Leadership in a decentralized public service
| Date | 01 March 2007 |
| Author | Peter C. Humphreys,Orla O'Donnell |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852307075690 |
| Published date | 01 March 2007 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Leadership in a decentralized public service: some lessons
from Ireland1
Peter C. Humphreys and Orla O’Donnell
Abstract
Building upon earlier ‘decentralization’ initiatives to disperse geographically Irish
civil service staff outside Dublin, a new government programme, announced in
December 2003, will result in over half of all civil service posts, including some of
the most senior officials and head offices, being located away from the capital.
This unique initiative in European terms will raise significant leadership opportuni-
ties and challenges for the effective running of Ireland Inc. This article seeks to
identify and analyse a number of these opportunities and challenges from a
public service leadership perspective. In addition to a detailed literature review, the
research analysed available data on previous national and international experience
and involved in-depth discussions with senior managers and other stakeholders.
It is argued that effective leadership is at a premium within the context of a
geographically complex, decentralized civil and public service.
Points for practitioners
The approach to geographical decentralization in Ireland presently proposed is
without national or international precedent and reflects political rather than
managerial or modernization priorities. Even so, it will provide the opportunity to
reassess and recast a number of key governance areas with potentially beneficial
effects from the viewpoint of public service modernization. Creating, developing
and sustaining leadership qualities at a senior level is ordinarily a challenge in the
civil service and often requires different approaches than in the private sector.
These challenges are even greater in a dispersed organizational structure.
Accordingly, action is needed to provide constructive, informed and positive
support to a wide range of issues, including:
Peter C. Humphreys and Orla O’Donnell are at the Research Division, Institute of Public
Administration, Dublin, Ireland.
Copyright © 2007 IIAS, SAGE Publications (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore)
Vol 73(1):65–79 [DOI:10.1177/0020852307075690]
International
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