Abstract
Coordination problems have been perceived as a major contributor to the failure of government programs. Although coordination is an old and persistent problem in public administration, it has recently become prominent in OECD and other countries as the limitations of silos impact on addressing complex policy problems. The context of this study is Indonesia, where coordination challenges have presented serious problems for the government. Multiple efforts have been made by the Indonesian government to improve coordination, yet the result is still unsatisfactory.The purpose of the thesis is to analyze emerging coordination practices in Indonesia. The research seeks to understand how coordination works, to identify the factors that influence the success or failure of coordination practices and to learn how problems could be addressed.
To capture a comprehensive picture of how coordination operates, this research examines seven coordination cases from the Ministry of Finance, a large two-tier department with multiple directorates general, which cover five different types of coordination. From the simple to the most complex they are shared information, shared activity or resources, shared responsibility, an integrated information system, and an integrated organizational structure. A framework is developed to show the range of factors that influence coordination at different stages.
Based on empirical analysis it appears that there is some correlation between the complexity of coordination types and the chance of successful coordination. Diagrammatically it appears as a bell shape. Success seems to be more likely when there is a balance between complexity and independence.
Other factors that emerge as influencing coordination include human factors, conflicting regulations, overly specialized organizational structures, and poor business processes. The human factors were the most influential in determining the nature of coordination in central government. The political leader and project leader played crucial roles in driving the success of coordination and change management programs significantly reduced the level of resistance
from opponents.
| Date of Award | 2021 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | John HALLIGAN (Supervisor) & Monir Mir (Supervisor) |