Government Reform and Human Resources—The Taiwan Experience Delivered at the IPMA-HR Thirtieth International Symposium in Budapest, Hungary

• Published in: Public personnel management Vol. 34; no. 3; pp. 215 - 233
• Main Author: Lin, Chia-Cheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 22.09.2005; Sage Publications, Inc; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Administrative Organization; Civil service; Committees; Competition; Federal government; Globalization; Government agencies; Government employees; Governmental reform; Guidelines; Human resource management; Human resources; Legislatures; Management Development; Political reform; Politics; Presidential elections; Presidents; Private Agencies; Public administration; Public Agencies; Reform; Reforms; Reorganization; Social Action; Social Change; State Government; Technical Occupations; Workforce planning; China; Taiwan
• ISSN: 0091-0260; 1945-7421
• DOI: 10.1177/009102600503400301

Efforts to improve public services, lessen taxpayer burdens and increase each country's competitive profile in the face of growing globalization have fueled a wave of comprehensive government reform in advanced nations of the world since the 1980's. These initiatives came under the influence of a new brand of thinking about public management that promoted a sort of corporate spirit and sought to transform the role and functions of government, while also making deep structural adjustments in the organization and division of responsibilities of government agencies. The aim was to exchange the ponderous control orientation of “big government” for the capable flexibility of “small government.” Now, the pulse of globalization has led to a blurring of the distinction between public and private agencies, and a model for administrative organization that sits between the two has progressively emerged. In this context, the use of human resources and the principles governing this use have also undergone some considerable evolution. In effect, like information and other resources, human resources are now marked by a high degree of mobility, and public agencies are also far more likely than in the past to include fixed-term contracts in their approaches to staffing issues. According to reports on international competitiveness prepared by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), since the year 2000, Taiwan has posted a less-than-ideal government efficiency ranking. While Taiwan was ranked 14 in 2000, that dropped to 24 in 2002 and had only improved to 18 by the end of 2004. As a country subject to intense competitive pressure, Taiwan is now fully committed to the processes of governmental reform that are sweeping the world.