Governança pública: um estudo sobre os instrumentos que melhoram o desempenho e fortalecem a confiança nas organizações do setor público

Abstract

This paper deals with governance as a mechanism that contributes to the enhancement of public organizations. Its purpose is to demonstrate those instruments that improve performance and therefore build credibility for public organizations. Good governance is pivotal to acheiving better results and therefore leads to a positive perception on the quality of government functioning, which is key to the notion of national development. Methodologically, the study focused initially at establishing a concept of what constitutes governance, specifically when applied to the public sector. It is noted that there are different understandings about the significance of this expression, which in turn leads to different interpretations regarding the meaning and use of governance. To acheive this, an exploratory research was conducted in order to assess the objectives and fundamental principals that are instrumental to an understanding and definition of the concept of governance. Bibliographic sources available in the academic literature were surveyed, as well as norms and governmental directives, in an attempt to demonstrate the evolution of the theme since it emerged in the debate, dating back to the 1980s, regarding the improvement of public administration. It is argued that good governance is associated with three broad mechanisms, that comprise specific processes and practices:: leadership, strategy and control. In a case study, the activities engaged in by the Ministry of Defense in the scope of the operation known as COVID-19 are analysed with a view towards evaluating the quality of governance. The applicataion of leadership, strategty and control mechanisms are verified in order to identify key points of attention for eventual review and/or amelioration. The results suggest that defense organizations, while adopting sound standards related to leadership and strategy, could improve the control expression particularly by improving their reporting paradigms, leading to an augmented appraisal of overall governance.