Institutional reform and public sector change: from knowledge and competence to accountable public management

The deep changes occurred in the public sector over the years, the emerging demand in terms of flexibility, quality of service, and timeliness in responding to the requests that come from the community where each public service organization operates, all call for an urgent redesign of the professional profiles of public managers. This should be done consistently with the ongoing reform process by redefining general and technical skills, enhancing the ability to use appropriate management tools, rethinking guidelines and values that influence behaviour. This paper will propose a theoretical discussion and explore different analysis perspectives in support of the need to outline appropriate knowledge management systems in the context of public service organizations. In order to mitigate the tension in the alignment between the bureaucratic and the managerial approach, managing competencies may be the ideal basis for the spreading of a renewed business culture in the public sector, inspired to a higher degree of accountability, capable of maximizing individual contributions, systematize personal experiences, adopt and translate the input from the external environment into behavioural innovation and favour the actual implementation of reform plans.