Weaknesses in Motivation and in Establishing a Meritocratic System: A Portrait of the Portuguese Public Administration
The complexities of Public Administration have gained the growing attention of scholars around the world, mainly due to the impacts of the reforms implemented under the doctrine of New Public Management (which aims to apply concepts and practices of private management in public management) on civil...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-08-01
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| Series: | Administrative Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/11/3/87 |
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| author | Adriana Z. F. C. Nishimura Ana Moreira Maria José Sousa Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira |
| author_facet | Adriana Z. F. C. Nishimura Ana Moreira Maria José Sousa Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira |
| author_sort | Adriana Z. F. C. Nishimura |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The complexities of Public Administration have gained the growing attention of scholars around the world, mainly due to the impacts of the reforms implemented under the doctrine of New Public Management (which aims to apply concepts and practices of private management in public management) on civil servants. The aim of this study is to find out how Portuguese citizens evaluate the Portuguese Public Administration under the aspects of bureaucracy, organisation of human resources, innovation, skills and attitudes of civil servants, its motivation and recognition; and to verify if there are differences of opinion between respondents working in public sector and respondents from other sectors. This study follows a quali-quantitative approach, and data were collected through an online survey in the period from June to December 2020. The survey was answered by 1119 citizens from all districts of Portugal. The main findings reveal a still high level of bureaucracy in the Portuguese Public Administration; weaknesses in the management of human resources, namely regarding the motivation and recognition of civil servants; and difficulties in the establishment of a meritocratic system of recruitment and performance evaluation of civil servants. Statistically significant evaluation differences (chi-square test and non-parametric Mann–Whitney U tests, involving five hypotheses) were found between the public sector and other sectors, except for the motivation variable. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:59:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-39ff12a5abc14766b58b0b72c7283f9d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3387 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:59:53Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Administrative Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-39ff12a5abc14766b58b0b72c7283f9d2023-11-22T11:33:45ZengMDPI AGAdministrative Sciences2076-33872021-08-011138710.3390/admsci11030087Weaknesses in Motivation and in Establishing a Meritocratic System: A Portrait of the Portuguese Public AdministrationAdriana Z. F. C. Nishimura0Ana Moreira1Maria José Sousa2Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira3GOVCOPP (UA), Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalDepartment of Social and Organizational Psychology, University Institute of Psychological, Social and Life Sciences (ISPA-IU), 1149-041 Lisbon, PortugalBusiness Research Unit (BRU-Iscte), University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), 1649-026 Lisbon, PortugalGOVCOPP (UA), Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalThe complexities of Public Administration have gained the growing attention of scholars around the world, mainly due to the impacts of the reforms implemented under the doctrine of New Public Management (which aims to apply concepts and practices of private management in public management) on civil servants. The aim of this study is to find out how Portuguese citizens evaluate the Portuguese Public Administration under the aspects of bureaucracy, organisation of human resources, innovation, skills and attitudes of civil servants, its motivation and recognition; and to verify if there are differences of opinion between respondents working in public sector and respondents from other sectors. This study follows a quali-quantitative approach, and data were collected through an online survey in the period from June to December 2020. The survey was answered by 1119 citizens from all districts of Portugal. The main findings reveal a still high level of bureaucracy in the Portuguese Public Administration; weaknesses in the management of human resources, namely regarding the motivation and recognition of civil servants; and difficulties in the establishment of a meritocratic system of recruitment and performance evaluation of civil servants. Statistically significant evaluation differences (chi-square test and non-parametric Mann–Whitney U tests, involving five hypotheses) were found between the public sector and other sectors, except for the motivation variable.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/11/3/87public administrationPortuguese public administrationPortugalbureaucracymotivationcivil servants |
| spellingShingle | Adriana Z. F. C. Nishimura Ana Moreira Maria José Sousa Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira Weaknesses in Motivation and in Establishing a Meritocratic System: A Portrait of the Portuguese Public Administration Administrative Sciences public administration Portuguese public administration Portugal bureaucracy motivation civil servants |
| title | Weaknesses in Motivation and in Establishing a Meritocratic System: A Portrait of the Portuguese Public Administration |
| title_full | Weaknesses in Motivation and in Establishing a Meritocratic System: A Portrait of the Portuguese Public Administration |
| title_fullStr | Weaknesses in Motivation and in Establishing a Meritocratic System: A Portrait of the Portuguese Public Administration |
| title_full_unstemmed | Weaknesses in Motivation and in Establishing a Meritocratic System: A Portrait of the Portuguese Public Administration |
| title_short | Weaknesses in Motivation and in Establishing a Meritocratic System: A Portrait of the Portuguese Public Administration |
| title_sort | weaknesses in motivation and in establishing a meritocratic system a portrait of the portuguese public administration |
| topic | public administration Portuguese public administration Portugal bureaucracy motivation civil servants |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/11/3/87 |
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