The new public administration and the focus on the citizen: bureaucracy X marketing?

Abstract

This paper analyzes the variables efficiency and innovation as marketing tools to improve the quality of public service, focused on the satisfaction of the citizen¿s needs. Using an intentional non-probabilistic sampling, structured personal interviews were made with 30 civil servants of a federal university in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, in order to identify the issues discussed in this paper. The major results show a predominant bureaucratic rationality, emphasizing the compliance with internal proceedings and rules. Also, there are barriers created by the rationality itself, making the organizational structure rigid and impairing the services that are rendered to the citizen. The paper recommends the adoption of human resources improvement procedures, including qualification and empowerment, as effective tools toward an approach centered in the citizen's satisfaction.