Streamlining the organizational structure: Creating qualitative change
Báo Dân trí•02/12/2024
Speaking about streamlining the political system's apparatus at the conference on December 1, General Secretary To Lam stated clearly, "This is not just a matter of scale or quantity, but more deeply, it is necessary to create qualitative changes in the operation of the political system." Indeed, in terms of organizational science, the most important goal of streamlining is to improve the quality of apparatus operations. If this goal is not achieved, streamlining will simply fall into mergers and cuts. Looking at the world, many countries are facing the problem of an increasingly "bloated", cumbersome, multi-layered administrative apparatus..., so the requirement to streamline and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the apparatus' operations is very urgent. For example, the United States is the world's leading economy, but we see that President-elect Donald Trump has established a new agency called "Department of Government Efficiency", under the leadership of two businessmen Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, to cut administrative procedures at the federal level, abolish unreasonable regulations, and save public spending. Delegates attending the National Conference disseminate and summarize the implementation of Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW (Photo: Hong Phong). In Japan, where I have studied, lived and worked for many years, the process of restructuring and rationalizing the ministries and central government agencies as well as strengthening the functions of the cabinet has been going on since 1999. This process has brought about many important results, and one of them is the restructuring of ministries to break down barriers and streamline the apparatus, 23 ministerial-level organizations were restructured into one office (Cabinet Office) and 12 ministerial-level organizations. The first day I arrived in Japan, when I first went through immigration procedures for long-term residents, I had to wait in a long line for nearly two hours. Having been used to waiting when using public services in Vietnam, queuing was not too surprising to me. I used to think that this process was inevitable, especially in countries with a population of more than 100 million people. However, the Japanese government, with only two cards including the Residence Card and the My Number Card, changed my mind. Everyone is given a personal identification number, and most public services are integrated through this card, from financial services, insurance to health care. In many years in Japan, the longest and only time I had to wait in line was when I went through immigration procedures for long-term residents mentioned above. Not only strongly restructuring the apparatus, Japan also focuses on digital transformation of administrative procedures, minimizing intermediate steps and improving work efficiency. With its strengths in economic potential and telecommunications infrastructure, the Japanese government has actively applied information technology to reduce manual work, automate document processing processes, thereby reducing the workload for civil servants, while increasing transparency and saving costs. In addition, in Japan, I found that one of the important factors that helped the country develop was the application of a very strict and transparent civil service recruitment system. When I was still studying at university, every year during the April and October graduation periods, banners and signs announcing civil service recruitment were hung all over the Osaka University campus. New graduates recruited into the administrative system had to pass many fierce competitive exams, ensuring that only those with the best abilities and qualities could join the state agency. This helped reduce the situation of recruiting the wrong people, while creating a team of civil servants with solid expertise and high working spirit. Some European countries such as the UK and Germany are also typical in administrative reform and streamlining the public payroll. These countries not only focus on reducing the number of payrolls but also pay attention to improving the quality and capacity of the civil service. In the UK, the Government has implemented the "Government Digital Service" (GDS) strategy since 2011, aiming to reform public services through digital transformation and workflow automation. As a result, the UK saved more than £1 billion in the 2012-2017 period thanks to process optimization and the reduction of unnecessary administrative procedures. Similarly, Germany has implemented a series of reforms in the public apparatus to reduce overlap and waste in state agencies. According to a report by the German Ministry of the Interior, in the 2000-2010 period, the country reduced more than 200,000 civil servants while maintaining the quality of public services, thanks to process optimization and the application of information technology. From international lessons, some important solutions can be drawn for Vietnam in the process of streamlining the apparatus and reducing public payroll. First, administrative reform needs to start with a review of the functions and tasks of state agencies, thereby clearly identifying which departments and positions are necessary and which departments can be reduced or transferred to the private sector or non-governmental organizations. Second, from a sustainable development perspective, strong public institutions including competent civil servants are key to promoting the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 (including 17 goals such as poverty eradication, quality education, gender equality, etc.). Reducing the number of civil servants can inadvertently reduce the ability of public agencies to provide essential services, thereby slowing down the implementation of the SDGs. Therefore, the government should prioritize investment in training and developing a sustainable-minded civil servant team, so that they can effectively contribute to long-term development. Third, it is necessary to promote the application of information technology in administrative work, reduce complicated administrative procedures and increase transparency in work. While digital technology can help improve productivity in providing public services, meeting the requirements of universality and leaving no one behind is also important. Finally, the prerequisite for the success of the plan to streamline the apparatus is the role and trust of the people in the government. This depends largely on people's satisfaction with administrative services, coupled with the transparency of the public apparatus. After all, many public administrative procedures are a type of service, and since they are services, people have the right to demand high quality and attitude.
Author: Pham Tam Long is a PhD in Sustainable Development in Business Administration at Osaka University, Japan; currently a lecturer at the School of International Management - Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan. Dr. Pham Tam Long's research interests are issues of Sustainable Management in Enterprises and Management of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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