Enhancing Public Sector Efficiency in AJK: The Role of Leadership, HR Systems, and Digital Transformation

Abstract

The research study investigates the key performance indicators of the public sector organizations in Azar Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) such as quality of leadership, human resource management, digitalization and organizational culture. To collect the data, the quantitative research design was utilized. A sample of 120 employees serving in four large departments of Azad Jammu and Kashmir was taken randomly. A structured questionnaire based on 5-point Likert scale was constructed to take the primary data according to variables of the study.  The statistical analysis (descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regression) was made to test relationships.

The results indicate that the quality of leadership and HR practices were key predictors of departments performance whereas digital adoption and organizational culture were moderate. The analysis of correlation revealed that there was significant positive correlation between leadership, HR practices and performance and the perception of employees indicated the importance of supportive leadership and merit-based HR practices.

 Department comparisons showed that Health and Administration departments are better than Education and Revenue suggesting that the contexts of organizational practices are different. A few of the main challenges that were highlighted include political interference, poor training, slow rate of adoption of digital, bureaucracy, and lack of accountability.

The findings suggest that the efficiency, transparency, and the services delivery on the level of the public sector can be enhanced significantly through the specific interventions that include the development of the leadership, the enhancement of the HR system, the development of the digital capacity, the culture change, and the depoliticization of the processes. The theoretical contribution of the study is that, it has been in a position to integrate the Governance Theory, New Public Management, Public Value Theory, High-Performance Work Systems and Institutional Theory to give a comprehensive picture of the performance in the public sector in the developing regions that can be comprehended.