The Korea Local Administration Review

Public human resource management is an important vehicle for making better government. This paper is about what the historical tides of government reform are, how they influence human resource management reform, what the major issues and challenges of human resource management are, how reformers deal with each value of human resource management reform, and what its implications for current human resource management are. In order to develop these discussions, this study takes advantage of Light's model as a theoretical framework: (1) scientific management; (2) war on waste; (3) watchful eye; and (4) liberation management. This study shows that the four tides of government reform―scientific management, war on waste, watchful eye, and liberation management―are intertwined and conflicting rather than independent and exclusive. These interrelations and conflicts of reforms can be traced from the discord between fundamental values such as change vs. continuity, and flexibility vs. control. Therefore, in conducting human resource management reform, reformers need a more careful and comprehensive consideration relevant to the values and directions of reform. In particular, public managers have to learn these lessons cautiously and make an effort for seeking the best practice of human resource management.