Title: New public management and path dependence in public organisations in Ethiopia: a multiple case study

Authors: Tewelde Mezgobo Ghrmay

Addresses: Department of Management, CBE, Mekelle University, P.O. Box 451, Mekelle, Ethiopia

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to document how managers in public organisations in Ethiopia describe the nature and implementation of path breaking interventions for the effective adoption of NPM in order to improve services and social outcomes for low-income populations. In doing so, a multiple case study was applied. Qualitative data was based on insights derived from in-depth interviews with the identified participants. Key findings of the study show that in Ethiopia NPM reforms have been introduced following a system-wide approach for all government organisations, obstructing their clear articulation and communication thereof. The levels of performance in design, implementation, output in terms of service delivery, and outcomes to the society vary among enterprises. Leadership commitment, persistence, necessary work in the reward system, and human resource policies (soft S's), institutional development, autonomy and accountability, and benchmarking and contextualisation are some of the factors for effective adoption of NPM reforms.

Keywords: new public management; NPM; path dependency theory; institutionalisation; public enterprise reform design; implementation; output; outcomes; service delivery; multiple case study; qualitative research; change management; Ethiopia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTCS.2019.102763

International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies, 2019 Vol.10 No.3, pp.288 - 305

Received: 23 Apr 2019
Accepted: 10 Jun 2019
Published online: 02 Oct 2019 *

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