THE MYTH OF PRIVATE SECTOR SUPERIORITY IN PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATION

This article addresses the assumption that private sector management is more efficient than public sector management. It identifies the ways in which public and private sector personnel management are alike, and the ways in which they are different. The differences help the reader understand the reasons for the myth o f private sector superiority. This essay argues that, given the purposes of government employment which have littlet do with management efficiency, and which even militate against it, the criterionof efficiency is misplaced in the evaluation of the effectiveness of public administration. Using a variety of behavioral and motivational measures, it is demonstrable that workers in the public sector are not less likely to seek opportunities for personal fulfillmerit in their jobs than workers in the private sector. The lazy and indolent stereotype does not hold up.