Managerial performance of Palestinian local authorities

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to analyze major concerns facing the Palestinian local governments in order to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency in managing local governments.Design/methodology/approachA special questionnaire was developed to collect the perception of the municipalities' officials; thus qualitative data analysis has been done to analyze the answers.FindingsThe study found that the efficiency of local government is still limited in the Palestinian municipalities, including the absence of an internal auditor, the absence of written job descriptions for municipality functions, the weakness participation of the public. The study pointed out that the major‐managerial problems are similar to other experiences of emerging countries such as the undefined local‐central relation, the low participation and involvement of citizens in municipalities' activities and plans, and the lack of existing transparency aspects.Practical implicationsThere is a need for open public‐official sessions of municipal councils and the need for periodical meetings for senior officials with the Mayer of the municipality; in addition, there is a need to conduct annual periodical evaluation for measuring the performance of municipal employees.Originality/valueThis paper presented the features of the local‐government performance in Palestine in order to enhance the management efficiency of local governments and enhance the contribution of the related groups of communities.