

an attempt to justify decades of slavery and acknowledgement of the country’s past

injustices toward particular groups. It is an attempt to make right historical wrongs. If

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these counter-measures were not in place, corruption and criminal activity could have

its way. There are multiple practices that empowered managers could engage in

leading to corrupt administration as racism can take various forms and affect various

groups of the public.

The government is comprised of multiple levels of legislators, administrators

and arbitrators that govern state and community. These multiple levels of government

body are also comprised of multiple groups responsible for representing various

groups within the public. The complex problems that public servants are faced with in

representing cultures, races and diverse groups present unique challenges that only ads

to diversity challenges faced by public organizations, there are several barriers that

must be overcome. Institutional racism and unintentional racism are two challenges

that have caused the greatest need for New Public Management.

When examining challenges closer, it becomes evident why institutional racism

play a major part in the function or mal-function of organizations. It is most difficult

to identify institutional racism when it is unrecognizable. Procedures and rules that

institutions follow may be founded upon views that are discriminatory or restrictive.

They can disadvantage specific groups by reinforcing advantages toward groups of

the majority. As it relate to the U.S. government, arrangements of the institutional

system has been established primarily and almost exclusively by white males.

Therefore, it is clear how and why the arrangements of the system were to advantage

the white male.

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Institutional racism involves cultural racism or a perception that groups outside

of one’s own racism are flawed and therefore they are encouraged to adapt the

mannerisms of the majority (Rice, 2010). For example, Rice reveals that lack of action

on the part of administrators may perpetuate the unspoken phenomenon that newly

appointed white employees are considered competent until they prove themselves

incompetent, whereas newly appointed African-American or Hispanic employees are

assumed incompetent until they prove their competence.

The most challenging issues surrounding unintentional racism is that some may

not realize or acknowledge that it exists. Although paternalistic racism is known as

unintentional racism, its effects is indeed a cognizant intention to prohibit others

because of the perception that the majority has the authority to define what is

accepted. Color-blind racism is another form of unintentional racism that rejects and

resists the idea of racism by simply turning a blind eye to the effects of certain

actions. Many individuals say they do not see race or they do not see different cultures

as different. While the sentiment of those statements may suggest a virtuous reverence

that all people are equal in their eyes, it is quite interesting not to acknowledge that

races and cultures are different. Indeed in many ways, they are. This can be

problematic when people are treated the same way when they are different. Ignoring

history, experiences and equality of minorities is at the very core or injustice by

refusing to see what is truly different among diverse groups. The answer to managing

diversity in criminal and public administration is not to ignore the differences, but

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become aware in order to learn, confront and embrace them. This allows greater

perspective of the different qualities and characters that make organizations unique

because it captures the strengths of the entire group and not just one group whose

strengths are relative to perception.

Perception is the common factor in all racism or discrimination. It is an

individual’s perception that must change in order to confront the diversity challenges

face in public organizations. The only way to confront these perceptions is through

diversity education training.

These types of ideas are also product of New Public Management school of

thought. Diversity training is a method of managing diversity that promotes diversity

consciousness. Diversity consciousness refers to the awareness, understanding and

skill that make individuals tolerable and open-minded to diversity. This concept

confronts stereotypes, prejudices and biases of one’s own mind to reach respectful and

fair treatment of others of all diverse groups through deliberate training, education

and/or practice. Diversity training help overcome specific barriers that are directly

associated with flawed perception. Stereotypes and prejudice both lead individuals to

make irrational and unfounded judgments of others.

In order to build greater communication, integration and organizational success

within the public organization, concepts of institutional and unintentional racism must

be addressed in regard to the perceptions that cause them. Although the most daunting

of them may be color-blind racism because it is not acknowledged and many times not

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recognized, diversity education and training can meet these challenges if it is actively

pursued. It is diversity education and training that promotes the diversity

consciousness that encourages the necessary awareness, understanding and skill to

overcome diversity challenges in the workplace of all public organizations.

Conclusion

Criminal justice and public administration are constantly changing and seeking

answers to new challenges of the 21st century due to the growth, diversity and the

socio-economic states of the nation. Although the bureaucratic protocol and

regulatory statutes still hold strong, it is evident of the effect new Public Management

pioneers have had on administrations.

The system is far from perfect but it is still intact, if only by a string. There are

fundamental tensions that exist when it comes to regulations associated with the

power struggles within and outside of public organizations remain. It is also obvious

that New Public Management is not an exclusive remedy for all of government

concerns where traditional bureaucracy lack.

It is also obvious that there are times where deregulation is the best source of

discretion depending of the situation. However, it is important to remember that

different situations may call for different measures. This would reiterate three of Mary

Parker Follett key fundamental statements that, “the order should be the law of the

situation, the situation is always evolving and that orders should involve circular not

linear behavior (Shafritz/Hyde, 62).”

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It is by the implementation of diverse knowledge by individuals from various

backgrounds with a wide range of skills that New Public Management has better

chances of creating better public administration. Employee empowerment has the

opportunity to cause incompetence or corruption, but with valuable and

comprehensive study, New Public Management can be used to aid in solutions for the

root problem and not just treatments for the symptoms. But, it is the perfect balance of

authority, protection and implementation of new ideas through great leadership that

administrations are made better.

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edition. Vienna, Virgina. Management Concepts. 2011

Kania, Richard R.E., Davis, Richards P., Managing Criminal Justice Organizations.

Waltham, MA. Anderson Publishing. 2012

Larbi, George A. The New Public Management Approach and Crisis

States. Geneva. April 2, 2014. www.urisd.org.

Overeem, Patrick. The Politics-Administration Dichotomy. second edition.

CRC Press. 2012

Rice, Mitchell F., Diversity and Public Administration: Theory, Issues, and

Perspectives. second edition. Armonk, NY. London. ME Sharpe. 2010

Rosenbloom/ Kravchuk/ Clerkin. Public Administrations: Understanding Mangement,

Politics and Law in the Public Sector. seventh ed. NY. McGraw-Hill. 2009

Shafritz, Jay M., Hyde, Albert C., Classics of Public Administration. sixth ed.

Boston, MA. Wadsworth. 2008

Follet, Mary Parker., www.follettfoundation.org . April 2, 2014

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