Summary
The text primarily talks about the concept of public culture service. The main theme is the issue of motivation of the personnel in the public service. The scholars and the author attempt to suggest that the concept of motivation could be productive in the long run for the public service. A comparison is run on the concept of motivation in the public service and in the private sector. Consensus exists that for the private sector, motivation could be easy probably because the sector is profit oriented. However, in the public service the lack of profit hinders motivation. The text begins by recognizing the fact that public service motivation has not received sufficient attention from government organizations, society and the research community. This attitude perhaps is informed by the fact in public service the orientation is often towards service delivery rather than pursuit of profits. This changes the track of activities and the general feeling is that efficiency ought to be given priority over personnel motivation. However, scholars have proved that personnel motivation is important for the overall success of the organization. A good example in the text is the discovery by Elton Mayo who appreciated the human impact on organizations through his research at the General Motors. In fact, this discovery is supported by the second generation personnel specialists. In the latter’s opinion, organizations need not stress on organizational efficiency and processes. The main stress, according to them, should be put on the support of individual values and the creation of a humanistic environment. This would probably yield more fruit in terms of personnel motivation as compared to fixing the system without due consideration of the personnel individual concerns.
According to Dr. Wise public service motives is essential for a number of reasons. It not only fosters good citizenship but equally incorporates values and encourages commitment and responsibility. These additives of public service are essential in the overall quality of delivery by the public officers. Dr. Wise advises that the organizations should aim at ensuring the public personnel are motivated and understand their roles in the organization. This argument is well entertained in the words of George Bush where he advises that government gives an opportunity for service and not for private gain. In that context, Bush argues for the understanding by the public service of their roles in government. It sells the idea that public organizations need not be profit based rather their roles should be that of providing services to the people. This is further argued in the text by rejecting the premise of public service on monetary gains rather than purposive and social rewards. The public organizations seem to have gotten it all wrong. This is because rather than advocate for purposive and social rewards, they seem to have settled on monetary rewards.
It is essential to have an understanding of public service motives. This includes the understanding of the public operating conditions, the prevalence of motivation and significance of the same motivation on the returns and output within the public service. Within the text scholars put a strong case for two sets of motives. These are the normative and the affective motives. According to the text, normative motives emanate from social values and norms while the affective motives derive from the individual emotions. It is critical to appreciate the two classes and understand the public officials’ positions on the same. In addition, the text appreciates the difficulty that comes in distinguishing roles and functions in the public service. This, the text attributes to the vague nature of boundaries in the public administration and the overlapping character of various sectors that contribute to public service. In that context, the text appreciates the fact that in some cases, overlaps do occur in public, private and non-profit operations. It is, therefore, essential to have a public organization that appreciates their roles and are able to demarcate their place in the all setup of operations. However, the text introduces the assumption often arrived at by people to the extent that public motives could be stronger than the human needs for growth, social contact, physical and security related needs, among others. The text takes a different position and calls for the understanding that human needs in many cases will often take a stronger position.
Finally, the text examines critical components for an effective public organization system. It recognizes the need for education. Education in this context is seen as an empowerment tool that enables the citizenry provides a good partnership in governance to public organizations. Gawthrop argues for democratic values in management and governance. He draws a relationship between democratic values and good administration. Secondly, the public officers need to be engaged in their services. To that extent, it is important for them to adopt an active role to policy implementation. They need to know what ought to be done and assume a moral responsibility over their own actions.
References
Stillman, R. J. (2009). Public Administration: Concepts and Cases, 9th ed.: Concepts and Cases. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
