Bhutan Journal of Management

Why Do Policies Fail?

2024-05-07T16:29:08+00:00

A policy can be deemed unsuccessful when it fails to achieve its intended objectives. While most policies in Bhutan have been successful in terms of outcomes and impact, there have been a few instances where desired benefits were not realized. In light of this, a research study was conducted with the aim of identifying the causes of policy failures in Bhutan, utilizing a quantitative cross-sectional survey. The research findings revealed that inadequate coordination and insufficient implementation, monitoring, and evaluation were major contributing factors to policy failures in Bhutan. Furthermore, the study highlighted that policies lacked a strong foundation in evidence-based research, leading to inadequate analysis of problems and issues, ultimately resulting in policy failures. Another key finding was the lack of proper alignment between policy planning and implementation, stemming from a deficiency in coordination and consultation among key stakeholders. A significant number of respondents reported the absence of standardized evaluation criteria and an impartial authority to assess programs and projects. Policy learning, a crucial aspect of the policy cycle aimed at continuous improvement, was found to be lacking in the existing system. To address these gaps in the policy process, this paper puts forward several recommendations. These include fostering a research culture in policy formulation, creating a stronger synergy and interface between policy planners and implementers, enhancing implementation guidelines, and strengthening the existing monitoring and evaluation system. Additionally, the promotion of policy learning for continuous improvement is emphasized as a necessary step towards addressing the identified lacunae.

Exploratory Study on Green Supply Chain Management Practices and Drivers in Large and Medium Industries of Bhutan

2024-05-07T16:34:52+00:00

Green supply chain management (GSCM) has become a key approach for industries seeking to become economically and environmentally sustainable. The concern for GSCM has received much attention in recent years. This paper examines and describes GSCM practices and drivers in large and medium industries of Bhutan. Further, it aims to find whether the industry’s size and type influence the GSCM practice adoption. The study used a cross-sectional research design. Survey data is obtained from 73 industries by administering structured questionnaires via email. The study used descriptive statistics and the inferential statistical test - ANOVA test to interpret the results. Results showed that national environmental regulation is a major driver of GSCM adoption and highly adopted practices are green distribution and internal environmental management. Results also portrayed that there is no significant variation in the adoption of practices among different sizes and types of industries. GSCM is comparatively a new concept in Bhutanese industries.

Expectations of Civil Servants and Public from Civil Service Reform in Bhutan

2024-05-07T16:36:53+00:00

Periodic reforms of the civil service ensure dynamism, efficiency and effectiveness of the system to serve changing needs of society. This research assesses the expectations of civil servants and the public from the newly proposed civil service reform. Data were collected both from the civil servants and the public. A quantitative research method was used, and data were analysed using SPSS. Findings show that respondents are excited and they expect that the reform will transform civil service into a dynamic institution. While political support is vital for reform, there are concerns that political interference by elected officials could undermine the long-term development of the bureaucracy. Civil servants reported good leadership capacity in the civil service to manage reform but the public have lower confidence in the leadership capacity of the civil service. While the institutional capacity is rated reasonably high in terms of its readiness to manage and implement the reforms, respondents emphasised on the need to develop effective organisational policies, systems, rules and procedures to introduce and sustain the reform. There are concerns on the complacency of civil servants which requires a change in mind-set across the civil service. Having learnt from some of the past reforms within and outside the country, reform must be contextualised to our unique needs supported by prior research works and consultation processes. Adoption of relevant technologies will facilitate the reform process but has to be done carefully as people fear losing their jobs due to the automation process. Respondents have expressed to implement the reform in a phased-wise manner rather than implementing everything together.

Youth Unemployment in Bhutan

2024-05-07T16:39:30+00:00

Bhutan has maintained strong socio-economic development over the years, but this has not resulted in widespread job creation. According to labour market data, the actual number of job vacancies exceeds the number of registered job seekers, but there is a higher rate of youth unemployment among its economically active population, which has been the trend over the years. Given its small population size, it is a matter of concern. As a result, in order to understand the root causes of youth unemployment in Bhutan, the current study examined the causes of youth unemployment by reviewing national and international reports, as well as articles published in credible journals by local and international researchers. The findings of the study suggest that the most important reason for youth unemployment in Bhutan is a lack of education and skills, followed by a skills-job mismatch, a lack of work experience, an underdeveloped private sector, and youth preferences for civil service. The study recommends that the government and policymakers re-evaluate and assess our current tertiary education system in order to reorient it to the world of work. The government should continue to promote private sector development as the true engine of growth and job creation. Assessing and imparting skills demand in the labour market in institutions and colleges, promoting entrepreneurship for self-employment, making agriculture an appealing and sustainable sector, and improving the attractiveness of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) can all help to reduce youth unemployment in the country.

Civil Servants’ Well-being

2024-05-07T16:43:20+00:00

This review aims to critically and systematically assess the past research on civil servants’ well-being, and provide suggestions for future research by performing a SWOT analysis. For the present review, nine works were examined, all of which were studies carried out on civil servants’ well-being. However, there are certain criteria adopted for the inclusion of the studies used for the review. These are (1) empirical investigation, (2) studies on civil servants and their well-being, (3) published in peer-reviewed journals, and (4) written in English. Findings from the reviewed articles, concepts of well-being, and methods used were presented and discussed in the result section. The reviewed studies were then discussed using a SWOT analysis to address the strengths and weaknesses of the reviewed research as well as the identified opportunities and threats. Taken together, these results suggest that to enhance or promote civil servants’ well-being, the organisation and the government must provide well-being education; establish well-being centres in the offices and the organisation, and provide timely counselling to the civil servants who require counselling related to well-being. In addition, these findings contribute in several ways to our understanding of well-being and provide a basis for future studies to undertake research on civil servants’ well-being.