The procedure and consequences of performance agreement as a tool of new public management: A case study in the Thai Ministry of Justice

Abstract

     This research article investigated New Public Management (NPM) approaches that have been implemented to improve Thailand's public sector. The investigation was carried out based on the performance agreement (PA) as a management tool in the Ministry of Justice as a case study. Documentary research and in-depth interviews of three groups were conducted. The target group consisted of: 1) one central administrative officer (Office of the Public Sector Development Commission); 2) 11 middle managers in the Ministry of Justice; and 3) two experts who had been public sector consultants. The results were verified by personnel in the Ministry of Justice who were not included in the target group. The data were analyzed using content analysis. The data analysis revealed that the implementation of the performance agreement was successful in terms of documents but it did not reflect achievement in the goals of line agencies because: 1) the developed indicators in the PA did not correspond to the organization's goals, which was the result of the centralization of authority to determine the assessment framework of the central agency and the lack of participation from line agencies; 2) the PA framework is “one size fit all”; and 3) the tools of PA were not used in accordance with the principles, leading to a decrease in the cooperation in the agency, unfair allocation of incentives, as well as forgery of documents and setting the goals too low in order to guarantee achievement.