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Building Public HRM Capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean: What Works and What Doesn't

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Abstract

Public HRM in developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is different than in the United States because the development of administrative systems in general (and public personnel systems in particular) in less developed countries tend to evolve along a single track toward the model of increased rationality and transparency valued by international lenders as indicators of effective government and economic development. With respect to public HRM systems, this generally involves a sequential transition from statehood to patronage, from patronage to civil service, and from civil service to a range of alternative personnel systems. Development is a complex process affected more by economic, political and social conditions within each country, and their impact on civic culture, government and public administration. Examination of five examples from Latin America and the Caribbean shows that developing public HRM capacity can be done rightly or wrongly, depending on decision-makers' willingness to remember and learn from history and development management experience.

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Klingner, D.E., Campos, V.P. Building Public HRM Capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean: What Works and What Doesn't. Public Organization Review 2, 349–364 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020666013721

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