Making Public Enterprises Work

Public enterprises remain the most dominant medium of service provision in both developing and developed countries. During the 1990s and early 2000s, the outcry about poor performance of public enterprises was overwhelming. Nobody at that time and even now has managed to design a ‘blue print’ solution. And yet, the fact that service provision through public enterprises is here to stay is the blunt truth. In Making Public Enterprises Work - From Despair to Promise: A Turn Around Account, Dr. William Muhairwe, the Managing Director of National Water and Sewerage Corporation of Uganda, discusses the approaches used to turnaround an under-performing state enterprise into a remarkable success story. Drawing on decades of experience, taming ‘struggling’ institutions, Dr. Muhairwe enumerates practical steps taken to make a significant difference in service delivery, for the benefit of any form of enterprise. Combined with facts, simplicity and fun, this book presents a unique account of methods used for constructive engagement and dialogue with donors, government officials, workers, suppliers and, indeed, the public/customers. All chapters are interspersed with tested lessons that any enterprise can benchmark to address its service delivery challenges. It is a great handbook for those involved in re-engineering their businesses. Making Public Enterprises Work contains unique home-grown turnaround reform steps that can help to revamp under-performing enterprises. It is the first book to demonstrate that performance contracts combined with incentives can work wonders in public enterprises. The book discusses how incentive rewards can spread to all levels of staff and encourage wholesome teamwork. It also looks at how enterprises can work without industrial unrest in very difficult conditions. In addition the book demonstrates how public enterprises that have been listed for privatisation can provide alternative restructuring steps. Click here to read and share material related to this title on the IWA WaterWiki.

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