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Weaknesses in Motivation and in Establishing a Meritocratic System: A Portrait of the Portuguese Public Administration

Author

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  • Adriana Z. F. C. Nishimura

    (GOVCOPP (UA), Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal)

  • Ana Moreira

    (Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, University Institute of Psychological, Social and Life Sciences (ISPA-IU), 1149-041 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Maria José Sousa

    (Business Research Unit (BRU-Iscte), University Institute of Lisbon (ISCTE-IUL), 1649-026 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira

    (GOVCOPP (UA), Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
    INESC TEC, Campus da FEUP, University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Adriana Z. F. C. Nishimura & Ana Moreira & Maria José Sousa & Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira, 2021. "Weaknesses in Motivation and in Establishing a Meritocratic System: A Portrait of the Portuguese Public Administration," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-26, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:11:y:2021:i:3:p:87-:d:620350
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Gonçalo Santinha & Teresa Carvalho & Teresa Forte & Alexandre Fernandes & Jéssica Tavares, 2021. "Profiling Public Sector Choice: Perceptions and Motivational Determinants at the Pre-Entry Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-15, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. A. Georges L. Romme & Harry van de Loo & Ben Dankbaar, 2022. "How to Control Civil Servants: Designing and Testing a Solution Informed by Game Theory," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, April.
    2. Marta Dmytryshyn & Roman Dmytryshyn & Valentyna Yakubiv & Andriy Zagorodnyuk, 2021. "Peculiarities of Ukrainians’ Approval of Decentralization Reform," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-33, September.

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