Assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of local authorities in Saudi Arabia : a case study of Jeddah Municipality
Abstract
The aim of the thesis is to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the major
services that are provided by Jeddah Municipality (JM) by using criteria which are
derived from the Saudi environment. The Delphi technique was used in the first
instance to obtain a consensus of opinion as to the meaning of efficiency and
effectiveness among Saudi experts on local administration in Saudi Arabia. It was
used, secondly, to develop criteria which then were used to assess the selected
services.
With the developed consensus in mind, efficiency of the selected services was
measured. However, the assessment was limited to only a few services due to
insufficient data provided by JM. The results indicate a tendency towards an increase
in efficiency of the assessed services. However, since the assessment was limited
only to few services from the same department, and was further constrained by
limited data, it therefore cannot be considered as a clear-cut measurement of the level
of the efficiency of services provided by JM.
The second part of the study was based upon questionnaires designed by using
the criteria for effectiveness. The questionnaires were sent to the recipients of the
service, the Saudi experts on local administration in Jeddah city, and the staff of JM's
departments that are responsible for delivering the selected services. The results
indicate that according to beneficiaries and experts, the effectiveness of the selected
services is low, while according to the staff the effectiveness of the selected services
is mid-range.
Recommendations were made to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the
existing selected services and on how to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of
these services. Furthermore, the study recommends JM's officials and departments to
be accountable and transparent. Accountability and transparency are important
elements for improvement of municipal services in particular, and the provision of
public services in general.