Is supervision in the semipublic sector failing?
4 Jul 2012
In an interview with Dutch daily De Volkskrant, Rienk Goodijk, Professor Governance in the Public Sector at TiasNimbas Business School, is talking about poor supervision in the public sector. “The series of scandals in the public sector is not surprising. Supervision in care, education and corporations is outdated, unclear and insufficient”, says Prof. Goodijk.
The main problem of the introduction of the free market in the nineties was that there was not enough focus on the appropriate supervision. The supervisory board model of the private sector was copied to the public sector without any further thought. In the complex world of privatised hospitals, colleges and corporations where officials had to become entrepreneurs, this remote supervision does not work.
Professor Goodijk hopes that the discussion about a free market does not again lead to control of the government over privatised hospitals, colleges and corporations. The changes have just commenced. “You can declare the model of the supervisory board bankrupt, but there is plenty of room for improvement. Give the sector time to learn, to change the culture. I would almost say: let them make mistakes, we have to get rid of the Anglo-Saxon fixation on eliminating all risks”, says Prof. Goodijk.
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Rienk Goodijk, professor governance in de semipublieke sector Programme FinderFollow all of our news and events on
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