This publication focuses on the control mechanisms and procedures that need to be built into an organisation’s systems in order to provide reasonable assurance that top management’s objectives will be met, rather than on the design and application of management information systems, which, we...

The Public Management Occasional Papers are specialised reports prepared for the work of the OECD's Public Management Committee. This publication focuses on the reform strategies used in Portugal. The success or failure of reforms depends largely on how the questions of "how to start" and "how...

Public administration has entered a new age. In the 1980s, “less” government was the prevailing idea; in the 1990s and early 21st century, “New Public Management” was the dominant theme. Today, public administration is moving in new directions. Reforms are focusing on the quality of...

E-government is more about government than about “e”. The spread of new information and communication technologies has spurred major changes at all levels of society and notably in citizen expectations. Governments have also been integrating those technologies into work practices to keep...

Cutting red tape and improving business conditions have become a priority in OECD countries. This study of the Netherlands, one of the front runners in the field, is the first OECD review of a national programme for administrative simplification. The report describes the key features of the...

Major budgeting reforms have been initiated in a number of OECD countries in recent years. These reforms focus on giving spending agencies greater flexibility in using resources, in exchange for holding them responsible for achieving results. This publication examines how five Member countries...

In many OECD countries, tertiary education systems have experienced rapid growth over the last decade. With tertiary education increasingly seen as a fundamental pillar for economic growth, these systems must now address the pressures of a globalising economy and labour market. Within governance...