Public sector management: privatisation as an answer

"To see privatisation and private sector practices as the answer to the problems of public services is to fail to understand the essential differences between the public and private realm. The public realm often has to deliver services that are essentially unprofitable, such as accident and emergency services. In these cases, efficiency and effectiveness cannot be measured by profitability and different measures relevant to the public domain are necessary."

In relation to the inherent differences between the public and private sectors, discuss the extent to which you agree with the above quotation in the light of the growth of New Public Management.

Public sector organisations are created by the government and are therefore under the control of the government. They are concerned with the provision of public goods and services. (Mullins, 2005). "Aim to be for the good of 'society' at large. The 'society' or community as well as the individual is, in the conception of service provider, the object of concern or care."

English: Tung Chung New Town - Private Sector Hous...

English: Share of Private Sector in Lithuania's GD...

English: logo private sector of the americas

(Ackroyd, Hughes and Soothill, 1989, 609) Flynn (1997) argues that the goods and services provided are not held from people who cannot afford them. Also they are not sold at a price, which yields profit as the public sector focuses on the rationalisation not marketing. There is a public policy within the public sector, which means that they have to provide merit goods, which are goods that are under provided by the market mechanism i.e., goods which some people think should be provided in greater quantities. (Lane, 1993) The recipient of public sector services do not pay directly for the service or in fact may not even pay for it at all as the services are financed through the revenue, which is received from taxes. Even if someone pays more tax than another they still...