The dual imperative of balancing speed and coordination in times of crisis: Senior leaders’ perspectives on civil service transformations and reform

Aisha J. Ali; Luis Álvaro Álvarez Calderón; Pedro  Arcain Riccetto; Paola del Carpio; Elise El Nouchi; Javier Fuenzalida; Margarita Gómez; Aung Hein; Oswaldo Molina; Martin J. Williams

The dual imperative of balancing speed and coordination in times of crisis: Senior leaders’ perspectives on civil service transformations and reform

Aisha J. Ali, Luis Álvaro Álvarez Calderón, Pedro Arcain Riccetto, Paola del Carpio, Elise El Nouchi, Javier Fuenzalida, Margarita Gómez, Aung Hein, Oswaldo Molina, Martin J. Williams

Producción científica: Documento de trabajo

Resumen

¿Cómo cambian las respuestas gubernamentales a las crisis sus servicios civiles y moldean sus futuras agendas de reforma? Abordamos esta pregunta realizando entrevistas con fuentes difíciles de acceder pero en una posición única para responder: jefes de servicio civil y funcionarios de alto nivel de 14 países en seis continentes, hablando durante la fase de disminución de la pandemia de Covid-19. Los líderes senior percibieron el desafío central de gestionar la fase de crisis de la pandemia como un equilibrio entre dos imperativos en competencia: mayor velocidad, flexibilidad y descentralización en la toma de decisiones, pero también una mayor coordinación y colaboración entre equipos y sectores. Esto requirió que las burocracias cuestionaran sus métodos de coordinación mayormente jerárquicos y transicionaran hacia mecanismos de coordinación basados en redes, métodos ágiles y nuevos estilos de liderazgo. Los líderes senior percibieron estos cambios en gran medida como aceleraciones de las direcciones de reforma existentes en lugar de rupturas, y estaban probando una variedad de métodos para sostener e institucionalizar estos cambios inducidos por la crisis.

Idioma original	Inglés
Lugar de publicación	Lima
Número de páginas	20
Estado	Publicada - mar. 2024

Series de publicaciones

Nombre	Working paper
Editor	Peruvian Economic Association
N.º	200

Palabras clave

Gestión de personas
Gestión de crisis
Coordinación
Gobierno ágil
Liderazgo
Reforma del servicio civil

ODS de las Naciones Unidas

Este resultado contribuye a los siguientes Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible

Acceder al documento

https://perueconomics.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/WP-200.pdf

Citar esto

Ali, A. J., Álvarez Calderón, L. Á., Arcain Riccetto, P., del Carpio, P., El Nouchi, E., Fuenzalida, J., Gómez, M., Hein, A., Molina, O., & Williams, M. J. (2024). The dual imperative of balancing speed and coordination in times of crisis: Senior leaders’ perspectives on civil service transformations and reform. (Working paper; N.º 200). https://perueconomics.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/WP-200.pdf

@techreport{958dc0aed36f424cb912b5986bb84db9,

title = "The dual imperative of balancing speed and coordination in times of crisis: Senior leaders{\textquoteright} perspectives on civil service transformations and reform",

abstract = "How do governments{\textquoteright} responses to crises change their civil services and shape their future reform agendas? We address this question by conducting interviews with sources that are hard to access but uniquely placed to answer these questions: heads of civil service and similarly senior officials from 14 countries across six continents, speaking during the waning phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. Senior leaders perceived the central challenge of managing the crisis phase of the pandemic as balancing two competing imperatives: greater speed, flexibility, and decentralization of decision-making, but also greater coordination and collaboration across teams and sectors. This required bureaucracies to question their largely hierarchical coordination methods and to transition towards network-based coordination mechanisms, agile methods, and new leadership styles. Senior leaders perceived these changes largely as accelerations of existing reform directions rather than ruptures, and were trying a range of methods to sustain and institutionalize these crisis-induced changes.",

keywords = "People management, Crisis management, Coordination, Agile government, Leadership, Civil service reform, Gesti{\'o}n de personas, Gesti{\'o}n de crisis, Coordinaci{\'o}n, Gobierno {\'a}gil, Liderazgo, Reforma del servicio civil",

author = "Ali, {Aisha J.} and {{\'A}lvarez Calder{\'o}n}, {Luis {\'A}lvaro} and {Arcain Riccetto}, Pedro and {del Carpio}, Paola and {El Nouchi}, Elise and Javier Fuenzalida and Margarita G{\'o}mez and Aung Hein and Oswaldo Molina and Williams, {Martin J.}",

year = "2024",

month = mar,

language = "English",

series = "Working paper",

publisher = "Peruvian Economic Association",

number = "200",

type = "WorkingPaper",

institution = "Peruvian Economic Association",

}

Ali, AJ, Álvarez Calderón, LÁ, Arcain Riccetto, P, del Carpio, P, El Nouchi, E, Fuenzalida, J, Gómez, M, Hein, A, Molina, O & Williams, MJ 2024 'The dual imperative of balancing speed and coordination in times of crisis: Senior leaders’ perspectives on civil service transformations and reform' Working paper, n.º 200, Lima. <https://perueconomics.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/WP-200.pdf>

TY - UNPB

T1 - The dual imperative of balancing speed and coordination in times of crisis

T2 - Senior leaders’ perspectives on civil service transformations and reform

AU - Ali, Aisha J.

AU - Álvarez Calderón, Luis Álvaro

AU - Arcain Riccetto, Pedro

AU - del Carpio, Paola

AU - El Nouchi, Elise

AU - Fuenzalida, Javier

AU - Gómez, Margarita

AU - Hein, Aung

AU - Molina, Oswaldo

AU - Williams, Martin J.

PY - 2024/3

Y1 - 2024/3

N2 - How do governments’ responses to crises change their civil services and shape their future reform agendas? We address this question by conducting interviews with sources that are hard to access but uniquely placed to answer these questions: heads of civil service and similarly senior officials from 14 countries across six continents, speaking during the waning phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. Senior leaders perceived the central challenge of managing the crisis phase of the pandemic as balancing two competing imperatives: greater speed, flexibility, and decentralization of decision-making, but also greater coordination and collaboration across teams and sectors. This required bureaucracies to question their largely hierarchical coordination methods and to transition towards network-based coordination mechanisms, agile methods, and new leadership styles. Senior leaders perceived these changes largely as accelerations of existing reform directions rather than ruptures, and were trying a range of methods to sustain and institutionalize these crisis-induced changes.

AB - How do governments’ responses to crises change their civil services and shape their future reform agendas? We address this question by conducting interviews with sources that are hard to access but uniquely placed to answer these questions: heads of civil service and similarly senior officials from 14 countries across six continents, speaking during the waning phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. Senior leaders perceived the central challenge of managing the crisis phase of the pandemic as balancing two competing imperatives: greater speed, flexibility, and decentralization of decision-making, but also greater coordination and collaboration across teams and sectors. This required bureaucracies to question their largely hierarchical coordination methods and to transition towards network-based coordination mechanisms, agile methods, and new leadership styles. Senior leaders perceived these changes largely as accelerations of existing reform directions rather than ruptures, and were trying a range of methods to sustain and institutionalize these crisis-induced changes.

KW - People management

KW - Crisis management

KW - Coordination

KW - Agile government

KW - Leadership

KW - Civil service reform

KW - Gestión de personas

KW - Gestión de crisis

KW - Coordinación

KW - Gobierno ágil

KW - Liderazgo

KW - Reforma del servicio civil

M3 - Working paper

T3 - Working paper

BT - The dual imperative of balancing speed and coordination in times of crisis

CY - Lima

ER -

The dual imperative of balancing speed and coordination in times of crisis: Senior leaders’ perspectives on civil service transformations and reform

Resumen

Series de publicaciones

Palabras clave

ODS de las Naciones Unidas

Acceder al documento

Huella

Citar esto