Introduction
The public and the private sector are both very essential for a country in terms of economy. These are because they are the two main business industries in the world. The public sector is owned and controlled by the government while the private sector is owned and operated by private business people. The two sectors have a lot of differences and similarities with regards to how they operate and the services they render to the people. Some of the major differences that can be seen in the two sectors depend by the people who are operating or are in control such as owners, managers, employees or the government.
The public sector
The government is the one who is in charge or owns the public sector. This sector contains many organizations that work under the government. The services that are rendered by the public sector are services from the elected officials, public education, police, health care, military, prison services and the care of public roads. The management sector of the public sector is more laid back than in the private sector. This is because in the public sector the values are more concentrated in the interests of the people as well as the compromise of politics. When it comes to the managers of the public sector they are usually accountable to so many people therefore, they are usually influenced by those people (Carnevale, 2002). This will therefore, affect their decision making because they are usually being scrutinized by the people. The manager will always try to appease many people while trying to meet their goals. There have been reports that most managers in the public sector do not have full commitments when it comes to the organization (Gopaul, 2003). These kinds of reports are what sometimes makes the managers to try and prove to people that their commitment to the organizations is high. This would make them do great jobs and achieve good results. The management problems that are encountered in the public sector are political especially from the government officials. This will hinder the success of the organization.
The public sector functions in a way that it is profit driven. This is because the workers are not pressured to only make sure that the organization is making profits. In public sector, it is usually looking for quality of work from the people working from the organization. In the public sector people have stability. This is because their jobs are usually permanent in that no matter what happens they will always have their jobs. The workers in the public sector are always assured that they will always have their jobs because there is big probability that the organisation will not go bankrupt or be closed. This is because the salaries usually come from the taxes (Haufler, 2013). The workers in a public sector are allowed to join the labour unions. It has been estimated that about 66 percent of people working in the public sector have joined unions. The unions are very essential in fighting for people’s rights in the working place.
The ethical issues that could be found in the public sector are mostly about the interference from the political government officials as well the decisions being made in order to appease the people’s interests. An organization will always do what is being told by the government thus at times the managers are seeing as actors and not as decision makers. This will affect how the organization will operate and conduct its business. This will bring about corruption to enter in the organization. There are some managers who are favoured by the government in that they are able to abuse their powers in that they can frame anyone they find to be threatening and employ people that are not qualified for those positions (Carnevale, 2002).
Private sector
The private sectors are organizations that are owned and controlled by the private investors and not the government. These private investors includes charities, corporations that make profits or not and other partnerships. Good examples of these organizations in the private sector are local business, the retail shops, NGO companies, private banks and the credit unions. The places where the public sector is flourishing are countries where the government does not have full control over the economy (Haufler, 2013). The private sector is the one that is usually known for employing most people in the country. The public sector is always regulated by the government. In every country, there are laws that need to be followed by the private sector as well as the public sector. Most organizations in the private sector are known to employ harsh rules in the work place, which goes against the laws of the countries. In most organizations they do not allow their workers to join, the labour unions therefore, the workers do not know their rights. In an organisation, there are instances where there are some people who are treated better or paid better than other people who have the same job group. The people working in the private sector at times are usually overworked and under paid. This is where the government formulated laws so that these injustices do not occur.
The private sector is usually profit oriented. This causes the managers of the organizations to do whatever it takes in order to make profit. This will cause them also to do illegal activities in order to ensure that the profits are made in the company. The reason why these managers do these things is because of the pressure they get from the stakeholders to see good results (Gopaul, 2003). The other reason is because of the competition there is between different corporations. In the private sector, they do cater for the interests of the people. This makes it easier for the managers of the organizations to work well without restrictions due to the people. This will enable them to generate profits for the corporations. According to researches that have been done about the private sector there have been numerous reports of abuses of corporate powers, dubious accounting and criminal investigations of some corporate companies. In the criminal investigations there have allegations of corruption, embezzlement and sexual harassments. These ethical issues are being experienced by many people who are working in the private sector and at other times in the public sector as well.
Public and private agency daily practices
The daily practices of the public and private sectors in the daily basis are usually similar with a few exceptions. In the public offices the daily routine are usually the same in that people are not given extra hours to work unless one is in the military or police departments. In both sectors, the workers are supposed to arrive at work early in order to meet their deadlines. This will ensure that the company will look organised and thus will be able to generate profits. There are some instances when people have to work overtime in order to increase the profit for the company due to the fact that it is the peak season. The stakeholders as well as the government all require results from the workers therefore, it is their job to ensure that the work is well done and on time.
In the mornings after the workers have entered the building where they work they are all supposed to ensure that they have signed their names and signatures in order to show that they have come to work. The reason for doing this is so that the managers will be able to account for all their workers (Spithove, 2003). The workers are also supposed to be checked before they enter the building where the work. The checking routine began after terrorist attacks have been reported throughout the world. Most private sectors the financial accounts statements are reviewed so that the shareholders will be able to know if the company is making profits or not. The reports of the day’s work are also supposed to be written so that the day’s work will be able to be noticed. The police officers are supposed to leave their guns and uniform at work.
Future merging of government and private security agencies
There is a big chance the government and the private security agencies will merge and be able to work together. This is because of the threats that most governments are facing due to terrorism and other security reasons on the rise (Broadbent & Laughlin, 2003). When both the two security agencies work together it will help in reducing crimes in the country and thus people will be able to feel more secure and protected. It is a fact the private security agencies have more modern technologies that the government do not have therefore they would be able to work together and find criminals at a faster pace. At the moment the two security agencies have yet to merge even though they sometimes consult each other for some cases. The collaboration of the two will ensure that future terrorist attacks are prevented.
In conclusion, there are major differences as well as similarities between the private sector and the public sector. In terms of similarities, both sectors require that their workers work hard in order to have success. The major difference is that in the public sector it is owned y the governments thus it caters for the people’s interest. In the private sector, it is privately owned by different shareholders and mostly caters for their needs in that they require profits first. The government and the private security agencies can be able to merge in the future because they need each other. This is because of the rise of insecurities in most countries in the world.
Reference
Broadbent J. & Laughlin, R. (2003). Public Private Partnership: An Introduction. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal , 332–341.
Carnevale, D. G. (2002). Organizational Development in the Public Sector . Westview Printers.
Gopaul, A. S. (2003). Ethical Orientation of Future Managers: The Case of Trinidad. Social and Economic Studies , 99-117.
Haufler, V. (2013). A Public Role for the Private Sector: Industry Self-Regulation in a Global Economy. Carnegie Endowment.
Spithove, A. H. (2003). The productivity paradox and the business cycle. International Journal of Social Economics , 679-699.
