Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Public sector management'

Performance Management aims to develop the employee and ensure that the work which the employee does is in line with organisational goals. However, many managers and employees do not like performance management systems and very often, for this reason, such a system does not succeed in meeting the organisation’s goals. The aim of this study was to determine the perceptions towards the performance management system of pharmacists working in the public sector. A questionnaire was compiled and pharmacists working in all public sector hospitals, provincial and municipal clinics and medical depots were asked to complete the questionnaire. The response rate was 66 percent. Seventy three percent of respondents had never undergone a performance evaluation, 75 percent stated it did not motivate them, 62.5 percent felt it did not improve poor performance, 90.6 percent felt the Performance Appraisal System did not reward good performance sufficiently and 63.6 percent felt it did not help with career progression. Seventy eight percent believed that the Performance Appraisal System did not effectively measure the pharmacists’ performance, and 82 percent felt that the System needed to be developed further. At least four evaluations should have been completed per year, yet 85 percent of respondents had experienced three or fewer evaluations since the System had been introduced. The analysis of the responses indicated that there was great dissatisfaction with the current performance management system. A few of the reasons are that the system in place did not effectively measure the pharmacists performance, that additional work done was not recognised, and that the process was extremely time-consuming. It may be concluded that the government needs to address the current problems being experienced with this system, as at present, it is not meeting the objectives it was intended to meet.

This thesis considers the problems associated with the Australian Public Sector moving sometimes erratically towards strategic public management following substantial and wide ranging reforms over the last 20 years. In particular, this study examines public organizational planning and evaluates the extent to which private sector planning philosophies and methodologies have already and could be applied more relevantly to the public sector. The major proposition is that commercial planning methods and techniques can be used selectively to enhance agency planning and management effectiveness and efficiency. A specific application at Centrelink is considered for public service providers delivering high quality government services as part of a purchaser/provider relationship. Strategic planning and management theory and models are reviewed and a progressivestages model is developed for the APS. A range of private sector planning techniques and tools is evaluated and brief but classified case studies on major APS organizations are also presented. The thesis concludes that a dynamics capabilities approach would enable public organizations to maximize strategic management and operational effectiveness.

Across the world, confirmed by academic and internal research evidence, Government and public sector organisations consistently display varying degrees of difficulty in generating, developing and implementing innovative ideas. Now, as budgets become tighter, the pressure to fundamentally transform the UK’s public sector by relying upon the exploration and adoption of sustainable innovation continues to grow as a policy necessity. Given this necessity, there is a definite, identified need to critically review the literature covering theory development and innovation practice as part of a cultural challenge within the UK public sector to identify the key deep rooted and persistent barriers to public sector innovation to assist in researching potential workable solutions. To facilitate this endeavour this Doctoral study deploys, as per Chapter 3, Ethnographic methods underpinning qualitative thematic template analysis to explore and identify existing innovation barriers from qualitative data collected from the management and staff of a major UK Civil Service Department. The primary objective of this research study is to contribute to the effective improvement in public sector Innovation delivery, via identification of the key barriers via ten literature defined and participant response analysis propositions to facilitate improved innovation generation. In Chapters 2 & 4, by critically showing the linkages between innovation literature and the practical observations and innovation process experiences of public servants, workable solutions as to how the UK’s Civil Service can overcome such persistent problems have been explored. This research aims to add value to the wider debate by identifying an environment that supports and encourages the practical generation of public sector innovative ideas and change behaviour. In Chapters 5 & 6, from analysis of the quantitative data, the study identified 18 barrier subject nodes covering a number of themes which appear to inhibit the successful embedding of such innovation practices and processes.

Abstract and Keywords  The thesis concerns different conceptions of rationality and their implications for organisations, especially in the public sector. The focus is on performance management (as widely defined) within public sector organisations as a subject for exploring these issues. This has long been controversial because seemingly simplistic approaches to performance management persist, despite well recognised shortcomings, such as a tendency to perverse incentives and unintended outcomes.  Therefore, in the kappa, I analyse the notion of instrumental rationality, examine the established critique of instrumental rationality from a ‘political’ perspective and present the dilemma that this creates; i.e. how to improve processes of resource allocation and performance evaluation, while recognising organisational realities such as imbalances in power. The potential of communicative rationality as an alternative conceptualisation of rationality in organisations is then discussed.    The development of public sector management from the fiscal crises of the 1970s is explained, with the rise of the ‘New Public Management’ based on neo-liberal ideas, and the subsequent opposition to it from ‘New Public Governance’ and ‘New Public Services’ paradigms. These potentially give more scope to participative and deliberative processes of generating performance measurement packages and control systems. Moreover, in practice, particularly interesting examples of participatory approaches have been found in developing countries which align with communicative rationality. A critical position is adopted in the thesis, seeking to challenge ‘managerialist’ orthodoxies.  As a theoretical guide to understanding these issues, conceptual frameworks from the management control literature are used. Broadbent and Laughlin’s (2009) conceptual model of performance management systems has been of particular value. They draw on Weber and Habermas to distinguish between instrumental and communicative rationality models and between transactional and relational performance management systems. This enables them to identify two distinct ideal types of ‘rationality clusters’ (instrumental and communicative) to which organisations will incline. They also contend that contingent factors influence where actual organisations are located between these two ideal types.          7  The four papers I have selected for the licentiate from my various publications report on research carried out in three different public sector settings using different methods of investigation. Paper 1 considers the approaches to resource allocation and performance measurement then used by English Health Authorities at the time of writing. In Paper 2 an evaluation carried out at an English police service, utilising cost-consequences analysis, is described and discussed. Papers 3 and 4 concern a performance management regime for the English ambulance service, which became noted for promoting perverse incentives and ‘gaming’, and its subsequent replacement. The first two papers foreground issues of rationality and the last two issues of performance management; but these topics are interrelated and are relevant throughout. It is argued in all the papers that comprehensively ‘rationalistic’ approaches are flawed and that participation, deliberation and dialogue between stakeholders are desirable.

Thesis (PhD (School of Public Management and Planning ))—University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
Using an investigative approach the study starts by outlining the governance quandary that exists within the public sector, with observations made over the past decade by scholars and active role players in the governance arena both in the private sector and in the public sector. It continues to show a growing need for good governance in the public sector, especially in the developing economies of emerging democracies. It uses South Africa as an example in this regard, although the discussion can just as well be applied to other countries finding themselves in a similar situation. It places the governance debate in perspective and provides the background for the development of the Public Sector Integrated Financial Governance Framework (IFGF). A brief look is taken at the reasons for the growing focus on governance in general, governance in the private and public sector, the need for governance, the basic dynamics of governance, stakeholder relationships, the regulatory framework and the role of the judiciary. It then places this understanding of governance – from a financial perspective – within the South African context. Using the South African context the study discusses the need for an IFGF, the basic requirements for such an IFGF and then as a response proceeds to discuss the role of values and principles, functional application areas and governance-related activities in an IFGF. It develops a financial governance universe, which provides an overview of the various subsections within these aspects. From this basis the study proceeds to develop the IFGF by identifying specific principles and values applicable to South Africa, followed by a description of functional application areas consisting of leadership, management and control practices required as a minimum to ensure healthy public sector financial governance. It continues to develop governance-related activities based on existing frameworks recognised by public sector agencies globally and in some instance, designed for the private sector. The study proceeds to develop these areas to enable employees in the public sector to discharge their duties in a manner that can form the cornerstone in governance excellence. Having used a deductive approach during the first few chapters to develop the IFGF, the study then proceed using an inductive process to construct the conditions and the related activities required by the IFGF. It develops detailed information on specific activities that must be in place for the IFGF to be functional. These activities provide the “how” and are grouped together based on a recognised framework. Governance effectiveness depends on a situation where all areas are considered. Lastly the study focuses on the conclusions regarding the IFGF outcomes and therefore discusses the implementation of the IFGF and the impact on the accounting system, measuring governance and keeping the IFGF updated with developments internally and externally. The study shows the growing importance for developing countries and emerging economies to demonstrate healthy governance processes and practices. However, no consensus yet exists on the approach or methodology, particularly with regard to building national ownership of and political commitment to governance (Landell-Mills, 2003:369). Fortunately similar initiatives have been forthcoming from a number of countries and, although they are each focussed differently, they provide a base for developing a public sector IFGF for South Africa in particular, but can also be used as a guideline for other emerging democracies. Developing the governance universe facilitates the process of keeping track of a multitude of possibilities that are relevant in day-to-day management. The study determined the applicable criteria that an IFGF must satisfy to attract attention when funding is required from the donor community and to provide assurance to stakeholders with limited skills and knowledge that objectives are achieved effectively and efficiently in an ethical environment. The benefit of this framework is that it has passed the first scrutiny in South Africa namely that of the Provincial Treasury of the Provincial Government Western Cape (PGWC) public sector audit committees in the public sector (PGWC) and is currently being subjected to a four-year implementation process, starting with an awareness phase in all Departments of the PGWC. During this process the senior management of all the departments are being exposed to the principles contained in the IFGF and their practical observations and suggestions will be applied towards formulating an updated version of the Governance Framework of PGWC (Draft version 2.20e). This is significant, because it represents a healthy interaction between academic research and practical application, a process that is more often than not balanced, but appears to be in favour of either the one or the other.

Due to NPM reforms, strategic management, which has been defined as "the broader process of managing an organization in a strategic manner on a continuing basis", becomes a relevant feature within the public higher education sector. Although empirical research increased considerably, many countries have been neglected. Among these, there is the Italian context. The present thesis is part of this field of investigation with the aim, through the application of Miles and Snow's strategic framework in the Italian public higher sector, to contribute to filling the gap mentioned above. Besides, starting from the Italian public higher education sector, it intends to provide reflections that can be generalized for the whole public sector. The thesis comprises three different papers, namely, a systematic literature review and two different empirical works. The systematic literature review aims to point out the lessons and further aspects that must be investigated related to the public sector's strategic management that stems from Miles and Snow's strategic framework in the public sector. Based on Walker's work recommendations, the literature review replicates and extends Walker's work by analyzing the most recent empirical research conducted in the public sector related to strategic management. This literature review intends to test Walker's findings and point out new emerging issues stemming from the research conducted in recent years, specifically in the time frame from 2013 to 2018. It emphasizes that, even though there has been a more extensive application of Miles and Snow's framework in the public sector, the empirical research still focuses primarily on USA and UK contexts. Moreover, the prospector and defender strategic stances do not always outperform the reactor one. The two empirical works focus principally on strategic management within the Italian public higher education sector. The first empirical work investigates the possible influence of public reforms on the Italian public higher education sector's strategic stances. It aims to understand whether the strategic stances adopted by Italian HEIs have changed because of the recent reforms, and, if so, how. For these purposes, the work analyzes the effects of Law 240/2010, also known as the Gelmini reform, which has deeply influenced the Italian public higher education sector. This work investigates how the Italian public HEIs have adapted to the new external environment through strategic stances. It emerges that Gelmini reform led to a strategic reorientation in the Italian public higher education system. In contrast to Miles and Snow's proposition, HEIs avoid adopting the prospector strategic stance in favor of the reactor or defender ones. The second empirical work attempts to identify a relationship between strategic stances adopted by Italian HEIs and their organizational performance. Based on Miles and Snow's strategic framework, each HEI's strategic stance is analyzed to inspect the previous relationship and understand if the strategic stance influences HEI performance, and, if so, which strategic stance is more suitable in the Italian higher education sector. The results emphasize that the strategic stance adopted influences HEI performance. However, contrary to Miles and Snow's assumption, such influence does not lead to a strategic hierarchy based on performance, but rather to more considerable variety in performance by HEIs that adopt the prospector strategic stance, i.e., a more risk-prone strategy.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 1998.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study the assumption is made that the delivery of a professional internal audit service has a direct bearing on the improvement of effectiveness of services delivered. Internal auditing in the public sector, compared to the private sector, is still at an early stage of development. A change in emphasis brought about by the new Constitution has led to a demand for stronger accountability and transparency. The internal audit profession has an important role to play by assisting management in the effective, efficient and economic reaching of goals and objectives. To fulfil this role successfully it is necessary for the internal auditor to possess specific skills and knowledge to perform audit tasks unique to the public sector. The hypothesis as formulated emphasises the relationship between professional internal auditing and organisational effectiveness. Through the content of this study project it is endeavoured to prove this point. An investigation into the field of internal auditing was undertaken by means of a study of the available literature, including the Standards for Professional Practice of Internal Auditing. Opinions and information were obtained from management and other persons involved with auditing by means of a questionnaire. The opinions and information were. integrated to obtain a comprehensive picture. A study of the literature revealed that internal auditing is supported by four pillars, namely: - Achieving objectives - Safeguarding and using of assets - Economic, effective and efficient execution of functions - Compliance with policy, prescripts and regulations. The literature also describes a definite process followed during an audit. During the audit process risk factors must be taken into account. Technical aspects relating to internal auditing is covered in the literature, but references to examples in the public sector are lacking. This deficiency was identified during the field study by means of a questionnaire. Respondents indicated in questionnaires that effectiveness of management, financial information and compliance with controls must be subjected to internal auditing. Management views the internal audit as a source of information on the activities of every department. The recommendations for professional internal auditing in the public sector are aimed at promoting accountability and transparency in the organisation. To ensure effective internal auditing it is necessary for the internal auditor to take note of the environment in which the organisation's activities play a role. A study of public administration as a management science is therefore important for the internal auditor to obtain insight into a holistic approach regarding the activities of public sector organisations.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie studie word as uitgangspunt die aanname gemaak dat daar 'n verband bestaan tussen die lewering van 'n professionele diens deur die interne ouditeur en die effektiwiteit van dienste wat aan interne ouditering onderwerp word. Interne ouditering in die openbare sektor in vergelyking met die privaatsektor, is nog in 'n begin stadium van ontwikkeling. 'n Klemverskuiwing wat teweeggebring is deur die nuwe Grondwet het daartoe gelei dat groter rekenpligtigheid en deursigtigheid vereis word. Die interne oudit beroep het 'n belangrike rol te speel deur bestuur by te staan in die effektiewe, doelmatige en ekonomiese bereiking van doelwitte. am hierdie rol suksesvol te vervul is dit nodig dat die interne ouditeur oor bepaalde vaardighede en kennis sal beskik om oudittake uniek aan die openbare sektor professioneel uit te voer. Die hipotese soos geformuleer beklemtoon die verband tussen professionele interne ouditering en organisatoriese effektiwiteit. Met die inhoud van die werkstuk word daar gepoog om die punt te bewys. 'n Ondersoek na die gebied van interne ouditering is onderneem deur 'n studie te maak van beskikbare Iiteratuur, insluitend die Standaarde vir Professionele Praktykvoering van Interne Ouditering. Deur middel van 'n vraelys is menings en inligting van bestuur en persone betrokke by ouditering verkry. Die menings en inligting is saamgevoeg om 'n geheelbeeld te verkry. 'n Studie van die Iiteratuur toon dat interne oudit deur vier pilare ondersteun word naamlik: - Bereiking van doelwitte - Beveiliging en aanwending van bates - Ekonomiese, effektiewe en doelgerigte uitvoering van funksies - Nakoming van beleid, voorskrifte en regulasies. Die Iiteratuur beskryf 'n bepaalde proses wat gevolg word tydens ouditering. Gedurende die ouditproses moet risikofaktore in ag geneem word. Tegniese aspekte verbonde aan interne ouditering word gedek, maar verwysings na voorbeelde uit die openbare sektor ontbreek grootliks in die Iiteratuur, vandaar die noodsaaklikehid vir 'n veld studie wat deur middel van 'n vraelys gedoen is. Respondente het in die vraelyste aangedui dat effektiwiteit van bestuur, finansiele inligting en die nakoming van kontroles aan interne ouditering onderwerp moet word. Bestuur beskou die interne ouditeur as 'n bron van inligting oor die aktiwiteite van elke departement. Die aanbevelings vir professionele interne ouditering in die open bare sektor is daarop gemik om rekenpligtigheid en deursigtigheid van 'n organisasie te bevorder. Om effektiewe interne ouditering te verseker is dit noodsaaklik dat die interne ouditeur ook kennis dra van die omgewing waarin die organisasie se aktiwiteite 'n rol speel. 'n Studie van Publieke Administrasie as 'n bestuurswetenskap sal dus vir die interne ouditeur van belang wees om insig te verkry in 'n holistiese benadering tot aktiwiteite van openbare sektor-organisasies.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This assignment deals with the relevance of Public-Private Partnerships in the South African context and particularly the role it can play in realising the developmental goals of the economic policy. The value of the unique relationship that is possible between the public and the private partner goes beyond the formalised legal agreement as the mix of cultures and different managerial approaches hold benefits for both parties. There are many aspects of the PPP, especially as a management tool, which grow beyond the boundaries of a work of this length and which will hopefully entice the reader to further reading. However, in this work the main thrust of the argument is that the PPP offers an alternative, or maybe rather a supplementary vehicle to address a number of managerial problems experienced in the public sector.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie werkstuk handel met die relevansie van die sogenaamde “Public-Private Partnership” in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks en meer spesifiek die rol wat dit kan speel om die ontwikkelingsdoelwitte van die ekonomie te bereik. Die waarde van die unieke verhouding wat moontlik is tussen die publieke en die private party venoot verder as die formele regsverhouding aangesien die vermenging van die kulture en verskillende bestuurstyle voordele vir beide partye inhou. Daar is vele aspekte van die PPP, veral as ‘n bestuursmeganisme, wat buite die grense van ‘n werk van hierdie lengte gaan en hopelik word die leser gestimuleer om verder oor die onderwerp op te lees. Die vertrekpunt van hierdie werk egter is dat die PPP ‘n alternatiewe, of selfs ‘n bykomende meganisme om verskeie bestuursprobleme wat in die publieke sektor ervaar word, aan te spreek.

This thesis explored the public value (PV) concept as strategic management to (re)introduce the concept of social responsibility and ethics within the public sector. Public sector governance relied on the assumption that the specific attributes of the various public sector governance approaches influenced public managers’ actions and decisions. The attributes of the management approach became more aligned with the PV concept as it moved along a public sector reform (PSR) continuum. To compare and contrast the PV concept in the various cultures and institutional settings through the lens of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)-related policies and programmes, three countries at the different stages of PSR were chosen. The results showed there were varying degrees of PSR acceptance and compliance at the various government levels. Thus, more than one dominant PSR model existed simultaneously in a country. The extent to which the changes were accepted and complied with depended on several dynamics. Additionally, the results discovered that the PV concept influenced public managers’ practices despite the governance traditions. This discovery validated the fact that a country did not have to be at the most sophisticated PSR stage to strategise using the PV concept. Finally, the results supported the view that ITS enabled easy and continuous data collection for the public managers. This ease of data collection advanced the process of knowledge exchange to co-create/co-produce or share PV with the public. The knowledge collaboration and sharing could lead to innovation, sustainability and the perception of value by the public.

Cost-benefit analysis is an economic analysis tool that can be used to support public decision making, when there are several mutually exclusive alternatives being considered. It compares the monetary value of the benefits resulting from a specific project or policy with the costs accrued by it. However, it would appear that it is currently used mainly for investment projects, and not for analyzing public services. This thesis is a literature study on the use of cost-benefit analysis in the public sector, with a focus on public service provision. The main objective of this study is to either verify or falsify the research gap regarding the initial assumption that there seems to be no existing research on how common the use of cost-benefit analysis is in public service provision. Other objectives include finding out how cost-benefit analysis can be used in evaluating the socio-economic impact of public decision making, and what kind of examples can be found on its applications in the public sector. The thesis presents the theoretical framework of cost-benefit analysis, including the basic steps in the typical cost-benefit analysis process, as well as its historical background and criticism regarding it. The alternative methods of cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis and cost-minimization analysis are discussed briefly as well. Some of the leading institutions regarding the research and development of cost-benefit analysis methods are also presented. The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis is one such institution. It publishes the Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, which is the only journal devoted exclusively to cost-benefit analysis. In addition, the European Commission’s Guide to Cost-Benefit Analysis applies the international best practice on the use of cost-benefit analysis in investment-type projects. Some comments in various publications state that cost-benefit analysis is indeed underused and often even misused in public decision making, and that society would benefit if it was used to a greater extent. The literature study concludes with the analysis of two case studies. In the first study, a cost-benefit analysis was performed on the services of the Finnish Meteorological Institute, and it was found to produce approximately five times as much benefits to the society compared to its costs. The second study examined the use of cost-benefit analysis in Finnish place-making policies, and discovered that it was applied incorrectly by public officials in this case. The research gap is verified, as there does not seem to be any comprehensive research on how common the use of cost-benefit analysis is in public service provision as a whole. However, some publications do hint that it is underused in public decision making. Thus, there is a need for further research on its use in public service provision
Kustannus-hyötyanalyysi on taloustieteellinen työkalu, jota voidaan käyttää tukemaan julkista päätöksentekoa, kun arvioitavana on useita toisensa poissulkevia vaihtoehtoja. Siinä vertaillaan jonkin projektin tai politiikan seurauksena syntyviä rahassa mitattuja hyötyjä sen aiheuttamiin kustannuksiin nähden. Tällä hetkellä sitä tosin ilmeisesti käytetään lähinnä vain investointiprojekteihin, eikä julkisten palveluiden analysointiin. Tämä kandidaatintyö on kirjallisuuskatsaus kustannus-hyötyanalyysin käytöstä julkisella sektorilla, keskittyen julkisiin palveluihin. Tutkimuksen päätavoitteena on osoittaa joko todeksi tai vääräksi tutkimusaukko koskien sitä alkuolettamusta, että kustannus-hyötyanalyysin käytön yleisyydestä julkisen sektorin palvelutuotannossa ei vaikuta olevan olemassaolevaa tutkimusta. Muihin tavoitteisiin kuuluu selvittää, että miten kustannus-hyötyanalyysiä voidaan käyttää julkisen päätöksenteon sosioekonomisen vaikuttavaan arviointiin, ja että minkälaisia esimerkkejä sen käytöstä löytyy julkiseen sektoriin liittyen. Kandidaatintyössä esitetään kustannus-hyötyanalyysin teoreettinen viitekehys, sisältäen tyypillisen kustannus-hyötyanalyysiprosessin vaiheet, sekä sen historiallista taustaa ja kritiikkiä. Kustannus-hyötyanalyysin vaihtoehtoisista menetelmistä esitellään lyhyesti kustannus-vaikuttavuusanalyysi, kustannus-utiliteettianalyysi ja kustannusten minimointianalyysi. Työssä käsitellään myös joitakin johtavia instituutioita kustannus-hyötyanalyysin menetelmien tutkimukseen ja kehitykseen liittyen. Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis -järjestö on yksi tällainen instituutio. Se julkaisee Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis -nimistä lehteä, joka on ainoa täysin kustannus-hyötyanalyysille omistettu lehti. Tämän lisäksi Euroopan komissio on julkaissut kustannus-hyötyanalyysiä koskevan oppaan, joka hyödyntää parhaita kansainvälisiä käytäntöjä kustannus-hyötyanalyysin soveltamisesta investointityyppisissä projekteissa. Erinäisissä julkaisuissa esitettyjen kommenttien mukaan kustannus-hyötyanalyysiä käytetään liian vähän julkisessa päätöksenteossa, ja joskus sitä on sovellettu siinä myös väärin. Näiden kommenttien mukaan yhteiskunta hyötyisi, jos sitä käytettäisiin laajemmin. Kirjallisuuskatsaus päätetään kahden case-tutkimuksen analyysillä. Ensimmäisessä tutkimuksessa oli suoritettu kustannus-hyötyanalyysi Ilmatieteen laitoksen palveluihin liittyen, ja niiden oli todettu tuovan yhteiskunnalle noin viisinkertaisen hyödyn niiden kustannuksiin nähden. Toinen tutkimus oli käsitellyt kustannus-hyötyanalyysin käyttöä Suomen alueellistamispolitiikassa, ja siinä oli selvinnyt, että virkamiehet olivat soveltaneet kustannus-hyötyanalyysiä väärin tässä tapauksessa. Tutkimusaukko on vahvistettu, sillä kustannus-hyötyanalyysin käytön yleisyydestä julkisessa palvelutuotannossa ei vaikuta olevan mitään kattavaa tutkimusta. Jotkin julkaisut kuitenkin vihjaavat, että se olisi alikäytetty julkisessa päätöksenteossa. Näin ollen on vielä tarvetta lisätutkimukselle sen käytöstä julkisessa palvelutuotannossa

Small/medium sized public sector IT organisations combine several characteristics that difficult the effective use of an IT strategy. Research has reported small/medium sized organisations as using unstructured and informal IT management initiatives, which frequently leads to inexistent or incipient use of IT strategy. On the other hand, for public sector the use of robust management is relevant in order to ensure transparency/accountability and facilitate the obtainment of resources. However, the instability that governmental changes create to the management of municipalities as organisation does not contribute to it. With the context described the use of IT strategy is challenged in these types of organisations. IT strategy management discusses the processes/practices to develop, improve and monitor IT strategy. This is a perspective with specific processes and practices at different managerial levels (strategic, tactical and operational) that give a structure in order to produce an IT strategy. This concept provides a systematic alternative to deal with IT strategy that can support to the craft of developing a strategy. The recent introduction of the IT strategy topic in IT service management has made a contribution to this area. Therefore the use of IT strategy management following a service perspective could be a straightforward alternative to deal with IT strategy in small/medium sized IT organizations of the public sector. However, the proposals of IT service management and IT strategy management are defined to be used for IT organisations in a mature stage, which is something demanding and ambitious for the organisations that are being studied. Therefore, this research proposes an approach to use IT strategy management concept with a service perspective in these types of organisations. This thesis presents the research work implemented in order to develop alternatives for analysing IT strategy management practices in small/medium sized public sector IT organisations. The results of this work are two artefacts: a method (AITSS method) and a maturity model. Both artefacts deal with the analysis of IT strategy management using two complementary approaches. The AITSS method proposes an operational-tactical-orientated alternative to address IT strategy management in the context of small/medium sized IT organisations. The maturity model proposes a more strategy orientated alternative for improving the organisational situation of public sector IT organizations. The maturity model can be used to have a perspective of IT strategy management and the assets and environmental factors related to it; the AITSS method can be used to assess more specific practices for IT strategy management at individual level. The method and maturity model were developed following a design science approach from a qualitative perspective, considering as the unit of analysis the IT organisations of the Nicaraguan municipal governments, which therefore were used to define the context considered in this research. The main contributions to this research are, from a practical perspective, the artefacts designed for its suitability in a context that has been disregarded in previous research, and from a theoretical perspective the contextual knowledge used to design the proposed method. As consequence of this study it was observed the relevance of the context for the harnessing of IT management frameworks which are generally assumed as generic solutions for any context, but in practice are challenged for it.
QC 20111212. Sponsored by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)

The study investigates knowledge management (KM) practices in the public sector in Botswana. The underlying premise is that good KM leads to efficiency and effectiveness. The study assesses the KM practices in the government departments by means of a questionnaire survey of senior managers. The assumption is that the corporate manager/directors will know what knowledge is there, how knowledge is created, shared and flow in the organization. The main question of this study is whether the Botswana public sector is practicing KM. The study explores the problem and questions by means of a questionnaire survey amongst 43 departmental directors of the Government of Botswana. The overall finding is that information management rather than KM is being practiced. The respondents, senior public service managers, certainly recognize the value of and the need for KM. But, they themselves identify certain weaknesses, such as lack of knowledge of KM among their staff, weak communication inside and across the departments, lack of policy and lack of good KM systems.

Facilities Management (FM) has become one of the fastest growing disciplines in the built environment. Factors such as information technology, expectations of employees, the cost of mistakes in building, the cost of building space and global competition have influenced the growth of the discipline. These factors have forced facilities management to move from the basement to the boardroom; from a hidden function entrusted to the sleepy, slow and steady to one performed by increasingly bright-eyed and dynamic facilities managers. The objectives of this research focus on the need for a transformation strategy for FM in the public sector. However, before any transformation is considered, it is essential to understand the perceptions and attitudes of people dealing with FM in this sector. The National Department of Public Works (NDPW) became the focus of the study because it has the largest property portfolio in the southern hemisphere. It should be the leader in FM. The collected primary data (being quantitative) and secondary information provided the necessary basis to understand the application of FM in the NDPW. The study revealed shortcomings which are contributing to the problems outlined: namely, that no senior manager has been appointed to manage the portfolio and assist top management in decision-making; that neither a policy nor a FM framework are in place to guide the FM portfolio; that there is a lack of knowledge about the discipline, particularly by management and that there is no computer-aided FM in the entire department, let alone a FM helpdesk. FM is the coordination of workplace, people, physical infrastructure, processes and technology in order for an organization to meet its objectives. It is a wide field encompassing models that tend to differ considerably from one organization to another as it has to respond to the particular needs of each organization. It recognizes that a workplace’s configuration can have either a positive or negative impact on productivity, depending on the competency of the FM structures in place.

This study takes an international perspective on the process of building e-Government programmes. It is intended to contribute to the research literature - management and policy studies, jor instance - dealing with e-Government. In addition, it is intended to have practical contributions; to help governments determine the approaches to e-Government implementation in the public sector that are most appropriate to them. In so doing, it also aims to highlight the complexities and challenges that such eGovernment initiatives should consider.

Email stress: what are its causes? how is it measured? can it be solved? The literature review revealed that, despite the term being well used and recognised, discussions surrounding the root cause of email stress had reached little consensus and the concept was not well understood. By its very nature, email stress theory had fallen victim to the academic debate between psychological vs. physiological interpretations of stress which, as a result of either choice, limited more progressive research. Likewise an array of email management strategies had been identified however, whilst some generated quick successes, they appeared to suffer longevity issues and were not maintained a few months after implementation in the workplace. The purpose of this research was to determine whether email communication causes employees psychological and physiological stress and investigate the impact of email management strategies in the workplace. A pragmatic philosophy placed the research problem as central and valued the differences between paradigms to promote a mixed-method approach to research. The decision to pair both case studies and action research methods ensured a framework for presenting results and an actionable solution was achieved. In direct response to the research aims an original email stress measuring methodology was devised that combined various data collection tools to measure and investigate email stress. This research design was applied and evaluated 'email free time' and email filing. Results of the study showed an increased stress response to occur during email use, i.e. caused employees' increased blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol and perceived stress, and a number of adverse effects such as managing staff via email, social detachment, blame and cover-your-back culture were identified. Findings revealed 'email free time' was not a desirable strategy to manage email stress and related stressors, whereas email filing was found more beneficial to workers well-being. Consolidation of the data gathered from the literature review and research findings were used to develop an initial conceptualisation of email stress in the form of two models, i.e. explanatory and action. A focus group was conducted to validate the proposed models and a further investigation at the ? was carried out to critique the use of an email training intervention. The results showed some improvements to employees' behaviour after the training, e.g. improved writing style, email checked on fewer occasions each day and fewer sufferers of email addiction. The initial models devised, alongside the latter findings, were synthesised to create a single integrative multidimensional model of email stress and management strategies. The model made an original contribution to knowledge in terms of theory, i.e. to conceptualise email stress, and practice, i.e. to offer practical solutions to the email worker.

This research was conducted with the intention of accomplishing effective property management (PM) in order for public sector properties in South Africa (SA) SA to fulfil more remarkably, public sector property stakeholders’ requirements. In particular, this study was concluded within a South African municipal environment with the specific purpose of alleviating South African municipalities from problems associated with overall poor operational performance, dissatisfied public sector property stakeholders, and inadequacies in competitiveness and global alignment. The primary objective of this study was to develop a performance model deemed necessary for the effective management of public sector properties in SA. This was achieved by developing a performance model for effective management of public sector properties, a model to systematically monitor, measure and control current expectations and changes within a public sector property management function. Herewith, performance model for effective management of public sector properties in South Africa. At the time of conducting this study, there was no conceptual model developed for performance management of public sector properties. In order to develop the performance model, the conceptual model identified key elements that included: 1) obsolescence and strategic factors; 2) global alignment; 3) finance and cost control; 4) PESTEL impact; 5) transformation and sustainability; 6) leadership and governance; and 7) monitoring, measurement and control as influences that directly impact a perceived successful management of public sector properties in SA. The study also took the form of a quantitative research project that included a formal survey of the identified population sample. The main statistical procedure employed was Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Originally, the study offered 24 hypotheses; however, only 11 hypotheses could be confirmed by SEM measurement. Therefore, through SEM, the significance of the relationships between variables could be tested. Appropriate quantitative data were collected from public and private South African Built Environment professionals, students and other academics. The research made use of snowball sampling through questionnaires, with a sample size of 171. It is anticipated that findings of this study will be acknowledged by public sector PM in an effort to resolve PM problems through the incorporation of pertinent recommendations. Likewise, since the performance model for effective management of public sector properties was not extant prior to this study, this research is cutting-edge and therefore pioneering to PM, especially within the public sector.

Property is an important factor in all businesses production in order to function. Nourse (1990) quoted ¡°some businesses are real estate, all businesses use real estate¡±. In recent years, the management of property assets has become the focus of many organisations, including the non-real estate businesses. Good asset management is concerned with the effective utilisation of a property owner.s assets. It is the management process of ensuring that the portfolio of properties held meets the overall requirements of the users. In short, it is the process of identifying the user.s requirement and the rationalisation of property holdings to match that requirement best, followed by a monitoring and ongoing review of practice. In Malaysia, federal agencies and local authorities are among the largest property asset owners. Recently the federal government has released a Total Asset Management Manual (TAMM). It is at the preliminary stage of implementation. This thesis will study the international practices of asset management of public sector assets and assess the effectiveness of TAMM. This research will focus on current international practices for the effective management of public sector property assets. The current application in Malaysia will be highlighted, to determine the awareness and understanding of the current practices to the recently released TAMM. This research is an exploratory research. The basis of this research relies on the combination of qualitative and quantitative approach, whereby the qualitative approach focuses on the international practices and its application to the management of public sector property assets. Questionnaires survey will be conducted among the Malaysian public property assets managers and users in the quantitative approach to gauge the collective opinion on the current practices of TAMM and its implementation

Senior leaders in state government public sector agencies must manage employee performance to ensure quality services to the citizens they serve. Limited academic research exists to study the barriers that these leaders acknowledge as deterrents to managing employee performance. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the reasons that public sector leaders at the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) were challenged to manage employee performance and explore the role of transformational leadership. The ODOT was selected for this research because two prior worker surveys conducted by the agency revealed that employee performance accountability was an issue of concern. Following the conceptual framework of transformational and full range leadership, the research question for this study examined the barriers that these leaders cited as deterrents to managing employee performance. Twelve leaders were interviewed using a 5-item, open-ended questionnaire. Data were analyzed using inductive coding techniques and examined against the full range leadership continuum. The results of the study revealed nine barriers that leaders cited as deterrents to managing employee performance. The most frequently occurring included subordinates' self-preservation interests, market pay disparity, employee low motivation levels, and ineffective leadership training. The study concluded the role of transformational leadership was minimal, as leaders identified mostly with transactional characteristics. These findings may assist public leaders to improve performance management outcomes and possibly increase the quality of services to citizens.

Innovations in the public services have become mandatory to provide more efficient and secured services to the citizens. In today'
s fast changing technological environment, the sustained management of innovation is the most vital executive task for the organizations. Identification of the technological innovation process is required in order to manage innovation in the public organizations. This thesis study aims to build a technological innovation model for public organizations in Turkey identifying technological innovation process, stakeholders of the process, sources of innovation, obstacles of innovation and driving forces of innovation. In this research study, strategically important organizations, including all ministries and the pioneer public organizations that perform technological innovation projects are analyzed. In the research study, case study is used as a research strategy and interviews are used as data collection methods. Using collected data
data sets are produced and presented in tables. Data analysis results enable to identify technological innovation process, stakeholders of the process, sources of innovation, barriers of innovation, and driving forces of innovation. Consequently, in accordance with the findings of the study, a new technological innovation model that may pave the way for technological innovation projects and enable successful management of innovation process is constructed. The proposed model lights the way of managers for their innovation projects by means of determining unclear innovation process and identifying the inputs and outputs of the process. Moreover, this study is a guide for managers in public organizations identifying possible obstacles and offering solutions, identifying driving forces to accelerate the innovation process, emphasizing the importance of interaction between the stakeholders.

One of the demographic changes in the workplace is the presence of multiple generations working together. Some managers may find leading a multigenerational workforce a challenge, because the generational cohorts may have different work values and approaches to work. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how generational characteristics manifest in the workplace, how managers perceive a multigenerational workforce, and whether macro-level descriptions of generations creates stereotypes or recognizable indicators of behavior in the workplace. Mannheim's theory of generations and diversity management theory provided the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected through interviews and a focus group discussion from 40 participants from the public sector. The participants consisted of members from the veterans, baby boomers, Gen Xers, and millennial cohorts. Summative content analysis was used to analyze data with the use of NVivo software, and member checking was used to enhance the trustworthiness of interpretations. The key themes from the analysis indicated that, among these 40 participants, intergenerational conflicts in the workplace were attributed to generational descriptors of work values, communication styles, productivity, work-life balance, leadership styles, organizational change, and the future of the public sector. The findings may enhance managers' understanding of generational perceptions and may help managers take steps to reduce intergenerational conflict in the workplace.

This study explored the factors that are critical to the success of public (government) sector knowledge management initiatives and the lessons from private sector knowledge management and organizational learning that apply in the public sector. The goal was to create a concise guide, based on research-validated success factors, to aid government organizations in establishing effective knowledge management initiatives to improve organizational learning. Academic and business literature provided 91 success factors in nine categories relating to social, organizational, managerial, and technological considerations. Determining which factors will have more bearing on success can be challenging for any organization, but possibly more so for public organizations, given that most guidance derives from the private sector. Many of the few government oriented studies targeted service to the public, but effective services depend on healthy processes and practices that capture, organize, share, maintain, apply, and--when complex, turbulent environments demand novel approaches--create new knowledge to enable desired outcomes. A review of knowledge management and organizational learning literature--most of which reflected private sector initiatives--provided a set of candidate success factors. A panel of knowledge management experts with public sector experience tested a draft survey instrument and provided suggestions for improving its questions and organization. Links to the amended survey instrument were provided in online and email solicitations targeting members of online professional communities dedicated to knowledge management and organizational learning, and who had experience with public sector knowledge management initiatives. Members of these communities participated, providing insights into the factors that most affected the success of their initiatives. After responding to the survey questions, 17 participants clarified and expanded on some of their responses during follow-on interviews. Analysis and conclusions based on survey and interview findings supplemented the literature review in providing content for the guide, which has been offered to participants.

In this dissertation a study was undertaken of the function of the public sector manager at the central level of government and of the role which the public manager plays in the human resources management. South Africa is a three-tier state, which consists of the central, provincial and local levels of government. The central government is the supreme body of government entrusted with the responsibility of making policies, rules and giving direction to the entire citizenry. The central government is manned by politicians from different political parties who have to decide on behalf of their electorates. It is a given fact and a reality that politicians alone cannot deliver the services to the communities. So public officials are appointed to implement the policies enacted by Parliament. Public managers have to interpret policies and give direction to the various structures of government. Among the activities of government, public managers have also to give direction as to the management of human resources in the public sector. This study investigated the function of the public manager at the central government with a reference to the management of human resources. This research was necessitated by the fact that since the new constitutional dispensation in South Africa, many changes have taken place most of which implied that the management of human resources in the public sector would have to reflect such changes. Public managers perform various functions, including generic administrative functions, auxiliary functions and functional activities. These functions are performed at senior management level. Furthermore, these functions performed by public managers will be viewed from the human resource management. Particular, attention is focused on the staffing in the public sector and how public managers can best perform their function in absorbing proper personnel in the public sector. AFRIKAANS : 'n Studie is onderneem om die funksie van die openbare sektor bestuurder op sentrale regeringsvlak te ondersoek asook die rol wat die openbare bestuurder speel in menslike hulpbronbestuur. Die verantwoordelikheid van die openbare sektor is om dienste te verskaf aan die landsburgers en om dit suksesvol te bereik meet die openbare sektor oor goed opgeleide personeel beskik. Ten einde personeel te kan bestuur behoort openbare bestuurders kennis te dra van die behoeftes, vrese en verwagtinge van die publiek. Een van die vernaamste funksies van die openbare bestuurder is om leiding te gee aan andere. Suid Afrika is 'n driedelige staat, wat bestaan uit die sentrale, provinsiale en plaaslike vlakke van regering. Die sentrale regering is die hoogste regeringsliggaam verantwoordelik vir beleidmaking, die daarsteling van reëls en om rigting te gee aan alle landsburgers. Die sentrale regering word gevorm deur politici van verskillende politieke partye wat namens hul ondersteuners besluite moet neem. Dit is 'n onomstootlike feit en werklikheid dat politici nie alleen die dienste aan die gemeenskap kan verskaf nie. Daarom word openbare amptenare aangestel om die beleid wat deur die Parlement aanvaar is, te implementeer. Openbare bestuurders moet beleid interpreteer en leiding gee binne die verskillende strukture van die regering. Die aktiwiteite van die regering bring mee dat openbare bestuurders leiding moet gee rakende die bestuur van menslike hulpbronne in die openbare sektor. Hierdie studie het die funksie van die openbare bestuurder in die sentrale regering ondersoek met verwysing na die bestuur van menslike hulpbronne. Die navorsing was genoodsaak deur die feit dat sedert die nuwe grondwetlike bedeling in Suid Afrika baie veranderinge plaasgevind het waarvan meeste impliseer dat die bestuur van menslike hulpbronne in die openbare sektor sodanige veranderinge sal reflekteer. Openbare bestuurders voer verskeie funksies uit insluitende generiese administratiewe funksies, hulpfunksies en funksionele aktiwiteite. Hierdie funksies word op senior bestuursvlak uitgevoer. Verder word hierdie funksies wat deur openbare bestuurders uitgevoer word beskou vanuit 'n menslike hulpbron oogpunt. Spesifieke aandag is gegee aan die personeel in die openbare sektor en hoe openbare bestuurders hulle funksies tot die beste van hul vermoë kan uitvoer deur bekwame personeel in diens te neem in die openbare sektor. Die studie toon aan dat daar tydens die transformasie van die Suid-Afrikaanse staatdiens politieke oorweging geskenk sal moet word aan die vervanging van wit persone met swartes, vrouens en gestremdes. In partypolitieke terme beteken dit geensins 'n balans tussen diegene wat die waardes van die ou orde aanhang en diegene wat die waardes van die nuwe orde bevorder nie. Die Grondwet van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika, 1996 volg 'n humanistiese benadering, wat beteken dat die armes, werkloses, verwaarloosde en wanhopige mense gehelp moet word wat in sigself nie 'n partypolitieke kwessie is nie. Verder toon internasionale onderving dat die radikale transformasie van grondwette dikwels vrees, onsekerheid en paniek onder inwoners veroorsaak. Hierdie gevoelens word dikwels op verskillende wyses deur verskillende gemeenskappe tot uiting gebring. S.A. is daarom geen uitsondering nie. Die vermoë van die staatsdiens om dienste te lewer sal nie net afhang van die politieke leierskap en bestuursvaardighede van die politieke ampsbekleders nie, maar ook van die professionalisme van staatsamptenare. Copyright
Dissertation (MAdmin)--University of Pretoria, 2012.
School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA)
Unrestricted

Inefficiency in the public sector as a result of leadership ineptitude is said to have contributed significantly to the underdevelopment of Nigeria. This has led to the mismanagement of human and financial resources as well as contributed extensively to poor service delivery to the citizens. The research considered the critical role of public sector administration to the functionality of a society, noting that the major determinant for public sector success is leadership effectiveness. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to identify how leadership ineffectiveness could be addressed in public sector administration in Nigeria and consider the implications of adopting a different approach to improve effectiveness. The study was partly informed by the dearth of literature on leadership in public sector administration, especially within the Nigerian context. The study was underpinned by leadership theories particularly strategic leadership. Research questions focused on existing leadership approaches and how it hindered/enhanced effective service delivery. The study utilized a case study of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and collected data through face-to-face interviews of 17 staff. Data was analyzed using content analysis and findings revealed the existence of pseudo leadership and blame avoidance behaviour which are detrimental to public sector efficiency. Recommendations are that strategic leadership, administrative accountability, patriotism and reframing be adopted to refine leadership attitude to work in TETFund and other public sector organizations. Application of findings will result in positive social change by providing adequate service delivery for the Nigerian populace thus improving their living standards and supporting economic growth.

Public Private Partnership (PPP) procurement has developed in many countries, as an effective way for governments to allay their financial burden and/or improve the efficiencies of public services. However, PPP has also experienced many ups and downs in its applications. As a collaborative venture between public and private sectors, the quality of the relationship between them has been shown to be a key contributor to the success of a PPP project. However, no study has, as yet, conceptualized and tested an integrative framework for modeling and addressing the relational aspect in PPP projects. This study aims to fill this gap. Moreover, the revamping of PPP in the above direction, would align with what is found to be a much larger trend, in moving from traditional management to relationship approaches in project management in general and on built infrastructure projects in particular. The general purpose of this study is to make an original contribution to relationship research in PPP, by addressing the importance of this intangible side of PPP, through developing a strategic relationship management framework for parties engaged in PPP projects. Having examined relational research in joint ventures, alliancing and inter-organisational collaboration, it is found that game theory, transaction cost analysis and relational contracting have a direct bearing on inter-organisational relationships in infrastructure projects. Consequently, they are adopted as the theoretical foundations for this research. This study first investigates the ‘hard side’ of PPP relationships, analyzing their variables based on semi-structured interviews with PPP experts. Further, the ‘soft side’ of PPP relationships, is found to be influenced mainly by inter-organisational trust and commitment. This is also investigated in this research by intensive literature review of inter-organisational relationships. A relational variables and indicators model for PPP projects is then developed. Quantitative research data was collected from two questionnaire surveys, targeting international experiences. The first survey was aimed to examine the intensifying and/or moderating effects of various relational variables. The second survey was designed to identify the Critical Success Factors of relationship management in PPP context. Qualitative research data was consolidated from a case study and follow-up structured interviews. Findings from surveys, case study and interviews were then triangulated to develop a strategic framework for better relationship management for infrastructure PPP projects. The findings from this research make a specific contribution to relationship management research; while the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ sides provide lenses for both PPP parties to examine their relationship with their respective partners. The proposed strategic framework consists of a Relationship Management Scheme and Guidelines to be implemented in different PPP phases, through addressing the sustainability of the relationship. It provides an initial scheme or base approach for project parties to manage the relationships proactively rather than reactively. Besides, this research also helps to identify relevant relational components that can be incorporated or directly used in criteria for pre-tender selection. Such screening and special attention to these critical components can also help to develop more sustainable relationships and attain better value for money through PPP procurement in practice.
published_or_final_version
Civil Engineering
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy

This exploratory, sequential, mixed methods study examined the conditions and approaches of public sector leaders who cultivate committed, productive public sector Millennial employees and determine the extent to which these conditions reflect leadership agility. Leadership agility is the ability to lead effectively in times of rapid change, uncertainty, and mounting complexity and when success requires consideration of multiple views and priorities. A total of 81 leaders and Millennials from across three levels of government were involved in the study. Phase 1 consisted of an online questionnaire of leaders who manage Millennial direct reports and Millennials in the public sector to measure managers’ leadership actions and their effect on Millennial subordinates’ organizational commitment and productivity. Phase 2 involved a focus group of managers and a focus group of Millennials to discuss and interpret the survey results. Study findings indicated that the public sector leaders who participated in this study regularly demonstrated the 18 leadership behaviors measured, although both leaders and Millennials wanted leaders to practice these behaviors more frequently. All 18 behaviors were believed to enhance Millennials’ organizational commitment and productivity. Participants reported they would like public sector leaders to increase their expert leadership by becoming highly competent. Additionally, participants reported that agile leadership behaviors have a significant impact on Millennials’ organizational commitment and productivity. These findings suggest that public sector leaders should develop their abilities to demonstrate expert, achiever, catalyst, and co-creator leadership and organizations should define performance standards that correspond to these traits. Additionally, leaders are advised to strengthen their leadership competence and better communicate their vision and be consistent in carrying and pointing out how the organization is meeting its goals. Regarding their direct interactions with Millennials, leaders need to (a) ensure they are readily and regularly accessible to their Millennial direct reports and (b) cultivate their willingness and tactics for welcoming their staff members’ personal and professional aspects.

This thesis considers the question of organisational development in Iraq and the role that senior public managers in the public sector of the economy in that country may have in the process. The argument begins with a consideration of the history of the country with special reference to the factors contributing to political instability, economic backwardness and the emergence of state planning of the economy. An understanding of the role of management in public sector organisations and the importance of organisation itself is developed through a consideration of scholarly work concerned with development and the character of organisation. This part of the thesis, which is primarily concerned with theoretical issues, culminates in a critique of contingency theory both as it has been developed by theorists and ex-patriate Arab scholars studying various middle-eastern countries. The conclusion of this consideration of contingency theory is the suggestion that, suitably amended, it can be used as the basis for research into organisational development in countries such as Iraq. In essence the amendments necessary are: to alter the concept of the environment so that it can take into account that in planned economies the most important influence on public sector organisations are the institutions of the state; and to adopt a more adequate definition of the culture and its impact on organisational forms. In the last part of the thesis the findings from an empirical survey of Senior managers in the Iraqi public sector are reported. As a result of this survey a good deal of information concerning the characteristics of Iraqi managers is discussed. The survey covers both factual details of the characteristics of Iraqi managers and also detailed information concerning their attitudes. On both these subjects there has been a negligible quantity of information available hitherto. In a final chapter which considers the survey results, an attempt is made to assess the extent to which subsamples of managers have different values and dispositionsand so might be thought more or less likely to bring about development through the active pursuit of policies designed to induce organisational change. In this way the empirical survey is directly related to the earlier historical and theoretical sections of the thesis

Asset optimisation strategy in the public sector is essential in the improvement of public service delivery. It assists by resolving problems in asset management, such as a large number of unregistered and underutilised land and buildings, high costs of operation and maintenance, as well as lack of control in the improvement of asset performance. This research aims to develop a robust strategy for asset optimisation by utilising the balanced scorecard as a strategy tool. It examines key elements and alternatives of asset optimisation of public land and building. As a comprehensive approach, this thesis distilled practical aspects of asset management from certain countries and applied mixed method to evaluate not just explore the elements but also determination of prioritisation using Analytic Hierarchy Process. The framework of asset optimisation is validated and tested in the Directorate General of State Asset and Management as a model of public asset manager in Indonesia.

Le secteur public joue un rôle important dans la société. Dans la plupart des pays en développement, les dépenses publiques constituent une partie importante du PIB et les entités du secteur public sont les principaux pourvoyeurs d’emploi et les principaux acteurs du marché des capitaux. Le secteur public détermine, généralement par le biais d'un processus politique, ses objectifs économiques et sociaux ainsi que les différents types d'intervention à mettre en place pour les atteindre. Comment le secteur public atteint ses objectifs constitue une question cruciale étant donné que sa taille et son importance économique en font un moteur principal de la croissance et du bien-être social. Ses performances sont jugées à travers la qualité et la nature de sa gestion des finances publiques, les infrastructures qu'il finance ainsi que la qualité de sa régulation des activités économiques. La manière dont les activités du secteur public délivrent les résultats attendus est ainsi une variable clé du développement; pourtant les études empiriques pour comprendre ce qui fonctionne dans le secteur public et pourquoi restent remarquablement limitées. Deux principales raisons expliquent cette situation: les performances dans ce secteur sont difficiles à analyser car les outputs des divers services qu’il fournit sont difficiles à mesurer et même à définir, et le manque de données quantitatives et qualitatives rend difficile une analyse économétrique rigoureuse.Dès lors, l’objectif de cette thèse est de documenter cette littérature et de proposer différentes méthodes empiriques pour évaluer les performances du secteur public dans les pays en développement. Notre analyse est organisée comme suit: la Première Partie - Chapitres 1 et 2 - présente deux essais sur l’évaluation des performances du secteur public “en amont” tandis que la Seconde Partie - Chapitres 3 et 4 - présente deux essais sur l’évaluation des performances du secteur public “en aval” Le Chapitre 1 fait usage de la technique de Blinder-Oaxaca pour examiner comment la qualité des institutions budgétaires affecte les performances budgétaires – déficit budgétaire et dette publique - en Afrique sub-Saharienne. Dans le Chapitre 2, nous utilisons une approche par le Synthetic Control pour étudier l'impact des Offices de Recettes sur la mobilisation des ressources publiques dans une vingtaine de pays en développement. Le Chapitre 3 présente un Benchmarking systématique des performances infrastructurelles de l'Afrique dans les secteurs de l'électricité, de l'eau et de l’assainissement, des technologies de l'information et de la communication, et des transports. Enfin nous évaluons, dans le Chapitre 4, les effets de la mise en place d'une Autorité Indépendante de Régulation sur les performances du secteur de l'électricité dans les pays en développement
The public sector plays a major role in society. In most developing countries, public expenditure represents a significant part of gross domestic product (GDP) and public sector entities are substantial employers and major capital market participants. The public sector determines, usually through a political process, the outcomes it wants to achieve and the different types of intervention. How the public sector achieves results matters as its size and economic significance make it a major contributor to growth and social welfare. Its achievements emerge in the quality and nature of its financial management, the infrastructure it finances and the quality of its social and economic regulation. How well those public sector activities deliver their expected outcomes is a key development variable; yet explicit evidence base for understanding what works and why in the public sector remains strikingly limited compared with other policy areas. There are two main reasons for this situation: the performance in these areas is difficult to analyze because the outputs of many such services are hard to measure or even to define, and the lack of quantitative and qualitative longitudinal data precludes rigorous econometric analysis.Therefore the objective of this thesis is to document this literature and to propose different ways of measuring public sector performance in developing countries. The dissertation is divided into two Parts: the first Part – Chapters 1 and 2 – presents two essays on “upstream” public sector performance while the second Part – Chapters 3 and 4 – presents two essays on “downstream” public sector performance. The Chapter 1 makes use of the Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition to examine how the quality of budget institutions affects fiscal performance – Primary Balance and Public Debt – in sub-Saharan Africa. In Chapter 2 we use a Synthetic Control Approach to investigate the impact of Semi-Autonomous Revenue Authorities (SARAs) on revenue mobilization in twenty developing countries. The chapter 3 provides a first systematic Benchmarking of Africa’s infrastructure performance on four major sectors: electricity, water and sanitation, information and communication technologies, and transportation. Finally we evaluate the effects of the establishment of an Independent Regulatory Authority (IRA) on electricity sector performance in developing countries in Chapter 4

This thesis examines the Governance, Management and Administration of Governments' property assets. By examining the developments in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA), this thesis demonstrates why and how an integrated and strategic approach to the management of these assets is an important and crucial element of public administration. The thesis examines the concepts and theory behind the property management discipline and shows that it is as much of an art than a science, with its practice being extensively influenced by context and human behaviour. This data and information is used to develop a hypothesis for a ‘leading’ practice model for the management of government property. Innovations in property management policy and practice introduced by the UK and USA governments since the early 2000s to improve property asset efficiency and effectiveness are being touted as world’s ‘leading’ practice, as is their development of performance ‘measuring instruments’. This assumption that a world’s ‘leading’ practice exists is tested through case studies into the UK and USA governments. Determining the position of the Australian public sector’s asset management capacity and capability against this standard is tested by applying the ‘National Assessment Framework’s Asset Management Maturity Assessment Model’ to a number of Australian public sector government jurisdictions. These measurements are analysed, and compared to an understanding of performance derived from a qualitative analysis of information and data obtained from the literature review, case studies, and the author’s professional experience. Studies are conducted into the Australian public sector to identify gaps between the existing status of the management of property and the ‘leading’ practice model. These gaps are analysed and the barriers to such a practice identified. The thesis develops an understanding of any organisational behavioural issues that influence asset management policy, governance, and capacity to undertake and respond to change. Until the early part of the last decade, governments across the world had typically not understood the importance of real property to the provision of public services and to government financial sustainability. Beyond a number of papers and edited publications describing the experiences of individual jurisdictions, there is a lack of detailed and evidence-based research into the strategic management of government property assets. Little research exists for the Australian public sector. This thesis is intended to provide a platform for the research continuum in an area where little formal study has been undertaken. The significance of this thesis is that it provides a knowledge base for the Australian public sector to improve the management of its property assets (and other asset classes), which have an estimated value of some $325 billion.

Aquesta dissertació s’ha abordat i emmarcat per tenir en compte la perspectiva del rendiment de l’administració pública i presenta els resultats de les meves investigacions sobre qüestions relacionades amb l’AT des de diferents dimensions, en diversos països i durant molts anys. Cobreix tres capítols corresponents a tres articles empírics. El primer capítol tracta de mesurar el rendiment de l’AT a 44 països (32 països de l’OCDE i 12 països que no pertanyen a l’OCDE), tot considerant la presència de variables contextuals. Utilitzant els estimadors de frontera desenvolupats i avançats recentment, com ara l’enfocament StoNED semi-no paramètric (embolcall de dades no paramètric estocàstic) de Johnson i Kuosmanen (2011, 2012) i l’enfocament d’ordre condicional m (Daraio i Simar, 2005, 2007), l’estudi es va dur a terme amb dades comparatives, extretes de la base de dades recent sobre TA, la base de dades TA de l’OCDE, versions 2013, 2015 i 2017 durant dos períodes entre 2008-2011 i 2012-2015. El segon capítol observa la competitivitat fiscal en la seva dimensió de complexitat fiscal, abastant 88 països en períodes temporals (2005-2016) i utilitzant el mètode fronterer no paramètric de dades del panell, és a dir, el model d’anàlisi d’embolcall de dades sense sortida explícita (d’ara endavant, dades del panell DEA-WEO ). Es va dur a terme una visió exhaustiva de la simplificació fiscal mesurant l’eficiència tant de l’anàlisi contemporània com a la llarga (Surroca et al., 2016; Pérez-López et al., 2018), que permet produir un rànquing (Toloo i Kresta, 2014), i examinar el canvi de productivitat d’aquests sistemes tributaris amb l’índex de Malmquist (Karagiannis i Lovell, 2016). Per continuar, el tercer capítol, que adopta un enfocament institucional, aborda els determinants de la complexitat tributària posant l’accent en l’impacte de la qualitat de l’entorn institucional, emprant l’estimador del mètode generalitzat de moments (sistema-GMM) del sistema de panells (Arellano i Bover, 1995; Blundell i Bond, 1998). Prenent una combinació de mètodes alternatius (incloent paramètrics i no paramètrics), tècniques innovadores i múltiples especificacions, aquesta dissertació contribueix generalment a la literatura de l’administració pública com el primer estudi empíric quantitatiu i un dels pocs projectes que aborden l’AT a nivell nacional múltiples disciplines, és a dir, gestió del sector públic, fiscalitat i anàlisi d’eficiència. És el primer intent en el camp per destacar (i) l’avaluació del rendiment de l’AT, adquirida simultàniament a partir de les opinions tant del cost administratiu com del nivell d’aplicació per a l’AT òptima, tal com es troba a Keen i Slemrod (2017), (ii) l’aplicació de la mesura del rendiment fiscal amb mètode fronterer no paramètric en el context de la producció implícita, i (iii) la investigació de determinacions institucionals de complexitat fiscal, posant èmfasi en la llibertat econòmica i de governança amb una combinació de mètodes paramètrics i no paramètrics.
Esta disertación se ha abordado y enmarcado para tener en cuenta la perspectiva del desempeño de la administración pública, y presenta los resultados de mis investigaciones sobre cuestiones relacionadas con la asistencia técnica desde diferentes dimensiones, en varios países y durante muchos años. Cubre tres capítulos correspondientes a tres artículos empíricos. El primer capítulo busca medir el desempeño de la AT en 44 países (32 países de la OCDE y 12 países no OCDE), considerando la presencia de variables contextuales. Utilizando los estimadores de frontera avanzados y desarrollados recientemente, como el enfoque semiparamétrico StoNED (Stochastic Nonparametric Envelopment of Data) de Johnson y Kuosmanen (2011, 2012) y el enfoque de orden condicional-m (Daraio y Simar, 2005, 2007), El estudio se realizó con datos comparativos, extraídos de la base de datos reciente sobre AT, la base de datos de AT de la OCDE, versiones 2013, 2015 y 2017 para dos períodos entre 2008-2011 y 2012-2015. El segundo capítulo observa la competitividad tributaria en su dimensión de complejidad tributaria, al cubrir 88 países en un período de tiempo (2005-2016) y utilizando el método de frontera no paramétrica de datos de panel, es decir, el modelo de análisis envolvente de datos sin salida explícita (en adelante, datos de panel DEA-WEO ). Se realizó una mirada exhaustiva sobre la simplificación tributaria midiendo la eficiencia tanto en análisis contemporáneos como de largo plazo (Surroca et al., 2016; Pérez-López et al., 2018), lo que permite producir un ranking (Toloo y Kresta, 2014), y examinar el cambio de productividad de estos sistemas tributarios con el índice de Malmquist (Karagiannis y Lovell, 2016). Para continuar, el tercer capítulo, con un enfoque institucional, aborda los determinantes de la complejidad tributaria haciendo hincapié en el impacto de la calidad del entorno institucional, empleando el estimador del método generalizado de momentos del sistema de panel (system-GMM) (Arellano y Bover, 1995; Blundell y Bond, 1998). Tomando una combinación de métodos alternativos (incluidos paramétricos y no paramétricos), técnicas innovadoras y múltiples especificaciones, esta disertación generalmente contribuye a la literatura de administración pública como el primer estudio empírico cuantitativo y uno de los pocos proyectos que abordan la AT a nivel internacional desde múltiples disciplinas, es decir, gestión del sector público, fiscalidad y análisis de la eficiencia. Es el primer intento en el campo de resaltar (i) la evaluación del desempeño de la AT, adquirida simultáneamente de las opiniones tanto del costo administrativo como del nivel de ejecución para una AT óptima, como se encuentra en Keen y Slemrod (2017), (ii) la aplicación de la medida del desempeño tributario con el método de frontera no paramétrico en el contexto del producto implícito, y (iii) la investigación de las determinaciones institucionales de la complejidad tributaria, enfatizando la gobernabilidad y la libertad económica con una combinación de métodos paramétricos y no paramétricos.
This Dissertation has been approached and framed to account for public administration performance perspective, and presents the results of my investigations into Tax administration (TA)-related issues from different dimensions, across multiple countries and many years. It covers three chapters corresponding to three empirical papers. The first chapter seeks to measure the performance of TA across 44 countries (32 OECD and 12 non-OECD countries), while considering the presence of contextual variables. Using the recently developed and advanced frontier estimators, such as the semi-nonparametric StoNED (Stochastic Nonparametric Envelopment of Data) approach by Johnson and Kuosmanen (2011, 2012) and the conditional order-m (Daraio and Simar, 2005, 2007) approach, the study was conducted with comparative data, extracted from the recent database on TA, the OECD TA database, versions 2013, 2015 and 2017 for two periods between 2008-2011 and 2012-2015. The second chapter observes the tax competitiveness in its tax complexity dimension, by covering 88 countries over timespan (2005-2016) and using the panel data nonparametric frontier method, i.e. the data envelopment analysis model without explicit output (hereafter, panel data DEA-WEO). A thorough view on tax simplification was conducted by measuring the efficiency both contemporaneous and long-run analysis (Surroca et al., 2016; Pérez-López et al., 2018), which allows producing a ranking (Toloo and Kresta, 2014), and examining the productivity change of these tax systems with Malmquist index (Karagiannis and Lovell, 2016). To be continued, the third chapter, taking an institutional approach, addresses the determinants of tax complexity stressing the impact of institutional environment quality, employing the panel system generalised method of moments (system-GMM) estimator (Arellano and Bover, 1995; Blundell and Bond, 1998). Taking a combination of alternative (including parametric and nonparametric) methods, innovative techniques and multiple specifications, this Dissertation generally contributes to public administration literature as the first quantitative empirical study and one among only a few projects that address TA at a cross-country level from multiple disciplines, i.e. public sector management, taxation, and efficiency analysis. It is the first attempt in the field to highlight (i) the performance evaluation of TA, acquired simultaneously from the views of both administrative cost and enforcement level for optimal TA, as found in Keen and Slemrod (2017), (ii) the application of tax performance measure with nonparametric frontier method in the context of implicit output, and (iii) the investigation of institutional determinations of tax complexity, emphasising the governance and economic freedom with a combination of parametric and nonparametric methods.

Business processes are part of every organization, in more orless structured ways. They serve as a documentation of howwork should be performed. Business Process Management (BPM) is a set of methods and technologies to support the modeling, execution, administration, and analysis of businessprocesses. BPM aims to bridge the gap between strategy and operations in an organization. Inefficient manualprocesses in this gap introduce problems with consistency,traceability and agility. This degree project investigates the suitability of open source Business Process Management Systems (BPMSs) for handling processes in governmentagencies to address these issues. The Swedish Export Credits Guarantee Board’s (EKN’s) application process for export guarantee offers is used as case. Interviews were conducted and a proof of concept using open source BPM for EKN’s application process was implemented, which together with the literature review are analyzed to find keyfactors indicating a process’ successful execution in a processengine. The key factors found are that the process should be delimited, repetitive, not running for too long,and be predictable with regard to every possible outcome.
Alla organisationer har processer, i mer eller mindre strukturerade former. Processer fungerar som en dokumentation över hur arbete ska genomföras. Business Process Management(BPM) är en uppsättning metoder och tekniker för att stödja modellering, exekvering, administrering och analys av processer. BPM är ett sätt att försöka minska klyftan mellan organisationen och verksamheten i en organisation. Ineffektiva manuella processer däremellan skapar problem med hur konsekvent, spårbart och flexibelt arbetet blir. Detta examensarbete undersöker lämplighets-graden av open source Business Process Management System(BPMS) för handläggningsprocesser inom myndigheter för att hantera dessa problem. Exportkreditnämndens (EKN:s)ansökningsprocess för exportgaranti-offerter används som exempel. Intervjuer genomfördes och en proof of concept av open source BPM för EKN:s ansökningsprocess implementerades,vilket tillsammans med litteratur-studien analyseras för att hitta viktiga faktorer för en process som indikerar framgångsrik exekvering i en processmotor. De faktorer som hittats är att processen ska vara avgränsad och repetitiv, samt att processen inte får pågå under för lång tid och är känd avseende alla möjliga utfall.

Two of the most important issues concerning public sector organisations (PSO) all over the world today is the need to reduce their operating cost whilst at the same time they are required to improve their services. Most countries of the world are looking at quality management, competition and performance measurement as elements that they could explore to achieve the objective of reducing cost and increasing public satisfaction with the services offered. The local authority in Britain is one of the most heavily targeted public sector organisations to be subjected to competition. Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) was introduced by law to ensure local authorities embrace competition. In response to this regulation, the majority of the local authorities adopted a quality management system in order to cope with competition. Associated with the quality initiatives and competition is the legal requirement for local government in Britain to publish in the local newspapers their performance on a set of indicators determined by the central government. The aim of this research was to explore and describe the link between quality management and performance in a PSO . A case study investigating two departments consisting of engineers, surveyors and architects at Salford City Council, Manchester was conducted to determine the effect of quality management system (QMS) and competition and the nature of performance measurement undertaken in a P SO. The research findings indicate that there was no structured system that monitors performance of the organisation. The research also highlights that the performance of a city council in general was determined by a simple set of indicators. It was also found that the implementations of QMS in a PSO needs to incorporate features that can detect how well the departments are improving due to practising the system.

Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Knowledge Management (KM) have been adopted by the public sector institutions of the developed countries for a while and the rewards that of are said to be immense. For a new democracy and a developing country like South Africa, the benefits of KM in the public sector cannot be over emphasized. Among, other things, it is believed that KM can help speed up service delivery which is a top priority for the South African public sector at the moment. However, one wonders if the South African public sector is giving KM the kind of attention it deserves and if so, are there any noticeable rewards? The following study is a survey report on KM practices in the South African Public sector, specifically, National departments. It is believed that the results of this study will help identify best practices to be shared and deviations and gaps to be corrected. The study is made up of the following Chapters and topics: Chapter 1: Which cover a short history of KM in the Public Service The chapter also discusses the problem statements, objectives of the study and limitations. Chapter 2: Research Methodology The population and sample in this study are discussed. The methods used to collect data is also outlined and discussed. Chapter 3: Knowledge Management: Challenges, solutions and Technologies. This chapter is based on the book and model by Beccerra –Fernandez et al. and it discusses the three parts of the book , namely, Principles of KM, Technologies of KM, KM Systems and the epilogue which deals with the future of KM. The views of other authors in relation to the book and model are also outlined and discussed in this chapter. Chapter 4: Presentation and Discussion of results: The results of data collected in chapter 3 above are presented and discussed. Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations The conclusion of this study based on the data collected using tools and methods outlined and discussed in Chapter 2 & Chapter 3 and presented in Chapter 4 above is then drawn. The conclusion and recommendations seek to answer research questions that were posed in Chapter 1 of this study.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Kennisbestuur (KM) word reeds geruime tyd toegepas in die openbare sektore van ontwikkelde lande en dit word berig dat die resultaat duidelik speurbaar is. Vir 'n nuwe demokrasie en 'n ontwikkelende land soos Suid-Afrika kan die voordele van KM in die openbare sektor nie oorskat word nie. Onder meer word geglo dat KM kan bydra tot die verbetering van dienslewering wat op die oomblik die belangrikste prioriteit is vir die openbare sektor. Nogtans moet 'n mens wonder of KM die aandag ontvang wat dit verdien, en of daar opmerklike resultate is. Hierdie studie is in wese 'n rapport van 'n opname van KM praktyke in die Suid-Afrikaanse openbare sektor, in besonder van nasionale departemente. Daar word gehoop dat die resultate van die studie sal bydra tot die identifisering van beste praktyke wat met ander gedeel kan word, en om afwykinge en gapings te identifiseer vir korreksie. Die studie is ingedeel in die volgende hoofstukke: Hoofstuk 1 – 'n kort geskiedenis van KM in die openbare sektor. Die probleemstelling word ook bespreek Hoofstuk 2: Navorsingsmetodologie Hoofstuk 3: Knowledge Management: Challenges, Solutions and Technologies. Hierdie hoofstuk is gebaseer op die boek en model van Becerra-Fernandez et al. En dit bespreek die drie afdelings van die boek, naamlik: Principles of KM, Technologies of KM, KM Systems, asook die epiloog waarin die toekoms van KM behandel word. Beskouings van ander outeurs ten opsigte van die boek en model word bygevoeg. Hoofstuk 4: Aanbieding en Bespreking van resultate Hoofstuk 5: Konklusie en Voorstelle In die konklusie word antwoorde geformuleer op die pertinente vrae wat in hoofstuk 1 gestel is.

Section 217 of the Constitution1 states that, when organ of state within the national, provincial and local sphere contracts for goods or services, must do so in accordance with a system which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost effective. A number of legislations were enacted to deal with supply chain management processes within the public sector which legislations and regulations are often contradictory and confusing with no clear legal status. Organs of state are required to issue out an invitation to tender which is not open for acceptance by the highest bidder, but an invitation to potential bidders to make an offer that will be considered after the closing date for the particular tender. For the offer and acceptance to be valid and enforceable must comply with certain requirements. Once the offer is accepted, a contract which reflects the consensus reached between the parties, is formed. Once entered into, contracts are there not to be breached but entered into with the intention of having some benefit. However when parties breach the contract or when same is terminated and loss is suffered, parties may take a better look at the terms and conditions of their agreement. It is at that time that the parties may say their intention prior to signing the agreement is not correctly represented in the agreement and as such parties wish to state that the contract does not truly reflect their intention.2 It is at this point that process of interpretation becomes critical. It is the duty of the drafter to ensure that such invitation to do business is carefully drafted and has fully captured all the elements of the envisaged contract and excluded all elements of ambiguity which might create problems during the interpretation stage. In this document I intend to indicate the legislative framework governing supply chain management processes within the public sector and challenges encountered in the implementation of such legislations, the impact created by the lack of knowledge and skills by the persons entrusted with the duty to implement the legislations and non-compliance with policies and regulations relating to process. It is argued in this document that our law should be developed to fully recognize a bidding process as another form of contract creating rights and obligations and be interpreted in the same was as any other contract to eliminate most of the challenges in dealing with a bidding process. The further challenges created by the implementation of the myriad of legislations and policies regulating the public sector supply chain process be minimized by the enactment of a comprehensive integrated ‘one stop’ public procurement code.
Mini Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Private Law
LLM
Unrestricted

The purpose of this research is to explore the scope and understanding of facility management (FM) in the public sector, and specifically at military unit level, and compare it to a normative model. The principles of applied research are used in a single exploratory and instrumental case study with a mixed-method approach of data gathering. The literature review studied secondary data to create context, and open-ended and closed-ended questions in a questionnaire produced primary data on the actual scope and understanding of FM. A sequential mixed research approach was used to discuss the five research propositions. The research found that FM policies do not extend to military unit level. Furthermore, that FM practitioners have some understanding and competencies but there is no consistency in and between units, and therefore, support is needed in some. Support is required in the form of training/education, career development, budgets and structures as identified by FM practitioners. The Department of Defence (DOD) needs to define and communicate FM; structure FM down to unit level; staff structures; train, educate, and promote FM practitioners as FM professionals; and fund FM activities. FM practitioners need to be informed and skilled, they should build networks, and be cost conscious. This research is limited by studying FM at only a few military units on the West Coast of South Africa, which limits statistical inference and the establishment of FM within the whole of the DOD. Although FM research has been done within the South African public sector, and the DOD has made contributions, no previous research has focussed on FM at military unit level. The value of this research is a consolidated and focussed effort towards FM, which ultimately contributes to state security and the cost thereof. Future research should find the optimal structure, staffing and competencies for FM in military units.

Performance management systems have traditionally been developed by organisations to help ensure that organisational goals and targets are met. However, performance management systems appear to promise more than they deliver. The complex nature of the performance system is in part due to the various components within the intended and actual performance management sub-systems (functioning as individual systems) that run within the overarching performance management system. Many organisations experience deviations from the intended system, where performance management has been perceived to be ironically underperforming and not meeting senior management’s expectations. Notably, the implementation of performance management is the responsibility of managers; more importantly, a key part of a frontline manager’s role is ensuring that frontline employees, who make up the majority of the organisation, are performing to meeting organisational goals. It is therefore important to understand how the overarching performance management system in an organisation (with its various sub-systems that have multiple components, and processes) is managed by frontline managers and how the behaviours of all managers influence the implementation of performance management. However, existing research has shown a lack of focus on the role of frontline managers in the implementation of performance management systems, despite plenty of research on the separate topics of frontline managers and performance management. This is surprising, given that frontline managers are responsible for overseeing most of the organisation’s day-to-day operations. Moreover, little is known about how frontline managers connect the intended performance management system, through components and processes developed by the human resources department and higher levels of management, with their employees’ performance. Frontline managers find ways outside the formal system to bridge the gap between intended and actual performance management systems in organisations. Despite being commonly termed ‘performance management systems’, performance management has not been studied using a systems theory lens – instead of the interaction between sub-systems that have various components and processes within a performance management system, performance management tends to be studied through its individual components and processes. As such, there is a lack of understanding regarding the interaction between formal and informal performance management systems. This thesis addresses these issues by using systems theory to illustrate the complex and dynamic nature of performance management in practice. The focus is on the perspective of frontline managers as the key actor in performance management in the context of the expectations and actions of other actors in the system. In doing so, this thesis examines the implementation process of the intended performance management system. The actual performance management system, as experienced by frontline employees, is the result of their respective frontline manager’s discretionary behaviour when implementing the intended system. An inductive case study approach is utilised in this thesis using qualitative data collected from two public sector organisations in Singapore. Although from two different sectors, PublicWorks and AdminInc (both are pseudonyms) share similarities in their performance management systems. Within each organisation, data were collected from at least two different departments and across the different levels of employees. At PublicWorks, the data were collected from three different departments and the HR department; at AdminInc, the data were collected from two different departments. This research design enabled the cross-case analysis of data, both within and between the organisations. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and documentation. In total, 57 interviews were conducted across different levels of management (senior, middle, and frontline management), the HR department, and frontline employees. A key finding of this research is that frontline managers often sought to maintain agency in the process using their discretion to balance meeting the demands and expectations of those both above and below them. Within the actual performance management systems, frontline managers were concurrently using the formal performance management system and informal performance management system to show their conformity with the intended performance management system and also to effectively manage the performance of their employees. They implemented the intended performance management system using minimalist compliance through the formal performance management system. The frontline managers’ apparent compliance with the intended system were through the implementation of the compulsory components through the formal performance management system aimed to keep higher levels of management and the HR department satisfied that they were executing their responsibilities. However, the design of the intended PM system did not allow for the frontline managers to appropriately manage the expectations of their employees. As such, their actions were not ad hoc, but were in effect set up using the developed, parallel informal performance management system with its own rules and internal consistency to manage the expectations of their frontline employees. A key feature of their actions was to maintain flexibility to manage their work units through their use of the formal and informal performance management systems. This study provides a more nuanced picture of frontline managers in action, implementing performance management to comply with organisational requirements and also ensuring they maintain flexibility in how they operate to meet operational goals and keep their staff on board and favouring informal styles of management wherever possible.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Dept Empl Rel & Human Resource
Griffith Business School
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Public sector organizations have practiced strategic management for more than 30 years. Strategic management in the public sector is subjected to political influence, as resources and major decisions are typically managed by elected and appointed officials. The purpose of this descriptive phenomenological study was to identify and report the lived experiences of public sector employees who have been subjected to political influence while engaged in the strategic management of their organizations in the State of Maryland. The study's conceptual framework was based on stakeholder theory and economic theory of the firm. A purposeful sample of 15 Maryland State Government employees shared their experiences through semi structured in-person interviews. Data were collected and transcribed using the Rev.com mobile application and was loaded into Dedoose software for analysis. Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological method was employed for data analysis. The findings revealed the lived experiences of the participants with results in 5 thematic areas: leadership tenue, managing for results, strategic management resources, influence, and political skills. The findings further revealed that legislation that required strategic planning and performance management in Maryland's government has influenced its public sector employees to think strategically. Application of the findings of this study through positive political influences may align careerist actions as they prepare for the future needs of their organizations.

How do public organizations manage crises? How do public organizations learnfrom crises? These seemingly basic questions still pose virtual puzzles for crisismanagement researchers. Yet, the interest of the academic and practitionerrealms in crisis management has grown in recent years. In this doctoral dissertationEdward Deverell sheds light on the problems regarding the lack ofknowledge on how public organizations manage and learn from crises, with anumber of critical knowledge gaps in contemporary crisis management as thestarting point.   In the last few decades the interest in crisis management as a scholarly fieldhas grown. This developing field is composed of an increasing number of looselyconnected social science scholars concerned with issues of extraordinary events,their repercussions and the way in which they are managed by authorities,organizations, policy makers and other key actors. However, there are severallacunae to be dealt with in the emerging field of crisis management research.This dissertation sets the spotlight on four of these limitations of the crisis managementliterature to date.   First, influential scholars within the field call for increased structuration andfeasible models to help us understand and explain various important factorsinfluencing the crisis management process. In this dissertation I try to bridgethis gap by developing theory on crisis response and learning. Crisis responsesignifies organized activities undertaken by a stakeholder when a community ofpeople – an organization, a town, or a nation – perceives an urgent threat to corevalues which must be dealt with under conditions of uncertainty. Crisis-inducedlearning refers to purposeful efforts, triggered by a crisis event and carried out bymembers of an organization working within a community of inquiry, that leadto new understanding and behavior on the basis of that understanding.   Second, organizations play a key role in crisis management. Surprisinglyenough, however, crisis management research have only occasionally built theoryon how organizations respond to crisis. So far, the literature tells us moreabout crises as events than on how these events are actually managed. One reasonis the focus within crisis management research on highly unusual, big catastrophicevents and industrial accidents. Therefore, this dissertation explorescrisis episodes that affect specific organizations rather than entire communitiesor national governments. In addition, the dissertation brings together debateson crisis management and crisis-induced learning from a public managementand organizational perspective.   Third, crisis management researchers have to date dealt mostly with acutecrisis response and issues of preparedness, while the issues of crisis aftermathsand crisis-induced learning are still relatively unknown. However, althoughthis study recognizes the importance of crisis planning and sense-making, thisshould not lead to a relative neglect of the issue of learning from crisis. Crisisinducedlearning is important as crises are rare events with huge repercussions.Thus crises are opportunities to draw lessons in order to improve future managementand crisis response, and to mitigate the risk of future crises.   Fourth, the relatively few studies that have dealt with crisis-induced learninghave focused on learning after the crisis (intercrisis learning), while theoryon learning during crisis (intracrisis learning) is not as developed. My interestin both inter- and intracrisis learning obligates me to study crisis response andcrisis learning in conjunction. This means studying how organizations respondto crises and how they learn during and from these episodes. By focusing onprocesses of crisis response and learning under pressure – rather than pre-crisisplanning, threat perception, risk management and preparedness – the dissertationlooks into how organizations and their members manage the challenge ofcrises and how they take on, make use of and implement lessons learned fromone crisis to the next.   The lacunae outlined above are theoretical points of departure for this dissertation’sinterest in the extent to which public organizations learn from crises.Accordingly, the overall objective of the dissertation is to increase understandingof crisis response and crisis learning in public organizations. In doing so, Iconduct an abductive study of how public organizations respond to crises andhow they learn during and after these events. The term ‘abductive’ refers toa research strategy which is characterized by continuous movement back andforth between theory and empirical data.   The first step of the research process was grounded in the empirical world.The empirical contribution is a careful process tracing and case reconstructionof six cases involving Swedish public sector organizations. In the methodologychapter (Chapter 3) I describe the basis of the empirically bounded case study approach and case reconstruction and process tracing method. Six case studiesof organizational crisis management and learning were selected for furtheranalysis. The case studies were based on a variety of sources including posthoc accident investigations, articles, organizational documents and 129 extensivesemi-structured interviews with key crisis managers. The process tracingand reconstruction efforts led to case narratives, which were then dissected byidentifying dilemmas and critical decision-making occasions that were studiedin more detail. The following cases are explored in the dissertation: TheSwedish energy utility Birka Energi’s management of two cable fires that causedlarge-scale blackouts in Stockholm in March 2001 and May 2002; The cityof Stockholm’s management of the 2001 blackout and the repeated incidentin 2002; The Swedish Defence Research Agency’s (FOI) management of hoaxanthrax letters in 2001; and three Swedish media organizations’ (the Swedishpublic service radio Sveriges Radio, the Swedish private TV station with publicservice tasks TV4, and the Swedish public service TV station Sveriges Television)management of news work and broadcasting challenges on 11 September 2001(and to some extent following the murder of the Swedish Foreign MinisterAnna Lindh in September 2003).   As the case selection reveals, all organizations under study are not puregovernment organizations. Rather three organizations (Birka Energi, SverigesRadio and Sveriges Television) are publically owned corporations, while one(TV4) is a privately owned media organization. Accordingly, this dissertationclaims that ownership is not the only measure of ‘publicness’. Media organizations,for instance, are of great importance for democratic societies. The term‘public organization’ is thus in this dissertation not used in the sense of equatingto government, but rather in reference to the degree of which political authorityand influence impacts on the organization.   The theory generating approach that this dissertation takes on impliesthat the case studies are ‘heuristic’ case studies. The dissertation aims to promotenew hypotheses for further research rather than to produce generalizedknowledge. To this end the case studies are further analyzed by specific theoreticalapproaches suggested by prior research. This second step of the researchprocess is dealt with in some detail in the literature review. The literature reviewin Chapter 2 aims to bring an injection of organizational studies into the fieldof crisis management research. The review presents relevant studies from thefields of crisis management studies, organization studies (with special attentiongiven to organizational learning theory) and public administration and management.The review puts forth a twofold argument: There is a need of increasedknowledge not only about crises and how they develop, but also about how theyare actually managed by public organizations. However, prior crisis managementresearch with bearing on public management organizations are mostly based on either political executive foreign policy decision making or on veryspecific high reliability organizations operating in the pre-crisis phase. Hence,organization studies and public management studies should play a greater partin crisis management research.   The review also provides an overview frame for the study by highlightingrelevant research. The chapter discusses the problems of defining, categorizingand operationalizing key concepts such as crisis, crisis management and organizationallearning.   In the third step of the research process, the case studies are further analyzedusing theoretical approaches aimed at proposing propositions on how publicsector organizations may respond to crises, and how they may learn from theircrisis experiences. These analyses have been carried out with an aim to producestand-alone articles aimed for publication in international scholarly journals.Thus this dissertation differs somewhat from the typical public administrationdissertation as it is comprised of an analysis of several articles, as opposed to amonograph. The journal articles are published or accepted for publication inthe Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, the Journal of HomelandSecurity and Emergency Management, Public Management Review, and RiskManagement. The articles are reprinted in four empirical chapters (Chapters4-7), which make up the core of the dissertation. Introductory and concludingchapters aimed at bringing the discussion together have then been added.I present the first empirical analysis in Chapter 4. It looks into how organizationalculture affects strategy and adaptability in crisis management. The keyresearch question is: What mechanisms affect organizations’ ability to restructurein order to cope with acute crisis management challenges? In the study I propose atypology of temporal organizational responses to crises in public perception. Thetypology is based on organizations’ abilities to change strategy and adapt theirmanagerial and operational levels to deal with crises. The empirical data used toconstruct the typology covers three organizational crisis responses: 1) The utilityBirka Energi’s response to a cable fire that caused a thirty-seven hour blackoutin Stockholm in 2001; 2) The TV station TV4’s response in terms of how toreorganize and broadcast during the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks; 3)FOI, the Swedish National Defence Research Agency’s response to the anthraxletter scare of 2001 and 2002. The different organizational outcomes featuredby the typology reveal distinct aspects of organizational crisis management.According to the typology, the Fully Adapting Organization (TV4) managesto adapt both its strategy and its managerial and operational levels to deal withthe crisis. The Semi-Adapting Organization (FOI) changes its strategy but lacksthe capacity to change managerial and operational levels according to the newstrategy. The Non-Adapting Organization (Birka Energi) does not grasp theimportance of strategy change in the first place. Based on three inductive case studies, the study concludes that organizational culture plays an important rolein this process where the Semi-Adapting Organization and the Non-AdaptingOrganization were dominated by strong expert cultures which proved to be lessinclined to change. In contrast, the Fully Adapting organization had deliberatelyfostered an organizational culture in which flexibility – understood as thecapacity to readily adapt to changing demands – was a cornerstone.   The second empirical analysis is presented in Chapter 5. It deals with theissue of flexibility and rigidity in crisis response and crisis learning at two Swedishpublic organizations. The point of departure for the study is that the relationshipbetween crises, organizational crisis management response and learning hasto date been understudied. In an effort to broaden theoretical knowledge on therelation between crisis and learning, the study analyzes the crisis responses oftwo public organizations during a sequence of two failures. The empirical datais grounded in thorough process tracing and case reconstruction analyses ofhow the utility Birka Energi and the city of Stockholm managed two comprehensiveblackouts in March 2001 and in May 2002. The key research questionis: How does organizational rigidity and flexibility affect public organizations’ crisisresponse and crisis learning? A framework of rigidity versus flexibility in responseis utilized in the analysis. The findings are then discussed in relation to theirimplications for the nexus between crisis and learning. The study concludes byraising four propositions for further research.   The third empirical analysis is presented in Chapter 6. This study aims tocontribute to the debate on organizational learning from crisis by sheddinglight on the phenomenon of crises as learning triggers. In the study I pose thefollowing key research question: How can we analyze organizational learningduring and after crisis and what criteria should be part of the analysis? In an effortto unveil patterns of how organizational crisis-induced learning may appearand develop, I suggest a conceptual framework based on conceptual categoriesand answers to four fundamental questions: what lessons are learned (single- ordouble-loop)?; what is the focus of the lessons (prevention or response)?; whenare lessons learned (intra- or intercrisis)?; is learning carried out or blocked fromimplementation (distilled or implemented)? In the analysis section I explorethe practical applicability of the framework by using the same empirical casestudies as in Chapter 5. The final section suggests four propositions for furtherresearch.   The last empirical study is presented in Chapter 7. There I construct aframework of management, learning and implementation in response to crisis.My point of departure is a proposition from previous crisis managementresearch which posits that previous experience can shape crisis response as away of repeating former routines or as a precondition for improvisation. Thekey research question is: How do organizational management structures affect crisis response, learning and implementation? In the study I argue that flexibilityis closely connected to the way organizations learn – in behavioral or cognitivemodes. Moreover, these learning modes are connected to the role of managerialgroups, where I differentiate between centralized and decentralized top managerialgroups. In addition, two case studies of how two bureaucratic media organizations(Sveriges Radio and SVT) managed and learned from extraordinarynews events – most notably 9/11 and the assassination of the Swedish ForeignMinister Anna Lindh – are conducted. The findings show how the decentralizedmanagerial group learned in a behavioral fashion, by creating new formalpolicies and structures, while organizational members in the centralized managerialgroup relied on individual cognitive structures as a way of ‘storing’ lessonslearned. The study ends by discussing the findings from a crisis managementperspective, where I propose that the two modes of learning profoundly affectthe crucial issue of flexibility in organizational crisis response.The concluding Chapter 8 discusses and contrasts the findings and propositionsgenerated from the four separate empirical analyses. Here the role oforganizational structure and culture are highlighted by revisiting specific organizationalfactors that seem to impact on organizational crisis management andlearning processes, such as previous experience, flexibility and rigidity in crisisresponse and learning, and centralization and decentralization. These factorswere also outlined in the literature review. Further empirical evidence of howthe factors affect crisis response and crisis learning in organizations was foundin the four empirical analyses.   In addition, findings from the empirical studies also related to different types of learning processes such as intra- and intercrisis learning and singleand double-loop learning. Consequently these concepts are also deliberated upon in the concluding sections of the dissertation. As a final attempt to bring the propositions and arguments together, a framework of the crisis management and learning process is proposed. In regard to this venture, it is important to acknowledge the limitations of the framework, and of the dissertation as a whole. As it is only based on data from six cases of Swedish public organizational responses to crisis, the framework is merely a visual schematic of a number of propositions to be further tested and validated by further research. However, the framework also has a few virtues. It is an attempt to approach the ambiguous nature of crises and crisis management processes. The framework may also assist in providing more sensible and practical conceptualizations, and thus bring us closer to definitions that remain close to everyday operations of practitioners involved in crisis management. This dissertation thus makes an effort to bridge the gap between crisis management scholars and practitioners. This is also an overall goal guiding research activities at the National Center for Crisis Management Studies (CRISMART) at the Swedish National Defence College, where the research behind this dissertation has been conducted.

This examine illustrates the section heads' and caregiving staffs' perceptions of the influence of New Public Management (NPM) in public retirement homes in Malmö. A central theme is to investigate if the main features of New Public Management are noticeable and if that's the case, are the consequences an advantage or disadvantage? The main features of New Public Management in this examine are: decentralization, competition, internal market, cost- conscious, management by objectives with a focus on results and costumer focus.To reach answers to the questions above, a quantitative and a qualitative approach has been chosen. The study is based on 41 questionnaires with enrolled nurses/nurse's assistants and four semi-structured interviews with section heads of retirement homes. Four different retirement homes have been participated in this study. To understand the material, two different theories have been chosen; the new- institutional theory and the organization- political theory. These theories are clearly influenced by each other in that term that they are illustrating different perspectives of the phenomena Management bureaucracy. Further, this phenomenon can also be related to New Public Management.The material shows the section heads' of the retirement homes and the caregiving staffs' experience if the main features of New Public Management are implemented in the organization and secondly, which advantages and disadvantages those have occurred. The professionals have different opinions regarding if NPM are noticeable and if the consequences are an advantage or disadvantage. The reached conclusion in this examine is however that New Public Management is visible in the retirement homes of the public sector in Malmö and this is mainly seen as an advantage.

This research report examines the factors associated with facilitating and constraining the implimentation of financial management and budget reforms in the public sector using the Health Sector (National and Provincial Departments of Health) as a case study. The main findings of this report are that there are factors that are both facilitating and constraining the implementation of financial management and budget reform in South Africa. The primary constraining factor in this regard is that there is limited capacity in the country with regard to financial management.