INTRODUCTION
Due to various demographical changes, some of the biggest challenges faced by governments worldwide are service delivery and the manner in which it can be improved. Moreover, the provision of public service is deemed as a core function of government. In South Africa research has indicated that there are approximately four to six service delivery demonstrations per week and an estimated amount of about twenty public service delivery protests monthly. Citizens take to the streets and vandalise public premises such as clinics, police stations, community halls and many more. Moreover, these public demonstrations indicate the views of the republic as well as their faith in the government to deliver. The text below examines reasons why government embark on alternative service delivery mechanisms as well as the role(s) played by voluntary organizations and private contractors in promoting service delivery. In addition it follows a primitive formation outlining what is service delivery and what can be implemented to improve it.
2 DEFINITIONS OF KEY TERMS
2.1 Service delivery
According to Fox & Meyer (1995:165) defines “service delivery as the provision of public activities, benefits or satisfactions to citizen”. This is actually the provision of a service or product by the government, to the citizens as expected by the citizens and mandated by Acts of Parliament. Therefore service delivery can either be tangible (products) or intangible (services).
2.2 Batho Pele principles
The White Paper for Transforming Public Service Delivery (Batho Pele) 1997 establishes an alternative manner in democratizing service delivery. In addition, it puts emphais on the central role of public institutions in ‘putting people first’ when ren...
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...from the many actions to protest against the poor, even total ineffective services various municipalities provided since the establishment of the current local government system in 2005 (Auriacombe, Du Toit & Van der Waldt 2014:17).
Performance can be defined as the means to deliver public services in accordance with democratic principles, services must apart from being acceptable quality service but be equitably accessible to everyone entitled to it, frequently provided and sustainable (Fox & Meyer 1995:125).
As far as democracy is concerned the relationship between the citizens and the state is of importance, the degree of citizen involvement is indicative of the extent to which service delivery is democratized. One can consequently accept that the greater the distance between governments and citizens, the less democratized service delivery is (Cloete 1998:25).
The new public management states that, “cities are growing more and more like corporations referring to citizens as customers in the sense that they are providing product or goods (services) to the customer (taxpayers).” This had led to an increased demand for better quality at the lowest cost to the taxpayer. When looking at cost saving and alternative delivery municipalities must make a hard decision when choosing to contract out essential services.
The main aim of public service is to deliver services that are of need to its people. How fast a public manager can address its people’s problem and concerns indicates its effectiveness. Responsiveness of the manager develops trust between him, the government, and the people. According to (Rainey, p106) bureaucratic responsiveness implies two things; responsiveness to the people’s wishes or responsiveness to the interest of the government.
But also, a healthy and vibrant democracy requires citizens to share their time together and meet in public places. The failure of this common space, the growing separation between rich and poor, together with the increase in inequality causes a threat to democracy.
In any country there are people who live in adverse conditions hence are unable to cater for themselves and in this regard the state should cater for them (Cooper, 2010). This is because the state has a mandate of serving its citizens who it should serve like masters. Such a group of people must be helped by the government and the help should not be classified as charity but as a social duty of the state. In this regard the government should ensure that no one is unfed, lacks clothes or shelter. In other words it should ensure that everyone is provided with all the basic necessities.
...r pillars of public administration are equally important in the process of public administration and complement one another in the provision of quality public service. When public administrators have economy in mind they focus on the best combination of available resources to provide optimum public service. To ensure that public service is not limited to only a section of the public, the issue of equity is taken into consideration so that public interest is realized. Efficiency and effectiveness additionally go hand in hand in ensuring that allocated resources are used in the best possible manner to attain set goals. Thus whereas the first three public administration pillars – Economy, efficiency and effectiveness are concerned with how public service is provided the fourth and most recent addition (Equity) concerns with for whom public service is provided.
Performance Management - Meaning, System and Process. (n.d.). Performance Management - Meaning, System and Process. Retrieved July 19, 2014, from http://managementstudyguide.com/performance-management.htm
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Ohemeng, Frank, L.K. and Leone, Robert P. “Should Public Sector be RUN like a Business.” Approaching Public Administration. Edmond Montgomery Publications Limited, (2011), P. 1-362.
It's very well known that a companies success is not only dependant on the possession of a good product or service, but the key aspect to a successful business is excellent customer service. As the market grows, now more then ever companies are emerging, they are offering very similar types of products and services. Successful customer service can be a way a business becomes original and unique, it can be the key to attracting and maintaining loyal customers. Good customer service can start-up a business while bad customer service can harm a company. An average customer that experiences an issue will complaint to 9-10 people about the problem. A customer that received support to their problem and a potential solution will tell at least five
The elements of NPM have been implemented in diverse forms in different countries depending on their historical nature of bureaucracy and public sector management and reform objectives. For instance, more emphasis was given to performance management in Scandinavian countries, while a stronger accent was on market type mechanisms, contractualisation of the public service and systematic approaches to improving service quality in New Zealand, the UK and the USA. The long-term benefits from these reforms have not been empirically validated. Nevertheless, the major donors are agreed that what developing countries must do to improve public sector management is to sweep away the traditional public administration paradigm that underpins their bureaucracies and introduce the new public management (Turner and Hulme 1997: 230). Mongolia has not escaped from this trend.
It is therefore an indispensable component of democracy (Tshabalala & Lombard, 2009:397). Local government should therefore be concerned with democratising development (Maserumule, 2008:439). The reason for the continuing dissatisfaction and protests by the communities because of poor service delivery eighteen years into democracy is an indication that the local government in South Africa has not been able to provide effectively for local participation (Mathekga & Buccus, 2006:11). In the South African context, community needs cannot be isolated from structural causes, so participation is incorporated into the social justice perspective (Patel,
The lack of service delivery is a vital subject that is tackled by countless residents and government officials. Thus, distinct methods are needed to safeguard that services are delivered below the leadership of local government. The purpose if this essay is to converse about the reasons why governments commence on Alternative service delivery mechanisms. This will be accomplished by bestowing definitions of precise concepts by also considering technological improvements as Alternative service delivery methods. Furthermore, this essay will recognize alongside suitable examples, the acts played by voluntary associations and private contractors in advancing competent and effectual ability to deliver services.
In most careers today, human interaction plays a key role in day to day work. Usually, people work with other people in their line of work. Even one man jobs deal with people at one time or another. In a lot of careers, people are helping other people. Sometimes, it’s hard to help someone when you don’t fully understand how to deal with what they are feeling or going through. That’s why when people are taking the path to many careers through college, they often end up having to take a psychology class of some sort. Psychology helps us better understand people’s emotions and actions. It can help people study others personalities and behaviors and come up with theories or hypotheses. Taking psychology can benefit almost every career out
Public policy can be defined as “What ever governments choose to do or not do” (Dye, 2008, p 2). In the context of this essay, public policies are a set of actors by the government in order to reach out to the masses. The ministries and departments are mandated to deliver specific mandates in the form of public goods and services.
Customer Service is the act of dealing with the customers needs by giving and delivering professional, helpful, high quality service and help some time recently, amid, and after the customer's requirements are met.