ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the effects and implications of reforms associated with NPM, the ‘guiding light’ for organizational reforms in the public sectors of many countries, with its emphasis on performance management, structural devolution, market-orientation, efficiency and management models borrowed from private firms. The complete cycle of experiential learning implies that one first observes the effects of different public policies and organizational forms. Instrumental perspectives hardly see effects and results as problematic, but, in practice, public servants are limited in their ability to learn through experience. The instrumental perspective focuses on performance based on intentional behavior and deliberate action. There are many reasons why it is difficult to measure the effects and results of organizational change and public initiatives. Conflicts about the public sector’s size, funding and organization can go between political parties, interest organizations, between administrative levels and sectors and between professions.
