Challenges of new public management (NPM) in Fiji's public sector. Did an employee share-ownership plan work?

Abstract

This paper provides insights into the implementation of new public management (NPM) practices in Telecom Fiji and whether an employee share-ownership scheme was helpful in the organizational change process. The adoption of NPM practices in Fiji was part of political, economic and public sector reforms introduced after 1989 and was required by international lenders. This paper explains the background and obstacles to the reforms and how the employee share-ownership scheme persuaded employees to commercialize the service. The authors make recommendations for policy-makers in Fiji and other developing countries.

Keywords:

• Employee share-ownership scheme
• commercial business practices, Fiji
• IMF
• privatized telecoms
• World Bank

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Professors Jane Broadbent and James Guthrie for their constructive comments on a draft of this paper. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the Auckland Region Accounting Conference in 2013. The authors are grateful to the discussant, Nadesa Goundar, and the participants at the conference for their constructive comments.