2-12 Filing Systems
An office is inundated with documents, classified documents, unimportant documents, documents to be kept and documents conveying information which need not be stored. How to arrange such a huge number of documents and how to retrieve documents promptly when necessary are essential for work to be efficient.
(Discussion Points)
・What filing system for documents does your office have ? Do you have problems with this filing system ?
・What points should be taken care of when introducing or maintaining a filing system ?
Sheet 25 Filing Systems
2-13 Productivity
It is frequently said that productivity in the public sector is low in comparison with that in the private sector. It is true that there is difficulty in measuring the productivity of the public service. That can not be used as an excuse, however, for public administration to be indifferent to productivity. Supervisors must pay attention to the productivity of the overall organization when they manage the operations of their units.
(Discussion Points)
・Do you think that the productivity of the public service is inferior to that in the private sector ?
・How do you think it is possible to measure the productivity of the public service ?
Sheet 26 Productivity in Public Administration
2-14 Cost Awareness
In reference to productivity, a particular criticism levied against the public service is that government officials do not care much about cost. Government activities are funded by taxpayers' money and it goes without saying that they must choose the most economical measures if they can accomplish the same level of performance. Public employees must be eager to achieve cost-effectiveness and examine the costs of their operations and results.
(Discussion Points)
・Have you ever witnessed government activities that pay little attention to cost ?
・Why is public administration prone to be less sensitive to cost-effectiveness ?
・How do you think public officials can increase their cost awareness ?
Sheet 27 Cost Awareness
