The promise of new public management in Tanzania: lessons from outsourcing of services by the public service commission

African countries-initiated reforms programmes that aimed at utilizing better management models to enhance the provision of public services, and one of such management strategies is the New Public Management (NPM). This study, therefore, aims at identifying the impacts of New Public Management on provision of services at public institutions. It also seeks to find out the reasons for the adoption of NPM, find out various services that have been outsourced, assess the effects of outsourcing on efficiency and quality of services, identify problems emanating from outsourcing the various functions and get views on ways of improving provision of services that have been outsourced. The study was conducted at Public Service Commission, and involved eighty respondents who were selected by using purposive and convenience sampling techniques. To collect data, questionnaires, interviews and observations were used. Findings of the study reveal that various services that have been outsourced at the institutions surveyed include security, sanitation, reception and driving. Findings also showed that the main reasons for outsourcing the activities were for leaving room, for concentrating on core functions, to improve the quality of services and to cut operating costs. Findings also showed that the quality of services provided by the contracted firms was better compared to the past. Various problems emanating from outsourcing were mentioned, including among others, lack of experience. Recommendations given include the following, among others: outsourcing organizations to seek competent firms to provide services. This study recommends that outsourcing of the services to competent and qualified firms is necessary.