Abstract:
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Under the concept of New Public Management (NPM), the Office of the
Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC) attempted to push forward the use
of marketing concepts in public service delivery in Thai government agencies in order
to enhance quality and performance in public service delivery. But there has been no
study on the way those concepts have been used by government agencies or the
suitability and consistency of marketing concepts in the context of the Thai public
sector. The objectives of this study are to study and investigate the use of marketing
concepts in Thai public services, compare the use of marketing concepts in
government agencies, explore factors affecting the use of marketing concepts in Thai
public services, and suggest policy propositions concerning public service
improvement to meet and satisfy citizen’s needs and wants.
It is qualitative research based on case studies of four selected government
departments, namely the Department of Land Transport, Land Department,
Cooperative Promotion Department, and Department of Health Service Support. Data
was mainly collected from interviews with executives of the government agencies,
and also employs secondary data review in order to verify and confirm the accuracy
of data obtained from the interviews.
The results of the study concluded that government agencies’ public service
delivery centered on citizens’ benefits, but does not stem from the intention to use
marketing concepts in public service delivery. Rather, it has been implemented in
accordance with Section 3/1 of the State Administrative Act B.E. 2545 (2002), the
Royal Decree on Criteria and Procedures for Good Governance B.E. 2546 (2003) and
Public Sector Management Quality Award (PMQA). Marketing concepts have been
incorporated in working procedures of these agencies and can be further inferred that
it have been automatically used by government agencies. Analyzing the principles and
philosophy of marketing concepts and their application in the context of the Thai
public sector, was found that application of these concepts in the Thai public sector
has some limitations. Public service delivery is of a monopolistic nature, driven by
laws, and social regulation oriented. It is not based on voluntary exchange. Delivery
of service is for public benefit without consideration of cost of service or profit
seeking. Citizens are not considered as customers of government agencies but as tax
payers or are as government owners.
This study, however, does not reject the use of marketing concepts in the
public sector. Even though some of its principles and philosophy may be unsuitable in
the context of Thai public sector, the application of marketing concepts in terms of
procedures, methodologies and activities may still improve the quality and
performance of public service delivery. This could be implemented by proper
adoption of customer centered management of services, taking into account possible
conflicts in the context of public service delivery, particularly the direct service to
citizens at government service points.
Factors influencing the quality improvement of public service delivery consist
of “personal factors” and “factors related to government agencies’ administration and
public service delivery. All these factors mutually affect one another and are
interrelated.
Policy recommendations in regards to public service delivery are as follows:
1) The OPDC should realize the importance of knowledge sharing, understanding and
acceptance of principles, methods and scopes of marketing concepts used in the
public sector by personnel in government agencies. 2) The OPDC and government
agencies should have human resource development strategies to provide their
personnel with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that correspond to changing
formats, methods, tools, and regulations in working environments based on people’s
benefits. 3) Government agencies should improve their services and service
supporting systems as the tools facilitating decision making and speed of service as
well as minimizing human errors. 4) The OPDC and government agencies should
develop their incentive measures to motivate officials to provide good services. 5)
The OPDC and government agencies should consider their people as citizens in need
of public services rather than as their customers.
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