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Impartiality through bureaucracy? A Sri Lankan approach to managing values

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  • Willy McCourt

    (Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester, Harold Hankins Building, Precinct Centre, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK)

Abstract

This article starts from a crux in Alan Thomas's model of development management: that values-based development management may require the coercion of employees whose values are different. It uses a case study of Sri Lanka's attempt to inculcate the value of impartiality in staffing, focusing on the restoration of the independence of the Service Commissions. The article concludes that values-based management is likeliest to succeed in the public sector, whose democratic legitimacy allows politicians to impose values in the form of behavioural norms. Ironically, such management is more complicated in the NGO sector, whose uncertain legitimacy means that managers must negotiate values with staff who may have competing values of their own. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Willy McCourt, 2007. "Impartiality through bureaucracy? A Sri Lankan approach to managing values," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(3), pages 429-442.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:19:y:2007:i:3:p:429-442
    DOI: 10.1002/jid.1372
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peter Evans, 1998. "Transferable lessons? Re-examining the institutional prerequisites of East Asian economic policies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(6), pages 66-86.
    2. David Hirschmann, 1999. "Development Management versus Third World Bureaucracies: A Brief History of Conflicting Interests," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(2), pages 287-305, April.
    3. Bale, Malcolm & Dale, Tony, 1998. "Public Sector Reform in New Zealand and Its Relevance to Developing Countries," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 13(1), pages 103-121, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mccourt, Willy, 2012. "Can Top-Down and Bottom-Up be Reconciled? Electoral Competition and Service Delivery in Malaysia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(11), pages 2329-2341.
    2. Willy McCourt, 2018. "Towards “cognitively complex” problem‐solving: Six models of public service reform," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S2), pages 748-768, September.
    3. Musharraf Rasool Cyan, 2012. "Civil Service Management in Devolved Government: Reconciling Local Accountability and Career Incentives in Pakistan," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 17(Special E), pages 425-445, September.
    4. Maheshika Sakalasuriya & Richard Haigh & Siri Hettige & Dilanthi Amaratunga & Senaka Basnayake & Harkunti Rahayu, 2020. "Governance, Institutions and People within the Interface of a Tsunami Early Warning System," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 432-444.
    5. McCourt, Willy, 2013. "Models of public service reform : a problem-solving approach," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6428, The World Bank.

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