Best Value Approach and Total Quality Management Relationship: An Assessment for Local Governments in Turkey

The meaning of the “New Public Management (NPM)” in England is the continuous improvement of public services. The Best Value Approach in this context has been adopted in the service delivery of public and local governments in the UK in the 2000s and the basis of the approach lies in the reshaping of services in the context of public-citizen relations in accordance with citizen demands and expectations. Although the approach followed a slow and bureaucratic process in the early years of implementation, it focused on higher standards in order to reduce bureaucracy in local governments and to improve continuously. Principles such as customer / citizen orientation, continuous improvement and teamwork are consistent with Total Quality Management (TQM) principles. In this study, the Best Value approach, which is considered to be a public sector form of total quality management, was examined and scope of the restructuring of local governments in Turkey issues that would benefit to the extent specified in this model was discussed