Meta Case Study of Public Services Based Sub-district Organization Models _ Context of Indonesia (Haris Faozan 2011)

International Journal of Policy Studies
Vol.2, No.1, 2011

Meta Case Study of Public Services
Based Sub-District Organization Models:
Context of Indonesia

Haris Faozan
The National Institute of Public Administration, Republic of Indonesia

Abstract
Sub-district is one of the organization peripheral area that has a crucial role in public services. Law number 32, year
2004, states that in addition from having attributive duties, sub-district is also devolved in delegated authorities.
However, both main tasks can not be performed optimally.The policies concerned with sub-district organization
indicates complicated issues, and the public services of the sub-district remain low-performed. This paper presents
models of sub-district organization that anticipate the needs and priorities of public services.
This research is a meta applied case study. This study used research data about sub-district organizations in
Indonesia. The analytical methodology was in-depth qualitative analysis based on the findings of the previous case
studies.
This study resulted in important findings. The design of sub-district organizations remained to have low
performance based on the dimensions of its organizational structure. This internal drawback led to poor public
service delivery. Based on these findings, this study recommends three sub-district organization models. One of
these models can be selected by local government to redesign its sub-district organization, in accordance with
organizational capacity and public service demands and priorities.
Key Words: sub-district, organization peripheral of area, local government, public services

BACKGROUND & Tushman (1992, 1997), organization possesses various
important aspects and as a whole it requires attention, and
Nowadays, in the era of the autonomy, it is observable its alignment requires adequate strokes from all level of
that the existence of organization peripheral of area management. For the local government, understanding
indeed has become the concern of the central and applying total management of government is a
government, but ironically its establishment rarely draws necessity. There are important pillars of the management
serious attention by the local government itself. The of local government that must be paid through attention
terminology of organization peripheral of area for the which is the understanding of bureaucratic organization,
local government side generally remains to be perceived policy, and public services. These three pillars are a series
merely a shape. Therefore, in the effort of organizational of the management of local government where it shows
redesign, it only goes as far as adding or reducing an interface and connectivity that are inter-related and
position boxes. Because of this, it is surprising if the very important for the existence and sustainability of
organization peripheral of area is not yet able to show organization peripheral of the area.
optimum performance from the design or organizational In relation with the series of the management of local
redesign that they develop. Meanwhile from the government above, it is important to look back to the
perspective of the congruence model according to Nadler function of local government civil servants. The core

84 International Journal of Policy Studies

function of the existence of local government civil having attributive duties, sub-district is also devolved in
servants is to provide protection for the society, deliver delegated authorities. The duties are general governmental
public services and implement development. The product duties that are attached to the sub-district, whereas
outputs of local government are goods and regulation for delegated duties are authorities that are devolved by
the benefit of the public (public interest). “Goods” here is regent/mayor to the head of sub-district. The issues that
defined as materials or public facilities that are produced are often raised related with sub-district institution are
by the government such as schools, hospitals, roads, and concerned with delegated duties. The sub-district
bridges; whereas in the regulation category products are perceives that they are still confined in getting the
generally in a form of regulatory or regulations such as available devolved authorities. The delegated authorities
birth certificate, citizen ID card and building permit. that are devolved by regent/mayor to the head of sub-
Public demands towards the services of local district are perceived to be not yet optimum according to
government nowadays are increasingly high both in the needs of the society within the sub-district. According
terms of quality and quantity. This requires immediate to the research team of the center for civil service research
anticipation. In relation to the position of local and education and training III – the National Institute of
government as an institution that obtains legitimacy from Public Administration (PKP2A III LAN 2007) there are at
the people to produce goods and regulations therefore least two obstacles that are encountered in devolving
becomes very crucial for the local government along with authorities to the sub-district/village unit. First, the
its organization peripheral of the area to meet their sub-district/village unit has been long accustomed to
demands, that is, to deliver high quality services as a implement attributive authorities. That is authorities that
form of public accountability. One of the peripheral of the are attached when it is established. Because of such
area that is perceived to have an important role in public custom, the work pattern of sub-district becomes rigid,
services is sub-district. Apart from that the head of mechanistic and tends to be less dynamic. Second, the
sub-district is the stimulator for society empowerment objective condition of sub-district can be said to be less
and stabilizer of the socio-political condition of their supportive to the policy of government authorities
region. Therefore, the existence of sub-district in the devolved to the sub-district. This is based on the quality
management of state government possesses very and quantity of the civil service that are not adequate,
important meaning in the improvement of the public limited work facilities, and inadequate fund resources.
service quality that becomes the main mission of the Such condition is a real fact that needs to be strengthened
management of the state government. prior to the realization of authorities delegation.
Nevertheless, in the last two years, the issue of From the other perspective, Sadu Wasistiono (2009)
abolishing sub-districts from the regional governance in sees that basically sub-district possessed important role
Indonesia was heated. It started from the perception that the in public services, so that the sub-district organization
sub-districts in Indonesia are performing far from the should be designed as an organization of service provider
expectations, and the fact that they spend a big proportion in the framework of optimizing its existence. The
of their budget. This is, of course, unfair since the majority research findings of Anwar Sanusi (2010) showed that
of the organizations of the peripheral of the area and even there are several strategies that can be done in increasing
the central government institutions are generally not yet the effectiveness of sub-district institution, amongst
able to perform optimally. If the sub-districts are abolished, others, are the presence of grand design that clearly
so are most government institutions. Abolishing directs the sub-district restructuring in the future and
sub-districts do not solve the problems but, in fact, it there is a clarity in regulating devolution of authorities
creates a bigger new problem considering that there are from regent/mayor to the sub-district and other
more than 6,000 sub-districts all over Indonesia. It is, organization peripheral of the area, and the relation
therefore, important to find the solution of the problems pattern between the two.
rather than abolishing the organization itself. The glimpse of the above elaboration gives some
The important role of sub-district in public services can pictures that basically shows sub-district organization or
be studied in law number 32, year 2004. Besides from institution is not yet able to optimize its role and

Meta Case Study of Public Services Based Sub-District Organization Models: Context of Indonesia 85

existence, so it requires redesigning in order to be able to optimally to the life of society. The main function of
provide public services optimally based on the mandated government institution is essentially to deliver services to
tasks and functions. the society. The government organization in a norm
In principle, the organizational issue of sub-districts system is formed in the effort to meet societies demand.
that triggers low performing is quite fundamental. In fact, But if you look at the folk ways and mores, government
this is due to inappropriate organizational structures of institution is a structured process in the establishment as
the sub-districts that are stipulated by their mandated well as management. Based on that sub-district as part of
tasks (either structure too big but less functional or organization peripheral of the area can be perceived as
otherwise be the case). The absence of clear criteria in norms and regulation system within it there is a
determining the size of the organization of sub-district structured process in the management of government in
will impact on the amount of budget required. No clear order to achieve the objective, i.e., to fulfill the needs of
definitions of the attributive and delegated tasks of the the society.
sub-district will significantly impact on low performing The clear division of task is badly needed in sub-
head of sub-district particularly and the sub-district district organization. With this clear task division, who
organization generally. Therefore, the size and the does the job and who is responsible and who to report to
structure of sub-district must be based on clear criteria will be clear. Apart from that this clear division of task
and clear definitions of attributive and delegated tasks of will simplify the coordination mechanism both vertically
the head of sub-district. By considering the two and horizontally. The main issue in sub-district
arguments above, part of the fundamental issues of organization particularly and organization peripheral of
sub-district organization can be minimized; subsequently
the area generally, is the lack of clarity in task division. If
the performance of the head of sub-district can
this is the case, the possibility to coordinate, integrate and
periodically be improved. This must immediately be
synchronize is hard to be achieved optimally.
anticipated considering the important roles of sub-district
Another character of bureaucracy that remains
organization in providing public services in Indonesia.
necessary is promotion based on competency. Since the
Based on the above elaboration, this research is
early development of bureaucracy model by Weber, this
important in the framework of providing a way out to the
character is already attached to and it is indispensable.
problems encountered by the sub-district organizations
that are concerned with increasing demands on the Therefore, competency becomes an absolute requirement
quality of public services. This solution is smarter than for each member of sub-district organization that will
abolishing the sub-district organization. seat in certain position. However, the problem is that
competency requirement and job achievement are often
Purpose and Research Question neglected. This is highly risky for the existence of
sub-district organization particularly for organization
This research aims at obtaining organizational model peripheral of the area generally in the future.
of sub-district that enables the realization of public There are relatively many portraits that describe the
service quality of sub-district. Based on the purpose, the organization peripheral of the area that are not yet able to
research question raised is “how the development model give concrete contribution to public empowerment
of sub-district organization enables to boost optimum widely. This requires a solution so that the organization
performance of the sub-district as the representation of peripheral of the area can better serve the local. To realize
sub-district public services?” this, it requires strong collected commitment from the
whole lines of government peripheral of area. This
accumulative commitment will become a valuable
LITERATURE REVIEW resource to achieve the expected goals.
In the management perspective, modern bureaucracy
Government organization in a state administration that is required at present is the compact bureaucracy, i.e.,
system is a public organization that is formed by the in terms of physical organization, it is relatively slim and
government based on rules of law in order to function dense (compact), but its qualitative capacity is big, or


known as slim structure but rich functions (Faozan and If it is related with the authorities of the head of sub-
Mansoer 2008). Looking at the composition of the district, the organizational structure, and the tasks and
sub-district organization in particular and the functions of the sub-district, the elaboration above
organization peripheral of the area in general, it can be becomes increasingly interesting and important to be
observed that the designed structure has not yet referred further discussed. The authorities of the head of sub-
to adequate research findings. It is, therefore, district based on Law Number 32, year 2004 regarding
understandable if the designed structure of the Regional Government are not only concerned with
organization peripheral of the area is labeled as merely delegated authorities, but also the attributive ones. In
built by common sense. article 126 paragraph (2) it stipulates that a sub-district is
The following elaboration attempts to elaborate several led by the head of sub-district that during their term of
limitations of the bureaucratic structure in the office receives devolution of some authorities of the
organization peripheral of the area based on the structural regent/mayor to deal with certain affairs of the local
dimensions (Faozan 2005, 2007). In the complexity autonomy. As for the attributive authorities of the head of
dimension, vertical and horizontal differentiation sub-district, it can be found in paragraph (3) that
complexity needs to be adjusted with development of stipulates a head of sub-district implements general
strategic issues. In relation to that, the hierarchy that is governmental tasks.
designed between one service unit with the others is not In year 2008 the government issued the Government
necessarily the same. Also is the case with the number of Regulation Number 19, year 2008 regarding Sub-
echelons II, III, and IV (Director level, Manager level, District, which regulates detailed tasks and authorities of
Supervisor Level). Their presence heavily depends upon the head of sub-district, both of attributive and
the strategic issues that they have to deal with. delegative. In relation to the implementation of the
In the formalization dimension, the formalization of attributive tasks, the head of sub-district conducts the
the harmonization of regulation, policy, procedure and following general governmental tasks:
others is rigidly designed so that it makes it hard to give
creative response towards most recent challenges. 1. coordinating society empowerment activities;
Looking at the progressive environmental changes, it is 2. coordinating efforts to create peace and order;
necessary to give some freedom to the widespread 3. coordinating compliance and enforcement of rules
service units to respond to the encountered challenges by of laws;
still sticking to the objectives and targets of its parent 4. coordinating maintenance of public infrastructures
institution. This also impacts positively for the middle and facilities;
and lower managers, functional (professional) officials 5. coordinating the management of governmental
and even for the staff to have the courage to take the risks activities at sub-district level;
to the challenges ahead of them. 6. fostering the management of village government
In the centralization dimension, the authorities of the and/or village unit; and
bureaucratic structure are on the top management. The 7. delivering public services to the society within
tradition of centralized decision-making and authorities their scope of duties and/or that of unable to be
that has been deeply rooted in the organization peripheral delivered by the village government or village
of the area brings about negative impacts to the unit.
subordinate level in making decisions. The authorities
and decision-making should be decentralized Regarding the delegated duties, the Government
proportionally, both in the context of the organization Regulation Number 19, year 2008 also stipulates that the
peripheral of the area, organizational unit, as well as head of sub-district implements governmental authorities
service unit. With clear and comprehensive framework, devolved by regent/mayor to deal with certain affairs of
decentralization of authorities will run in line with the local autonomy as follows:
scenario. With this adjustment, the widespread units will 1. permit;
feel more challenging in performing optimally. 2. recommendation;


3. coordination; components of their organization adequately. In relation
4. fostering; to that, the congruence model offered by Nadler &
5. supervision; Tushman (1992, 1997) can be used as a reference. The
6. facilitation; foundation of the congruence model is, in fact, an open
7. decision; system where the sub-systems of the organization are
8. management; and influenced by external environment. The organizational
9. other devolved authorities sub-system as a system consists of: inputs into the system
that covers environment, organizational resources, and
A sub-district organization is led by the head of history; transformation process or business strategy; and
sub-district. In implementing their duties, the head of output that covers organizational activity pattern,
sub-district is assisted by civil servants of the sub-district, behavior and performance.
and is responsible to regent/mayor through secretary of In the congruence model, input includes elements
regency/city. The composition of the sub-district related with quality that is needed by an organization,
organization consists of head of sub-district, secretary to including materials with which the organization should
the head of sub-district, and maximum five sections, and work with. There are several types of contextual factors
functional (professional) positions. Secretariat leads where each shows a unit of specific matters for the
maximum three sub-divisions. They are government organization, namely environment, organization’s
reforms section, society empowerment and village unit resources, and organization’s history. After the three
section, and public peace and order section. contextual factors are analysed, the strategy is then
As the organization peripheral of regency/city area, the decided, namely decisions on allocating limited
relationship between head of sub-district and regent/ resources to anticipate limitations and opportunities
mayor is hierarchical. This can be seen in Article 14 caused by environment both long-term decision and
paragraph (2) of the Government Regulation Number 19, shorter-term objective and tactics (supporting strategies).
year 2008 that stipulates the head of sub-district is under With decent strategy and targets that are internally
and responsible to regent/mayor through the coordination consistent, the challenge of the management is to
of regional secretary. In the mean time the relationship of increase organizational intensity to achieve the strategic
the head of sub-district with the regional service units, targets. Therefore the strategy determines form, quality,
regional technical units, and available vertical institution and character of work, and critical organizational output.
within the sub-district is functionally technical The transformation mechanism in the context of
coordination. Whereas the relationship between the head congruence model is organizational operation that
of sub-district and village government is coordinative comprises of four organizational components, namely:
and facilitative, the relationship between the head of the work, the people who perform the work, the formal
sub-district and the head of village unit is coordinative. arrangements that provide structure and direction to their
This is because the delegated authorities implemented by work, and the informal arrangements that reflect their
the head of village unit comes from regent/mayor, thus values, beliefs, and patterns of behavior. The
the head of village unit is also responsible to regent/ organizational operation as “heart of the congruence
mayor through the coordination of the head of sub- model” stated by Nadler (1997) uses their business
district. strategy to produce outputs, all things related with
Looking at the bureaucratic organizational structure environmental context, resources and organizational
within the sub-district organization in particular, and the history. Nadler confirms that an effective organization is
organization peripheral of the area in general, the characterized by as how well the organizational
existence of the former needs to be modified in line with components are all integrated. The main issue for the
the latest condition to enable the sub-district to improve managers involved in organizational design is how to
their service performance significantly (Faozan 2005). In find the best way to form organizational components to
the efforts to optimize the sub-district performance, the be able to produce expected output in line with strategic
local government must be able to manage all important objective. It is, therefore, very improtant to understand


each organizational component and their relationship determined by the policy of the regent. This implies that
with one another. the devolution of the regent’s authorities can be different
between one regency and the others. In the model context
developed here, the devolution of part of the regent’s
METHODOLOGY authorities to the head of sub-district is perceived as
prioritized types of public services in the sub-district. The
The method used in this study is Meta applied case assumption is that the devolution of part of the regent’s
study, that is, applied research based on case studies that authorities to the head of sub-district has considered two
had been conducted previously on sub-districts in fundamental matters, namely services that are required
Indonesia. The Meta case study is conducted in the by the society within the sub-district, and services that
framework of optimizing valuable existing data that were are considered important due to the current demands.
obtained from the fields by the previous researchers. It is Those two things in this study is called “sub-district
used as an improved methodology where generally the prioritized public services”. Prioritized Services (PS) are
analysis of the sub-district case cannot be done sharply, a number of sub-district services determined based on the
so that it cannot provide adequate recommendations. In delegated services by the regent to the head of
this context, the approach of the methodology sub-district and the services that are required by the
emphasizes on qualitative analysis using both society within the sub-district.
quantitative and qualitative data. The qualitative analysis Although the priority of the sub-district public services
analyses the existing data more comprehensively. serves as an important factor to be considered, that does
Through this Meta case study, the chance of giving not mean that it becomes the main factor. Another thing
expected policy recommendations on sub-district to be considered is related with the object and the
organization model is bigger. accessibility of services. The former is sub-district
In relation to that, the data that are collected, workloads based on the number of population in the
processed, and analyzed in this study are extracted from sub-district and the number of village/village unit. The
the findings of the case studies concerned with latter is public accessibility in obtaining services based
sub-districts, particularly the data about sub-districts' on the farthest village to regency/city and sub-district,
public services and components of sub-district availability of transportation facilities, time to reach it
organizations. Both data are then classified into four and cost required by the society. The object and
typology areas, namely mountainous, beach, island and accessibility of services in this study is called
regency/city border areas. Sub-districts in the “complexity of sub-district public services”. It is this
mountainous area are represented by Lubuk Basung Complexity and Priority of Sub-District Publik Services
sub-district and Ampek Angkek sub-district (Agam (CPSDPS) that will determine the model of the
regency, West Sumatera Province). Sub-districts in the sub-district organization. Thus the model of sub-district
beach area are represented by Bantul and Kretek organization developed in this study is “organization-
sub-districts (Bantul regency, Special Province of based public service priority and complexity”. The
Yogyakarta). Sub-districts in island area are represented quantitative analysis concerning the complexity and
by Tanjung Pandan and Selat Nasik sub-districts priorities of public services within a sub-district refers to
(Belitung regency, Bangka Belitung Province). Sub- the research findings of Sub-district Institutional
districts in border area of regency/city are represented by Development (Safitri et al. 2010), which was later
Labuapi and Gunungsari sub-districts (West Lombok analyzed sharply to determine the size model and the
regency, West Nusa Tenggara Province). The data is then organizational structure of sub-district.
analysed to answer the research question raised to be Next, the components of the sub-district organization
further used as the solution for the formulated issue. are categorized into four main organizational
In this study the attributive duties of the head of components, namely tasks and functions, organizational
sub-district is confirmed as obligatory duties that must be structure, civil service apparatus, and business process.
done by them, whereas their delegative duties are The classification of organizational components in this


study adapted 4 organizational components in FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
congruence model offered by Nadler (1997). Certain
adaptation of the organizational components as written in Basically the complexity and priority of sub-district
congruence model is made to simplify the process in public services in each territorial typology (mountains,
analyzing the following indicators of each component beaches, islands, and regent/city borders) indicates
sharply: variety. In fact, the variety also takes place in the
sub-districts within the same territorial typology. In
1) Main tasks and functions component is analyzed relation with the first statement, this gives a signal that
based on consistency level of the tasks and the local policies between one territorial typology and the
functions that are stipulated in the prevailing rules others show varieties. As for the second statement, this
and regulations, as to whether both have shows that they use different strategies in implementing
accommodated all aspects concerned with the their duties within one territorial typology.
policy and have been proportionally distributed to This study found that the head of sub-district in the
the available positions. mountainuous area (Ampek Angkek and Lubuk Basung
2) The organizational structure is analyzed based on sub-districts) conducts attributive and delegative duties
the complexity and centralization dimensions. The simultaneously. In the Regional Regulation of Agam
formulation of the organizational structure must fit Regency Number 5, year 2008 regarding Establishment
in with the organizational needs and environmental of Organization and Work Procedures of a Sub-District
demands, and decision-making should be stipulates that head of sub-district has main duties to
implement authorities of local government devolved by
decentralized until the lowest layer.
regent to deal with part of local autonomy affairs. To
3) Government apparatus in this study are divided
implement the main tasks, the head of sub-district has the
into two, namely civil service apparatus, and tools/
following functions:
facilities that support the jobs. The analysis
towards the civil service apparatus is emphasized
1) coordinating society empowerment activities;
on the appropriate quantity and quality of its
2) coordinating efforts to create peace and order;
human resources with organizational needs.
3) coordinating compliance and enforcement of rules
Whereas the analysis towards the tools and
of laws;
facilities that support the jobs emphasizes on their 4) coordinating maintenance of public infrastructures
availability in performing an activity. and facilities;
4) As for the business process, it is emphasized on the 5) coordinating the management of governmental
availability or the absence of work system and activities at sub-district level;
procedure to support the implementation of 6) fostering the management of village government
organizational tasks. and/or village unit;
7) coordinating the activities of Technical Service
The analysis construction in this study starts with gap Units/Government Institution
analysis between complexity and priority of sub-district 8) delivering public services to the society within
public services and the availability of public services their scope of duties and/or that of unable to be
delivered by the sub-district. This gap analysis is useful delivered by the village government or village
to identify the size of the established sub-district unit; and
organization. Next step is to analyze alignment between 9) conducting other duties assigned by their superior(s)
the four components of sub-district organization that
include tasks and functions of the head of sub-district, If their main tasks and functions are compared with that
organizational structure, civil service apparatus, and of the results of identified required public services in the
business process of sub-district. This analysis is required sub-district and current demands within Ampek Angkek
to describe the alignment among the components within sub-district (covers 11 administrative services and 5
the sub-district organization. non-administrative services) and Lubuk Basung (covers 9


administrative services and 5 non-administrative services), surprising because it was normal that it happened. The
it is understandable that the tasks and functions of the crucial matter that deserved to be paid attention to by
sub-districts have not yet been able to accommodate all the Agam regency government was the need to pay more
demands. serious attention to civil service apparatus and
However, in this case, the heads of sub-district in the formulation of main tasks and functions of the sub-
mountanuous area (Ampek Angkek and Lubuk Basung district.
sub-districts) have implemented attributive and delegative This study also found that the heads of sub-district in
duties simultaneously in a relatively bigger portion that the beach area (Bantul and Kretek sub-districts)
includes 19 authorities, amongst others, are: workshop/ performed their attributive and delegative duties
garage permit, trade industry permit, letter of poverty, simultaneously. This was relatively similar with that of
recommendation for building mosque assistance, permit to the mountaneous sub-districts. Regional Government
enter and exit livestock, research recommendation Number 18 Year 2007 regarding Establishment of Sub-
(particularly for personal interest, unpublished and located District Organization within Bantul Regency stipulated
in the concerned sub-district), and private vocational that the duties of the head of sub-district were as follows:
course permit.
By looking at the devolution of authorities, Ampek 1) Implementation of general governmental affairs
Angkek and Lubuk Basung sub-districts could be included the following:
predicted to have high complexity and priority of a. coordinating society empowerment activities;
sub-district public services. Nevertheless, the level of b. coordinating efforts to create peace and order;
complexity and priority of sub-district public services are c. coordinating compliance and enforcement of
maybe different, this is because each sub-district has rules of laws;
different potencials. In this case Ampek Angkek d. coordinating maintenance of public infrastructures
sub-district has greater potentials as compared with that and facilities;
of Lubuk Basung sub-district. With the greater e. coordinating the management of governmental
complexity and priority of public services in the two activities at sub-district level;
sub-districts, it could be understood why the size of their f. fostering the management of village government
organizations were established with maximum pattern and/or village unit;
with the following structures: g. delivering public services to the society within
their scope of duties and/or that of unable to be
1) Head of Sub-District delivered by the village government or village
2) Secretary: unit; and
a. General Affairs and Personnel Sub-Division h. conducting other duties assigned by their
b. Finance Sub-Division superior(s)
c. Planning and Reporting Sub-Division 2) Implementation of governmental authorities devolved
3) Sections: by Regent to deal with part of local autonomy affairs;
a. Government 3) Implementation of other duties assigned by Regent
b. Peace and Order in accordance with their tasks and functions.
c. General and Revenue Services
d. Economy and Development The difference between the two previous sub-districts
e. Welfare was that Bantul and Kretek sub-districts had not received
the authorities as great as Ampek Angkek and Lubuk
If it is related with the results of analysis calculation, Basung sub-districts. The devolution of the authorities of
the components of the sub-district organization achieved the regent to the head of sub-district only covered ID card
average scores of approximately 77% (with sufficient/ services, family card services, and recommendations for
consistent category) for Ampek Angkek and Lubuk various permits applications in regency permit service
Basung sub-districts (Safitri et al. 2010). This was not unit. Whereas the needs of the society in public services


and current demands in Bantul and Kretek sub-districts, or not there was the delegative tasks of the head of
each covered 7 administrative services and 5 non- sub-district” it should be based on the prevailing policies
administrative services. The policy of devolution of and/or in harmony with the higher policies above it. It
authorities needed to be reviewed to adjust or to other words, the delivery of public services –related with
accommodate the needs of the society. the devolution of authorities from regent o the head of
If compared between the public services delivered by sub-district – that was not based on written policy was
the sub-districts and the needs of the society and the considered incorrect.
current demands, it could obviously find out that there Although the typology of the areas was different, the
were very wide gaps. This condition triggered more tasks of the heads of sub-districts of Tanjung Pandan and
unaccommodated needs of the public services in the Selat Nasik (Belitung regency-island area), Labuapi and
sub-districts. In fact, we knew that the existence of sub- Gunungsari (West Lombok regency-regency/city border
district served as the frontline of the local government area) almost showed similarity (see Table 1).
services. Therefore, this policy was not consistent with Based on the identificiation of the needs of the society
the spirit of the local autonomy itself. towards public services and current demands, actually
Although the devolution of authorities by the regent to there were relatively many public services that should be
the head of the sub-districts was not significant, the size provided by the sub-district. The data showed that the
and structure of their organizations were relatively big as society’s needs towards public services and current
follows: demands in Tanjung Pandan sub-district covered 18
administrative services and 5 non-administrative
1) Head of Sub-District services, and Selat Nasik sub-district covered 11
2) Secretary: administrative services and 7 non-administrative
a. General Affairs Sub-Division services, whereas in Labuapi and Gunungsari sub-
b. Program and Finance Sub-Division districts, each covered 7 administrative services and 5
c. Planning and Reporting Sub-Division non-administrative services. The data underlined that the
3) Sections: sub-districts in island area (Tanjung Pandan and Selat
a. Government Order Nasik sub-districts) and the sub-districts in regency/city
b. Peace and Order borders area (Labuapi and Gunungsari sub-districts)
c. Services actually had great potentials to be able to provide public
d. Economy, Development and Living Environment services more maximumly.
e. Society If the society’s needs and the current demands were
compared with public services delivered in the sub-
Based on that, it could be predicted that the decision of districts, it could be clearly seen here that there were
the size and structure of the sub-district organization in amazingly big gaps, and this was a fatal mistake. Such
Bantul regency were not yet based on sufficient research. condition closed the opportunity of the sub-districts to be
This was strengthened by the calculation analysis of the able to provide public services optimally. If it was further
components of the sub-district organization that showed observed, this condition showed non-compliance of the
insufficient or inconsistent category with the average local government towards the prevailing rules of law.
scores of 75% for Bantul sub-district and 65% for Kretek Although the heads of sub-district only implemented
sub-districts (Safitri et al. 2010). attributive tasks, the size and structure of sub-district
Other findings of this study was that the head of organization in 2 typologies of area were decided with
sub-district in island area (Tanjung Pandan and Selat maximum pattern (see Table 2). Looking at it, it could be
Nasik sub-districts) and the head of sub-district in ensured that the decision for the size and organization
regency/city border areas (Labuapi and Gunungsari sub- structure of sub-districts in Belitung and Lombok Barat
districts) only implemented attributive duties, whereas regency were not based on sufficient research. This was
the delegative duties were not devolved to the heads of strengthened by the calculation results analysis of the
sub-districts. In this study it was confirmed that “whether components of the sub-district organizations that showed


Table 1. Duties of Head of Sub-district in Belitung and West Lombok Regency

Duties of Head of Sub-district in Belitung Regency Duties of Head of Sub-district in West Lombok Regency
The head of sub-district has main duties to implement the The head of sub-district has main duties to implement the
governmental authorities devolved by regent to deal with part of governmental authorities devolved by regent to deal with part of
local autonomy affairs. To perform their main duties, they had local autonomy affairs. To perform their main duties, they had
the following functions: the following functions:
1. coordinating society empowerment activities; 1. coordinating society empowerment activities;
2. coordinating efforts to create peace and order; 2. coordinating efforts to create peace and order;
3. coordinating compliance and enforcement of rules of laws; 3. coordinating compliance and enforcement of rules of laws;
4. coordinating maintenance of public infrastructures and facilities; 4. coordinating maintenance of public infrastructures and facilities;
5. coordinating the management of governmental activities at 5. coordinating the management of governmental activities at
sub-district level; sub-district level;
6. fostering the management of village government and/or 6. fostering the management of village government and/or
village unit; and village unit; and
7. delivering public services to the society within their scope of 7. delivering public services to the society within their scope of
duties and/or that of unable to be delivered by the village duties and/or that of unable to be delivered by the village
government or village unit. government or village unit.
8. Implementing governmental authorities that were devolved by 8. Implementing governmental authorities that were devolved by
regent to deal with part of local autonomy affairs that regent to deal with part of local autonomy affairs that
covered permit aspect, recommendations, coordination, covered permit aspect, recommendations, coordination,
fostering, supervision, facilities, decision, management and fostering, supervision, facilities, decision, management and
other devolved authorities. other devolved authorities.
Source: Local Government Regulation of Belitung Regency Source: Local Government Regulation of West Lombok Regency
Number 22 Year 2007 regarding Organization and Work Number 8 Year 2009 regarding the Amendment upon Local
Procedures of Sub-District and Village Unit Government Regulation of West Lombok Regency Number 9 Year
2008 regarding Establishment of Structure of Organization
Peripheral of Area

insufficient or inconsistent category in 4 (four) public services, the development of business process was
sub-districts in the 2 (two) regencies (Safitri et al. 2010). oriented or emphasized on public service delivery that
The development of the sub-district organizations, in was increasingly better quality at the sub-district level. In
principle, was an integration between the attached duties relation to that the development of business process in
and/or obligatory duties that had to be done by the head such context was a new approach or innovation that had
of sub-district or the sub-district, the organizational to be developed in the framework of realizing public
structure of the sub-district was perceived in order to services at the sub-district level that were increasingly
implement those duties, business process was perceived better quality. Considering the existence of the sub-
for the organizational structure to achieve their tasks, and district organization –as organization peripheral of the
availability of adequate civil service apparatus for the area – decided by local regulation, in this case it was
realization of the organizational objectives of the necessary to have an umbrella policy that enabled the
concerned sub-districts. manifestation of sub-district capacity that was able and
The existence of sub-district institution initially had to competent in delivering public services of the concerned
be oriented to the work that had to be done. Next, such sub-district.
work had to be closely looked into to be later decided on Civil service apparatus that covered civil servants and
the organizational structure that was considered right in other resources were needed in the framework of
implementing the work optimally. Because the overall fulfilling tasks and functions that were mandated by the
duties of the head of sub-district covered attributive and head of sub-district, which in the implementation they
delegative duties, the size and the institutional design of were types of public services. In relation to the civil
the sub-district had to be able to accommodate all their servants, sub-district required the qualifications that was
duties. in line with the orientation or emphasis of the prioritized
Because the institutional development of the sub- public services. As for the number of civil servants that
district was based on the complexity and priority of were required in delivering the prioritized public


Table 2. Size and Structure of Sub-District Organization in Belitung and Lombok Barat Sub-Districts

Duties of the Head of Belitung Sub-District Duties of the Head of Lombok Barat Sub-District
1. Head of Sub-District
1. Head of Sub-District
2. Secretary:
2. Secretary:
a. Planning and Reporting Sub-Division
a. Program Sub-Division
b. Finance Sub-Division
b. Finance Sub-Division
c. General Affairs and Personnel Sub-Division
c. General Affairs and Personnel Sub-Division
3. Sections:
3. Sections:
a. Government
a. Government
b. Peace and Order
b. Peace and Order
c. Economy and Development
c. Society’s empowerment
d. Society’s Welfare
d. Public Services
e. Society’s empowerment
Source: Local Government Regulation of Belitung Regency Source: Local Government Regulation of West Lombok Regency
Number 22 Year 2007 regarding Organization and Work Number 8 Year 2009 regarding the Amendment upon Local
Procedures of Sub-District and Village Unit Government Regulation of West Lombok Regency Number 9 Year
2008 regarding Establishment of Structure of Organization
Peripheral of Area

services, they had to be refered to the available workload complexity). The model remained limited to the main
analysis study. tasks and functions as well as the number of structures
Apart from the civil servants, the availability of required in the sub-district, whereas for work relations
infrastructures and facilities also needed to be paid more with other units they were in a form of general
sensistive attention to policy makers. This was because it description and had to be adjusted with geographical
would be very difficult to deliver better quality public conditions and the civil service apparatus, supporting
services without the support of adequate infrastructures materials and facilities, and budget allocated for the
and facilities. sub-district. The institutional model of sub-district that
was developed in this study was illustrated in the
organigram of the sub-district.
CONCLUSION

This study concluded that the head of sub-district held RECOMMENDATION
a very important role in the management of government.
Sub-district was organization peripheral of the the area This study recommended three models for sub-district
and concomitantly the frontline for the government organization, namely Large Size Sub-District
services to the society. In this context the head of sub- Organization Model, Middle Size Sub-District
district was the liason between society and government in Organization Model, and Small Size Sub-District
terms of government policy dissemination to the socity Organization Model. These three models could be
and in terms of submitting the society’s aspirations to the described briefly as follows:
government.
The model that was developed perceived that 1. Large Size Sub-District Organization Model: an
devolution of part of the regent’s/mayor’s authorities to organizational structure with the biggest
the head of sub-district was the types of prioritized public organization size because the mandated main tasks
services at sub-district level. Apart from that this model and functions were perceived complex (apart from
also looked at the complexity of public services as one of attributive duties attached, delegative duties
the aspects that must be paid attention to so that the devolved were in big proportions). The structure of
institutional model of sub district that was developed the sub-district included: Head of Sub-District,
“based on complexity and priority of sub-district public Secretariat supervising 3 Sub-Divisions, and 5
services” (organization-based public service priority and Sections as the core units in the sub-district, and a


Figure 1. Large Size Sub-District Organization Model

group of functional (professional) positions.
2. Middle Size Sub-District Organization Model: The 1. Large Size Sub-District Organization Model:
organizational structure with medium Organizational Structure of Sub-District with High
organizational size in line with the main tasks and Complexity and Priority of Public Service Duties
functions that generally implemented attributive (see figure 1)
duties augmented by delegative duties in relatively
big portion. The organizational structure of the Main Tasks and Functions of Head of Sub-District
sub-disrict included: Head of Sub-district, The main tasks of Head of Sub-District are to
Secretariat supervising 2 Sub-Divisions, and 4 implement attributive tasks or general governmental
Sections as the core unit of the sub-district, and a tasks in accordance with the prevailing rules of laws, and
group of functional (professional) positions. performing delegative tasks devolution of part of Regent/
3. Small Size Sub-District Organization Model: The Mayor authorities in local autonomy affairs. (In this
organizational structure with small organizational model context, the proportion of delegative tasks
size. This reflected that the main tasks and includes most or almost all division affairs). In the
functions of the sub-district tended to implement framework of achieving those tasks, the head of
attributive duties of the head of sub-district, sub-district conducts the following functions, namely:
whereas the proportion of delegative tasks were
relatively small, thus they were seen adequate to 1) Secretariat (covering coordination functions and
be accommodated in one section. The internal services)
organizational structure of the sub-district 2) Government Order (covering governmental service
included: Head of Sub-District, Secretariat functions)
supervising 2 Sub-Divisions, and 3 Sections as the 3) Peace, order, and society empowerment (covering
core units of the sub-district, and the group of public service functions, utility services, food,
functional (professional) positions. clothing, and housing services)


Figure 2. Middle Size Sub-District Organization Model

4) Education and health (covering such functions as division affairs). In the framework of achieving those
development services, public services, and utility tasks, the head of sub-district conducts the following
services) functions, namely:
5) Economy (covering such functions as governmental
services, public services, and utility services) 1) Secretariat (covering coordination functions and
6) Development (covering such functions as internal services)
development services, public services, utility 2) Government Order (covering governmental service
services, and food, clothing and housing services) functions)
3) Peace, order, and society empowerment (covering
2. Middle Size Sub-District Organization Model: The public service functions, utility services, food,
Organizational Structure of Sub-District with Medium clothing, and housing services)
complexity and Priority of Public Services Tasks (see 4) Education and health (covering such functions as
Figure 2) development services, public services, and utility
services)
Main Tasks and Functions of Head of Sub-District 5) Economy and Development (covering such functions
The main tasks of Head of Sub-District are to as governmental services, development services,
implement attributive tasks or general governmental public services, utility services, and food, clothing
tasks in accordance with the prevailing rules of laws, and and housing services)
performing delegative tasks, devolution of part of
Regent/Mayor authorities in local autonomy affairs. (In 3. Small Size Sub-District Organization Model: The
this model context, the proportion of delegative tasks Organizational Structure with Low Complexity and
includes medium or only covering part of available Priority (see Figure 3)


Figure 3. Small Size Sub-District Organization Model

public services, and utility services)
Main Tasks and Functions of Head of Sub-District
The main tasks of Head of Sub-District are to Each sub-district in Indonesia can decide the
implement attributive tasks or general governmental alternative model offered in accordance with the
tasks in accordance with the prevailing rules of laws, and complexity and priority of public service within their
performing delegative tasks, devolution of part of respective sub-districts.
Regent/Mayor authorities in local autonomy affairs. (In In relation to the above mentioned issues, the size of the
this model context, the proportion of delegative tasks sub-district organization in a regency or city does not have
includes few or only covers some available division to be the same. This will be adjusted with –one of them –
affairs). In the framework of achieving those tasks, the devolution of part of Regent/Mayor authorities to the head
head of sub-district conducts the following functions, of sub-district. Part of the Regent/Mayor authorities
namely: devolved to the head of district in this study is called
prioritized public services (with the assumption that the
1) Secretariat (covering coordination functions and devolution of part of public services [administrative or non
internal services) administrative] that are considered prioritized to be
2) Government Order (covering governmental delivered by the sub-district). Therefore it can be affirmed
service functions) here that the prioritized public services in the sub-district
3) Peace, order, and society empowerment (covering serve as one of the determinant main factors in the
public service functions, utility services, food, organizational design of a sub-district to be developed.
clothing, and housing services)
4) Education, health, economy, and development
(covering such functions as development services,


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Received: June 17, 2011
Sanusi, Anwar. 2010. Bunga Rampai Quo Vadis
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Sub-District Institution in the Local Autonomy Era:
Institutional Effectiveness Analysis. Jakarta: The

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