The persistence of organizational performance problems the public services in Ghana: The perspective of societal culture

Abstract

Performance management (PM) has been one of the most profound initiatives of public services reforms in both developed and developing countries in the last three decades. Despite its acceptance as a tool to enhance efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability, many continue to question its efficacy to enhance organizational performance in public services. This is because organizational performance problems continue to persist in the sector. How then can this persistence of organizational performance problems be explained? For some scholars, the answer lies in examining the behaviour of employees and thus moving away from the instrumentality of PM. While this is laudable, what influences employees’ behaviours for them to engage in activities that make nonsense of the existence of PM has not been greatly articulated. In this paper, we attempt to contribute to this discussion by focusing on how societal culture influences behaviour, which in turn affects management of performance both internationaly and across cultures. We, therefore, argue that the inability of PM to effectively achieve its objectives is due to the high prevalence of informal societal culture that influences behaviours detrimental to rational performance PM in the public sector. We examine these behaviours from Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions with a focus on Ghana.

Resolving the adaptive performance problems in the public sector using purposeful leadership: an empirical investigation in Ghana

“…This implies that PS leaders in the three organisations under investigation have a relatively low PL. This suggests that Ghana’s PS has not yet fully embraced the PL paradigm, and for this reason, their frameworks for command and control are unsustainable (Amoako-Asiedu et al ., 2023). Considering Ghana’s current demands, the adoption of this new leadership paradigm has the ability to create positive attitudes and behaviours within its PS.…”

“…This leadership encourages employee experimentation and learning from both successes and failures. Considering the current performance problems in the PS of Ghana, it appears that the leadership models being utilised are not sustainable (Amoako-Asiedu et al, 2023). However, PL has the potential to be a game changer and address this problem by enhancing the adaptability of PS employees.…”

“…Public accountability’s ineffective or lax implementation weakens the sector (Onwujekwe et al ., 2020). Also, the sector’s process of modernisation is impeded by cultural and systemic resistance to change (Amoako-Asiedu et al ., 2023).…”

“…One potential solution to the AP problems in the PS is the implementation of a novel leadership paradigm (Joly, 2021), because their command and control models seem to be unsustainable due to their ongoing performance problems (Amoako-Asiedu et al ., 2023). Consequently, there is a growing necessity to adopt a fresh model of leadership, referred to as purposeful leadership (PL).…”

“…Considering the current performance problems in the PS organisations in Ghana, including poor accountability (Amankwah, 2022) and systematic resistance to change (Amoako-Asiedu et al ., 2023), the PL model may be the game changer and address these performance problems by enhancing the flexibility and adaptability amongst Ghana’s PS employees. PL is distinct from other leadership models due to its three distinct capabilities (vision, moral identity, and dedication to stakeholder’s interests) that, collectively, provide a comprehensive elucidation of a leadership style that holds greater potential for the future of leadership in Ghana’s PS organisations.…”