Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 19th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview General Session Author(s) Anca Monica Marin Research Institute for Quality of Life Bucuresti Romania Title New and old managers of Romanian public administration File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Abstract Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this article is to study the recent developments in Romania’s public administration recruitment policies. The policy changes have been directed towards central public administration (de-concentrated units of the Ministries), however their impact is exerted also towards local public administration. Design/Methodology/Approach – In 2009, over 2.000 positions of civil servants from Romanian public administration have been replaced by managers (coordinating directors hired based on a management contract). The paper reviews relevant literature on the topic, discussing the main opposition between civil servants positions (associated with the classic bureaucracy paradigm) and managers (associated with the new public management doctrine). The research is based on a case-study approach – 12 institutions, subordinated to 7 ministries, are included in the study. The main research questions are focused on the profile of the newly recruited managers and on exploring the transparency of the recruitment process. The research is based on information collected from the declarations of assets and interests, as posted by the public administration institutions. Several dimensions are taken into consideration: completeness of public information posted by public institutions and, at individual level, for each “new manager”: previous job – institution, level of income from the last fiscal year, type of job and political affiliation – where they are or not members of the political party, and if they have a leading position in political parties. The analysis will be supplemented, according to the available data, with the latest information collected on these positions at the end of 2010. In the summer of 2010, many of these positions have been replaced with the ‘old’ directors, based on court trials against the Ministries to which de-concentrated units are subordinated. Findings – The collected information shows a significant potential of political interference within the recruitment process of the new managers in Romania and a low degree of transparency of the analyzed set of public institutions. Research limitations/ implications – The case-study methodology is based on a secondary analysis of public information extracted from the declarations of assets and interests. It lacks the direct input from relevant stakeholders of the process. Practical implications – It is relevant for a general discussion on the whole system of human resource management within Romanian public administration. It fills the lack of systematic data on the policy changes and offers the potential of a systematic extensive research on the topic. Originality/value – The innovative approach of the case-study manages to bring under the light the results of the Romanian approach on ‘managerialism’ in the public administration. Keywords Public sector reform, civil service, Romania Paper type Case study
