Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Public Sector Reform'

This study approaches the study of organisational communication in the Australian public sector by focussing on the gendered nature of the organisation, and presenting results from the grass roots or 'native' level (Gregory, 1983). The theoretical framework of this study draws on a diverse range of philosophical viewpoints, ranging from organisational communication and culture approaches, sociological perspectives, public sector research, and uniquely Australian conceptualisations of gender within the public sphere. This study introduces a new way of conceiving feminist bureaucrats (femocrats), in terms of their relationships with 'natives' within public sector organisations. Difficulties in identifying a distinctly Australian organisational communication arena result from both the paucity of organisational communication, grass roots, and public sector research, and because of the problematic task of assimilating 'bits' of divergent theories, with often incompatible views to inform one comprehensive theoretical framework. The results of focus group and individual interviews suggest that a 'managerial' culture exists both within and externally to public sector organisations. This managerialism originates from within patriarchal and masculine organisational structures, and from a shift of workplace practices where a public service model has been replaced by a more private sector, bottom line, results orientation. While the 'natives' in this study are not representative of all public sector employees, their discourse provides a glimpse into the concerns of grass roots members of organisations, a view that is significant in its absence from organisational communication research, particularly in the Australian context.

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.

Thesis (MPA (School of Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Public sector reform has been around since the 1980s and was a result of criticism against traditional public administration for being too slow and inefficient to address public needs. Although Public sector reform is common in developed countries, evidence of public sector reform has rarely been seen in developing countries. The purpose of this investigation is to determine whether there is any evidence of public sector reform in a developing country such as South Africa. The author divides public sector reform into three categories, namely: new governance, regulatory governance and new public management (NPM). Based on the theoretical information analysed, a list of qualifying criteria for public sector reform is compiled. The author then focuses on the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB), a statutory organisation acting as a service provider for the perishable products export industry and a regulator on behalf of the South African government. The author analyses the model on which South African perishable exports are based and studies the organisation‟s history, strategies, operational structure and its relationship with government. The information gathered is then compared to the list of qualifying criteria compiled for public sector reform. It was found that the model, and specifically service delivery strategies by the PPECB, provides conclusive evidence of new governance, regulatory governance and NPM. It was also found the model is a hybrid between traditional public administration and public sector reform, as it contains characteristics of both. The study takes the form of a literature review. Research was conducted through studying various literatures pertaining to new governance, regulatory governance and new public management. In addition, the author gathered relevant information from within the PPECB, the South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the export industry. Further information was also collected by means of unstructured interviews with senior individuals employed by the PPECB.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Openbare hervorming bestaan sedert die jare tagtig en het basies ontstaan as gevolg van kritiek omdat tradisionele openbare administrasie te traag en onbevoeg was om openbare behoeftes aan te spreek. Hoewel openbare hervorming in ontwikkelde lande stewig gevestig is, is daar ook bewys daarvan in ontwikkelende lande. Die doel van hierdie ondersoek was om vas te stel of daar enige bewys van openbare hervorming in ‟n ontwikkelende land soos Suid-Afrika bestaan. Die outeur het openbare hervorming in drie kategorieë verdeel, te wete nuwe regeringsbestuur, regulatoriese regeringsbestuur en nuwe openbare bestuur. Op grond van ‟n analise van die teoretiese inligting, is ‟n lys van kwalifiserende kriteria – gerig op openbare hervorming – saamgestel. Die outeur het vervolgens op die Bederfbare Produkte Uitvoerbeheerraad (PPECB) gefokus – dit is ‟n statutêre liggaam wat as diensverskaffer vir die bederfbare produkte uitvoernywerheid en as ‟n reguleerder namens die Suid-Afrikaanse regering optree. Die outeur het ‟n analise gedoen van die model waarop Suid-Afrikaanse bederfbare uitvoere gebaseer is en voorts die organisasie se geskiedenis, strategie, operasionele struktuur en sy verhouding met die regering bestudeer. Die inligting wat ingewin is, is vervolgens met die lys van kwalifiserende kriteria – gerig op openbare hervorming – vergelyk. Daar is bevind dat die model – en spesifiek diensleweringstrategie by die PPECB – voldoende bewys lewer van nuwe regeringsbestuur, regulatoriese regeringsbestuur en nuwe openbare bestuur. Daar is ook bevind dat die model ‟n hibridisering is tussen tradisionele openbare administrasie en openbare hervorming aangesien dit karaktereienskappe van albei bevat. Die studie is in die vorm van ‟n literêre oorsig gedoen. Navorsing is uitgevoer deur die bestudering van verskeie geskrifte oor nuwe regeringsbestuur, regulatoriese regeringsbestuur en nuwe openbare bestuur. Daarbenewens het die outeur relevante inligting binne die PPECB, die Suid-Afrikaanse Departement van Landbou, Bosbou en Visserye en die uitvoernywerheid, ingesamel. Nog inligting is ook bekom deur ongestruktureerde onderhoude met senior werknemers van die PPECB te voer.

Doctor of Philosophy
Public private partnerships [PPPs] are a product of policies and processes to modernise the delivery of infrastructure-based services. An examination of the modernisation literature establishes the broad analytical frame within which this thesis investigates PPPs. The macro-level overview of the recent transformation of the Australian public sector confirms that the dominant principles underlying modernisation are grounded in new institutional economics [NIE] that are implemented through private-sector derived accounting and management implementation technologies. It highlights the contextual complexities stemming from Australia’s federal system of government, explaining the decision to focus on investigating PPP experiences in Victoria. At the conceptual level, PPPs rely on risk management and modernisation of service delivery to achieve value for money [VFM] for governments. In Victoria, 2000 signals a change in the modernisation role of PPPs. Thereafter, risk inherent in PPPs was reduced by excluding the contractor from the delivery of core social services. Also, the state began to develop a number of PPP policies to guide, aid, control and rationalise decision making in the pre-contracting stage, and to clarify objectives. Analysis of PPP contracts and the failure of one pre-2000 PPP hospital project are illustrative of the controversies identified in the literature about ‘hidden’ aims, the role of technologies designed provide ‘objective’ evidence of VFM inherent in PPPs at the time of contracting, and the ‘fallacy’ of risk transfer to private contractors. An examination of prison contracts indicates the changing nature of the management and control of PPPs in the execution stage. Analysis of pre-2000 prison contracts reveals that these projects were intended to drive significant financial and nonfinancial modernisation reforms throughout the correctional services system. Despite problems with contractual specification of performance and payment mechanisms, and the failure of one of the three pre-2000 prisons, recent evidence suggests, contrary to conclusions in the previous literature, that sector-wide modernisation objectives are being achieved in PPP prisons. PPPs have been criticised on the grounds that they enable governments to avoid accountability for service provision. A survey of the extent, focus and characteristics of the performance audit of PPPs confirms that little PPP auditing has been undertaken in Australia per se, and also that much of the performance auditing has focused on examining adherence to mandated procedures in the pre-contracting stage. However, this thesis demonstrates that the Victorian government has undertaken significant evaluation of the operation of its pre-2000 PPP prisons, and that its thinking and policy development reflect lessons learnt. The evidence presented in this thesis challenges findings in the previous literature that modernisation has delivered less than promised. This thesis confirms the potency of longitudinal research to investigate outcomes of what is essentially an iterative process of reform and that ‘successful’ implementation of modernisation change is sensitive to the context to be reformed. In finding that the presence of goodwill trust is critical to the implementation of recent modernisation reform in the correctional services sector (including in the PPP prisons), this thesis also confirms recent critiques of the power of NIE theories to explain contracting practices in the PPP setting.

This study examines the implementation of performance management (PM) in the Brunei public sector within the context of debates about new public management, bureaucracy and post-bureaucracy. Although Brunei opted for such reform to modernise and improve its public-sector performance, in the literature there appear to be differences between the rhetoric and realities of adopting PM and this brings into question the extent to which the sector is moving towards post-bureaucracy. This study draws on institutional theory as its theoretical lens. In order to address questions intended to explain the ways in which PM has been used as part of Brunei public sector reform, a qualitative approach was adopted. Five government ministries and departments where PM tools, such as strategic plans, balanced scorecards and performance indicators, had been implemented since the government introduced the National Strategic Alignment Programme in 2003 were selected as case organisations. Eighty interviews and informal observations were conducted and then analysed using a thematic approach to provide insights into how the implementation of PM was experienced and perceived by participants involved in the process. Through cross-case analysis, this study evaluated the responses to PM that are specific to the Brunei context, showing the influence of institutional factors such as national culture or existing institutions. As an outcome of the empirical analysis, a theoretical framework emerged which explains the difference between the rhetoric and reality of the post-bureaucratic context of reform and illuminates the intertwining of change and stability. In particular, concepts of institutional entrepreneurship/work, path dependency and translation from institutional theory that take into account the role of human agency in change processes, or the paradox of embedded agency, were drawn on in the development of the framework. This study thus makes a contribution to institutional theory. The findings show that, despite there being strategic acquiescence to PM in the case organisations, they were not deeply affected by the practice which led to PM appearing rhetorical, mainly in order to gain legitimacy. Instead, the findings show evidence of decoupling of PM from existing institutions and practices and also a translation of the PM practice which led to strategic resistance to PM and institutional maintenance of bureaucracy. PM in the Brunei public sector was mainly influenced by path-dependency factors and this in turn influenced the translation of PM by embedded actors resulting in PM being shaped according to existing cultural norms. For instance, there was a persistence of bureaucratic culture that caused interviewees to frame PM in terms of compliance to hierarchical authority rather than as a means of improving performance, in contrast to the ideas of post-bureaucracy. This shows that the influence of existing practice was stronger than the influence of the principles of PM. Therefore, this study provides insights into the roles of change and stability in the PM implementation process leading to institutional maintenance in Brunei, as well as insights into the existence of the contradictions between the rhetoric and realities of post-bureaucratic reform.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2002.
Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xxi, 477 p.; also includes graphics (some col.). Includes abstract and vita. Co-advisors: Susan Kline and Rohan Samarajiva, School of Journalism and Communication. 590 Also on microfiche. 6 sheets. Includes bibliographical references (p. 451-477).

The primary aim of this thesis is to analyse the key drivers of Organisational Excellence in the Public Sector and integrate them in a comprehensive, reliable and valid performance measurement system. Within the movements for Public Sector reform and modernisation, Total Quality Management (TQM) has increasingly been regarded as a way to improve efficiency and effectiveness in the use of the resources available, deliver better public services, and bring Public Administration closer to its customers and citizens. However, too often the initiatives carried out are not integrated, nor they are part of a systematic and coherent strategy to guide public organisations towards Organisational Excellence (OE). The literature suggests that adopting TQM can lead to superior performance, in spite of the difficulties of statistically demonstrating such link. There is also a prevalent view that TQM principles and core concepts are universally valid, but need to be adapted to each context in particular. In this sense, they are applicable to the Public Sector, although the existence of multiple stakeholders, the need to balance individual customer needs with wider collective purposes and the strong bureaucratic inheritance make their implementation particularly challenging. The exploratory survey conducted in the Portuguese municipalities - which constitute the focus of our study - revealed that TQM is raising considerable interest and diagnosed the main barriers and motivations for TQM implementation. Moreover, it gave support to the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) identified in the literature. Several organisational excellence models were reviewed. It is argued that Kanji's Business Excellence Model (KBEM) adequately covers the CSFs identified and, additionally, provides a sound methodology - based on the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) approach and the Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique - to estimate the relationships between them and determine their impact on an aggregated measure of OE. To measure OE from the internal stakeholders' perspective, a few adjustments were made on KBEM and new scales developed to assess the Local Government's performance in each CSF. The model was empirically tested and validated using data collected from 85 Portuguese municipalities and the internal OE index calculated. Given the critical role of Leadership (the prime of KBEM), this construct was analysed in detail. The key leadership requirements in an organisation committed to TQM and OE were identified. A model was then developed and used to measure, according to leaders' and staff members' views, Leadership Excellence in the Portuguese municipalities. With the purpose of evaluating OE from the external stakeholders' perspective, a Business Scorecard (KBS) was created. Feedback from citizens - the key external stakeholders of a municipality - was collected in each dimension of the scorecard. Using similar procedures, the model was validated and the scores for each latent variable computed. The OE index thus calculated drew attention to possible gaps between internal and external perceptions and called attention to the need of measuring OE from different angles. The system of performance measurement proposed is grounded in the CSFs identified and assesses performance from a multiple perspective by integrating feedback from the various stakeholders of an organisation. Therefore, it provides a more realistic assessment of performance and is expected to support the Local Government in its quest for Organisational Excellence.

This thesis examines the disclosure practices of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and the impact of reform programmes in the SOE sector on such practices. The study stems from evidence of poor performance of SOEs attributed to the dearth of information disclosure, hence, the introduction of reform programmes to address these problems. Based on multiple case design with data gathered from three large SOEs and key policy makers in the SOE sector of Ghana, the findings show that the disclosure relationships, objectives, and media are generally the same across all SOEs. There are however some notable variations from the both within-case and cross-case analyses, with respect to the generic sections, volume and disclosure types in their respective annual reports. There are also differences in relation to the processes of producing their disclosure media. With regards to the impact of reform programmes, the study found both sector-wide and industry specific reform programmes, driven and underpinned by institutional forces and tenets of agency theory. These programmes have among other things, increased the numbers of disclosure media, stakeholders or principals that SOEs must disclose to, expanded the nature of disclosure (managerial, program, procedures, and financial) and types of disclosure relationships (diagonal).

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.

This thesis is about the impact of the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm on public sector reform in Thailand. The main objective of the thesis is to explore the question of whether Thai public sector reform belongs to the NPM paradigm, especially whether the intentions and contents of policy documents are actually realised in the implementation process. The study commences by reviewing the transformation of public administration to NPM and how this has affected developing countries. In theory, the traditional model of public administration, namely bureaucracy, has been considered as dysfunctional, no longer able to cope with changing circumstances and the new environment. NPM was introduced during the 1980s and 1990s in some rich countries in order to replace the traditional model of public administration. However, there are doubts about the appropriateness of NPM for the public sector in developing countries. The thesis is specifically concerned with Thailand and as a first step delineates the history of public administration and its reform in Thailand including current policies. This includes the introduction of NPM. The remainder of the thesis is comprised of a case study of one ministry in Thailand. Much of the data was collected from semi-structured interviews with officials in the ministry and government agencies responsible for reform. The case study focused on four dimensions of reform: organisational restructure and redesign of internal authority, public culture and values reform, workforce reduction, and internal NPM reform initiatives. The findings were mixed. Some NPM style initiatives such as restructuring of roles and functions were accomplished. However, some areas of NPM have either been partially implemented (downsizing) or not introduced at all (greater competition in public sector). It was also found that some reform initiatives, such as public culture and values reform, fell outside of the NPM paradigm. The research concluded that the NPM paradigm had made limited progress in the Thai public sector.

The health system in Abu Dhabi has undergone a series of far reaching reforms during the past six years, yet in spite of the structural transformations, public confidence in the performance of this vital sector is still skeptical at best and employee engagement is still low. The thesis was underpinned by the aim to reveal the challenges in public health system reform outside the context of western administration. This thesis is an attempt to analyse the intricate, multidimensional concept of organisational culture within the complex structure of public healthcare sector in a fast growing economy like Abu Dhabi. Managing organisational culture is increasingly viewed as an essential part of health system reform. Organisational culture in health care organisations has gained increased consideration as an important factor that affects health systems reform and influences the quality of health care. The research project aims to explore the context of health system reform in Abu Dhabi and to understand the organisational culture of the different constituents of its public healthcare sector. Using a multi-method investigation combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches using the Competing Values Framework as conceptual framework, this research aims to provide a critical assessment of organisational culture in healthcare sector in Abu Dhabi. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the regulator, operator, and three public hospitals prior to the use of a survey instrument based on the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI). The data analysis revealed that the prevailing cultural model of the Abu Dhabi public sector organisations was concurrently governed by hierarchy and market cultures while the presence of clan and adhocracy models was relatively limited. Interesting variations in assessment of clan culture were found between UAE nationals and other nationality clusters. The findings also revealed a desired cultural shift manifested by a higher emphasis on clan and adhocracy cultures and a lower emphasis on hierarchy and market culture. Those results confirm the presence of two opposing or competing cultural dimensions clan/adhocracy vs. hierarchy/market. This research makes a considerable contribution to the sparse empirical studies in health system reforms and organisational culture in the Arab Gulf states, and proposes important explanations and possible solutions to the salient challenges facing the health system in Abu Dhabi.

This thesis analyses the New Labour government’s extension of public service reform and modernisation to the voluntary sector. It explores the changes that have taken place in the labour process and management practices in the voluntary sector and it locates this within an analysis of wider public service reform. It argues that the reforms of the voluntary sector are part of wider neo-liberal market reforms intended to extend the capitalist labour process to the voluntary and public sectors. The thesis is based on research in a diverse range of complex voluntary organisations, drawing from academic, industry and organisation documents, from interviews with voluntary organisation, trade union and industry and community representatives, and from an employee attitude questionnaire. Voluntary organisation managers were found to be under severe external pressures, through increased competition between organisations, and through contracting, auditing, monitoring and regulatory regimes. These managers responded by introducing Taylorist forms of performance management to meet external targets, to increase efficiency and to lower unit costs. They have been relatively compliant with reform compared to public sector managers. Performance management has a significant impact on employees, bringing reductions in autonomy, pay, job security and employment conditions and increases in workload and managerial control and discipline. The character of the labour process in the voluntary sector is being transformed to become more like the labour process in capitalist enterprises. In contrast to the public sector, trade union organisation and influence is weak and unable to mount effective resistance. The voluntary sector is a model for the delivery of public services through a diverse range of semi-autonomous local providers under a tight regime of government regulation. Public service trade unions will need a co-ordinated and comprehensive strategy to resist market reform and further cuts in public service and welfare provision.

Senior officials in the public service in Barbados, who are charged with the responsibility of leading and managing government ministries and departments, play a critical role in fostering reform initiatives. Few empirical studies have examined specific leadership behaviors in the context of managing change in Barbados. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify the specific leadership behaviors of senior officials in public service and to explore the use of transformative leadership by public sector administrators to effect reform initiatives. With Bass and Avolio's full-range leadership theory (FRLT) as the theoretical framework, the research question for this study was used to examine how public sector leaders in Barbados applied transformational leadership to transform the public sector. Fourteen permanent secretaries were initially sampled using the multifactor leadership questionnaire; criterion sampling was then used to identify 7 of these leaders for interviews. The data were analyzed by the researcher for the identification of themes. The results revealed 4 main findings that highlighted the importance of leadership in the reform process and in the specific leadership behaviors used by transformational public servants. Mentorship, team building, and the use of individualized approaches were being used by these leaders to manage change and reduce resistance. In conclusion, while the leaders used the full-range of leadership behaviors in the FRLT, transformational leadership practices were highly effective in managing change. The findings may help public leaders design processes to encourage change in the Barbados public sector.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD
The thesis examines the implications of Public Sector Reform (PSR) for public sector unions in Zambia. Using the case study strategy, the research investigates the Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) in Lusaka district under the rubric of PSR. The research is qualitative in nature. Two types of data were collected, namely, secondary and primary data. A sample of 25 key informants was engaged in the research. These informants include five managers of public institutions and 20 leaders of the CSAWUZ. The methods of multistage, purposive and snowball sampling were used to select the informants. Secondary data were collected by reading documents on PSR and trade unions while primary data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with the sampled informants. The data are analysed using the method of content analysis. The findings reveal that Zambia is characterised by a young, unskilled and impoverished population. The government faces challenges to deliver services especially in rural areas and to the female population. There are three major categories of government institutions in Zambia. These are central government, local government and parastatals. There are also different types of trade unions organising employees in these institutions. They include sectoral unions, enterprise unions, occupational unions, industrial unions, and federations of trade unions. However, the operations of these unions have been challenged by the reform of the public sector. Two generations of PSR have been implemented in Zambia. These are New Public Management (NPM) and post-NPM reforms. On the one hand, NPM reforms emphasised the effectiveness of market forces and the weakness of government regulation. On the other hand, post-NPM reforms emphasise the interconnectedness of stakeholders in the processes of policy formulation and implementation. These stakeholders include government, business, civil society organisations, employers and trade unions. The implementation of PSR is influenced by the interplay of a number of factors. These include the recognition of problems in the public sector, the emergence of a new ideology, and the presence of actors spearheading the reform of the public sector. The findings show that PSR involves changing the role of the public sector in the process of providing goods and services. Instead of the public sector being the only provider, it is a partner. As a partner, its role is to create an environment that encourages the growth of the private sector. However, this kind of reform negatively affects trade unions in the public sector. The effects include reductions in union membership, income and power. Although public sector unions are negatively affected by PSR, they have agency and do not just wait to become victims of the reform process. They make strategies to adapt to the changing circumstances. These strategies include diversifying the membership, servicing the membership, decentralising the organisational structure of the union, coordinating union activities, and forming alliances with external organisations dealing with issues affecting workers. This implies that trade unions in the public sector have opportunities to deal with challenges facing them under the rubric of PSR.

In techno-organisational innovation, knowledge is reconstituted. Understanding this process in its complexity and its outcomes asks for an inquiry and interpretation that heed to the conditions at the end of modernity, and must therefore take recourse to practical philosophy. This understanding has been formulated with reference to a field study that inquired into the conduct of reform and effectuation of new information technology by the central department of a regional government over a period of approximately eight years. In considering this ambience, the study has been informed by (i) a synopsis of hermeneutic thinking on knowledge; (ii) an outline of governmentality and (information) technology; (iii) a reflection on the conditions of the social sciences and their relation to information technology; (iv) an exploration of the possibilities of social inquiry at the end of modernity. Deliberating the stipulations of social inquiry, the destructive narrative is proposed that allows for a rational and argumentative appropriation of the past, beyond scientific method and mere perceptivity. Events, ideas, and experiences indicate the reciprocal relation of political and organisational rationalities, on the one hand, and managerial and informational technologies on the other. Within these dimensions, the knowledge of governmentality is being re-defined, shifting expertise into the harness of business discipline. The rationalities of information, process, integration, prediction and performance, and ultimately efficiency, make bureaucracy itself an object of increased scrutiny. These rationalities also remind that the challenge of Ge-stell and the rule of politics-as-fabrication do neither come to pass primarily in implementations of managerial technologies, nor in instantiations of information systems, but within the articulations of the technological worldview. Due to the fragmented and contentious nature of knowledge, innovation as routine nevertheless appears disjointed and asynchronous, yet upholding the representational and disciplinary constellations.

In techno-organisational innovation, knowledge is reconstituted. Understanding this process in its complexity and its outcomes asks for an inquiry and interpretation that heed to the conditions at the end of modernity, and must therefore take recourse to practical philosophy. This understanding has been formulated with reference to a field study that inquired into the conduct of reform and effectuation of new information technology by the central department of a regional government over a period of approximately eight years. In considering this ambience, the study has been informed by (i) a synopsis of hermeneutic thinking on knowledge; (ii) an outline of governmentality and (information) technology; (iii) a reflection on the conditions of the social sciences and their relation to information technology; (iv) an exploration of the possibilities of social inquiry at the end of modernity. Deliberating the stipulations of social inquiry, the destructive narrative is proposed that allows for a rational and argumentative appropriation of the past, beyond scientific method and mere perceptivity. Events, ideas, and experiences indicate the reciprocal relation of political and organisational rationalities, on the one hand, and managerial and informational technologies on the other. Within these dimensions, the knowledge of governmentality is being re-defined, shifting expertise into the harness of business discipline. The rationalities of information, process, integration, prediction and performance, and ultimately efficiency, make bureaucracy itself an object of increased scrutiny. These rationalities also remind that the challenge of Ge-stell and the rule of politics-as-fabrication do neither come to pass primarily in implementations of managerial technologies, nor in instantiations of information systems, but within the articulations of the technological worldview. Due to the fragmented and contentious nature of knowledge, innovation as routine nevertheless appears disjointed and asynchronous, yet upholding the representational and disciplinary constellations.

This thesis is an applied study of the response of a selected group of large construction companies in the Sydney Basin to the National Training Reform Agenda (NTRA). The thesis emanates from an interest in the modern view of public policy that suggests public sector intervention should 'augment rather than impede market forces' (Dollery, 1994:225). This view argues that too much public intervention has the potential to culminate in government failure because governments can be self-interested bureaucracies that are divorced from the interests and constraints of the market. To avoid such an outcome, this policy position advocates that governments should develop and implement public policy that encourages community, industry and individual participation in the policy agenda. This minimalist approach to public sector intervention, and the values it espouses, was investigated through research into the NTRA and the construction industry.
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This thesis is composed of four essays that make empirical contributions to impact evaluations of health sector interventions in low- and middle-income countries, in light of the interventions introduced under Egypt's Health Sector Reform Program (HSRP) between 2000 and 2014. We are mainly interested in the effects on family planning and maternal and child health. Different methods are used in this context: difference-in-differences (DD), DD propensity score matching (PSM), fixed effects (FE), random effects (RE) and pooled ordinary least-squares (POLS). In chapter 3, we estimate the effect of improving the quality of health care through facility accreditation on the family planning, maternal health and child health outcomes that we expect to reflect the effect of compliance with quality standards, policies and procedures. We found that accreditation had multiple positive effects, especially on delivery care and child morbidity prevalence. No significant effects were observed, however, with respect to most antenatal care (ANC) outcomes. In chapter 4, we estimate the medium-term effect of introducing user fees on the utilization of family planning, ANC and delivery care services, women's access to health care, and child health status. With respect to ANC, we found that the positive effect of increased willingness to pay for an improved quality of service outweighed the negative effect of the price elasticity of demand. Introducing user fees was associated with a higher likelihood of receiving ANC by skilled health personnel, a higher likelihood of receiving at least four ANC visits and a higher likelihood of receiving iron supplements during pregnancy. However, the two effects offset each other with respect to the outcomes that reflect the utilization of family planning and delivery care services, women's access to health care, and child health status. No net effect at all was observed on these outcomes. Chapter 5 complements the analysis of chapter 4 by allowing us to estimate the net effect of combining user fees and two quality improvement interventions: facility accreditation and performance-based financing (PBF). Again, we observe positive effects on both the utilization and the quality of ANC services. More notably, a positive effect on access to care was observed during our first study period that is more likely to reflect the effect of quality improvements. These effects, however, were reversed during the second study period that is more likely to reflect the effect of user fee introduction. The positive effects reported in chapters 4 and 5 were mainly with respect to ANC. No effects were reported on the outcomes that reflect the utilization of family planning and delivery care services, and child health status. In chapter 6, we estimate the effect of discontinuing provider incentives on health outcomes that reflect the health services targeted by the PBF scheme as well as the quality of these services. We found that discontinuing the incentives had a negative effect on four out of seven health outcomes: knowledge of contraceptive methods, receiving ANC by skilled health personnel, receiving iron supplements during pregnancy, and more importantly, under-five child mortality. Our findings, first, suggest that improving the quality of care through facility accreditation could be particularly effective in improving delivery care and child health. However, a high level of commitment from the central government is indispensable to sustain the positive effects of quality improvement interventions. Second, introducing user fees will not necessarily have negative effects on access and utilization of family planning, maternal health and child health services. However, user fees are ineffective, in general, as a stand-alone policy. Third, negative effects of introducing user fees in low- and middle-income settings on the utilization of healthcare services can be mitigated by officially exempting the poor from any fees at the point of service. More importantly, this exemption should be known to the population. Fourth, combining quality improvement interventions with user fees will not necessarily add to the few positive effects obtained when user fees are introduced as a stand-alone policy. Finally, provider incentives should be introduced carefully in low- and middle-income countries as negative effects are observed when these incentives are discontinued.

Multi-stakeholder initiatives (i.e., partnerships between governments, civil society, and the private sector) are an increasingly prevalent strategy promoted by multilateral, bilateral, and nongovernmental development organizations for addressing weaknesses in public sector governance. Global public sector governance MSIs seek to make national governments more transparent and accountable by setting shared standards for information disclosure and multi-stakeholder collaboration. However, research on similar interventions implemented at the national or subnational level suggests that the effectiveness of these initiatives is likely to be mediated by a variety of socio-political factors.

This dissertation examines the transnational evidence base for three global public sector governance MSIs—the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative, and the Open Government Partnership—and investigates their implementation within and across three shared national contexts—Guatemala, the Philippines, and Tanzania—in order to determine whether and how these initiatives lead to improvements in proactive transparency (i.e., discretionary release of government data), demand-driven transparency (i.e., reforms that increase access to government information upon request), and accountability (i.e., the extent to which government officials are compelled to publicly explain their actions and/or face penalties or sanction for them), as well as the extent to which they provide participating governments with an opportunity to project a public image of transparency and accountability, while maintaining questionable practices in these areas (i.e., openwashing).

The evidence suggests that global public sector governance MSIs often facilitate gains in proactive transparency by national governments, but that improvements in demand-driven transparency and accountability remain relatively rare. Qualitative comparative analysis reveals that a combination of multi-stakeholder power sharing and civil society capacity is sufficient to drive improvements in proactive transparency, while the absence of visible, high-level political support is sufficient to impede such reforms. The lack of demand-driven transparency or accountability gains suggests that national-level coalitions forged by global MSIs are often too narrow to successfully advocate for broader improvements to public sector governance. Moreover, evidence for openwashing was found in one-third of cases, suggesting that national governments sometimes use global MSIs to deliberately mislead international observers and domestic stakeholders about their commitment to reform.

The last two decades of the twentieth century saw unprecedented change in the Western Australian public sector. Legislative reform, royal commissions and new policies aimed at enhancing public sector accountability, transparency and efficiency have served to highlight the critical role of CEOs in delivering change. Underpinning sustainable organisational change is cultural change, which in-turn is most effectively driven by a transformational leadership style. There has been little research into CEOs' perceptions of their role in leading cultural change in their organisations. This thesis details an exploratory study of WA public sector CEOs. It discovered that CEOs identified with elements characterising the theoretical construct of a transformational leader. They perceived cultural change as the realignment of organisational values and behaviour with mission, government and community expectations, efficiency and effectiveness. CEOs actively deployed a number of strategies to bring about cultural change but were uncertain about the extent which substantive cultural change was taking place within the public sector. Factors they saw as impacting on their capacity to lead such change included the Government's policy agenda, management theory and potentially, peer support. CEOs who participated in the study were predominantly career public servants, male, over the age of fifty, had worked exclusively in the public sector and only led a small number of organisations. They had mixed views about the impact of such demographics on a CEO's capacity to effectively lead cultural change citing situational factors and personal attributes as being significant variables. There were a number of clear findings from the study that have significant, practical implications for the public sector. CEOs would benefit from a government that communicated a stronger sense of vision about the future directions of the sector. CEOs require structured opportunities to enhance their competencies in the leadership of change and incentives to commit to change agendas that may extend well beyond the tenure of their employment contacts. Finally, CEOs cannot effectively transform organisational culture without support from other leaders and strategic plans that take account of emerging demographic shifts in the workforce that will inevitably impact on staff values, behaviours and expectations.

This paper studies the police reform in Egypt in the light of the revolution 2011. The ousting of the authoritarian president Hosni Mubarak was the beginning of the transition towards democracy. Within 15 months both parliamentary and presidential election had taken place. The political leaders were new and the transitional process had begun however the institutions where still the same and one feature of the revolution was to reform the police since the police was hated as the oppressive power it was. Transition from totalitarian regime to democracy is more than elections it is about reforming the institutions and especially the security sector hence they often play a significant role in oppressing the citizens in an authoritarian state. The police in Egypt used repressive methods to control the citizens. Therefore it is interesting to investigate whether the police are beginning to transform along the principles of democratic policing, a specific part of security sector reform focusing on the reformation of the police. The notion of human security with the people at the centre lay as a foundation of the theoretical framework. The material consists of in- depth interviews with leaders and active people in the civil society and their view regarding police work and police reform after the revolution. The conclusions drawn from the study is that the police lack capacity, understanding and training to reform. The reformation has to be influenced by political will from legislative and institutional level as well from the police officers themselves. There are challenges if a reform of the police will be successful and some of them are connected with national and international circumstances.

Since 1962, Myanmar has experienced stagnant economic growth despite its rich natural resources, demographic strength, and being located at the crossroad of Asia. To improve policy and regulation, Myanmar's private sector must advocate policy or administrative course of action to the government. Therefore, the purpose of the research was to evaluate the public-private dialogue (PPD) before and after the change of the government, and change of UMFCCI leadership during major reforms in Myanmar. Research questions were focused on the design, implementation, and benefits and risks of PPD. This qualitative case study, based on cross-sector collaboration theory, included semistructured interviews with 26 key participants who have deeply involved in the PPD building process since very beginning. Data were categorized for thematic analysis and the PPD building process was compared before and after April 2016 because there was a change of government and Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industries leadership. Findings included differing levels of conceptualization, capacity constraints, and the need to coordinate among development partners. Additionally, differing commitment level among local and foreign businesses indicated that creating the right conditions and being able to establish a collective purpose are important for successful cross-sector collaboration. This study contributes to positive social change for policy makers and collaborators interested in creating a positive regulatory environment through collaboration.

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses.
PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.
2031-01-02

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this research report was to identify a set of strategic tools that can be transferred from the private health sector to the public health sector, to improve efficiency in the public health sector. To attain to this aim, this research report attempted to identify the selected best practices employed by successful private health providers, to determine the most effective modes to transfer these best practices, and to establish key success factors for the identified best practices. Interviews were conducted with opinion-leaders from the health industry in the Western Cape,and inputs gleaned from these individuals were useful in applying the strategic model to the public and private health sector in the Western Cape. Globally the public sector has already embarked on strategic management initiatives, through the implementation of the New Public Management-model. The introduction of NPM in a few selected countries aimed at achieving cost-efficiency, budget accountability and improved customer focus in service delivery. South Africa however still needs a unifying and all encompassing vision for public and development management to advance the ideals of Batho Pele. The use of evidence and the management of intellectual capital in the health care industry are recognised as important in decision-making. The health care trends of five selected countries (United Kingdom, United States of America, Greece, Canada, Slovakia) were researched , and demonstrated that countries face similar challenges (increasing resource demands, aging population, rapidly expanding technological possibilities, better-informed patients, rising expectations). It is recognised that business skills and knowledge, as well as investments in IT can be effective tools in moving an organisation from a reactive approach to a pro-active approach. Managers in the public sector need different competencies than managers in the private sector due to the differences between the two sectors, and thus there is a need to adapt management training. While there are examples of best practices in the South African government, there is still room for improvement. A stable political economy, political leadership, management skills of political office-bearers and the professionalism of civil servants will be decisive in this regard. The White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service provides a framework for the development of strategies to promote continuous performance improvements in quantity, quality and equity of health service provision. The areas where improvements are necessary are customer and stakeholder satisfaction, processes, organisation results, leadership and people management. The comparison between the current strategic approach in the Western Cape and a model designed for the public sector revealed that some of the steps can be developed further, namely the assessment of the internal and external environments, the development of an effective implementation process, and the reassessment of the strategies and the strategic planning process. The comparison between the current strategic approach in the Western Cape and the global best practices framework established that there is not sufficient balance between the resource and position based views, the decision-making approach is "quite formal", implementation of strategy is not a carefully planned change management process, planning is regarded as the most important part of the strategic planning process, and evaluating strategy implementation involves more than mere financial measures. It was also established that the Western Cape Department of Health's strategic stance is offensive, that it can be regarded as a prospector, that managing multiple stakeholders is a challenge and that the competitive advantage of the department is its people. The industry analysis revealed that there is still a long way to go in terms of reliable information systems to support health services. The need for a strategic approach that can respond rapidly in a turbulent environment, and the re-look strategic processes to ensure delivery of quality health care through optimal use of resources were also established by the industry analysis. It was established that a gap exists in the public health sector in respect of the strategic planning processes, and that the private health sector portrays characteristics compatible with the global best practices framework. Modes for the successful transfer of best practices were explored, namely management consulting, commercialisation and management development. Two key success factors for the transfer of best practices were identified, namely the application of the Batho Pele principles, and the recruitment and retention of suitably qualified staff. From a global strategic management perspective, it was clear that there is a definite need for the public sector to change to private sector strategic approaches. A shift from a reactive to a pro-active approach is also advisable. The global trends in public health care demonstrate the importance of political leadership, competent management, business knowledge and skills, IT investment and the use of evidence in health. It is clear that the provision of public health care in South Africa faces similar challenges to those experienced by the five countries researched. The application of the global best practices framework confirmed that there are in fact best practices employed by the private sector that can be transferred to the public sector. Most of the best practices discussed in this research report are not employed in the public sector, or only on a limited scale. The use of these practices should be explored by the public sector. In order to equip managers in the public sector with the necessary strategic management tools, training and development opportunities must include modules on strategic management.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie navorsingsverslag was om 'n stel strategiese benaderings te identifiseer wat van die privaat-gesondheidsektor na die openbare gesondheidsektor oorgedra kan word, om effektiwiteit in die publieke gesondheidsektor te verbeter. Ten einde hierdie doel te bereik, was daar gepoog om geselekteerde beste praktyke wat deur die privaat gesondheidsektor gebruik word te identifiseer, om te bepaal wat die mees effektiewe metodes sou wees om dit oor te dra, en om kritiese suksesfaktore vir die bepaalde beste praktyke te identifiseer. Onderhoude is gevoer met prominente leiers in die gesondheids-industrie in die Wes-Kaap, en hierdie insette was waardevol in die toepassing van die strategiese model op die publieke en privaat-gesondheidsektor in die Wes-Kaap. Op die internasionale front het die publieke sektor reeds strategiese bestuurs-inisiatiewe begin toepas, deur die implementering van die NPM-model. Die implementering van NPM in 'n paar geselekteerde lande was gemik op koste-effektiwiteit, begrotingsverantwoordbaarheid en verbeterde fokus op kliente in dienslewering. Suid Afrika het egter steeds die behoefte aan 'n oorkoepelende, verenigende visie vir publieke- en bestuursontwikkeling om uitvoering te gee aan die ideale van Batho Pele. Die gebruik van uitkomste en die bestuur van intellektuele kapitaal in die gesondheidsindustrie word erken as belangrik vir besluitneming. Die neigings in gesondheidsorg van vyf gekose lande (Verenigde Koninkryke, Verenigde State van Amerika, Griekeland, Kanada en Siovakye) toon dat die uitdagings vir gesondheid ooreenstem (verhoogde vraag na hulpbronne, verouderende bevolking, vinnige ontwikkeling van tegnologie, beter ingeligte pasiente, hoër verwagtinge). Dit word aanvaar dat besigheidsvaardighede en -kennis, sowel as beleggings in inligtingstegnologie effektief aangewend kan word om 'n organisasie van 'n reaktiewe tot 'n pro-aktiewe benadering te beweeg. Bestuurders in die publieke sektor benodig vaardighede wat verskil van bestuurders in die privaatsektor weens verskille tussen die twee sektore; daar is dus 'n behoefte om bestuursopleiding aan te pas. Daar is wel voorbeelde van beste praktyke in die Suid-Afrikaanse regering, maar daar is steeds ruimte vir verbetering. 'n Stabiele politieke ekonomie, politieke leierskap, bestuursvaardighede van politieke ampsdraers en die professionaliteit van staatsamptenare sal deurslaggewend wees in hierdie verband. Die Wit Skrif oor Transformasie van die Openbare Sektor verskaf 'n raamwerk vir die ontwikkeling van strategiee om voortgesette verbeteringe in hoeveelheid, kwaliteit, en gelykheid in die voorsiening van gesondheidsorg te bevorder. Areas vir verbetering sluit in kliente en belanghebbende tevredenheid, prosesse, organisatoriese uitslae, leierskap en bestuur van mense. Die vergelyking van die huidige strategiese benadering in die Wes-Kaap met 'n model wat ontwikkel is vir die publieke sektor toon dat sommige van die stappe verder ontwikkel kan word, naamlik die evaluering van die interne en eksterne omgewing, die ontwikkeling van effektiewe implementeringsprosesse, en die herevaluering van die strategiee en die strategiese beplanningsprooes. Die vergelyking van die huidige strategiese benadering in die Wes-Kaap met die globale beste praktyke raamwerk toon dat daar nie genoeg balans is tussen die posisie- en hulpbrongebaseerde stand nie, dat besluitneming "nogal formeel" is, dat implementering van strategie nie 'n sorgvuldig beplande veranderingsbestuursproses is nie, en dat evaluering van implementering meer behels as slegs finansiele maatstawwe. Dit het ook aan die lig gekom dat die Wes-Kaap departement van gesondheid 'n offensiewe stand het, dat dit as 'n prospektor beskou kan word, en dat die bestuur van veelvuldige belangehebbendes 'n uitdaging is. Die analise van die industrie het getoon dat daar nog baie gedoen kan word in terme van betroubare inligtingstelsels om gesondheidsdienste te ondersteun. Die behoefte aan 'n strategiese benadering om vinnig te reageer in 'n turbulente omgewing, en die her-evaluering van strategiese prosesse om die lewering van kwaliteit gesondheidsdienste deur die optimale gebruik van hulpbronne te verseker, is ook bevind in die analise. Daar is ook bevind dat daar 'n gaping in die publieke gesondheidsektor is wat die strategiese beplanningsproses betref, en dat die privaat-gesondheidsektor kenmerke openbaar wat verenigbaar is met die globale beste praktyke raamwerk. Metodes vir die suksesvolle oordrag van beste praktyke, naamlik bestuurskonsultasie, kommersialisasie en bestuursontwikkeling word beskryf. Twee sleutelsuksesfaktore vir die oordrag van beste praktyke, naamlik die toepassing van die Batho Pele beginsels, en die werwing en behoud van toepaslik gekwalifiseerde personeel is identifiseer. Uit 'n globale strategiese bestuursperspektief was dit duidelik dat daar definitief 'n behoefte is vir die publieke sektor om privaatsektor strategiese benaderings aan te neem. 'n Beweging van 'n reaktiewe tot 'n pro-aktiewe benadering is beslis aan te beveel. Die globale neigings in publieke gesondheidsorg demonstreer die belangrikheid van politieke leierskap, bevoegde bestuur, besigheidskennis en -vaardighede, beleggings in inligtingstegnologie en die gebruik van uitkoms-gebaseerde bewyse. Dit is duidelik dat die voorsiening van publieke gesondheidsorg in Suid-Afrika ooreenstemmende uitdagings het met die vyf lande wat ondersoek is. Die toepassing van die globale beste praktyke raamwerk het bevestig dat daar wel beste praktyke gebruik word deur die privaatsektor, wat oorgedra kan word na die publieke sektor. Meeste van die beste praktyke hier bespreek word nie deur die publieke sektor gebruik nie, of slegs op 'n beperkte basis. Die gebruik van hierdie praktyke moet ondersoek word deur die publieke sektor. Om bestuurders in die publieke sektor toe te rus met die nodige strategiese bestuursvaardighede, moet opleidings- en ontwikkelingsgeleenthede modules insluit oor strategiese bestuur.

This thesis investigates the treatment quality of medical services in the hospital sector from different angles: theory, measures and application in China. This thesis includes three essays. The first essay (Chapter 2) is a critical review about the quality assessment. It shows that the environmental performance index is suitable for measuring treatment quality. The second essay (Chapter 3) introduces alternative approaches to environmental performance indices to solve the infeasibility problem of current measures. Environmental performance indices are measures to evaluate the production of undesirable outputs relative to desirable outputs. My new measures are more accurate using the sequential frontier and various reference vectors. The last essay (Chapter 4) is an empirical case study in the Chinese hospital sector that examines how the degree of government involvement and the degree of market competition affect the performance of treatment quality. Using the environmental performance indices of Essay 2 to evaluate treatment quality, I find that the performance of treatment quality of Chinese hospitals improved during the 2009-2014 period. Therefore, the marketisation of hospitals and government subsidies contribute to this sustained improvement

The theme of the re-aggregation of public organisations has been embraced in the recent public sector reforms of some developed countries such as the UK. The re-aggregation of public organisations may benefit the government in terms of focusing its interests on policy coordination. This is an alternative way of reforming the public sector in order to increase greater outcomes and the performance of public organisations with regard to the achievement of particular policy goals. The reform inevitably affects the targeted public organisations in both tangible and intangible ways. Since organisational culture is an important issue that can affect organisational outcomes and performance, including the achievement of policy goals, the research aims to analyse how organisational cultures have been changed following the integration of Thai public organisations. In this respect, the researchers used an integrated model of Competing Values Framework and human paradox theory to assess cultural changes of integrated public organisations.The research was based on quantitative and qualitative data gathered in field research conducted in Thailand’s four integrated public organisations. It was found that, overall, organisational cultures were altered following the organisational integration. Public employees perceived that the hierarchy culture hardly changed following a reform. However, the clan value has largely reduced, while market and adhocracy values have increased rather significantly within the new organisations. In terms of clan value, the research found that the reduction was a result of power struggles between groups of people who came from different organisational backgrounds. Power-struggling between clans could lead to lower team cooperation, a lack of trust and diminished loyalty to organisations. Public officials also perceived that a significant development of market and adhocracy cultures in organisations could be a result of external forces, as well as the integration reform. With regard to these changes, the development of market values was inimical to human relations within integrated organisations. Together with the existence of a patronage system in the Thai public organisations, leadership also contributed to a paradox of competition and cooperation where members of a dominant clan could be favoured over the others. People who came from minor cultures might feel a disadvantage from being part of the minority and then give minimal cooperation to the integrated organisation. In this respect, teamwork and organisational cohesion could be difficult to build if the tension is unbalanced. It can be concluded that the cultural model of the organisations studied changed and seemed to be more balanced than was previously found. The integration of organisations also has a great influence on cultures and paradoxes in organisations. The dissertation hopes to contribute to the existing literature, with regard to the application of a Competing Values Framework and human paradox theory to the underexplored context of integration reform in the public sector. Findings from the use of this instrument can offer a fresh point of view towards the reality of organisational integration reforms, especially for academics, Thai reformers and public employees themselves.

This research explores the phenomenon of Balanced Scorecards in the context of the public sector in Brunei Darussalam. Balanced Scorecards has become a popular mechanism in Performance Management and Measurement System to date and has been applied in the private and public sectors of many countries. Nevertheless, despite its popularity, little is known about the role of Balanced Scorecards in the context of this present study and this research simply adds value to that body of knowledge. This research is guided by an interpretive methodology and is carried out by using Grounded Theory procedures (Strauss and Corbin, 1990, 1998). Two of Brunei’s government ministries have been purposely chosen to participate in this research project. The substantive grounded theory proposed that discretionary engagement is the core activity underpinning the Balance Scorecards process. Discretionary engagement essentially deals with the process of loose alignment or disconnection involving the higher-level directions, and the respective departmental strategic responses, in relation to the ministerial- level Balanced Scorecards strategic goals. The core phenomenon emerged from the contextual interactions of both external and internal conditioners. The effects of two internal causal conditioners are mediated by the departmental response strategies which then become an essential part of the discretionary engagement process. The impact of this core activity has undermined the initial purpose of the overall Balanced Scorecards strategy development and has, in turn, caused a variety of unintended consequences. The rich insights gained from the present study are primarily filling the research gap in both interpretive research, via Grounded theory procedures, and Balanced Scorecards knowledge in the public sector environment, by conducting the research in unexplored social setting. This study also essentially contributed to the theorising of decoupling of Performance Management and Measurement System in the context of the public sector, in the realm of New Institutional Theory of Sociology.

The last two decades of the twentieth century saw unprecedented change in the Western Australian public sector. Legislative reform, royal commissions and new policies aimed at enhancing public sector accountability, transparency and efficiency have served to highlight the critical role of CEOs in delivering change. Underpinning sustainable organisational change is cultural change, which in-turn is most effectively driven by a transformational leadership style. There has been little research into CEOs' perceptions of their role in leading cultural change in their organisations. This thesis details an exploratory study of WA public sector CEOs. It discovered that CEOs identified with elements characterising the theoretical construct of a transformational leader. They perceived cultural change as the realignment of organisational values and behaviour with mission, government and community expectations, efficiency and effectiveness. CEOs actively deployed a number of strategies to bring about cultural change but were uncertain about the extent which substantive cultural change was taking place within the public sector. Factors they saw as impacting on their capacity to lead such change included the Government's policy agenda, management theory and potentially, peer support. CEOs who participated in the study were predominantly career public servants, male, over the age of fifty, had worked exclusively in the public sector and only led a small number of organisations. They had mixed views about the impact of such demographics on a CEO's capacity to effectively lead cultural change citing situational factors and personal attributes as being significant variables. There were a number of clear findings from the study that have significant, practical implications for the public sector. CEOs would benefit from a government that communicated a stronger sense of vision about the ++
future directions of the sector. CEOs require structured opportunities to enhance their competencies in the leadership of change and incentives to commit to change agendas that may extend well beyond the tenure of their employment contacts. Finally, CEOs cannot effectively transform organisational culture without support from other leaders and strategic plans that take account of emerging demographic shifts in the workforce that will inevitably impact on staff values, behaviours and expectations.

Policy transfer defies the notion of national boundaries in policy making and development. With globalisation processes in the picture, purely state centric policy making models are not the only option. International and domestic policy entrepreneurs have been pivotal in transfer processes. For developing countries, international donor organisations have been instrumental through conditioning assistance to policy reform. Due to the prevailing hierarchical aid regimes, the assumption is that developing countries would implement these policies for the fear of losing the much-needed aid. However, this study argues that the actual implementation of reforms emanating from the global arena is not an automatic process even in the context of coercive transfers, as it is mediated by country specific contextual frameworks. Moreover, even if implemented, the extent to which the transfers attain the promised transformation ends depends on prevailing environmental factors, appropriateness of the reforms, and the implementers' in-depth understanding of the reform instruments. The analysis used the cases of hospital autonomy and district health management decentralisation reforms which are based on the new public management (NPM) paradigm to examine the mechanisms of policy transfer; factors constraining or facilitating the adoption and/or implementation of transferred policies; and the impacts of the policy programmes on service delivery transformation in Malawi. A multilevel framework was used to analyse the dynamics at international, national and application levels. It used a qualitative research strategy. Therefore, data was collected through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, documents, and observations. The study finds that due to Malawi's heavy aid reliance, international donor organisations attempted to introduce the hospital autonomy and district health management decentralisation reforms on its policy agenda through aid conditioning mechanism which has coercive attributes. In the former, USAID as an international institutional entrepreneur was the driving force through its non-project assistance (NPA) aid regime while in the later case it was the European Commission within the institutional framework of the Lome IV Convention. A comparative analysis of the two reforms revealed that a combination of contextual issues of: mode of transfer, policy content and political-economic context, path dependence, parliament-cabinet configuration, bureaucratic politics, pressure from citizens, institutional compatibility and prerequisites, and social economic forces; determined their adoption and subsequent implementation. While hospital autonomy was rejected by cabinet, and not implemented, despite large amounts of donor resources invested in the transfer processes because of these contextual issues, decentralisation was implemented as the environment was favourable, although it met bureaucratic resistance. However, the study found that when implemented, decentralisation faced several contextual challenges including modest levels of application, reproductions, reversals, cultural factors, and unintended consequences so that it has not achieved the intended transformational results. To this end, the findings provide a better understanding of the dynamics of policy transfer in developing countries and work as a springboard for donor organisations to reorient their approach in aiding policy development in developing countries.

This thesis analyses the public sector pay reforms, earnings inequality and the gender wage gap in the UK between 1991 and 1996. The aim is to examine the relationships between the pay reforms and the level of earnings inequality, and between the level of earnings inequality and the gender pay gap. The analysis employs British Household Panel Survey data to distinguish the magnitudes of earning inequality and the gender pay gap in 1991 and 1996, and then utilises decomposition techniques in order to distinguish the determinants of these gaps. These decompositions, developed by Juhn, Murphy and Pierce, and Blau and Kahn, show the magnitude of the effects of the changing characteristics of the workforces in the different sectors and the prices paid for, the returns to, these characteristics, both observed and unobserved. These techniques are employed to reveal the link between the public sector pay reforms, and sub sectors, and also the link between changes in the level of residual earnings inequality and changes in the gender pay gap. Hypothetical earnings distributions, are constructed to show how the level of earning inequality and the gender pay gap would be affected in both the public sector and the economy as a whole, if by 1996 the public sector reforms had caused public and private sector returns to converge. In this way, the degree to which the public sector pay reforms may have affected the level of earnings inequality and the gender pay gap in the public sector is revealed.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Gestão e Política Públicas
A temática patente no presente estudo é definida em diversas partes de modo a obter-se uma visão sobre a REFORMA DA ADMINISTRAÇÃO PÚBLICA EM ANGOLA, especificamente O CASO DO SECTOR DA JUSTIÇA, sobretudo na questão que tem a ver com as alterações legislativas decorridas período entre 1992 e 2012. No capítulo I falámos da Contextualização de ANGOLA e da evolução do Sistema Constitucional. No Capítulo II fez-se uma retrospetiva histórica e aprofundou-se a matéria do Capítulo anterior. No capítulo III falámos em particular do Sistema de Justiça. No Capitulo IV elaborámos um levantamento sobre a abordagem metodológica empregue. A culminar elaborou-se uma conclusão que vai no sentido do ponto de vista de Guilhermina Prata, ex-ministra da Justiça da República de Angola (Luanda, 2012), conforme a citação seguinte: «São conhecidos por todos os diagnósticos feitos às vetustas leis do sistema judicial angolano, desajustadas à nova realidade e as críticas às práticas burocráticas de diversos serviços da justiça em Angola que contribuem para a existência ainda de uma cultura de desconfiança do cidadão».
The patent issue in this study is defined in several parts in order to obtain in detail the progress of PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM, specifically IN THE JUSTICE SECTOR, in their theme of law`s changes during the period between 1992 and 2012. In chapter I we spoke of Context ANGOLA and evolution of the Constitutional System. In Chapter II has become a historical retrospective and deepened the subject of the previous Chapter. In Chapter III we spoke in particular of the Justice System. In Chapter IV produced a survey of the methodological approach employed. The culmination was elaborated a conclusion that goes towards Guilhermina Prata, former Minister of Justice of the Republic of Angola (Luanda, 2012), taking the following quote: "They are known for all diagnoses made at age-old laws of the Angolan judicial system, inadequate to the new reality and criticism of bureaucratic practices of various departments of justice in Angola which contribute to the further existence of a culture of distrust of the citizen."
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Orientador: Maria da Gloria Marcondes Gohn
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação
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Resumo: presente trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a cultura organizacional construída ¿ pelo movimento de mudanças nos procedimentos administrativos, oriundo de reformas implementadas pelo governo brasileiro, especialmente no Estado de São Paulo, pós anos 1990 ¿ na Delegacia Regional Tributária do Vale do Paraíba. A amostra foi composta pelos Agentes Fiscais de Rendas e Técnicos da Administração Tributária pertencentes ao quadro de funcionários da Delegacia Regional Tributária do Vale do Paraíba. Como instrumento de coleta de dados foram utilizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas com os funcionários da Delegacia Regional Tributária do Vale do Paraíba e com os funcionários pertencentes ao Núcleo Estratégico e à Escola Fazendária do Estado de São Paulo, lotados na cidade de São Paulo. Os relatos são apresentados como Histórias de Vida e são analisados com base na metodologia desenvolvida por J. B. Thompson, para análise das formas simbólicas, denominada Hermenêutica de Profundidade (HP). A análise dos relatos confirma a hipótese levantada, ou seja, as reformas levadas a efeito pelo Estado brasileiro não criaram uma nova cultura nas práticas e representações de seus funcionários
Abstract: This research general purpose was to analyze the organizational culture developed by the changes movement in the administrative procedures originated with the reforms implemented by the Brazilian government, especially in São Paulo state, after 1990¿s, concerning the workers activities from ¿Delegacia Regional Tributária do Vale do Paraíba. The sample consisted of Income Fiscal Agents and Tributary Administration Technicians who belong to the staff from ¿Delegacia Regional Tributária do Vale do Paraíba. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with the workers from ¿Delegacia Regional Tributária do Vale do Paraíba¿ and workers from ¿Núcleo Estratégico¿ and ¿Escola Fazendária do Estado de São Paulo, located in São Paulo city. The reports are presented as Life Stories and are analysed based on the methodology developed by J. B. Thompson, for symbolic ways analysis, called Depth Hermeneutics (DP). The reports analysis confirms the hypothesis that the changes made by the Brazilian State did not create a new culture concerning its workers representations and practices
Doutorado
Politicas de Educação e Sistemas Educativos
Doutor em Educação

This thesis provides an attempt to better understand the design and operation of accounting control systems as part of an interrelated control package in an Australian higher education institution subject to an increasingly competitive environment. The study was designed: (1) to understand how and why the accounting control systems changed; (2) to understand how accounting shapes and can be shaped by other institutional processes; and (3) to understand the roles accounting control systems play in higher education institutions. The research aims and objectives lend to a longitudinal case study approach. The data collection consisted of two phases: (1) a pilot study to determine issues for the intensive study and to identify or develop a suitable theoretical framework; and (2) an intensive field study of the subject organisation to develop and explain the observations. Data collection involved a triangulation approach that mixes three sources: interview, observation, and document evidence over a two-year period between 2000 and 2002. The interviewees were selected from different hierarchical levels: Vice-Chancellor, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Deans, Heads of School, general staff, and Education Queensland. This thesis draws on multiple theoretical perspectives to understand the complexities of accounting control systems change. These perspectives are: institutional theory, leadership theories, political and power theories, and resistance theories. Such an emergent research strategy was deemed pertinent to build a more holistic analysis and to offer alternative explanations of the phenomena under scrutiny. The case highlights a number of findings. First, despite the suggestion that universities operate as autonomous institutions, the University studied still succumbed to external pressures, especially from the Federal Government, for a more managerialist approach. In this study Federal Government pressures were the primary source of change identified. Second, the design and operation of the accounting control systems was found to be contingent on the related control systems and vice versa. Third, the accounting control systems played several roles in the organisation. In particular, they provided visibility to external constituents giving the impression that rational techniques had been employed consistent with Government prescriptions. This was the case for both the budget system and the performance management system. In addition to this, from an internal perspective, the budget was used to promote a sense of equity and fairness, at the same time reducing conflict in the organisation. Finally, the budget system was found to be a source of power in the organisation; it determined the level of control used to direct organisational activity. Implications for future research are presented in the concluding section.