Description
Application of turnaround management strategies for improved service delivery with reference to madibeng municipality in brits - north west province.
International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 2, February-2014 1171
ISSN 2229-5518
IJ SER ©2014http://www.ijser.org
Application of Turnaround Management
Strategies for Improved Service Delivery with
Reference to Madibeng Municipality in Brits -
North West Province
Lebogang M. Seoketsa
ABSTRACT
Problems of public service failure are very high on the political agenda in the country in different departments and municipalities are
searching for effective turnaround strategies to fix or to improve these. It must be understood that although little research on
turnaround in public sector has been undertaken, there is a considerable number of studies of decline and recovery in private firms.
This paper is about Turnaround Management Strategies for improved service delivery. The use of Turnaround Management Strategies
(TM) has received growing interest in both public and private sectors. According to Thomas L., Wheelen J and Hunger D (1984:151);
turnaround strategy emphasizes improving operational efficiency. The steps in turnaround management and turnaround strategy, the
importance of turnaround strategy, the objectives of turnaround management strategy and factors needed for improved service
delivery will be dealt with.
Turnaround strategies come into play when a business worth saving has fallen into despair and decline (Thompson, JR and Strickland
A.J; 1981; 104). The goal of turnaround strategy is to arrest and reverse the situation as quickly as possible. The overall goal of
turnaround is to return an underperforming or distressed company to normal in terms of acceptable levels of profitability, solvency,
liquidity and cash flow.
In order to understand how turnaround management works, it is important to understand the five steps involved in turnaround
management. Most of the articles about Madibeng were also reviewed.
KEY WORDS: Turnaround Management Strategies, Service Delivery, Improvement
—————————— ? ——————————
1. INTRODUCTION
1
Municipal service delivery involves the actual production and
provision of goods and service to the community (Van der
Waldt; 2007: 2007). Improved service delivery is what is
expected by the citizens of every country and this has been
singled out as an important ingredient with the intentions of
attracting stakeholders. Several initiatives to improve the
quality of services in public institution have indeed had an
impact, but generally, it is dogged with bureaucracies, delay
and repetitive procedures that affect citizens and investors.
It must be understood that turnaround management is about
business restructure and renewal. In actual fact it is a process
dedicated to corporate renewal. It involves management
review, root failure causes analysis. Turnaround management
• Lebogang M. Seoketsa is currently pursuing DTech: Degree in
Public Management in Tshwane University of Technology, South
Africa, Cell, 037 243 4002/079 981 7077, email:
[email protected]
does not only apply to distressed companies, it in fact can help
in any situation where direction, strategy or a general change
of the ways of working needs to be implemented. Therefore
turnaround management is closely related to change
management, transformation management and post-merger-
integration management. Turnaround Management Strategies
(TMS) has been
Turnaround opportunities are everywhere where services need
to be improved. The overall goal of turnaround strategy is to
return on underperforming or distressed company to formal
terms of acceptable levels of profitability, solvency, liquidity
and cash flow. For the achievements of its objectives,
turnaround strategy must reverse course of distress, resolve
the financial crisis achieve a rapid improvement in financial
performance, regain stakeholders, support and overcome
internal constraints and unfavourable industry characteristics.
Madibeng Local Municipality is located in the North West
Province between the Magaliesberg and Witwatersrand, and
situated 60km from Rustenburg and 50Km north of Pretoria. It
is strategically located in relation to Gauteng, Limpopo, Harare
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and the Maputo Harbour, and is positioned along the Heritage
Route, linking the World Heritage Site with the Pilanesberg
and Madikwe Game Reserves. It is known for its diversified
economy. Currently, mining is the predominant economic
activity, and the Hartebeespoort Dan is the second most visited
place after the Waterfront in Cape Town. Its cities/towns are
Brits, Hartebeespoort, Marikana and Mooinooi and main
economic sectors are mining, manufacturing agriculture and
tourism. (Local government)
2. SIGNIFICANCE OF TURNAROUND
MANAGEMENT
As Madibeng has been stricken by problems of service
deliveries, turnaround management may paly apart in
restoring the performance as according Apri (1999),
turnaround management is the systematic and rapid
implementation of a range of measures to correct a seriously
unprofitable situation. It might include dealing with a financial
disaster or measures to avoid the highly likely occurrence of
such a disaster.
3. STEPS IN TURNAROUND MANAGEMENT
STRATEGY
- Changing the Leadership: A change in leadership
ensures that those techniques, which resulted in the
company’s failure, are not used. That is
REPLACEMENT. The new leadership has to motivate
employees, listen to their views and delegate powers.
In this stage; after reviewing other articles about
problems in Madibeng Municipality, it is important
that leadership be changed. In this it means
replacement is needed.
- Redefining Strategic Focus: This involves re-
evaluating the company’s business and deciding
which ones to change and which to retain.
Diversified companies need to review their portfolio
on the basis of long-term profitability and growth
prospects.
- Selling or diversifying Unnecessary Assets:
sometimes, although the assets are profitable, they
must be liquidated to contribute to the strategic focus.
The cash received from the sale of such assets should
be used to repay debts. Self-sustaining businesses are
ideal candidates to do so. For this study no asset may
be sold as these are the municipality’s assets that may
still be used.
- Improving Profitability: To do this the company has
to take drastic steps like:
• Assigning profit responsibility to individual
division
• Tightening finance controls and reducing
unnecessary overheads.
• Laying off workers wherever necessary
• Investing in labour saving equipment
• Building a new inventory management
system and manage debt efficiency through
negotiating long-term loans.
- Making Careful Acquisition: The Company must be
careful while making acquisitions. It should be in an
area related to its core business enabling the company
to quickly rebuild or replaces its weak divisions.
4. INTERVENTION IN TURNAROUND MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES
Intervention in turnaround management strategies
includes four strategies and these steps are Retrenchment,
Repositioning, Replacement and Renewal. Although these
strategies work together but for this paper only three
strategies are discussed. The fourth one which is
repositioning as it involves attempts to generate revenue
with new innovations and change in product portfolio and
market position will not be discuss as this paper is about
improvement of service delivery.
As Madibeng is stricken by poor service delivery which is
well known to the whole province of North West and also
the surrounding provinces of the country, retrenchment,
replacement and renewal are important at this stage.
4.1 Retrenchment: This is a term used to describe a wide
range of largely short-term actions taken to stabilize
the organization, to stem its losses and to deal with
the immediate problems which have immediate
problems which have precipitated its crisis.
Retrenchment may involve immediate steps to control
finances and reduce costs (like cutting inventory,
changing prices, reducing overheads, or reducing
staffing) or to improve operational management (for
example restructuring work processes, reducing
waiting or idle times, or increasing throughput)
(Robbins and Pearce, 1992).
Although Robbins and Pearce (1992) state that for
turnaround to be successful, retrenchment is a
necessary response, regardless of what kind of
problems caused the need for the turnaround, it must
be understood that it is crucial stage in recovery
phase of the turnaround process. It might be useful
for positive change of momentum as its benefits are
(1) efficiency restoration, (2) slack generation and (3)
Momentum creation, though Baker and Mone (1994)
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are of the different view that retrenchment may not be
always true.
4.2 Replacement: This involves the removal of key
members of the leadership and management of the
organization and their replacement either with others
from within the organization or with others drawn
externally.
Replacement can focus on solely on the chief
executive and one or two other senior directors, or it
can involve the wholesale replacement of the board
and management team (Slatter, 1984; Muller and
Barker 1997).
It must be understood the replacement forms a part of
the great majority of turnaround strategies, for
reasons which can be as much [political and symbolic
as purely functional. Replacing the chief executive
and other senior leaders may be necessary step in
attributing responsibility for the organization’s
predicament and providing a scapegoat. It may be
necessary in order to secure the confidence and
support of external stakeholders (like major
customers, shareholders, or regulators) in the
feasibility and likely success to turnaround efforts.
It may be important internally too, in sending a
message to the organization about a fundamental
change of direction (‘under new management’) and
new expectations of performance on individuals, as
well as the organization as a whole. However
replacement also often serves a simple, functional
purpose: removing mangers who simply lack the
necessary leadership skills and competencies, or
whose managerial performance has declined over
time, and who are not suited or not able to take on the
challenges or turnaround.
Replacement carries with it significant risks as well, in
that it can mean the loss of key expertise and business
understanding and knowledge. This is normally used
as it is theorised that new brooms sweep clean and in
the managerial saying it will bring the concept that
new managers will bring recovery and strategic
change. This will be because of their different
experience and background from their previous work
environment.
4.3 Renewal: This involves longer-term actions aimed at
re-establishing the strategic direction, vision and
overall purpose of the organization and placing it on
a longer-term pathway to successful performance. It
may involve a fundamental review of the activities of
the organization and their long-term prospects, which
can lead to the closure of some areas, expansion in
others, and the opening of new markets or ventures. It
may also involve a detailed analysis of the culture and
leadership of the organization and a concerted effort
to change the way it works (Stuart, Slatter and Levett,
1999).
Apart from what Slatter and Levett (1999) are saying
above, renewal may also lead to consequences within
an organisation like, the removal of efficient routines
or resources. Renewals are innovative core
competencies implemented which include an increase
in knowledge and stabilization of the municipal
value.
5. SERVICE DELIVERY
Fox and Meyer (1995:118) define service delivery as the
provision of public activities, benefits or satisfactions. Services
relate to both to the provision of tangible public goods and to
tangible services. Section 152 (1) of the Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa (South Africa, 1996) requires the
government to provide services in a sustainable manner and
services must be impartially, fairly, equitably provided
without bias. From the discussion above services relate both to
the provision of tangible public goods and intangible services
where developing community is this study may be regarded as
service delivery because it is part of government assignment.
From the definitions above it can be deduced that service
delivery refers to the performance of duties which one has
been assigned to perform by an organisation or managers.
Service delivery also refers to serving people or the community
as one’s clients or customers. Customers should always Service
providers must utilise information and data fully and they
should couple this with the potential of their skills,
competencies, ideas and motivations in order to deliver the
necessary services effectively and efficiently.
In 1997 the government of South Africa with the attempt to
provide a framework for people-centered public service
delivery, the Batho Pele Principles were introduced
(http://www.dps.gove/batho-pele/index.asp). By this initiative
the government was striving to move public servants to
become service oriented, in order to pursue excellence in
service delivery and commitment from public servant for
continuously improved service delivery was needed from
them. The principles for transforming service delivery with
regard to service standards, aces, courtesy, information,
openness, consultation, transparency, redress and value of
money was also set. With the challenges that are surrounding
Madibeng these principles are needed with the turnaround
management strategy.
5.1 Facts About Improved Service Delivery
Improved Satisfaction:
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It is well understood that citizens need their expectations to be
met, they want the staff they deal with to be competent and to
keep their promises, they want to be treated fairly and have
their individual circumstances taken into consideration or
account and also the services rendered must be of good value
of their expenditure.
Improved service deliveries that could enhance overall
performance include:
- Selection of right people for the job. For an example
people who work in front line must be those who
want to help with good people skills and solution
focussed.
- Ensuring that staff is well trained in how to deal with
people. Training should cover how to treat people
with politeness and respect. How to determine people
needs how to deal with difficult customers and how
to treat each person as an individual.
- Knowledge and experience in meeting customer
needs are needed.
- Service providers must have clear and easy
understood communications.
- Service providers must learn how to apologise where
mistakes have been made or promises are not kept.
Meeting Expectations
- People are more likely to say that their expectations in
services are met when staff:
Listen to them, understand their circumstances and treat them
as an individual
Know about the services they expect in the institution or
department.
Communication if clear and simple
Respectful treatment
Friendly, polite and approachable service providers.
Always doing or performing what they promise people to do.
From the above points it can be deduced that in order for
service to be improved, services standards should be set and
monitored so hat staff kn0w exactly what is expected of them
and the public must be made aware of these standards.
Competent Staff
When the staff is competent it means they:
Know about the services offered in the department and they
can be able to help people or direct them to someone who can
help.
Listen and understand public’s circumstances
Are polite, friendly, focused and approachable
Can communicate in a clear and simple manner.
In order to improve, services need staff that can clearly explain
processes and inform people, including speakers or other
languages, of their entitlements.
Keeping Promises
A promise is any undertaking or commitment made by a staff
member or organization. Keeping promises involves:
Staff who do what they say they will do
Service standards (particularly for response times) so that staff
know what is expected of them and he public are aware of the
standards the can expect to receive.
In order to improve, services need a transparent and open
complaints process and to ensure customers know about it.
Complaints need to be investigated promptly and customers
kept fully informed of the process and when they can expect a
response.
Treating People Fairly
Treating people fairly involves:
Staff who treat all citizens with respect, not judgemental and
have a reasonable degree of flexibility
Treating people in the same circumstances the same
Explaining the reasons for decisions in a reasonable manner;
this is particularly important if it is not possible to meet
citizens’ expectations.
In order for services to improve, the actual service experience
is the one that matters most rather than the outcome.
Individual Circumstances
When staff took the time to listen and ask question in order to
fully understand an individual’s situation, people felt their
circumstances were being taken into account. This was not
about providing a different outcome but about exercising
flexibility. Being flexible in these circumstances puts a human
face on public services and leaves a strong positive impression.
People feel that their circumstances are taken into account
when:
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Staff are able to exercise some flexibility, particularly in
relation to scheduling appointments
Senior and more experienced staff with the authority to
exercise discretion are available when individual
circumstances need to be taken into consideration
Staff members are profession at all times, for example showing
customers respect by being on time and keeping appointments.
In order to improve in the area of taking individual
circumstances into account; services need to enable staff to
exercise some flexibility and discretion around processes. This
is flexibility in how people are dealt with, which may not
necessarily affect the outcome of their dealings with the
service.
Good Value for Services
People considered services to be good value for service either
when the services were essential ‘core’ services or where they
had received a high quality service. As well as this, ways to
increase the perception of value include:
Improve service delivery through meeting expectations
Inform citizens about what fees cover and the benefits the
service provides
Look for ways to improve public awareness of the services an
agency provides and how its fund is spent.
Refining Trust
To improve levels of trust, it is important that visible actions
are taken promptly to address breaches when they are
discovered.
5.2 Challenges for Public Service Delivery
Lack of experience across the public services also means that
boundary problems, requiring a deep understanding of
services to be delivered to the community are more difficult to
resolve.
Service quality Management: According to Palmer (1993:33);
Service Quality Management is the process of minimising the
performance gap between actual delivery and customer
expectations.
Lack of communication: A company without communication
is dangerous to the society. Miscommunication and no
communication can contribute to conflict in the organisation.
Lack of communication can lead to misunderstanding, which
in turn can lead to mistakes, missed deadlines and altered
project directions, (McQuerry (1987). This normally happens
when staff members exchange information without clearly
understanding one another. Opportunities are missed when
there is a lack of communication and this may lead to poor
service delivery.
Lack of Accountability: Public accountability rests both on
given an account and on being held to account, (Hendeghom,
1998) Accountability in all spheres make different. Where
things are not going well or in order, if people are held
accountable, there will be a different. In most cases non
delivery of service or poor service deliver it is because of lack
of accountability. Accountability must run from top to bottom.
Everybody in public sectors must be accountable in everything
they are doing because in terms of Section 195 (1) of the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996),
the objectives of local government are:
(a) To provide democratic and accountable
government for local communities;
(b) To ensure the provision of service to
communities in a sustainable manner;
(c) To provide social and economic development;
(d) To promote a safe and healthy environment; and
(e) To encourage the involvement of communities
and community organization in the matters of
local government.
This means that accountability in all spheres of
government, at organs of the state and in public
enterprises is more than ethical behaviour. It values
more that efficiency and effectiveness.
In all the spheres of government accountability is
accepted as the key to improved service delivery.
According to Batley (1999); New Public Management
the emerged in 1990s emphasised the use of market
mechanisms within the public sectors to make
managers and providers more responsive and
accountable.
Ethics and accountability complement each other
because professional ethics is the basis of
accountability; (Egde Ebai and Forje; 2009). In Public
Administration Accountability and Ethics are the
main standards of employees in any well-structured
public administration.
According to Egde Ebai and Forje (2009); the
following factors are contributing to the lack
accountability: (1) Disregard of rules,(2) Ministries
administrative bottlenecks: Epicentre of inertia, (3)
Government inaction, (4) Lack of professionalism,
declining sense of integrity and honesty and personal
agenda, (5) Corruption and Malpractices in the Civil
service, (6) Corruption and the award of
Governmental contracts, (7) Customs department, (8)
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Justice department, 9. Political corruption, (10) Public
administration, (11) Poor remuneration policies and
(12) Weak institutions for enforcing accountability
standards.
Application and use of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) may be used as a
strategy to promote accountability. As mentioned
above that according to Hondeghem (1998); “Public
accountability rest both on giving an account and on
being held to account,” in order to build public
service accountability, capacity and capability will to
be built systematically and incrementally. An
accreditation system for public service mangers is
recommended to ensure that appointees have the
skills and experience required for their work (South
African Public Service Commission; State of the
Public Service Report, February 2005).
- Insufficient training to staff members: When the
municipality or any department does not give
thorough training to staff members and enough time
is not spent on training, the results will be poor
service delivery. According to Iwan (2007); enough
time and money as resources should be dedicated for
training and reinforcement. Public servants at
municipalities must be fully informed about the goals,
products and services they are supposed to give to the
communities. As training needs money; it will be
more costly if staff members are not trained.
Insufficient training to staff members may also lead to
people to not caring about their job.
- The relationships: Cameron and Stone (1995) explain
ethics as the branch of philosophy concerned with the
intent, means and consequences of moral behaviour,
as well as the code of conduct for public servant. The
code of conduct should help officers and employees
to gain a clear picture of what is expected of them
from an ethical point of view, both in their individual
conduct and in their relationships with others.
The code of conduct provides guidelines of officers
and employees with regard to their relationship with
legislature, political office-bearers, and the public and
other servants. It also indicates the spirit in which
public servant should perform their duties, what
should be done to avoid conflict on interests and what
is expected of them in terms of their personal conduct
and private interests. Lack of relationships is a danger
to the government and society.
Cameron and Stone (1995) summarised the following
guidelines:
Relationship with legislative and executive authorities;
Relationship with the community;
Relationship between officials;
Performance of duties; and
Personal conduct and private interest.
These guidelines will give a clear picture on how people
should relate with the authority and among each other, and
again how they should perform their duties to deliver effective
and efficient service to the community in order to meet the
objectives of the study.
Relationship with legislative and executive authorities
Since government is necessary for the public goods, it is
consequently also necessary for those who are subject to
government to be submissive and obedient, for otherwise they
would resist government with should bring about the pubic
goods. Obedience to government includes the duties of
keeping laws, not undertaking anything contrary to them,
performing what is ordered, abstaining from what is forbidden
and shouldering public burdens – whether office or taxes. In
general, everyone is obliged not only to contravene public in
any way, but to contribute to it positively according to his/her
circumstances.
Taking the above into the consideration, an officer or employee
should:
- Honour the Constitution and accept it as a guide in
the execution of his/her daily tasks;
- Be familiar with and abide by all statutory and other
instructions applicable to his/her conduct and duties;
- Be bound to execute the policies of the government of
the day loyally in the performance of his/her
administrative functions; and
- Put the interest of the state first in the execution of
his/her duties.
The objective of this article is for the service providers to abide
by all statutory and other instructions applicable to their
conduct and duties, and to put the interest of the state first in
the execution of their duties.
Relationship with the community
It is the duty of the government to satisfy the community.
Service providers must relate with community in the manner
in which unity, trust and full accountability is built. Service
providers must:
- Foster the unity of the South African nation in his/her
official actions;
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- Always act in a manner that will promote the trust of the
public in the public service;
- Be open and fully accountable to the public regarding
his/her official actions by way of the appropriate statutory
bodies and elected political office-bearers;
- Have regard for the circumstances and concerns of
communities in dealing with administrative actions
affecting them;
- Be committed to the development and upliftment of all
South African citizens;
- Be honest in dealing with public funds and use state
property economically and only for official purposes;
- Not take part in and will expose maladministration,
corruption and any other act which constitute an offence
or which is prejudicial to the state;
- Not unfairly discriminate against any member of the
community on account of race, gender, religion, conviction
or any other arbitrary reasons;
- Be non-partisan and unbiased in rendering service to
members of the public;
- Not use his/her position in the public service to promote
or prejudice the interest of any political party or interest
group;
- Always be polite and helpful when dealing with the
public;\Recognise every citizen’s right of access to all
information insofar as such information is required for the
exercise or protection of any of a citizen’s rights; and
- Be committed to lawful, justifiable and procedural fair
administrative action.
Good relationships with the community may improve service
Relationship between Officials
Officials in this study can be authorities who must see to it that
service providers are performing their duties satisfactorily.
Authorities must:
- Co-operate fully with other officials to advance the
public interest;
- Obey and execute all lawful instructions by persons
competent to give them;
- Reply explicitly and fully to a lawful question put to
him/her by a person competent to put such a
question, except where such a reply may incriminate
him/her;
- Never misuse his/her authority;
- Use the appropriate statutory or other prescribed
channels to air his/her grievances or to direct
representations; and
- Apply human resource and labour relations practices
in an objective, fair and utilisation of his/her
subordinates.
Public servants and community must work together for
the benefit of community as customers. Authorities must
always be available to monitor the services of public
servants.
Performance of Duties
Performance of duties must be carried out as reasonable as
possible and within the limits of the employees’ skills,
competences and training.
- Public servants must direct their actions and decisions
to achieve the objectives of their organization in the
public interest;
- Devote their undivided attention to their daily tasks
and place all their time at the disposal of the state;
- Use the resources at their disposal efficiently and
effectively;
- Public servant must be punctual in the performance
of their duties and are never absent from their place
of work without permission or a valid reason;
- They must execute their duties in a competent
manner and respect as well as protect the human
dignity of everybody with whom they have contact;
- They do not get involved in any transaction or action
that is in conflict with or in any way infringes upon
the execution of their official duties;
- They must willingly declare their interests and excuse
themselves from any official action or decision-
making process that may affect their interest; and
- Accept the responsibility to equip themselves for their
career through persistent training and self-
development.
Personal conduct and Private Interests
Public service is a public trust, requiring employees to
place loyalty to the community above private gain. A
service provider as an officer or employee in the public
service must:
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- At all times act responsibly as far as the use of
alcoholic beverages or any other substance with an
intoxicating effect is concerned;
- Not without approval accept, and never demands,
gifts or benefits related to the performance of his/her
official duties;
- Arrange his/her private activities so that they do not
clash with his/her official duties and must not without
approval undertake remuneration work outside
his/her official duties;
- Not use his/her official position to seek or obtain any
financial or other advantage for himself/herself,
his/her family or any other person or organization;
Public servant need to do the following for effective and
efficient service delivery:
- Work ethic where they are going to be productive;
- To be loyal and deliver service timely; service
orientation where they will demonstrate commitment
to quality public service;
- Accountability to guide them to accept responsibility
for actions and results;
- Self-management skills, interpersonal skills and
communication skills to help them to remain open to
new ideas and approaches;
- To recognise and develop potential in others and to
communicate ideas;
- Suggestions and concerns as well as outcomes and
progress throughout the process of an activity,
whereas emotional maturity will help them to
conduct themselves in a professional and consistent
manner.
6. REVIEWED ARTICLES ABOUT MADIBENG
MUNICIPALITY
From the local newspapers as well as the news bulletins
appearing on national television it is clear that demands made
by communities of Madibeng Municipality for service delivery
have escalated. Complaints and demands have not only been
for services such as electricity, houses and roads, but the resent
one is when residents of Mothotlung near Brits complaint
about water and where some of the residents lost their lives.
Residents from different places in Madibeng had embarked on
mass action to underline their demands
The following articles were reviewed:
- Randwater ‘chokes’ water supply, Madibeng owes
millions of 27 September 2013: “Meerhof,Ifafi and
parts of Melodie are currently experiencing very low
water pressure because pf Madibeng Municipality’s
non-payment of Randwater account over the past
three month. “This is just weak and bad
administration from top to bottom. They can buy a
birthday cake for R6 000.00 and take a cable way
outing for R16 000.00 but they do not pay the essential
bills and deliver the essential services they are
supposed to.” said Eddie Barlow of DA ward
councillor.
- Madibeng survey only asks 0.04% of people: 29
November 2013 “The Madibeng Municipality
recently hired a company to conduct a community
satisfaction survey during which the majority of the
respondents refused to comment. In response to the
question ‘what are the three services the council does
well?’ approximately 57% of the respondents
indicated that there are no services the municipality
does well. According to DA ward councillor, Eddie
Barlow, the survey was just another of the
municipality’s wasteful expenditure.”
- Madibeng to be taken to Human Rights
Commission over clinic: 22 February 2013;
According to Ema Rossouw, ward councillor, “There
is a weekly shortage of medicine, not even aspirin in
regularly available and the conditions are extremely
unhygienic. There has been serious shortage of
various medicines, sometimes life depending like
blood pressure tablets.”
- Service Delivery Grinds to a Halt: 07 February 2013;
“At the licensing office workers refused to work
because their complaints about non-functioning air
conditioners, broken toilets and other conditions
apparently fall on deaf municipal ears.” An angry
motorist asked “we get fined for the municipality’s
lack of service delivery and refusal to work. How is
that possible?”
- “We are sick and tired of Madibeng”- Schaumberg
Residents Riot over Service Delivery: 03 August
2012: “more than 600 angry residents barricaded the
R506 at around 2:00 on Thursday morning with three
trunks, stones and portable toilets, burning tyres and
demanding to speak to Madibeng mayor Poppy
Magongwa.”
- Residents Fed up with Squatter pollution: 03 August
2012: “I have had it .We have been living here for 12
years and are sick of the littering and the pollution the
Marius squatter camp residents are causing,” said the
Frans the land owner. “Their waist is being dumped
on my property and they use the veld near my
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borehole as toilets and during all this time we have
not had any response from the Madibeng
municipality when we complain about the situation,”
he said.
- Madibeng to Russia to learn about ‘Governance’: 18
December 2012: “The Madibeng mayor, speaker,
municipal manager and a member of the mayoral
committee plan to visit Russia in February to,
amongst other things, learn more about ‘governance
and democracy in order to better the lives of our
citizens.” In response to this, Councillor Leon Basson
told the speaker that they need not travel to Russia to
see how a municipality should operate; they only
need to visit the Western Cape.
- Guns and Violence in Madibeng Chambers: 31
August 2012: “Councillors fled the Madibeng council
Chambers on Tuesday after a security guard pointed
a firearm at councillors and councillor was assaulted
during a heated council session.” “According to
information the fight broke out after the speaker
refused to allow questions regarding his alleged
unauthorised spending, the court case to prevent the
provincial government to place Madibeng under
administration and his alleged misleading the council
to charge and suspend a fellow councillor.”
Apart from the above discussed article there are many more
articles which stated more about the problems and poor
service deliveries in Madibeng. Some of them are:
- Municipality charged with theft;
- Councillor suspended for alleged breach of code of
conduct;
- Madibeng’s itch;
- Crisis Management;
- SAMWU, SANCO calls for intervention in Madibeng;
and many more.
According to Manuel, (2014), “the Madibeng municipality in
the North West, which has been hit by recent protests over
water shortages, is dysfunction.” According to his observation,
the local authority is dysfunctional. It doesn’t understand that
if you lay pipes you must get water to people. It fails to
understand what its core mandate is.
- Bill of rights ‘upheld’
Manuel said the bill of rights had been upheld in that people
had access to free, basic water within the limited distance form
their house. These rights were entrenched in law and money
had consequently been spent on the water infrastructure. In his
speech he stated that three people died and one was fatally
wounded on January 13, during protests about water services
in Mothotlung in the province. Manuel was speaking as
Stellenbosch University’s Theological Day, where he gave an
address on the function of the National Development Plan
(NDP).
7. FINDINGS
As municipal service delivery is governed by the following
guidelines; the integrated Development Plan and the
Performance Management System; Intergovernmental
relations, the Expanded Public Works Programme; Batho Pele
Principles, the budget and policy and procedures this study is
focusing on the Performance Management System where
turnaround management strategies are applied with the aim of
improving service delivery in Madibeng Municipality.
The sluggish municipal services provider has come to be seen
as the vehicle that not only caries the hopes of the community
in delivering basic service but is also responsible for the up-
liftment of the communities and the creation of job prospects.
For the implementation of these opportunities, it is important
for the local municipality to become a self-motivated
establishment that demonstrates creativity, efficiency,
transparency and culpability. Madibeng Municipality is as a
dynamic unit in its community and must carry out the critical
function of service delivery to all citizens in its area of
jurisdiction.
It is now crucial for the South African Government to ensure
that practical steps are taken. Turn around management
strategy is the vital strategy for poor service delivery in
Madibeng municipality. The leadership that has been on
positions have shown it clear that they cannot delivery
expected services to the community of Madibeng. Speeding
up the progress in the right direction could also contribute
towards improving the credibility and integrity of integrated
development plans and economic development projects.
8. RECOMMENDATIONS
The time scale for turnaround strategies can be long, but
activity is often concentrated towards the start. The diagnostic
phase of turnaround is often very short – major replacement
and retrenchment actions may be taken within days or a few
weeks, in part because timing may be critical to stemming
further losses or problems.
An early focus on
- Continuous leadership training to political office
bearers and public officials in leading positions is
necessary. The training and development of staff
members are very important because in leadership
people who are skilled have got expertise and are
capable and confident and got vision so that in return
people that are recruited to the organisation has the
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necessary skills, necessary expertise, they share in
values of the organization, they are willing to go out
and do things and that is the only way one could
enhance service delivery
A clear ethical code of conduct must also be
inculcated within their public service delivery to
bring about and maintain effectiveness, efficient and
professional service rendering. Nel, Van Dyk,
Haasbroek, Schults, Sono & Wener (2004:24) define
effectiveness as doing the right things, which is
primarily determined by setting goals for the
organisation. These goals are not set in isolation, but
are directly linked to the demand for an
organization’s product or service.
Effectiveness is a criterion according to which an
alternative is recommended if it results in the
achievement of a valued outcome. In particular it
refers to a condition in which a focal organisation, is
using a finite amount of resources (Fox and Meyer,
1995:41)
Kroon (1996:136) states that effectiveness is utilizing
the right opportunity or achieving the right goals.
According to the researcher, effectiveness refers to
one being conscious. When one is conscious, one can
try by all means to be perfect or do things right in
order to achieve something or a set goal.
Cloete (1998:111) defines efficiency as satisfying the
most essential needs of the community to the greatest
possible extent, in qualitative and quantitative terms,
using the limited resources that are available for this
purpose. It also involves upholding public
accountability, democratic requirements, fairness and
reasonableness and the supremacy of the legislature.
Efficiency is the achievement of the ends with the
least amount of resources (Van der Waldt and Du
Toit, 1997:19).
- The improvement of co-ordination: this goes hand
in hand with communication. The community
organisations and residents must liaise freely with
political office bearers and public officials. The
officials of the municipalities must be in the position
where they give the community of their jurisdiction
free to state their challenges. This can only happen by
smooth flow of communication. One of the outputs in
arising from the development strategy in the IDP is a
communication strategy for the District Municipality
and the local authorities.
Service delivery is viewed as the mechanism to
activate the communication strategy. In this manner
communication with the community can be seen as
part of services provided by the municipality.
Communication is also seen as the marketing strategy
improved service delivery in the communities.
- Internal arrangement for effective and efficient
services: For example old citizens be given first
priority and holistic customer care is important. (Van
der Waldt, 2007:161-162). The efficiency of a public
institution should be seen from three points of view.
The first point of view is effectiveness, which boils
down to the extent to which a need has to be satisfied.
Secondly, attention should be given to the economy
with which the resources had been used, for example,
money – principally used for personnel and materials.
Thirdly, economy requires that the inputs should be
obtained at the lowest prices and used without waste
(Cloete, 1995:82).
- The improvement for sustainable service delivery:
As municipality has the developmental duty to
manage its administration and budgeting and
planning processes in such a way that, the basic needs
of the community are prioritized and that the social
and economic development of the community is
promoted and to participate in the programmes of
government; it is important for Madibeng
municipality to consider or take this duty into the
consideration.
The above recommendations are important to address
the problems on an early stage and below will be the
steps to be taken for the addressing of problems that
have been escalated in the municipality. These will
work together with the strategies of turnaround
management which are retrenchment, replacement
and renew
- Define and Analysis: During this stage the definition
of performance problems within the municipality are
clearly outlined. It is particularly important during
this step that any areas of financial stress within the
municipality are identified and a thorough analysis
undertaken. The objective of this is to arrest any
further decline in the municipality while continuing
to employment and avoid insolvency. This is where it
is going to lead to retrenchment.
As discussed above, retrenchment may involve
immediate steps to control finances and reduce costs
(like cutting inventory, changing prices, reducing
overheads, or reducing staffing) or to improve
operational management (for example restructuring
work processes, reducing waiting or idle times, or
increasing throughput) (Robbins and Pearce, 1992).
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- Replacement: This is a strategy where to managers
are replaced by the new ones. Replacement is
qualified for situations with intolerant managers
which are not able to think impartial about certain
problems. Once the new managers in the municipality
are in place the scope and strategy must be applied.
- Scope and Strategy: Once the municipality has been
stabilised, it is now time to commence a strategic
planning process. The first part of this is to scope the
strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
(SWOT analysis) of the business. It is important
during this stage to not only internally (strength and
weaknesses) but to strategically analyse the external
environment (Opportunities and Threats) as well.
From SWOT analysis, the long term vision, mission
and objectives for the municipality can be defined.
Knowing where the municipality is heading then
allows the development of a strategic plan.
- Renewal: With a renewal, municipality will pursue
long-term actions which are supposed to end in a
successful managerial performance. In this stage the
existing structures are going to be analysed. Now it is
time to take the strategic plan and develop an action
plan. This is a list of actions and tasks complete with
time frames that must be undertaken to ultimately
achieve the business objectives. This is also called link
and action. The tasks are the daily, weekly and
monthly activities to be done and with this strategic
planning process, each one will be contributing to the
overall mission.
- Implementation: This step is not just about
implementing the action plan, but also ensuring
coaching and support of all staff. Without this critical
step, all the planning can go to waste. It is important
that employees are aligned with the overall vision for
the business. This is achieved through
communication, consultation and coaching on a
regular basis.
- Review: With all the planning and implementation in
place, it is now time to conduct regular reviews. This
ensures not only that continual improvement is
achieved but also helps to identify any corrective
actions that may be needed.
In effect, turnaround management is very similar to
the strategic planning, process; however the first step
if identifying areas of stress in the business is critical.
For any business where this stress is already
occurring, applying the above process, in consultation
with a turnaround management expert, will not only
ensure the business turnaround but also the
opportunity to improve and develop well into the
future.
9. CONCLUSION
In conclusion of this case study, service delivery in
municipalities has been a serious challenge in all over the
country. Creating a successful turnaround management
strategy is in many ways like starting over. It is an attempt to
look at the situation from a different perspective. It means
making honest and unbiased assessments and communicating
with everyone involved. This includes the management team,
employees, accountants, attorneys and your banker.
Adjustment of municipality’s original plan in performance of
duties is important. Remember to include specific statements
on what changes will be made to correct identified issues.
Accountability for service delivery must be demanded from all
stakeholders in government including the community. Public
servants must be well trained and personnel with required
skills must be employed. The need for public participation is
also important. There is a responsibility on municipalities to
develop the capacity of local communities to understand and
participate in the governing process as a partner with the
intentions of improving service delivery.
10. REFERENCES
Apri, B. 1991 International Turnaround management, Palgrave
Macmillan, UK.
Barker III, V.L. and Mone, M.A. Retrenchment: Case of
Turnaround or Consequent of Decline, Strategic Management
Journal, Vol. 15, pp. 395-405.
Bartley, R. 1999. The New Public management in Developing
Countries: Implications for policy and Organizational Reform.
Journal of International Development. Vol. 11, No. 5, pp. 761-
765.
Cameron, R.G. & Stone, A.B. 1995. Serving the Public. Pretoria:
Van Schaik.
Cloete, J.J.N. 1995. Public Administration and Management.
Pretoria: Van Schaik.
Cloete, J.J.N. 1998. South African Public Administration and
Management. 9th Ed. Pretoria: Van Schaik.
Egbe Ebai J. and Forje, J. W. 2009. Challenges of Administrative
Reforms and Public Service Accountability in Africa: The Case
of Cameroon. Cameroon Journal of Democracy and human
Rights.http://www.cjdhr.org
Fox, W. and Meyer, I.H. 1995. Public Administration
Dictionary. Cape Town: Juta.http://www.dps.gove/batho-pele/index.asphttp://www.Kormorant.co.za/2012/08/we-are-sick-and-tired-of-
madibeng-schaumberg....
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http://www.Kormorant.co.za/2012/08/guns-and-violence-in-
madibeng-chambers/http://www.Kormorant.co.za/2012/02/08/residents-fed-up-
with-squatter-pollution/http://www.Kormorant.co.za/2013/02/02/madibeng-to-be-
taken-human-rights-commissiom.....http://www.Kormorant.co.za/2013/02/service-delivery-grinds-
to-a-halt/http://www.Kormorant.co.za/2013/09/randwater-chokes-water-
supply-madibeng-owes....http://www.Kormorant.co.za/2013/11/madibeng-survey-only-
asks-0.04%-of-people/http://www.Kormorant.co.za/2013/12/madibeng-to-russia-to-
learn-about-governance/http://www.localgovernment.co.za/locals/view/188/madibeng-
local-municipalityhttp://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Manuel-
Madibeng-is-dysfunctional-2014...
Iwan, L. 2007. Reasons for Poor Customer Service and their
Solutions.http://leeiwan.wordpress.com.2007/11/13/top-10-
reasons-for-customer-service-and-their-solutions
Hondeghom, A. 1998. Ethics and accountability in a context of
governance and new public management. Amsterdam: IOS
Press
Kroon, J. 1996. General Management. 2nd ed. Pretoria: Kagiso
tertiary.
McQuerrey, L. 1987. Media Demand.http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/lack-communicatin-cause-
conflict-workplace-943...
Mueller, G.C. and Barker, V.L. 1997. “Upper Echelons and
Board Characteristics of Turnaround and Non-turnaround
Declining Firms”, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 39 pp.
119-134.
Nel, P.S., Van Dyk, P.S., Haasbroek, G.D., Schults, H.B., Sono,
T. & Wener, A. 2004. Human Resource Management. 6th Ed.
Oxford University Press.
Palmer, A. 1993. Performance Measurement in local
government: Public Money and Management, October-
December: 31-36.
Robbins, K.D. and Pearce II J. A. 1992. Turnaround:
Retrenchment and Recovery, Strategic Management Journal,
Vol 13, pp. 287-309.
Slatter, S. 1984, Corporate Recovery, Penguin,
Harmondsworth.
Stuart, S.T., Slatter, P. and Lovett, D. 1999. Corporate
Turnaround, Penguin Books, UK.
The Republic of South Africa. 1996. The Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa, Act 108. Pretoria. Government
Printers.
The Republic of South Africa. State of the Public Service
Report February 2005. Bracing the Public Service for Sustained,
effective Service Delivery based on Batho Pele. Commission
House, Arcadia: Government Printers.
Thomas, L. and Hunger, J. D., 1984, Strategic Management,
USA, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.
Thompson, A.A., J.R. and Strickland III, A.J., 1981, Strategy and
Policy, Business Publication: USA.
Thompson, A.A., J.R. and Strickland III, A.J., 1998, Strategic
Management, 1998, New York: Irwin McGraw-Hill.
Van der Waldt, G. & Du Toit, D.F.P. 1997. Managing for
Excellence in the Public Sector. Kenwyn: Juta & Co.
Van der Waldt, G. 2007. Municipal Management: Serving the
people. Cape Town: Juta
& Company Ltd.
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Application of turnaround management strategies for improved service delivery with reference to madibeng municipality in brits - north west province.
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Application of Turnaround Management
Strategies for Improved Service Delivery with
Reference to Madibeng Municipality in Brits -
North West Province
Lebogang M. Seoketsa
ABSTRACT
Problems of public service failure are very high on the political agenda in the country in different departments and municipalities are
searching for effective turnaround strategies to fix or to improve these. It must be understood that although little research on
turnaround in public sector has been undertaken, there is a considerable number of studies of decline and recovery in private firms.
This paper is about Turnaround Management Strategies for improved service delivery. The use of Turnaround Management Strategies
(TM) has received growing interest in both public and private sectors. According to Thomas L., Wheelen J and Hunger D (1984:151);
turnaround strategy emphasizes improving operational efficiency. The steps in turnaround management and turnaround strategy, the
importance of turnaround strategy, the objectives of turnaround management strategy and factors needed for improved service
delivery will be dealt with.
Turnaround strategies come into play when a business worth saving has fallen into despair and decline (Thompson, JR and Strickland
A.J; 1981; 104). The goal of turnaround strategy is to arrest and reverse the situation as quickly as possible. The overall goal of
turnaround is to return an underperforming or distressed company to normal in terms of acceptable levels of profitability, solvency,
liquidity and cash flow.
In order to understand how turnaround management works, it is important to understand the five steps involved in turnaround
management. Most of the articles about Madibeng were also reviewed.
KEY WORDS: Turnaround Management Strategies, Service Delivery, Improvement
—————————— ? ——————————
1. INTRODUCTION
1
Municipal service delivery involves the actual production and
provision of goods and service to the community (Van der
Waldt; 2007: 2007). Improved service delivery is what is
expected by the citizens of every country and this has been
singled out as an important ingredient with the intentions of
attracting stakeholders. Several initiatives to improve the
quality of services in public institution have indeed had an
impact, but generally, it is dogged with bureaucracies, delay
and repetitive procedures that affect citizens and investors.
It must be understood that turnaround management is about
business restructure and renewal. In actual fact it is a process
dedicated to corporate renewal. It involves management
review, root failure causes analysis. Turnaround management
• Lebogang M. Seoketsa is currently pursuing DTech: Degree in
Public Management in Tshwane University of Technology, South
Africa, Cell, 037 243 4002/079 981 7077, email:
[email protected]
does not only apply to distressed companies, it in fact can help
in any situation where direction, strategy or a general change
of the ways of working needs to be implemented. Therefore
turnaround management is closely related to change
management, transformation management and post-merger-
integration management. Turnaround Management Strategies
(TMS) has been
Turnaround opportunities are everywhere where services need
to be improved. The overall goal of turnaround strategy is to
return on underperforming or distressed company to formal
terms of acceptable levels of profitability, solvency, liquidity
and cash flow. For the achievements of its objectives,
turnaround strategy must reverse course of distress, resolve
the financial crisis achieve a rapid improvement in financial
performance, regain stakeholders, support and overcome
internal constraints and unfavourable industry characteristics.
Madibeng Local Municipality is located in the North West
Province between the Magaliesberg and Witwatersrand, and
situated 60km from Rustenburg and 50Km north of Pretoria. It
is strategically located in relation to Gauteng, Limpopo, Harare
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and the Maputo Harbour, and is positioned along the Heritage
Route, linking the World Heritage Site with the Pilanesberg
and Madikwe Game Reserves. It is known for its diversified
economy. Currently, mining is the predominant economic
activity, and the Hartebeespoort Dan is the second most visited
place after the Waterfront in Cape Town. Its cities/towns are
Brits, Hartebeespoort, Marikana and Mooinooi and main
economic sectors are mining, manufacturing agriculture and
tourism. (Local government)
2. SIGNIFICANCE OF TURNAROUND
MANAGEMENT
As Madibeng has been stricken by problems of service
deliveries, turnaround management may paly apart in
restoring the performance as according Apri (1999),
turnaround management is the systematic and rapid
implementation of a range of measures to correct a seriously
unprofitable situation. It might include dealing with a financial
disaster or measures to avoid the highly likely occurrence of
such a disaster.
3. STEPS IN TURNAROUND MANAGEMENT
STRATEGY
- Changing the Leadership: A change in leadership
ensures that those techniques, which resulted in the
company’s failure, are not used. That is
REPLACEMENT. The new leadership has to motivate
employees, listen to their views and delegate powers.
In this stage; after reviewing other articles about
problems in Madibeng Municipality, it is important
that leadership be changed. In this it means
replacement is needed.
- Redefining Strategic Focus: This involves re-
evaluating the company’s business and deciding
which ones to change and which to retain.
Diversified companies need to review their portfolio
on the basis of long-term profitability and growth
prospects.
- Selling or diversifying Unnecessary Assets:
sometimes, although the assets are profitable, they
must be liquidated to contribute to the strategic focus.
The cash received from the sale of such assets should
be used to repay debts. Self-sustaining businesses are
ideal candidates to do so. For this study no asset may
be sold as these are the municipality’s assets that may
still be used.
- Improving Profitability: To do this the company has
to take drastic steps like:
• Assigning profit responsibility to individual
division
• Tightening finance controls and reducing
unnecessary overheads.
• Laying off workers wherever necessary
• Investing in labour saving equipment
• Building a new inventory management
system and manage debt efficiency through
negotiating long-term loans.
- Making Careful Acquisition: The Company must be
careful while making acquisitions. It should be in an
area related to its core business enabling the company
to quickly rebuild or replaces its weak divisions.
4. INTERVENTION IN TURNAROUND MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES
Intervention in turnaround management strategies
includes four strategies and these steps are Retrenchment,
Repositioning, Replacement and Renewal. Although these
strategies work together but for this paper only three
strategies are discussed. The fourth one which is
repositioning as it involves attempts to generate revenue
with new innovations and change in product portfolio and
market position will not be discuss as this paper is about
improvement of service delivery.
As Madibeng is stricken by poor service delivery which is
well known to the whole province of North West and also
the surrounding provinces of the country, retrenchment,
replacement and renewal are important at this stage.
4.1 Retrenchment: This is a term used to describe a wide
range of largely short-term actions taken to stabilize
the organization, to stem its losses and to deal with
the immediate problems which have immediate
problems which have precipitated its crisis.
Retrenchment may involve immediate steps to control
finances and reduce costs (like cutting inventory,
changing prices, reducing overheads, or reducing
staffing) or to improve operational management (for
example restructuring work processes, reducing
waiting or idle times, or increasing throughput)
(Robbins and Pearce, 1992).
Although Robbins and Pearce (1992) state that for
turnaround to be successful, retrenchment is a
necessary response, regardless of what kind of
problems caused the need for the turnaround, it must
be understood that it is crucial stage in recovery
phase of the turnaround process. It might be useful
for positive change of momentum as its benefits are
(1) efficiency restoration, (2) slack generation and (3)
Momentum creation, though Baker and Mone (1994)
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are of the different view that retrenchment may not be
always true.
4.2 Replacement: This involves the removal of key
members of the leadership and management of the
organization and their replacement either with others
from within the organization or with others drawn
externally.
Replacement can focus on solely on the chief
executive and one or two other senior directors, or it
can involve the wholesale replacement of the board
and management team (Slatter, 1984; Muller and
Barker 1997).
It must be understood the replacement forms a part of
the great majority of turnaround strategies, for
reasons which can be as much [political and symbolic
as purely functional. Replacing the chief executive
and other senior leaders may be necessary step in
attributing responsibility for the organization’s
predicament and providing a scapegoat. It may be
necessary in order to secure the confidence and
support of external stakeholders (like major
customers, shareholders, or regulators) in the
feasibility and likely success to turnaround efforts.
It may be important internally too, in sending a
message to the organization about a fundamental
change of direction (‘under new management’) and
new expectations of performance on individuals, as
well as the organization as a whole. However
replacement also often serves a simple, functional
purpose: removing mangers who simply lack the
necessary leadership skills and competencies, or
whose managerial performance has declined over
time, and who are not suited or not able to take on the
challenges or turnaround.
Replacement carries with it significant risks as well, in
that it can mean the loss of key expertise and business
understanding and knowledge. This is normally used
as it is theorised that new brooms sweep clean and in
the managerial saying it will bring the concept that
new managers will bring recovery and strategic
change. This will be because of their different
experience and background from their previous work
environment.
4.3 Renewal: This involves longer-term actions aimed at
re-establishing the strategic direction, vision and
overall purpose of the organization and placing it on
a longer-term pathway to successful performance. It
may involve a fundamental review of the activities of
the organization and their long-term prospects, which
can lead to the closure of some areas, expansion in
others, and the opening of new markets or ventures. It
may also involve a detailed analysis of the culture and
leadership of the organization and a concerted effort
to change the way it works (Stuart, Slatter and Levett,
1999).
Apart from what Slatter and Levett (1999) are saying
above, renewal may also lead to consequences within
an organisation like, the removal of efficient routines
or resources. Renewals are innovative core
competencies implemented which include an increase
in knowledge and stabilization of the municipal
value.
5. SERVICE DELIVERY
Fox and Meyer (1995:118) define service delivery as the
provision of public activities, benefits or satisfactions. Services
relate to both to the provision of tangible public goods and to
tangible services. Section 152 (1) of the Constitution of the
Republic of South Africa (South Africa, 1996) requires the
government to provide services in a sustainable manner and
services must be impartially, fairly, equitably provided
without bias. From the discussion above services relate both to
the provision of tangible public goods and intangible services
where developing community is this study may be regarded as
service delivery because it is part of government assignment.
From the definitions above it can be deduced that service
delivery refers to the performance of duties which one has
been assigned to perform by an organisation or managers.
Service delivery also refers to serving people or the community
as one’s clients or customers. Customers should always Service
providers must utilise information and data fully and they
should couple this with the potential of their skills,
competencies, ideas and motivations in order to deliver the
necessary services effectively and efficiently.
In 1997 the government of South Africa with the attempt to
provide a framework for people-centered public service
delivery, the Batho Pele Principles were introduced
(http://www.dps.gove/batho-pele/index.asp). By this initiative
the government was striving to move public servants to
become service oriented, in order to pursue excellence in
service delivery and commitment from public servant for
continuously improved service delivery was needed from
them. The principles for transforming service delivery with
regard to service standards, aces, courtesy, information,
openness, consultation, transparency, redress and value of
money was also set. With the challenges that are surrounding
Madibeng these principles are needed with the turnaround
management strategy.
5.1 Facts About Improved Service Delivery
Improved Satisfaction:
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It is well understood that citizens need their expectations to be
met, they want the staff they deal with to be competent and to
keep their promises, they want to be treated fairly and have
their individual circumstances taken into consideration or
account and also the services rendered must be of good value
of their expenditure.
Improved service deliveries that could enhance overall
performance include:
- Selection of right people for the job. For an example
people who work in front line must be those who
want to help with good people skills and solution
focussed.
- Ensuring that staff is well trained in how to deal with
people. Training should cover how to treat people
with politeness and respect. How to determine people
needs how to deal with difficult customers and how
to treat each person as an individual.
- Knowledge and experience in meeting customer
needs are needed.
- Service providers must have clear and easy
understood communications.
- Service providers must learn how to apologise where
mistakes have been made or promises are not kept.
Meeting Expectations
- People are more likely to say that their expectations in
services are met when staff:
Listen to them, understand their circumstances and treat them
as an individual
Know about the services they expect in the institution or
department.
Communication if clear and simple
Respectful treatment
Friendly, polite and approachable service providers.
Always doing or performing what they promise people to do.
From the above points it can be deduced that in order for
service to be improved, services standards should be set and
monitored so hat staff kn0w exactly what is expected of them
and the public must be made aware of these standards.
Competent Staff
When the staff is competent it means they:
Know about the services offered in the department and they
can be able to help people or direct them to someone who can
help.
Listen and understand public’s circumstances
Are polite, friendly, focused and approachable
Can communicate in a clear and simple manner.
In order to improve, services need staff that can clearly explain
processes and inform people, including speakers or other
languages, of their entitlements.
Keeping Promises
A promise is any undertaking or commitment made by a staff
member or organization. Keeping promises involves:
Staff who do what they say they will do
Service standards (particularly for response times) so that staff
know what is expected of them and he public are aware of the
standards the can expect to receive.
In order to improve, services need a transparent and open
complaints process and to ensure customers know about it.
Complaints need to be investigated promptly and customers
kept fully informed of the process and when they can expect a
response.
Treating People Fairly
Treating people fairly involves:
Staff who treat all citizens with respect, not judgemental and
have a reasonable degree of flexibility
Treating people in the same circumstances the same
Explaining the reasons for decisions in a reasonable manner;
this is particularly important if it is not possible to meet
citizens’ expectations.
In order for services to improve, the actual service experience
is the one that matters most rather than the outcome.
Individual Circumstances
When staff took the time to listen and ask question in order to
fully understand an individual’s situation, people felt their
circumstances were being taken into account. This was not
about providing a different outcome but about exercising
flexibility. Being flexible in these circumstances puts a human
face on public services and leaves a strong positive impression.
People feel that their circumstances are taken into account
when:
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Staff are able to exercise some flexibility, particularly in
relation to scheduling appointments
Senior and more experienced staff with the authority to
exercise discretion are available when individual
circumstances need to be taken into consideration
Staff members are profession at all times, for example showing
customers respect by being on time and keeping appointments.
In order to improve in the area of taking individual
circumstances into account; services need to enable staff to
exercise some flexibility and discretion around processes. This
is flexibility in how people are dealt with, which may not
necessarily affect the outcome of their dealings with the
service.
Good Value for Services
People considered services to be good value for service either
when the services were essential ‘core’ services or where they
had received a high quality service. As well as this, ways to
increase the perception of value include:
Improve service delivery through meeting expectations
Inform citizens about what fees cover and the benefits the
service provides
Look for ways to improve public awareness of the services an
agency provides and how its fund is spent.
Refining Trust
To improve levels of trust, it is important that visible actions
are taken promptly to address breaches when they are
discovered.
5.2 Challenges for Public Service Delivery
Lack of experience across the public services also means that
boundary problems, requiring a deep understanding of
services to be delivered to the community are more difficult to
resolve.
Service quality Management: According to Palmer (1993:33);
Service Quality Management is the process of minimising the
performance gap between actual delivery and customer
expectations.
Lack of communication: A company without communication
is dangerous to the society. Miscommunication and no
communication can contribute to conflict in the organisation.
Lack of communication can lead to misunderstanding, which
in turn can lead to mistakes, missed deadlines and altered
project directions, (McQuerry (1987). This normally happens
when staff members exchange information without clearly
understanding one another. Opportunities are missed when
there is a lack of communication and this may lead to poor
service delivery.
Lack of Accountability: Public accountability rests both on
given an account and on being held to account, (Hendeghom,
1998) Accountability in all spheres make different. Where
things are not going well or in order, if people are held
accountable, there will be a different. In most cases non
delivery of service or poor service deliver it is because of lack
of accountability. Accountability must run from top to bottom.
Everybody in public sectors must be accountable in everything
they are doing because in terms of Section 195 (1) of the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996),
the objectives of local government are:
(a) To provide democratic and accountable
government for local communities;
(b) To ensure the provision of service to
communities in a sustainable manner;
(c) To provide social and economic development;
(d) To promote a safe and healthy environment; and
(e) To encourage the involvement of communities
and community organization in the matters of
local government.
This means that accountability in all spheres of
government, at organs of the state and in public
enterprises is more than ethical behaviour. It values
more that efficiency and effectiveness.
In all the spheres of government accountability is
accepted as the key to improved service delivery.
According to Batley (1999); New Public Management
the emerged in 1990s emphasised the use of market
mechanisms within the public sectors to make
managers and providers more responsive and
accountable.
Ethics and accountability complement each other
because professional ethics is the basis of
accountability; (Egde Ebai and Forje; 2009). In Public
Administration Accountability and Ethics are the
main standards of employees in any well-structured
public administration.
According to Egde Ebai and Forje (2009); the
following factors are contributing to the lack
accountability: (1) Disregard of rules,(2) Ministries
administrative bottlenecks: Epicentre of inertia, (3)
Government inaction, (4) Lack of professionalism,
declining sense of integrity and honesty and personal
agenda, (5) Corruption and Malpractices in the Civil
service, (6) Corruption and the award of
Governmental contracts, (7) Customs department, (8)
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Justice department, 9. Political corruption, (10) Public
administration, (11) Poor remuneration policies and
(12) Weak institutions for enforcing accountability
standards.
Application and use of Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) may be used as a
strategy to promote accountability. As mentioned
above that according to Hondeghem (1998); “Public
accountability rest both on giving an account and on
being held to account,” in order to build public
service accountability, capacity and capability will to
be built systematically and incrementally. An
accreditation system for public service mangers is
recommended to ensure that appointees have the
skills and experience required for their work (South
African Public Service Commission; State of the
Public Service Report, February 2005).
- Insufficient training to staff members: When the
municipality or any department does not give
thorough training to staff members and enough time
is not spent on training, the results will be poor
service delivery. According to Iwan (2007); enough
time and money as resources should be dedicated for
training and reinforcement. Public servants at
municipalities must be fully informed about the goals,
products and services they are supposed to give to the
communities. As training needs money; it will be
more costly if staff members are not trained.
Insufficient training to staff members may also lead to
people to not caring about their job.
- The relationships: Cameron and Stone (1995) explain
ethics as the branch of philosophy concerned with the
intent, means and consequences of moral behaviour,
as well as the code of conduct for public servant. The
code of conduct should help officers and employees
to gain a clear picture of what is expected of them
from an ethical point of view, both in their individual
conduct and in their relationships with others.
The code of conduct provides guidelines of officers
and employees with regard to their relationship with
legislature, political office-bearers, and the public and
other servants. It also indicates the spirit in which
public servant should perform their duties, what
should be done to avoid conflict on interests and what
is expected of them in terms of their personal conduct
and private interests. Lack of relationships is a danger
to the government and society.
Cameron and Stone (1995) summarised the following
guidelines:
Relationship with legislative and executive authorities;
Relationship with the community;
Relationship between officials;
Performance of duties; and
Personal conduct and private interest.
These guidelines will give a clear picture on how people
should relate with the authority and among each other, and
again how they should perform their duties to deliver effective
and efficient service to the community in order to meet the
objectives of the study.
Relationship with legislative and executive authorities
Since government is necessary for the public goods, it is
consequently also necessary for those who are subject to
government to be submissive and obedient, for otherwise they
would resist government with should bring about the pubic
goods. Obedience to government includes the duties of
keeping laws, not undertaking anything contrary to them,
performing what is ordered, abstaining from what is forbidden
and shouldering public burdens – whether office or taxes. In
general, everyone is obliged not only to contravene public in
any way, but to contribute to it positively according to his/her
circumstances.
Taking the above into the consideration, an officer or employee
should:
- Honour the Constitution and accept it as a guide in
the execution of his/her daily tasks;
- Be familiar with and abide by all statutory and other
instructions applicable to his/her conduct and duties;
- Be bound to execute the policies of the government of
the day loyally in the performance of his/her
administrative functions; and
- Put the interest of the state first in the execution of
his/her duties.
The objective of this article is for the service providers to abide
by all statutory and other instructions applicable to their
conduct and duties, and to put the interest of the state first in
the execution of their duties.
Relationship with the community
It is the duty of the government to satisfy the community.
Service providers must relate with community in the manner
in which unity, trust and full accountability is built. Service
providers must:
- Foster the unity of the South African nation in his/her
official actions;
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- Always act in a manner that will promote the trust of the
public in the public service;
- Be open and fully accountable to the public regarding
his/her official actions by way of the appropriate statutory
bodies and elected political office-bearers;
- Have regard for the circumstances and concerns of
communities in dealing with administrative actions
affecting them;
- Be committed to the development and upliftment of all
South African citizens;
- Be honest in dealing with public funds and use state
property economically and only for official purposes;
- Not take part in and will expose maladministration,
corruption and any other act which constitute an offence
or which is prejudicial to the state;
- Not unfairly discriminate against any member of the
community on account of race, gender, religion, conviction
or any other arbitrary reasons;
- Be non-partisan and unbiased in rendering service to
members of the public;
- Not use his/her position in the public service to promote
or prejudice the interest of any political party or interest
group;
- Always be polite and helpful when dealing with the
public;\Recognise every citizen’s right of access to all
information insofar as such information is required for the
exercise or protection of any of a citizen’s rights; and
- Be committed to lawful, justifiable and procedural fair
administrative action.
Good relationships with the community may improve service
Relationship between Officials
Officials in this study can be authorities who must see to it that
service providers are performing their duties satisfactorily.
Authorities must:
- Co-operate fully with other officials to advance the
public interest;
- Obey and execute all lawful instructions by persons
competent to give them;
- Reply explicitly and fully to a lawful question put to
him/her by a person competent to put such a
question, except where such a reply may incriminate
him/her;
- Never misuse his/her authority;
- Use the appropriate statutory or other prescribed
channels to air his/her grievances or to direct
representations; and
- Apply human resource and labour relations practices
in an objective, fair and utilisation of his/her
subordinates.
Public servants and community must work together for
the benefit of community as customers. Authorities must
always be available to monitor the services of public
servants.
Performance of Duties
Performance of duties must be carried out as reasonable as
possible and within the limits of the employees’ skills,
competences and training.
- Public servants must direct their actions and decisions
to achieve the objectives of their organization in the
public interest;
- Devote their undivided attention to their daily tasks
and place all their time at the disposal of the state;
- Use the resources at their disposal efficiently and
effectively;
- Public servant must be punctual in the performance
of their duties and are never absent from their place
of work without permission or a valid reason;
- They must execute their duties in a competent
manner and respect as well as protect the human
dignity of everybody with whom they have contact;
- They do not get involved in any transaction or action
that is in conflict with or in any way infringes upon
the execution of their official duties;
- They must willingly declare their interests and excuse
themselves from any official action or decision-
making process that may affect their interest; and
- Accept the responsibility to equip themselves for their
career through persistent training and self-
development.
Personal conduct and Private Interests
Public service is a public trust, requiring employees to
place loyalty to the community above private gain. A
service provider as an officer or employee in the public
service must:
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- At all times act responsibly as far as the use of
alcoholic beverages or any other substance with an
intoxicating effect is concerned;
- Not without approval accept, and never demands,
gifts or benefits related to the performance of his/her
official duties;
- Arrange his/her private activities so that they do not
clash with his/her official duties and must not without
approval undertake remuneration work outside
his/her official duties;
- Not use his/her official position to seek or obtain any
financial or other advantage for himself/herself,
his/her family or any other person or organization;
Public servant need to do the following for effective and
efficient service delivery:
- Work ethic where they are going to be productive;
- To be loyal and deliver service timely; service
orientation where they will demonstrate commitment
to quality public service;
- Accountability to guide them to accept responsibility
for actions and results;
- Self-management skills, interpersonal skills and
communication skills to help them to remain open to
new ideas and approaches;
- To recognise and develop potential in others and to
communicate ideas;
- Suggestions and concerns as well as outcomes and
progress throughout the process of an activity,
whereas emotional maturity will help them to
conduct themselves in a professional and consistent
manner.
6. REVIEWED ARTICLES ABOUT MADIBENG
MUNICIPALITY
From the local newspapers as well as the news bulletins
appearing on national television it is clear that demands made
by communities of Madibeng Municipality for service delivery
have escalated. Complaints and demands have not only been
for services such as electricity, houses and roads, but the resent
one is when residents of Mothotlung near Brits complaint
about water and where some of the residents lost their lives.
Residents from different places in Madibeng had embarked on
mass action to underline their demands
The following articles were reviewed:
- Randwater ‘chokes’ water supply, Madibeng owes
millions of 27 September 2013: “Meerhof,Ifafi and
parts of Melodie are currently experiencing very low
water pressure because pf Madibeng Municipality’s
non-payment of Randwater account over the past
three month. “This is just weak and bad
administration from top to bottom. They can buy a
birthday cake for R6 000.00 and take a cable way
outing for R16 000.00 but they do not pay the essential
bills and deliver the essential services they are
supposed to.” said Eddie Barlow of DA ward
councillor.
- Madibeng survey only asks 0.04% of people: 29
November 2013 “The Madibeng Municipality
recently hired a company to conduct a community
satisfaction survey during which the majority of the
respondents refused to comment. In response to the
question ‘what are the three services the council does
well?’ approximately 57% of the respondents
indicated that there are no services the municipality
does well. According to DA ward councillor, Eddie
Barlow, the survey was just another of the
municipality’s wasteful expenditure.”
- Madibeng to be taken to Human Rights
Commission over clinic: 22 February 2013;
According to Ema Rossouw, ward councillor, “There
is a weekly shortage of medicine, not even aspirin in
regularly available and the conditions are extremely
unhygienic. There has been serious shortage of
various medicines, sometimes life depending like
blood pressure tablets.”
- Service Delivery Grinds to a Halt: 07 February 2013;
“At the licensing office workers refused to work
because their complaints about non-functioning air
conditioners, broken toilets and other conditions
apparently fall on deaf municipal ears.” An angry
motorist asked “we get fined for the municipality’s
lack of service delivery and refusal to work. How is
that possible?”
- “We are sick and tired of Madibeng”- Schaumberg
Residents Riot over Service Delivery: 03 August
2012: “more than 600 angry residents barricaded the
R506 at around 2:00 on Thursday morning with three
trunks, stones and portable toilets, burning tyres and
demanding to speak to Madibeng mayor Poppy
Magongwa.”
- Residents Fed up with Squatter pollution: 03 August
2012: “I have had it .We have been living here for 12
years and are sick of the littering and the pollution the
Marius squatter camp residents are causing,” said the
Frans the land owner. “Their waist is being dumped
on my property and they use the veld near my
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borehole as toilets and during all this time we have
not had any response from the Madibeng
municipality when we complain about the situation,”
he said.
- Madibeng to Russia to learn about ‘Governance’: 18
December 2012: “The Madibeng mayor, speaker,
municipal manager and a member of the mayoral
committee plan to visit Russia in February to,
amongst other things, learn more about ‘governance
and democracy in order to better the lives of our
citizens.” In response to this, Councillor Leon Basson
told the speaker that they need not travel to Russia to
see how a municipality should operate; they only
need to visit the Western Cape.
- Guns and Violence in Madibeng Chambers: 31
August 2012: “Councillors fled the Madibeng council
Chambers on Tuesday after a security guard pointed
a firearm at councillors and councillor was assaulted
during a heated council session.” “According to
information the fight broke out after the speaker
refused to allow questions regarding his alleged
unauthorised spending, the court case to prevent the
provincial government to place Madibeng under
administration and his alleged misleading the council
to charge and suspend a fellow councillor.”
Apart from the above discussed article there are many more
articles which stated more about the problems and poor
service deliveries in Madibeng. Some of them are:
- Municipality charged with theft;
- Councillor suspended for alleged breach of code of
conduct;
- Madibeng’s itch;
- Crisis Management;
- SAMWU, SANCO calls for intervention in Madibeng;
and many more.
According to Manuel, (2014), “the Madibeng municipality in
the North West, which has been hit by recent protests over
water shortages, is dysfunction.” According to his observation,
the local authority is dysfunctional. It doesn’t understand that
if you lay pipes you must get water to people. It fails to
understand what its core mandate is.
- Bill of rights ‘upheld’
Manuel said the bill of rights had been upheld in that people
had access to free, basic water within the limited distance form
their house. These rights were entrenched in law and money
had consequently been spent on the water infrastructure. In his
speech he stated that three people died and one was fatally
wounded on January 13, during protests about water services
in Mothotlung in the province. Manuel was speaking as
Stellenbosch University’s Theological Day, where he gave an
address on the function of the National Development Plan
(NDP).
7. FINDINGS
As municipal service delivery is governed by the following
guidelines; the integrated Development Plan and the
Performance Management System; Intergovernmental
relations, the Expanded Public Works Programme; Batho Pele
Principles, the budget and policy and procedures this study is
focusing on the Performance Management System where
turnaround management strategies are applied with the aim of
improving service delivery in Madibeng Municipality.
The sluggish municipal services provider has come to be seen
as the vehicle that not only caries the hopes of the community
in delivering basic service but is also responsible for the up-
liftment of the communities and the creation of job prospects.
For the implementation of these opportunities, it is important
for the local municipality to become a self-motivated
establishment that demonstrates creativity, efficiency,
transparency and culpability. Madibeng Municipality is as a
dynamic unit in its community and must carry out the critical
function of service delivery to all citizens in its area of
jurisdiction.
It is now crucial for the South African Government to ensure
that practical steps are taken. Turn around management
strategy is the vital strategy for poor service delivery in
Madibeng municipality. The leadership that has been on
positions have shown it clear that they cannot delivery
expected services to the community of Madibeng. Speeding
up the progress in the right direction could also contribute
towards improving the credibility and integrity of integrated
development plans and economic development projects.
8. RECOMMENDATIONS
The time scale for turnaround strategies can be long, but
activity is often concentrated towards the start. The diagnostic
phase of turnaround is often very short – major replacement
and retrenchment actions may be taken within days or a few
weeks, in part because timing may be critical to stemming
further losses or problems.
An early focus on
- Continuous leadership training to political office
bearers and public officials in leading positions is
necessary. The training and development of staff
members are very important because in leadership
people who are skilled have got expertise and are
capable and confident and got vision so that in return
people that are recruited to the organisation has the
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necessary skills, necessary expertise, they share in
values of the organization, they are willing to go out
and do things and that is the only way one could
enhance service delivery
A clear ethical code of conduct must also be
inculcated within their public service delivery to
bring about and maintain effectiveness, efficient and
professional service rendering. Nel, Van Dyk,
Haasbroek, Schults, Sono & Wener (2004:24) define
effectiveness as doing the right things, which is
primarily determined by setting goals for the
organisation. These goals are not set in isolation, but
are directly linked to the demand for an
organization’s product or service.
Effectiveness is a criterion according to which an
alternative is recommended if it results in the
achievement of a valued outcome. In particular it
refers to a condition in which a focal organisation, is
using a finite amount of resources (Fox and Meyer,
1995:41)
Kroon (1996:136) states that effectiveness is utilizing
the right opportunity or achieving the right goals.
According to the researcher, effectiveness refers to
one being conscious. When one is conscious, one can
try by all means to be perfect or do things right in
order to achieve something or a set goal.
Cloete (1998:111) defines efficiency as satisfying the
most essential needs of the community to the greatest
possible extent, in qualitative and quantitative terms,
using the limited resources that are available for this
purpose. It also involves upholding public
accountability, democratic requirements, fairness and
reasonableness and the supremacy of the legislature.
Efficiency is the achievement of the ends with the
least amount of resources (Van der Waldt and Du
Toit, 1997:19).
- The improvement of co-ordination: this goes hand
in hand with communication. The community
organisations and residents must liaise freely with
political office bearers and public officials. The
officials of the municipalities must be in the position
where they give the community of their jurisdiction
free to state their challenges. This can only happen by
smooth flow of communication. One of the outputs in
arising from the development strategy in the IDP is a
communication strategy for the District Municipality
and the local authorities.
Service delivery is viewed as the mechanism to
activate the communication strategy. In this manner
communication with the community can be seen as
part of services provided by the municipality.
Communication is also seen as the marketing strategy
improved service delivery in the communities.
- Internal arrangement for effective and efficient
services: For example old citizens be given first
priority and holistic customer care is important. (Van
der Waldt, 2007:161-162). The efficiency of a public
institution should be seen from three points of view.
The first point of view is effectiveness, which boils
down to the extent to which a need has to be satisfied.
Secondly, attention should be given to the economy
with which the resources had been used, for example,
money – principally used for personnel and materials.
Thirdly, economy requires that the inputs should be
obtained at the lowest prices and used without waste
(Cloete, 1995:82).
- The improvement for sustainable service delivery:
As municipality has the developmental duty to
manage its administration and budgeting and
planning processes in such a way that, the basic needs
of the community are prioritized and that the social
and economic development of the community is
promoted and to participate in the programmes of
government; it is important for Madibeng
municipality to consider or take this duty into the
consideration.
The above recommendations are important to address
the problems on an early stage and below will be the
steps to be taken for the addressing of problems that
have been escalated in the municipality. These will
work together with the strategies of turnaround
management which are retrenchment, replacement
and renew
- Define and Analysis: During this stage the definition
of performance problems within the municipality are
clearly outlined. It is particularly important during
this step that any areas of financial stress within the
municipality are identified and a thorough analysis
undertaken. The objective of this is to arrest any
further decline in the municipality while continuing
to employment and avoid insolvency. This is where it
is going to lead to retrenchment.
As discussed above, retrenchment may involve
immediate steps to control finances and reduce costs
(like cutting inventory, changing prices, reducing
overheads, or reducing staffing) or to improve
operational management (for example restructuring
work processes, reducing waiting or idle times, or
increasing throughput) (Robbins and Pearce, 1992).
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- Replacement: This is a strategy where to managers
are replaced by the new ones. Replacement is
qualified for situations with intolerant managers
which are not able to think impartial about certain
problems. Once the new managers in the municipality
are in place the scope and strategy must be applied.
- Scope and Strategy: Once the municipality has been
stabilised, it is now time to commence a strategic
planning process. The first part of this is to scope the
strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
(SWOT analysis) of the business. It is important
during this stage to not only internally (strength and
weaknesses) but to strategically analyse the external
environment (Opportunities and Threats) as well.
From SWOT analysis, the long term vision, mission
and objectives for the municipality can be defined.
Knowing where the municipality is heading then
allows the development of a strategic plan.
- Renewal: With a renewal, municipality will pursue
long-term actions which are supposed to end in a
successful managerial performance. In this stage the
existing structures are going to be analysed. Now it is
time to take the strategic plan and develop an action
plan. This is a list of actions and tasks complete with
time frames that must be undertaken to ultimately
achieve the business objectives. This is also called link
and action. The tasks are the daily, weekly and
monthly activities to be done and with this strategic
planning process, each one will be contributing to the
overall mission.
- Implementation: This step is not just about
implementing the action plan, but also ensuring
coaching and support of all staff. Without this critical
step, all the planning can go to waste. It is important
that employees are aligned with the overall vision for
the business. This is achieved through
communication, consultation and coaching on a
regular basis.
- Review: With all the planning and implementation in
place, it is now time to conduct regular reviews. This
ensures not only that continual improvement is
achieved but also helps to identify any corrective
actions that may be needed.
In effect, turnaround management is very similar to
the strategic planning, process; however the first step
if identifying areas of stress in the business is critical.
For any business where this stress is already
occurring, applying the above process, in consultation
with a turnaround management expert, will not only
ensure the business turnaround but also the
opportunity to improve and develop well into the
future.
9. CONCLUSION
In conclusion of this case study, service delivery in
municipalities has been a serious challenge in all over the
country. Creating a successful turnaround management
strategy is in many ways like starting over. It is an attempt to
look at the situation from a different perspective. It means
making honest and unbiased assessments and communicating
with everyone involved. This includes the management team,
employees, accountants, attorneys and your banker.
Adjustment of municipality’s original plan in performance of
duties is important. Remember to include specific statements
on what changes will be made to correct identified issues.
Accountability for service delivery must be demanded from all
stakeholders in government including the community. Public
servants must be well trained and personnel with required
skills must be employed. The need for public participation is
also important. There is a responsibility on municipalities to
develop the capacity of local communities to understand and
participate in the governing process as a partner with the
intentions of improving service delivery.
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