1. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU. Introduction Mapping approaches to quality management in the public sector Tony Bovaird, Elke Löffler, Salvador Parrado “Quality Management in the Public Sector” Vilnius 27-28 March 2006

2. 2 Can we learn much from places that are so different from us? “Things are very different there – they don’t have our financial problems … staff problems … social problems … legal context … difficult members of the public … difficult chief officers … difficult politicians …” “We tried something like that years ago – it didn’t work” “We’d need to form a working group to consider it” “That’s interesting but … we don’t have the time … the staff …the space …” “Our politicians wouldn’t buy that” “That’s against our policy” “That’s too difficult”

3. 3 Transferring international practice to our home context... Do not accept the argument that quality costs a lot of money. Traditional inefficient ways of providing services are even more expensive.... Do not accept the argument that you are the best. Only agencies which improve continuously are high-performers. And last but not least: never say never!

4. 4 Getting started - Defining quality

5. Exercise: How would you define ‘quality of service’? ª What is YOUR definition of ‘quality of service’? ª Is this the definition that other people in your organisation have, too? DISCUSS THIS WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES.

6. Conceptualisations of quality ª ‘Conformance to specification’ - engineering and contract management (Deming) ª ‘Fitness for purpose’ – meeting corporate and social objectives - systems analysis (Juran) ª ‘Meeting or exceeding customer expectations’ - consumer psychology (PZB) ª Bringing about a passionate emotional involvement between the customer and the service – social psychology (Pirsig) EACH OF THESE IS INTERESTING!

7. Exercise: How many definitions of ‘quality of service‘ are used in your agency? ª Is there ONE official definition of service quality in your agency? ª OR is there NO definition of ‘quality of service’ in your agency? ª OR are there SEVERAL definitions of ‘quality of service’ in your agency? WHICH IS WORSE: HAVING NO DEFINITION OR THREE?

8. Summary ª Service quality is difficult to define but easy to recognise by its absence.  If there is no definition, there is no language for discussing quality.  If there are too many definitions, there is only confusion when quality is discussed.  It is best to agree a single definition in the organisation, and discuss how to assess it and how to assure it, then to implement these plans … and then to move to a different definition some time later, if desired.

9. 9 IAOO nputsctivitiesutputsutcomes Investor’s in People Balanced Scorecard ISO EFQM CAF Models Setting the stage for the seminar: which quality tool to choose? GI Test of Good Governance GI Test of Good Governance

10. Tony Bovaird Governance International Email: tony.bovaird@govint.org www.govint.org Contact