A Review of the Criticisms and the Future of New Public Management

Abstract

New Public Management (NPM) reforms are being implemented in developed and developing countries in response to economic pressures and the changing demands of society. As NPM ideas are now more than a decade old and their impacts on societies are becoming clearer, there are considerable criticisms emerging about the NPM movement. The purpose of this paper is to examine the criticisms of NPM on the issues of internationalization of NPM, the philosophical base or the body of knowledge generated by NPM and the results achieved from its application. Among the conclusions are that, while there are a growing number of criticisms about the NPM movement, the practical experience of the NPM movement and the changes that are likely to appear in public service administration in both developed and developing countries suggest that NPM is likely to continue well into the future.