PRODUCTIVITY IN
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
The issue of productivity management sometimes referred to as performance management is an area of great concern to public mangers. There are several strategies that can be used in public management but the selection and use of the most suitable one depends on the situation and the manager involved. Managers in the public sector are usually confronted with complex problems that require strategy thinking in order to find the most suitable way forward (Milakovich, & Gordon, 2007). These complex issues present a big challenge to the government in trying to find the most appropriate method to use. It is important to choose the strategy that considers long-term goals in its approach to the problem. The two most commonly used methods in the private and public management are the total quality management (TQM) and continuous quality improvement (CQI), although there are other processes of doing so. Managers can use customer relationship management (CRM) approach but its shortcomings are that its application is limited to particular situations. This paper looks at the suitability of total quality management and continuous quality improvement in public management and more specifically how they were used to solve the complex issue of Hurricane Katrina. The shortcomings of these two methods are also explored to determine their suitability in the work context. Total quality management is a process of management that has over the years been used to solve very complex problems in the public and private sector with great levels of success. It can achieve greater levels of success if combined with continuous quality improvement to ensure sustainability and reliability in the provision of government service. The application of this method ensures good and reliable results in managing the public sector The government through public administration officials most of the times find it difficult to manage a complex