Bureaucracy, Public Servants, and Digitalisation in Public Service Provision

Questions
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Is bureaucracy ‘dead for good’ in the delivery of public services? Are there any of the principles defined by Max Weber still relevant for public sector organisations? Use relevant examples to develop your answer to the questions.Bureaucracy is a management approach that emphasizes a structured organization where positions and authority are defined based on formal rules. In other words, bureaucracy relies on a set of rules and procedures, including the separation of functions and hierarchical structure (Wahab and Jawando, 2008). In the public sector, bureaucracy calls for the separation of functions. For instance, government departments are staffed with non-elected officials, a move aimed at separating administration from politics. It is widely used in the public sector to organize and manage government agencies. While bureaucracy has widespread use, it has been facing criticism. Recently, technological, competitive, and political changes have reconfigured the organizational landscape. Organizations are trying to make their operations more efficient to ensure they are not left behind in the changes taking place. In this context, bureaucracy has been receding in both general and scholarly discourse. Bureaucracy has been seen as slow, inflexible, and leading to a lack of responsiveness to the needs of the people (Monteiro and Adler, 2022). Despite the widespread criticism of bureaucracy and its receding in general and scholarly discourse, there is a sharp contrast to reality on the ground. Bureaucracy continues to be used widely and has proven remarkable in management practice. Hence, bureaucracy is not dead as some people might think.
Public sector organizations continue to rely on core features of democracy to deliver services to the citizens. Sociologist Max Weber’s focus on the trend of rationalization led him to examine the operation and expansion of large-scale enterprises in both the public and private sectors. Weber believed that the bureaucratic coordination of human actions was a critical mark in the modern social structure. He formulated a set of principles he believed defined a bureaucratic organization, which are still applicable in public sector organizations. One of the relevant principles is the hierarchy. The principle indicates that higher positions exert control over the lower ranks. In an organization, hierarchy demands the establishment of a chain of command that outlines positions and how they relate (Seo et al., 2012). There is a top-down approach, where the top supervises the activities of the lower positions. The principle of hierarchy is critical for the functioning of government institutions. The presence of a clear chain of command ensures that public servants understand their authority and its limitations. For instance, the National Health Service (NHS) has a hierarchical structure where the superiors have control over how the organization operates. The top-down approach in NHS ensures that citizens can hold the organization accountable for its actions since they can establish the individuals who made a particular decision.
Another principle relevant to the government sector is written and formal procedures. This means that bureaucratic organizations have their administrative rules, procedures, and decisions written down. When these are written, it acts as a source of knowledge for future decision-makers (Lunenburg, 2017). Writing down formal procedures is required to ensure that rules and procedures are not mispresented. In the UK, written and formal procedures characterize government institutions and govern the behavior of employees. While at the same time ensuring consistency and predictability of public services. The principle of written and formal procedures in the UK applies to different sectors like the Civil Service, which is a permanent bureaucracy in the UK’s government. The Civil Service is responsible for providing services directly to the citizens. As the Civil Service offers services and support to ministers and citizens, it has a set of written rules and procedures that staff members should follow. The employees in the Civil Service are expected to follow these rules later when providing services to the citizens. Another example is the legislative arm of the UK government. It uses parliamentary procedures and standing orders in the introduction and passage of legislation. The written and formal procedures in legislature bring about consistency and predictability when passing laws for the country.
Moreover, the principle of impersonality remains relevant to public sector organizations. The principle indicates that authority is linked to the formal position that civil servants occupy as opposed to the individuals themselves. Decisions are made based on established rules and regulations as opposed to personalities. The principle brings about the independence of institutions since the people holding them do not serve personal interests, but rather those of the public. The principle mandates public servants remain impartial in the execution of their duties. For instance, the UK’s judicial system is an independent institution that interprets the law and administers justice (Zeitune, 2004). The institution is expected to operate independently while executing the mandate. Judges are required to make decisions based on the facts of the case and the law as opposed to favoritism and personal interests. Also, government institutions are expected to offer services according to established rules and procedures. In this regard, citizens are entitled to services, regardless of the personal opinion of the public servants, as long as it falls within the law. Public servants in various public institutions are required to do what is expected of them, even where it is against their personal beliefs. This is instrumental in ensuring that the government provides services to all citizens without impartiality.
However, while Weber’s principles are still relevant, they still face a lot of criticism in the UK. Bureaucracy is seen as slow and inflexible, which prevents it from changing to adapt to the changing needs of the people. For instance, NHS follows procedures and rules to attend to the needs of patients (Department of Health, 2018). While this is needed to ensure that people do not take advantage of government resources and services, it often causes patients to wait for a long time. At the same time, bureaucracy leads to a lack of accountability, especially now that citizens have to follow the established rules and procedures to establish something. It is challenging to hold individual employees accountable for their actions since bureaucracy makes it challenging to identify them. Despite these criticisms, bureaucracy remains relevant for the public sector and allows the government to provide services to all citizens. In the public sector, bureaucracy is needed to ensure that the government serves the interests of the citizens as opposed to a few individuals. Public institutions need to ensure that bureaucracy does not become an impediment in the delivery of services to the citizens by making the necessary adjustments to accommodate the contemporary needs of the people.
According to Bowman and West (2015, p. 5), ‘Public servants…must not only do technical things right but also do ethically right things’. How can public sector managers foster the development of an ethical climate in organisations? Illustrate your arguments using relevant examples.
Bowman and West's statement, “Public servants…must not only do technical things right but also do ethically right things” implies that public servants have to understand their dual responsibility. Regarding doing technical things right, public servants must possess the necessary competence and skills to undertake their duties. They must have the skills and knowledge needed to perform their duties. The provision of services to the public means that public servants should have the required competence. Without such skills and knowledge, public servants will be unable to undertake their tasks accordingly. It is impossible to serve in public knowledge without the proper qualifications. However, while technical competence is critical, it is not the only responsibility that public servants have. They must be committed to uploading the highest standards of ethical conduct. Public servants need to have the required integrity needed to undertake what is right. Bowman and West (2015) hence demonstrate that while public servants should be technical, they should also employ ethics in their work. It is not enough to possess the necessary technical competence since ethical conduct plays a critical role in the delivery of services.
Public sector managers are better placed to foster the development of an ethical climate in organizations. They can do this by spearheading the development of a code of ethics. In the public sector, workers need to know the ethical behavior expected of them. The inability to have a code of ethics means that public servants will lack guidance on the limitations placed upon them. Through a code of ethics, there is accountability between the public and the administration. A code of ethics defines administrative guidelines for the integrity of operations (Gilman, 2005). When public servants follow the outlined code of ethics, they are better placed to make better decisions in the public interest. For instance, the UK NHS code of ethics indicates that all staff members are required to observe the highest standards of impartiality, integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, and honesty when executing their mandates. Such a code of ethics is instrumental in holding the staff members at NHS accountable for their actions. Public sector managers should ensure that the organizations they lead have an established code of ethics that defines how staff members should perform their duties. The managers should use their leadership positions to ensure that staff follows the outlined code of ethics.
Moreover, public sector managers should enhance the flow of information within their agencies. In organizations, communication plays a critical role in fostering an ethical climate in the public sector. Public managers must promote open communication in the organizations they lead (Abdi and Rathmaya, 2017). There should be a high level of transparency regarding the activities of an organization. An organization that embraces transparency allows the employees and the public to understand its policies and procedures explicitly. Since the parties involved understand what is expected of them, this minimizes the chances of either party pursuing unethical behavior. For instance, when a public body outlines its procedures and processes, the public is aware of how long it takes to receive a particular service. At the same time, the employees are aware of the timeframe mandated to offer the particular service. This minimizes the chances of public servants asking for bribes to f...