Bureaucracy […] is slow, inept, and wasteful. Striking the prescriptive literature is the degree that this stereotype is simply accepted without any empirical evi-dence […] (Meier/Hill 2005: 52).
This citation represents – although heavily questioned in the Oxford Handbook of Pub-lic Management – a widespread opinion that the classical bureaucracy model is not able to meet modern administration challenges effectively. This is the reason, why the New Public Management (NPM) was welcomed as a new concept for modern administration.
But at the beginning, the New Public Management (NPM) approach was looked at very skeptically and critically in Germany. The introduction of management and business administration elements, developed in the Anglo-Saxon countries, as new concept to improve efficiency in the public administration was considered unnecessary at best due to the fact that the German public administration was certified to have a relatively high performance in comparison to other western countries. Maybe because of this the Ger-man interpretation of the NPM approach was introduced very late, later than in most other western European countries. The result of this German NPM version is the Neues Steuerungsmodell (NSM) (Jann 2005: 76).
The NSM is the German interpretation of the NPM approach with significant similarities but some differences. Whereas the NPM is often connected with liberalization tendencies in the Anglo-American region with the aim of smaller administrations (Mei-er/Hill 2005: 55), the NSM was introduced in communal, regional and federal administrations to improve effectiveness and efficiency but not necessarily with reducing the size of an administration department.
One perfect example for the implementation of the NSM in an authority is the reform of the Bundesanstalt für Arbeit (BA) as part of the Hartz legislation in the second Schröder election period from 2002 till 2005. The BA is as one of the biggest social policy institutions responsible for all employment market issues such as job service and placement, transfer payments and vocational training and its reforms were clearly related to the NSM approach as this paper will show.
Several strategies for modernization in the public sector are subsumed under the NSM concept without distinguishing between completely new strategies and approaches and old reform ideas that are just brought up again.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The Neues Steuerungsmodell
2.1 Origin and relation/differences to the New Public Management approach
2.2 Concept of the NSM approach
2.2.1 Decentralizing and changes in the organizational culture
2.2.2 Output oriented governance and budget transparency
2.2.3 Human resources management and development
2.2.4 Changes in the relation between politics and administration
2.2.5 Changes in the relations to the outside world
3. The NSM in the Bundesagentur für Arbeit
3.1 Implementation of the NSM approach
3.2 Recommended course of action according to the evaluation report
4. Conclusion and discussion
Research Objectives and Themes
This study examines whether the reform of the German federal employment agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) based on the "Neues Steuerungsmodell" (NSM) can be considered a success, specifically focusing on improvements in organizational efficiency and effectiveness.
- Analysis of the "Neues Steuerungsmodell" (NSM) as the German interpretation of New Public Management.
- Investigation of organizational restructuring within the Bundesagentur für Arbeit.
- Evaluation of output-oriented governance and budget transparency measures.
- Assessment of human resources management and internal cultural changes.
- Review of reform recommendations provided by the official evaluation report.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 Implementation of the NSM approach
An institution to find jobs and organize the equalization of job demand and supply as well as being the responsible authority for the payment of the unemployment insurance, exists since more than 80 years. In July 16th 1927 the “Reichsanstalt für Arbeitsvermittlung und Arbeitslosenversicherung” was founded in the Weimarer Republik under the worst thinkable circumstances: the beginning of the great depression.
Organizing the support for over six million unemployed citizens was the primary aim of the new founded authority. After the years of the national socialists, in which the Reichsanstalt was part of the consolidation of the institutional powers, the authority was renamed to “Bundesanstalt für Arbeitsvermittlung und Arbeitslosenversicherung“ and the equal contribution of public corporations and social partners was manifested.
In July 1st 1969 the Bundesanstalt got its new official name which lasted till the reforms in 2003: Bundesanstalt für Arbeit. In the “Arbeitsförderungsgesetz” from this time, the aim to create jobs and to balance the differences in the demand and supply quantities of the employment market became more important. Besides job consulting, job placement and the unemployment insurance, which became more and more important due to the economic and employment market crisis, the job agencies got the full responsibility for developing and supporting a system of vocational education (Bundesagentur für Arbeit 2010).
The planning phase for the last big reform, which would change the BA basically in its fundamental structures, began in 2003 already. In 2004 several tests were executed and in 2006 the reform of the organizational structure was finished to a large extent.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the shift from traditional bureaucracy models to New Public Management and introduces the Bundesagentur für Arbeit as the primary case study for the German NSM implementation.
2. The Neues Steuerungsmodell: Defines the theoretical foundations of the NSM, including decentralization, output orientation, and human resources reforms within public administration.
3. The NSM in the Bundesagentur für Arbeit: Details the empirical application of NSM principles within the employment agency and analyzes recommendations for further institutional refinement.
4. Conclusion and discussion: Synthesizes the reform outcomes, noting that while efficiency improved, the loss of local flexibility remains a significant challenge for the organization.
Keywords
Neues Steuerungsmodell, New Public Management, Bundesagentur für Arbeit, Public Administration, Administrative Reform, Organizational Structure, Decentralization, Human Resources Management, Output Orientation, Budget Transparency, Employment Agency, Public Sector Modernization, Evaluation Report, Efficiency, Effectiveness.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this work?
The work focuses on the implementation of the "Neues Steuerungsmodell" (NSM) within the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (BA) and assesses its effectiveness as a modern administrative reform.
What are the central themes addressed?
Central themes include organizational restructuring, the shift toward output-oriented governance, human resources development, and the improvement of client-facing service centers.
What is the main research objective?
The objective is to determine whether the organizational reform of the BA, guided by NSM principles, has successfully improved the agency's performance, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The study utilizes a policy analysis approach, examining official evaluation reports and standard theoretical literature on New Public Management to evaluate institutional change.
What does the main body cover?
The main body details the historical background of the BA, the specific implementation steps of the NSM reform, and provides an analysis of the recommended course of action found in formal evaluation reports.
Which keywords characterize this paper?
Key terms include Neues Steuerungsmodell, administrative reform, Bundesagentur für Arbeit, public management, and organizational efficiency.
How does the NSM differ from the classical bureaucracy model?
Unlike the rigid, rule-based Weberian bureaucracy, the NSM emphasizes management flexibility, decentralized decision-making, and market-oriented performance indicators.
Does the author consider the reform a complete success?
The author concludes it is a partial success; while specific processes became more transparent and efficient, the rigid standardization caused a loss of necessary flexibility for local agency responses.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Nils Binder (Autor:in), 2011, From the Bundesanstalt to the Bundesagentur für Arbeit, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/208397
