Client focus in regulatory agencies: Oxymoron or opportunity?

Public Lecture

Professor John Alford
ANZSOG

In recent years a growing number of regulatory agencies have been doing something that seems puzzling: applying a client focus to those whom they regulate. This seems to run counter to the normally understood purpose of regulation, which is to compel people to comply with their obligations. This lecture argues that a client-focused approach is not only compatible with a regulatory role, but also actually facilitates it. Fear of punishment is not the only reason why most people comply. Other factors include their intrinsic or social motivations or their ability to do what is required. A client focus helps distinguish between segments with different degrees of compliance, and to apply the appropriate motivators to each, while safeguarding against wilful non-compliance.

John Alford is Professor of Public Sector Management at ANZSOG, having previously been at the Melbourne Business School (MBS), and been a manager in the Victorian government. Prof. Alford teaches in ANZSOG’s Executive MPA and short courses, and directs the Executive Fellows Program. He has published on strategic management in the public sector, performance monitoring in government organisations, contracting and partnering, and client-organisation relationships. He is co-author of The Governance of Australia’s Courts (2004) and co-editor of The Contract State: Public Management and the Kennett Government (1994). He gained his MBA and PhD from the University of Melbourne. For a copy of the paper Client Focus in Regulatory Agencies, Oxymoron or opportunity?, please contact Saschelle Trinke on +61 3 8344 1984 or s.trinke@anzsog.edu.au