Perspective Chapter: Institutional Structural Reform and Sustainable Resilience

Abstract

The institutional structural reform strategy is envisioned as a significant driver for reengineering and modernizing work systems at public institutions. Reengineering has become essential for building resilience against local and global issues, especially in time of crisis. Unfortunately, many government institutions that continue to use traditional strategies and mechanisms incompatible with political, economic, social, environmental and technological dramatic changes risk facing a high degree of uncertainty about institutional capacities in meeting public needs, particularly during times of crisis or dramatic change. In this context, the chapter proposes broad features and guidelines for institutional structural reform with a global perspective as a cornerstone toward sustainable development. Furthermore, it introduces new concepts such as initiative management, state survival bureaucracy and inclusiveness. It emphasizes the significance of digital governance as a component of the structural reform process, not only from a service standpoint but also as a smart engagement platform to enhance civic participation and decentralization.

1. Introduction

The role of public administration is indispensable to place society on the targeted path of development, as it is considered one of the main organizational pillars for providing services and public goods to citizens with varying and ever-increasing needs and interacting in a complex and continuously changing environment. Such a complex framework directly affects development requirements as well as uncertainty concerning the ability of governments and institutions to formulate and implement adaptive and absorptive policies. Government officials face many challenges in light of the political, social and economic rapid changes on national and international levels that affect both the public and the private sectors [1] which directly influence the effectiveness of the bureaucratic apparatus as the key actor in providing public services and basic needs, which are often at risk in the face of tidal changes. Accordingly, it has become indispensable to upgrade capacities and structurally reengineer government institutions to enable them to play their role in meeting sustainable development requirements effectively, especially since many public institutions still operate according to traditional approaches. Dramatic change has become imperative to build more sustainable and resilient institutions that can take adaptive or proactive actions to improve public service provision and meet societies’ expectations. Most importantly, to manage rising risks and survive protracted crises’ implications. This chapter navigates through some new trends in public administration that revolve around the institutional structural reform (ISR) concept, in Ref. to the tourism sector in Egypt as a case study, aiming at developing more resilient institutions capable of adapting to both national and international challenges, especially in time of crisis. While identifying key components of ISR, the chapter highlights a number of supporting and control variables. In addition, it emphasizes the importance of adopting an integrative or cross-institutional participatory approach, especially as local knowledge and development cooperation actors are considered to be significant sources of resilience which in turn plays a key role in building and sustaining citizen’s trust, legitimacy and credibility. To address such an issue, governments must enact both legislative and institutional structural reforms while using innovative strategies not only to enact more effective management mechanisms but also to upscale human capital capacities to ensure sustainability, especially in light of that technological breakthrough in management models and digitization revolution that greatly affect those strategies.

2. Literature review

During the last four decades, the public sector has been reshaped through structural reforms under the umbrella of the New Public Management (NPM) theory [2, 3], through which the traditional concept and hierarchical authority of public administration was replaced by the concept of management based on Results-Oriented since the late 1970s [4], or the Marketization of State; The new public administration revolves around two main axes when applying the practices of the private sector in the work system. The first is with regard to all functions within the institution, and the second is everything related to the interactions of the institution in the external environment, considering public institutions as quasi-markets [5]. Despite studies on the impact of the concept of reform, according to the new public administration model, on the quality and effectiveness of the public services system, we still have a limited understanding of its impact, which may differ from one field to another, as many institutional factors affect the results of operations. The reform includes the impartiality of the state and the level of quality and efficiency of the bureaucracy, accountability and accountability mechanisms, transparency rules and characteristics of public managers and employees, including gender representation and experience in the private sector [6]. It is also affected by the administrative and political culture – that is, attitudes. The concept of management for the new year has tended toward the pursuit of efficiency, effectiveness and measuring success based on outputs and outputs rather than inputs and operating processes, as was the case with traditional concepts of performance measurement mechanisms [7]. In addition, it changed many mechanisms of the work system, the most important of which are competitiveness in the field of service distribution between the public and private sectors, incentives for public officials and the classification of structures into smaller implementing agencies based on specialization and division of labor [6].

The European Commission calls for an economic strategy based on fiscal responsibility, investment and structural reforms in order to boost growth and create more jobs. Structural reforms address obstacles to the main drivers of growth by liberalizing labor markets, products and services, thereby encouraging job creation, investment and improving productivity. It is designed to enhance the economy’s competitiveness, growth potential and adaptive capacity [8].

Surveys conducted by the World Bank 2020 indicate that mistrust and widespread corruption in government still prevent many countries from achieving the envisaged social and economic development and that efforts to strengthen the independence of official institutions entrusted with activating accountability, applying relevant international standards and enhancing transparency and public participation are essential to enhance the capacity of the effectiveness of the state in providing the best vital services to the people [9]. The United Nations has also emphasized that institutional reforms are necessary to achieve the goals of sustainable development, and effectiveness, accountability and inclusion are basic pillars for achieving them. Without modernizing the concepts and mechanisms of public administration to adapt to the changing and growing needs, achieving a better future for all will be impossible. Hence, in the absence of effective management, governments will be powerless, and therefore, sustainable development will not be achieved. Therefore, countries must have a new vision to prepare their institutions and public administrations to achieve the goals of sustainable development and develop their performance in order to achieve more effectiveness, transparency, accountability and inclusion [10].

COVID-19 has driven more attention to the concept of institutional resilience to support sustainable recovery in both developed and developing countries. Institutional resilience, as OECD describes, reflects the ability to provide and improve results over time in a credible, genuine and adaptive manner, as well as the ability to manage shocks and change, where the level of inclusivity also plays a key role in strengthening institutional resilience through development cooperation actors [11]. Barma, Huybens and Vinuela articulated resilience as an outcome of institutional efficacy or the ability to consistently provide and improve results, where this, in turn, fosters trust, legitimacy and credibility, all of which are forms of resilience that serve to strengthen an institution’s capabilities [12].

In addition, Anderson and Tollenaere define institutional resilience as the ability of a social system (society, community or organization) to absorb and recover from external shocks while constructively adapting and transforming to handle long-term changes and uncertainties. They also reiterate that institutions that create relationships with citizens and acquire their trust are more robust. This implies that, in addition to examining an institution’s functioning in and of itself, development actors must assess its role in mediating state-society relations and the legitimacy or credibility earned as a result [13]. In order to achieve legitimacy and sustainability, institutional capacity-building and reform projects must connect with a country’s social and political framework. Moreover, development cooperation actors are expected to seek, identify and build on local knowledge, experience and existing sources of resilience in order to strengthen institutional resilience [14]. It helps to mitigate the harmful economic and social consequences of crises, as Strupat and Marschall put it [15].

As for the relationship between digital governance and the effectiveness of institutions and their ability to achieve the requirements of development, good governance requires, among other things, the issuance of correct decisions based on information, data and knowledge, and the converting this information into a digital form and making it available on a network accessible to all individuals paves the way for digital governance electronic governance; Hence, digital governance ensures the enhancement of citizen participation and influence in decision-making processes, as citizens are no longer only recipients of the services provided to them, but can proactively determine the types and standards of services they want [16].

3. Factors influencing new trends in public administration

3.1 Political dimension

The field of public administration is undergoing an evolving change due to the rapidly changing environment, including the political context, especially since the field of public administration is influenced by sociology, economics, business, political science and other sciences that are cornerstones in building resilient and sustainable societies. Public administrators’ key responsibilities are to identify the needs of society, examine available resources and assets, and strive to make investments a priority to support infrastructure and economic development; however, during time of dramatic political changes, uncertainty about resources becomes a key challenge facing societal development, due to changes in the political climate [1]. In addition, with budgets and public employment constraints witnessed by most countries across the world, vital public services are always at risk, pushing for building in flexibility to adapt policies and practices within the framework of available financial and human resources, in order to efficiently and effectively provide the necessary services public officials are accountable for. One of the key drivers to realize this, is to upgrade public officials’ competencies with a global perspective.

3.2 Technology and digitalization

Technology and digitization are relentlessly advancing, with a significant impact on how governments and institutions interact with citizens. Technological breakthrough offers opportunities and more reliable tools for government administrators to increase their capabilities to access, store, retrieve and analyze data, study trends, learn about best practices around the world, develop policies and procedures that modernize and redesign work mechanisms, and achieve more transparency. Digitization has also reduced operating costs in organizations. As fewer physical resources, such as paper and file storage facilities, are needed to obtain and store information, computing systems and smartphones have become more compact and energy efficient, and they have provided opportunities for telework and facilitated interactions among local and international teams, departments and their leadership, institutions, as well as between institutions and the public with respect to efficiently addressing problems and provision of services. Yet, it should be noted that with the advancement of technology, the need to protect the privacy of personal information has become a necessity, insinuating that today’s public administrators have to stay vigilant to ensure public trust is maintained.

This advanced technology has given rise to digital advocacy/virtual advocacy at the grassroots level, which has become a global trend in this changing environment. Technology has changed the way news is reported, how organizations interact with the public and how elected bodies respond to proposed legislation at all levels of government. Technology and social media are a key tool to share information, participate and advocate change. Environmental issues such as climate change, human rights violations, international conventions and other global issues that were once isolated from many countries are now of global concern. Governments and their policies are facing scrutiny, not only from their own citizens but from the international community. Hence, it has become inevitable that public policies are designed to achieve national interests within a global perspective. This is in addition to the fact that social media also has a dramatic impact on the field of public administration.

3.3 Sustainable development goals

The principle of sustainability has become a major requirement for integrated development process at the global level, where the following 17 Sustainable Development Goals – SDGs have become a fundamental pillar in drawing up public administration strategies and policies in order to transform the world [10]:

• Goal 1: No Poverty

• Goal 2: Zero Hunger

• Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being

• Goal 4: Quality education

• Goal 5: Gender Equality

• Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

• Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

• Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

• Goal 10: Reduced Inequality

• Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

• Goal 13: Climate Action

• Goal 14: Life Below Water

• Goal 15: Life on Land

• Goal 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

• Goal 17: Partnerships to Achieve the Goal

Since the goals of sustainable development are highly integrated where results in any field affect and are affected by other areas, SDGs aim at achieving a balance between sustainability of social, economic and environmental development, seek inclusion of marginalized groups deserving of care and eliminate major problems affecting all aspects of life, in particular extreme poverty, hunger and epidemics and discrimination against women. To achieve these ambitious goals, knowledge, creativity, innovation, technology and financial resources have become persistent development requirements, which calls for adopting the concept of structural reform of institutions, on top of which human development and gender mainstreaming are key drivers. SDG 16 aims to strive toward promoting peaceful and inclusive societies to achieve sustainable development and justice, as well as to build efficient and accountable institutions. Without peace, stability, human rights and effective governance, rule of law, sustainable development could never be realized. In addition, reform also requires a real partnership between all stakeholders, official and nonofficial actors, namely the iron triangle of the government, private sector and civil society, which contributes to achieving goal No. 17, which also seeks to promote international partnerships. The world today is more interdependent than ever, which calls for both international coordination and cooperation, to address global issues, share knowledge and promote investments in developing countries. In the past, improving access to technology and knowledge was an important means of exchanging ideas and promoting innovation [10]. Therefore, Sustainable Development Goals come as a backbone for developing the New Public Management (NPM) model, to which countries resorted in the 1980s to implement administrative reform and modernize the public sector in response to changes due to the wave of democracy.

4. Institutional structural reform as a backbone for resilience

Global crises prompted government officials to continuously develop policies in order to achieve public interests across all areas, ranging from the use of renewable energy sources to reducing opportunities for government corruption. The emergence of new global issues, such as climate change, has given rise to new challenges in public administration. Many of the decision-making engines are now global which requires integration while keeping national interests as a priority, placing additional challenges for public officials to put in place redesigned mechanisms that meet requirements of development with a global perspective without compromising the needs and rights of future generations. In a context characterized by continuously changing public policy priorities, institutional leadership vision plays a significant role in integrating the concept of sustainability at the forefront of the agenda; we find, for example, organizations that value social responsibility and the concept of cohesion and stewardship are most likely to initiate and develop sustainable public management policies that are in line with international changes requirements.

Furthermore, innovation has become a key pillar of development in the field of public administration, as it is worth mentioning that most of the economies in which the Global Innovation Index (GII) has risen have benefited strongly from their integration into global value chains and innovation networks. China, Vietnam, India and the Philippines are clear examples. In this context, GII asserted the importance of multilateralism and international partnerships in the fields of scientific research, industry and services as well as emphasizing foreign investment as a key success factor [17], which comes consistent with SDG No. 17. The public sector needs to build resilience and gain the ability to adapt to technological development, which has proven highly significant, especially in times of crisis, during the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, the increasing prevalence of digital technology is already blurring the barriers between the virtual world and the physical world. In light of this context, public officials face numerous challenges posed by new global trends for adopting and implementing new visions and approaches in the field of public administration with regard to governance, leadership styles, planning, performance measurement and evaluation, focus on citizen service and client-based strategies, institutional structural reform, e-government, service delivery, innovation, professional ethics and transparency.

In the face of the aforementioned global challenges and trends, and within the framework of striving to achieve SDGs, it has become imperative to review the traditional concepts and mechanisms of public administration to integrate and institutionalize global trends with a new national vision toward raising the efficiency, effectiveness and contribution of institutions to the sustainability of the wheel of development, and to promote the development of healthy and integrated societies as well as maintain cohesion and resilience of societies in the face of crisis. Accordingly, it has become exigent to adopt the concept of institutional structural reform (ISR), which could be defined as an inclusive planned effort for reengineering regulatory and institutional frameworks to dramatically develop a more efficient and effective bureaucratic apparatus, resilient enough to ensure stability and mitigate risk, where institutional resilience refers to built-in self-sustainable systems with absorptive, adaptive and developmental capacities that enable institutions to survive shocks and manage change in order to achieve the following objectives:

• Integrate sustainable development goals into the concept of public administration and institutional strategies.

• Keep up with international changes and trends in public administration.

• Maintain international competitiveness.

• Eradicate corruption.

• Promote transparency and accountability.

• Contribute to inclusive development.

• Support institutional homogeneity, which is a key pillar to preserving the state in the face of crises.

• Raise the efficiency of the administrative apparatus.

• Achieve citizen satisfaction with respect to public goods and services.

Moreover, reform measures have become one of the requirements for establishing partnerships with international institutions such as the World Bank, which is currently developing a strategic partnership framework with different developing nations, such as Egypt, on three major interrelated areas, namely: improving governance; boosting job creation opportunities led by the private sector; and supporting social inclusion. The strategic partnership framework has been designed to maintain the flexibility necessary to respond to changing national needs while providing international expertise to offer integrated development solutions that are appropriate to the specific context of Egypt [9].

5. Institutional structural reform integrated system

Based on a study of the main components of the institutional structural reform (ISR) program implemented in public institutions in the sector of tourism in Egypt, this section identifies the main axes of reform in such programs and sheds light on some new trends in public administration that would enhance the progress of the reform process toward more competitiveness in achieving sustainable development. The Egypt Tourism Reform Program (E-TRP), which was introduced by the Ministry of Tourism in November 2018, intends to develop a sustainable tourism industry through structural reforms that will increase its competitiveness and conform to international standards. E-TRP’s main goal is to have at least one member of each Egyptian household working in the tourism industry, either directly or indirectly. The E-TRP was created as a policy framework with support from both public and private sector partners, aligning its objectives with the 17 SDGs. There are a number of key pillars, among which are the regulatory and institutional reforms that this section highlights. National and international reports assert that the reform implemented in the tourism sector has achieved E-TRP goals in less than 10 months [18]. According to the data issued by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in 2023, the number of tourists increased from 8.29 million in 2017 to 13 million in 2019, an increase of almost 57%. Despite the fact that during the severe pandemic crisis, this indicator fell steeply to 3.7 million, the tourism sector has become resilient enough to experience a swift recovery, hitting 8 million and 22.9 million in 2021 and 2022, respectively. In addition, revenues of the Egyptian tourism sector increased during the first half of the fiscal year 2022–2023 by 25.7% compared to the same period in 2021–2022, where revenues during the fiscal year 2021/2022 amounted to about 10.7 billion dollars, compared to 4.9 billion dollars in 2020/2021, marking an increase of 121.1% [19].

5.1 Legislative reform

Legislative reform is one of the main pillars of the success of a reform process, and this axis targets a deep review of the legal framework, including but not limited to laws, statutes and rules regulating the various sectors, especially since the majority have been enacted more than 30 years ago and have undergone sequential amendments that blurred their philosophy; and hence call for dramatic reformulation in order to be in line with local and international challenges as well as requirements of sustainable development. To ensure the reliability and validity of the reformulation process, it has to adopt an inclusive, participatory approach to consider all stakeholders’ opinions and interests; for example, for a new fair and effective labor law, it has to realize a balance between employers’ and employees’ interests, establish fair merit-based systems in employment, rewards and promotions. Also, in this regard, maintaining effective communication channels with international institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, the International Labor Organization and United Nations organizations, must be considered to discuss their technical contribution.

5.2 Institutional reform

5.2.1 Administrative restructuring

There is a need to review organizational structures to implement the concept of institutional structural reform, and to develop and modernize work systems to contribute to upgrading both efficiency and effectiveness to achieve development goals in various sectors. This requires the following:

• Review organizational structure and job analysis in order to achieve flexibility, effectiveness and documentation of work systems within institutions.

• Use digital technology in the Human Resources Information System (HRIS).

• Develop and communicate objective and valid evaluation mechanisms and tools in conformance with international quality assurance standards.

• Empower distinguished cadres, especially youth and women, and promote gender mainstreaming.

• Prepare knowledge workers via intensive training programs to develop technical and administrative competencies.

• Prepare in-house trainers through training of trainers (TOT) programs.

• Modernize the digital infrastructure, including networks, hardware and software.

5.2.2 Human resources development

Institutional structural reform aims to raise the efficiency of the administrative apparatus and to provide qualified human capital meeting the new requirements of the local and international labor market, which requires the following:

• Endorse merit-based systems for hiring, rewards and promotion.

• Set objective criteria and mechanisms for recruitment, selection and evaluation and feedback.

• Establish in-house training and development unit within institutions responsible for assessing training needs, setting objectives, planning, implementing and evaluating training programs.

• Coordinate and cooperate with educational institutions to link the curricula and research with labor market needs and offer internships to promote professional skills.

5.2.3 New strategic trends

This section overviews a number of new strategic trends that have a significant impact on the field of public administration, especially with respect to institutional structural reform.

5.2.3.1 Multilateralism

Multilateralism in developing partnerships is an essential pillar for achieving the goals of sustainable development. There are two dimensions to this concept. The first is related to the partnership between the government, civil society and the private sector, where Smart Ecosystems must be applied, according to which governments work to increase partnership between the public and private sectors and civil society in order to solve societal issues, such as healthcare, mobility, education and workforce development. These ecosystems benefit from the collective intelligence of the private sector, technology startups, academia, think tanks and citizens. As for the other dimension, it is concerned with partnerships with international institutions to transfer expertise to contribute to the reform process, especially through obtaining educational and training grants to increase competitiveness on the one hand and supporting investments on the other hand.

5.2.3.2 Management by initiative

Effective leadership is a fundamental driver of creativity and sustainability [20]. The process of ISR needs what we can call Management by Initiative (MBI). The role of management should not stop at the limit of improvement, even if it affects all variables because it is limited in its scope and objectives, but it should lead to the speedy introduction and implementation of an innovative idea or mechanism with the aim of interlocking positive change and deals with the stagnation of the current situation and the difficulty of its transformation into an appropriate and stimulating situation. Management by initiative, undertaking risk, creativity and predictability, goes beyond traditional functions of management, planning, implementation or follow-up but extends to presenting innovative initiatives and coordinating between the various state agencies to create synergy in responding to requirements of change [21]. In fact, achieving the requirements of development and competitiveness is a national goal to break out of the chain of dependence on major countries and highly contributes to sustainable development.

5.2.3.3 Inclusive management

Institutions are moving increasingly toward integrating the concept of inclusion in management, especially youth and women, and empowering them to assume leadership positions, which confirms their important role in society and reiterates the decisive need for their active participation to achieve comprehensive development. Undoubtedly, ISR needs new vision and creative capacities, where empowering young people could contribute effectively to digital transformation, keeping abreast of modern technology, using the latest systems in management and resolving public issues through innovative ideas and initiatives. Furthermore, there is also a global trend toward promoting women’s active participation, and in support of gender mainstreaming, many efforts aim to integrate the principles of merit, equity and equality in management, especially since there are many studies that have asserted that women’s economic empowerment contributes to a significant increase in GDP.

5.2.3.4 State survival bureaucracy

The administration responds effectively if the security, stability and survival of the state is endangered. Non-politicized bureaucracy plays an important role in the survival of states in transitional stages and radical change by protecting state institutions from failure on the ground. The concept of state survival bureaucracy (SSB) acts as an alternative to the concept of the “deep state,” and has all the mechanisms that contribute to achieving the continuity and sustainability of the state as an entity and identity. Since the concept of the deep state has emerged to refer to cases in which decisions issued by executive and elected officials are rejected and resisted, experts and academics have launched the concept of the “deep state” to express the elements and reasons for this rejection. The concept of bureaucracy for the survival of the state includes the administrative apparatus and its institutions, which are committed to preserving the identity and entity of the state, and whose role appears clearly in countries facing real survival crises. The bureaucracy for the survival possesses self-correcting mechanisms that enable the state facing tidal changes to deal with these changes [21]. This also requires the integration of a new concept and methodology for risk management in all administrative functions to enhance the resilience of institutions and their ability to adapt. In the face of crises, the concept of bureaucracy for the survival of the state contributes to maintaining the institutional balance to provide public services and gain the satisfaction of citizens as a result.

5.2.4 Digital governance

In the context of new global trends and challenges, there is a fast-emerging new perspective in public administration – digital governance – which reflects the use of technology to develop and internationalize performance of institutions, and develop mechanisms that promote direct interaction with citizens, which has been marginalized, especially in the field of public policy advocacy and services provision, as to improve quality of life, economic growth, education and the environment; There is huge potential for digitization and innovation to add value to society and contribute to the development of many sectors, given that coordination and collaboration across sectors play a pivotal role in allowing us to “rebuild better” especially post crisis [22].

Digitization has become the main driver for connecting the virtual world with the physical one. Convergence of these two worlds has enabled the government to track, monitor and manage resources. The integration of advanced technology could help achieve more transparency and traceability across value chains to serve customers and society in a rather more accountable and sustainable manner [23]; as well as making evidence-based decisions. The establishment and management of the Smart Engagement Platform is an essential component of digital governance. Such a platform functions as an effective interactive tool for development partners to share information, lessons learned and ideas among government agencies, companies, civil society and digital citizens, and hence provides an opportunity for virtual advocacy as well, serving as a forum through which governments have the opportunity to use technology to empower civic participation, support decentralization of the services system, and make better decisions.

On the institutional level, successful digital transformation will require enabling people to work in modern ways, such as remote management, which will require new skills, as well as developing the work system and capabilities to apply modern technologies and advanced management models in order to maintain the sustainability of the survival and competitiveness of enterprises in a rapidly changing world. Since one of the main pillars of business survival and economic resilience, especially since telework and distance learning may persist post-COVID-19, building a solid digital infrastructure that is citizen-based. Such dramatic transformation makes cooperation across governments, financial institutions and regulatory bodies extremely necessary. Digital governance also calls for global integration and partnerships between the public and private sectors, as well as creating a supportive ecosystem for startups, the seed for more entrepreneurship and innovation, and this includes promoting business incubators, financial, technical and networking support [23]. In addition to the fact that these new trends are consistent with the content of goal No. 17 of sustainable development concerned with the importance of advancing partnerships in order to achieve development, they are also considered pivotal for the success of transformation to digital governance, where national and international coordination and cooperation are inevitable to exchange experiences and set global standards as well as broad policy frameworks to conceptualize rapid change to technology, industries and societal patterns and processes in the fourth generation of industrial revolution. In light of this, societies need to raise awareness about global technological trends and dissemination of the culture of digitization.

5.2.5 Institutional structural reform (ISR) system

Figure 1 conceptually illustrates a self-sustainable institutional structural reform system (ISR) and the role of digital governance in realizing institutional transition toward building more adaptiveness and sustainable resilience, which would contribute to achieving sustainable development, where SDGs act as a key driver in policymaking and restructuring mechanisms. The diagram also shows the relationship between significant governing and supporting variables and their impact on the reform process that is citizen-based, where citizen’s satisfaction, which is a key success indicator, could be highly influenced by the level of effectiveness of services’ provision, degree of inclusiveness, improvement of quality of life that is reflected by economic, social and environmental developments.

Figure 1.

Institutional structural reform (ISR) system. Source: Author.

6. Conclusion

The study presented many developments in the field of public administration related to the branches and concepts of management, where the structural reform of ISR institutions has become one of the main pillars for moving forward toward achieving the goals of sustainable development, which requires the adoption of new visions and approaches for internationalizing public administration in order to meet the requirements of development and create more resilient and sustainable institutions capable of surviving crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change ramifications. In addition, there is a dire need to promote a cultural revolution in the bureaucratic apparatus to advocate and stimulate reengineering for building resilient societies. There is no doubt that many countries face numerous challenges, especially those related to human capital capacity building in the area of information technology management. Otherwise, a considerable percentage of the labor force will risk lack of employability and might exit the labor force market.

The study reiterates that there is an urgent need to adopt and implement ISR, including both legislative and institutional reforms, at a large scope to contribute to creating and sustaining resilient institutions and societies. Although there are some recent studies on the non-politicization of public administration, which constitutes a major driver in preserving the survival of the state in times of crises and radical changes, we need more research in this area, especially with respect to the concept of digital governance and distance management, with respect to implementation mechanisms and impact assessment in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in achieving the requirements of sustainable development. In this context, the following actions are highly recommended:

• Adopting social protection policies that enforce early intervention and response to localized shocks through basic service provision and safety nets, among other initiatives to address the most basic requirements, especially of most vulnerable and marginalized communities, in line with national strategic development goals.

• Develop mechanisms to encourage and promote entrepreneurship and innovation, such as incubation business programs, while providing financial and technical support to entrepreneurs.

• Promote multilateralism in expanding local and international partnerships in the field of exchanging experiences, education, training, scientific research and investment.

• Adopt a more participatory policymaking approach via inclusive community engagement to benefit from local knowledge and to leverage existing local governance structures – governmental and non-governmental- to enhance accountability, social cohesion and governance.

• Regular review and evaluation for ongoing adaptation and continuous adjustments of community action plans calls for adopting a cross-agency learning and change culture. There is a dire need for flexible, multi-sector and multi-year programs based on encouraging local ideas, community initiatives and self-reliance.

• Create smart engagement platforms as an essential component of digital governance. Such platforms play a significant role in strengthening institutional resilience, where development actors are encouraged to identify, support and build on local knowledge and experience which enable local structures and systems to survive during crisis.

• Improving capacities, incentives, ownership and participation of the communities are core principles for proactive and adaptive policies.