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This article examines how meritocracy is institutionalized within the public administration systems of Indonesia and Singapore and how it affects public service quality. Using a descriptive–comparative library research design, the analysis focuses on four dimensions: bureaucratic structure, governing system and political influence, administrative reform and merit mechanisms, and implications for service delivery. The findings indicate that Indonesia’s bureaucracy remains highly hierarchical and decentralized, creating uneven institutional capacity and allowing electoral–political dynamics to influence appointments and rotations, which weakens consistent merit implementation. In contrast, Singapore operates a streamlined and centrally coordinated bureaucracy supported by high political stability, rigorous competency-based recruitment and promotion, transparent performance management, and competitive remuneration, enabling merit principles to be applied more consistently. These differences translate into more uniform and efficient public services in Singapore, while Indonesia continues to experience variability across regions and sectors. Strengthening merit enforcement, oversight, and professional culture is therefore crucial to improve the effectiveness and equity of public services in Indonesia.

The E-Kinerja Program is a policy innovation developed by the Madiun City Government to support the digitalization of civil servant performance management as part of bureaucratic reform and the implementation of the Electronic-Based Government System (SPBE). This study aims to evaluate the implementation of the E-Kinerja Program in Madiun City using six policy evaluation criteria proposed by William N. Dunn, namely effectiveness, efficiency, adequacy, equity, responsiveness, and appropriateness. This research employs a qualitative descriptive approach, with data collected through interviews, direct observation of the E-Kinerja application usage, and documentation review of related policies. The findings indicate that the E-Kinerja Program is relatively effective and efficient in supporting the monitoring of civil servant attendance and daily activities through features such as QR Code-based attendance, photo documentation, and daily activity reporting. However, several challenges remain, including unstable GPS accuracy, limited internet connectivity, and the practice of non real time input of daily activities. In addition, differences in digital literacy levels and device compatibility among civil servants affect the equitable utilization of the application. Overall, the implementation of the E-Kinerja Program is considered appropriate as part of bureaucratic digital transformation in Madiun City, although further improvements in technical aspects and human resource capacity are required to optimize its implementation.

The growing demand for transparency, accountability, and measurable performance has transformed higher education institutions into complex public organizations required to deliver reliable and stakeholder-oriented services. Within this governance-driven environment, institutional governance plays a fundamental role in shaping service excellence and institutional legitimacy. Drawing on a public administration perspective, this study examines how governance dimensions influence academic service performance in higher education. This research employs a qualitative descriptive-analytical design. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, document analysis, and institutional observations involving university leaders, academic administrators, faculty members, and students. The analysis focuses on governance dimensions—transparency, accountability, participation, effectiveness, and responsibility—and their integration into institutional systems such as performance management, quality assurance, and digital infrastructure. The findings reveal that governance frameworks are formally established through regulations and digital systems; however, their operational integration remains uneven. Transparency improves service reliability when supported by consistent information management, while accountability mechanisms tend to emphasize procedural compliance rather than performance-based evaluation. Stakeholder participation is institutionalized but largely consultative. The study concludes that service excellence in higher education is a governance-driven outcome that requires systemic alignment between governance principles, institutional capacity, and performance management processes. Strengthened governance integration enhances service reliability and institutional legitimacy.

Bureaucratic reform is an essential step in realizing a clean, accountable, professional, and transparent government. The 2020–2024 Bureaucratic Reform Road Map has emphasized the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform’s (Kementerian PANRB) efforts to establish a healthy bureaucracy through the strengthening of the merit system, performance management, and service digitalization. As providers of public services, Civil Servants (ASN) play a crucial role in ensuring professional public service delivery; therefore, an organized performance management system is required to achieve optimal bureaucratic reform. However, in practice, the performance management implemented by the Ministry still faces challenges, particularly concerning non-ASN personnel. This study aims to analyze the implementation of performance management in the process of structuring non-ASN personnel by the Ministry of PANRB as part of the national bureaucratic reform agenda. The research employs a qualitative approach with descriptive analysis based on literature review, legislation, and secondary data from official sources. The findings indicate that the policy of structuring non-ASN personnel, grounded in the principles of the merit system and performance management, has brought significant changes to human resource governance within government institutions. Nevertheless, its implementation still encounters challenges such as limited budget allocation, lack of integrated performance data, and uncertainty regarding the employment status and welfare of non-ASN employees. The digitalization efforts through the e-Kinerja system and national personnel data collection serve as strategic steps to enhance transparency and accountability in performance assessment. Thus, comprehensive performance management is expected to promote professionalism among public servants, improve organizational effectiveness, and realize an adaptive and integrity-based bureaucracy.

This research intends to examine novel performance management techniques for Civil Servants (ASN) to improve bureaucratic professionalism at the Regional Civil Service Agency (BKD) in Sidoarjo Regency. The research arises from the increasing use of digital performance systems via the e-Performance application, which has yet to show notable changes in behavior among bureaucrats. The study examines the efficiency of the e-Performance system, organizational culture, leadership roles, and management innovations at BKD. Employing a qualitative case study method, data were gathered through extensive interviews, observations, and document review with structural officials and staff. The results indicate that the e-Performance system has enhanced administrative efficiency and transparency, yet it still falls short in fostering employee participation and feedback processes. Deficiencies in digital skills and insufficient training for fostering culture were noted as well. The research suggests fostering a reflective workplace culture centered on recognition, ongoing digital skills training, and establishing a reciprocal feedback mechanism in performance assessments. Working with outside organizations is crucial to maintain accountability and impartiality. These results are anticipated to enhance ASN professionalism and foster an adaptive, innovative bureaucracy in the era of digital governance.

Background: Government administration plays a crucial role in delivering public services and implementing policies effectively. However, many developing countries face significant challenges in administrative capacity, bureaucratic efficiency, and service delivery quality. Objective: This study aims to analyze the key factors contributing to administrative weaknesses in government and propose a comprehensive framework for strengthening government administration to improve public service delivery and governance effectiveness. Methods: This research employs a mixed-methods approach, combining literature review, case study analysis, and expert interviews. Data was collected from 150 government officials across three administrative levels (national, regional, and local) and analyzed using thematic analysis and statistical methods. Results: The study identified five critical areas for administrative strengthening: (1) Human resource development and capacity building, (2) Digital transformation and technology integration, (3) Process optimization and bureaucratic reform, (4) Performance management systems, and (5) Citizen engagement mechanisms. Implementation of these components showed significant improvements in service delivery efficiency (p < 0.001) and citizen satisfaction scores (p < 0.01). Conclusion: A comprehensive approach to strengthening government administration requires coordinated efforts across multiple dimensions. The proposed framework provides a roadmap for systematic administrative reform that can enhance governance effectiveness and public service quality.

This research aims to analyze optimal strategies for improving the performance of Village-Owned Enterprises (BUMDes) through human resource management (HR). A qualitative approach was used by collecting data through interviews and documentation studies. The research results show that effective HR management can make a significant contribution to improving the performance of BUMDes. Factors such as selective recruitment, training and development, and good performance management are the keys to achieving optimization of BUMDes performance. The implication of this research is the importance of greater attention to HR management in the context of BUMDes development.

This type of personnel expenditure is one of the plans that needs to be calculated carefully because in personnel expenditure problems often occur minus or surplus budgets at the end of the year which result in not achieving proper reporting. The purpose of this analysis is to carry out an analysis of the occurrence of minus budgets in personnel spending and strategies to solve these problems using SWOT analysis. This analysis was carried out using a qualitative approach. The types of data used in this study are primary data types, namely observations and interviews during the Forum Group Discussion and secondary data types, namely documents, journals, financial reports and other data related to the problem being analyzed. The results of this study are as follows: 1) the placement of personnel expenditures for all work units in a district/city area is in the Secretary General's DIPA which can break the chain of minus budget problems evenly so that it makes it easier to solve problems, 2) the problem of adding tasks to the finance section can be done by improving the performance management of the financial section. Conclusion: the completion of the minus budget can be used by placing the employee budget in one work unit, 3) pathology in bureaucracy conducted in readiness of employee and lack of reward. Placement of the budget in a work unit must be followed by the consequences affected by the transfer so that it does not cause problems.