Full papers
Performance Management in the Irish Public sector: the failure of implementation (284)
Author/s: Francis McGeough Matthias Beck
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: Strategic planning, performance management, performance targets, New Public Management, capability trap.
Abstract: Ireland introduced NPM type reforms in the 1990s with an emphasis on performance management. Despite official government support over the last 25 years key NPM measures such as strategic plans linking mission statements, objectives, and targets had not been effectively implemented. This paper investigates how Irish central government organisations circumvented demands for greater performance management, using quantitative data gleaned from planning documents and annual reports of a range of public sector organisations over three time periods. We suggest that the observable non implementation of these policies is rooted in an understanding among senior civil servants and politicians of the disadvantages such practices hold for them. We describe this behaviour as an aspect of a broader pattern of little stuck which mirrors, on a smaller scale, the sort of big stuck which development economists have observed for a range of countries that are incapable of performing the tasks asked of them.
Fire and Rescue Operational Effectiveness: The Effect Of Alternative Crewing Patterns (337)
Author/s: Karen Nicola Maher Nicola Bateman Raymond Randall
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: Overall Equipment Effectiveness, public sector, performance measures, emergency logistics
Abstract: This paper assesses the operational effect of changes to crewing patterns in a UK Fire and Rescue Service (FRS). It is set in the context of two main drivers of change in the UK fire service; decreasing demand in the UKFRS and reduced budgets. A novel framework for assessing operational effectiveness was developed within a longitudinal mixed method design that was used to integrate two years of existing operational data with data from interviews with firefighters.
Results show changes in crewing patterns can be implemented without a substantial quantitative impact on overall operational effectiveness but there is the potential for a negative effect wider service capacity. In addition the development of assessment for operational effectiveness in the FRS provides the ability to inform decision making in an authentic way that allows stakeholders to have confidence in the outcomes, whilst being timely and not too complex or costly to evaluate. This approach provides an important contribution to practice in terms of the assessment of public services in a time of challenging reform and demonstrates that alternative crewing patterns to better match demand can be implemented provided careful consideration is paid to wider considerations.
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Leadership, Organizational Learning and Commitment for Police Officers in the USA, Australia and Malta (362)
Author/s: Yvonne Brunetto Matthew J Xerri Ben Farr-Wharton Silvia Nelson Joseph Azzopardi Athur Shriberg
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: leader-member exchange, perceived organisational support, training, affective commitment, comparative research
Abstract: This paper used Social Exchange Theory SET as a theoretical framework to compare the effectiveness of organisational leadership captured by perceived organisational support POS and leadermember exchange LMX and training to support the development of committed police officers in the USA, Australia and Malta. Overall, 1,043 police officers participated in a self report survey 569 in the USA, 193 in Australia, and 262 in Malta. The findings suggest that poor workplace relationships, coupled with poor training experiences negatively impact police commitment. Poor workplace relationships have contributed to somewhat uncommitted police officers protecting Australians, and it is only marginally better in Malta and USA. The findings also suggest that training satisfaction mediated the relationship between LMX, POS and affective commitment for Australian police only partially confirmed for the USA but not for Malta. Improving leadership and organizational learning would positively enhance police officers levels of organisational commitment, and consequently, the service provided.
Assessment of Readiness and Sustainability Factors of Improvement Initiatives: An Empirical Study within Saudi Healthcare Context (533)
Author/s: Salem Alasmari Sharon Williams Nicholas Rich David Rea
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: Readiness, Sustainability, Improvement initiatives, Improvement capability
Abstract: This study aims to assess the improvement capabilities of MOH hospitals by determining the adoption level of readiness and sustainability factors of improvement initiatives. For this purpose, a conceptual framework has been developed from an extensive literature review followed by iterative rounds of Delphi study with a group of international improvement experts. The framework has been operationalised using a self-administered questionnaire that was disseminated to first-line clinical managers working at ten MOH hospitals located in four regions of Saudi Arabia. The cognitive retrospective and present assessment revealed significant low adoption of readiness and sustainability factors within both quality accredited and nonaccredited hospitals. This indicates a low level of improvement capabilities within these hospitals that may lead to failure in implementing their improvement initiatives. At the same time, the results also show positive emotions of clinical managers towards the improvement capabilities of their hospitals. The variation between the emotional and cognitive perceptions warrants attention to the potential psychometric implications that need to be considered when assessing the improvement capabilities.
The Impact of Ownership Type on Citizens Service Engagement (593)
Author/s: Ian Richard Hodgkinson
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: Pricing, Social inclusion, Participation, Stakeholders, Ownership
Abstract: Traditionally some public services have been provided at a reduced cost for greater access opportunities among disadvantaged citizens, but is this the case under service externalisation. And if service accessibility is no longer prioritised by external agents in delivery, does this impact the participation of disadvantaged citizens. These are the research questions addressed by this exploratory study in the context of a public sector sport and leisure service. Secondary objective data is used to capture different ownership types that coexist in service delivery, the cost of access to sport and leisure opportunities provided by these ownership types, and the level of inclusion of specific citizen segments between these ownership types. Multivariate analysis of variance with a post hoc test is used to examine if significant differences exist between ownership types. Policy makers should not attach normative values to ownership types for perceived greater access to sport and leisure opportunities. Contrary to common assumption, private ownership reports the highest levels of inclusion across most citizen segments, including the recreationally disadvantaged, despite their pricing being significantly higher than public ownership. The move to increased service externalisation and away from traditional public ownership is expected to result in certain service priorities such as social welfare being degraded in search of revenue. Yet whether an instrumental or normative driven pricing strategy is implemented, the inclusion of disadvantaged citizens does not appear to be significantly impacted.
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Exploring the Underlying Impediments to Talent Retention in the Public Service: Experience from Nigeria (630)
Author/s: Aminu A Anas Ratnesvary Alahakone Prof Nicholas Perdikis
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: Talent, Retention, Federal, Public, Service, and Nigeria
Abstract: This paper explored the underlying impediments to talent retention in the Federal Civil service in Nigeria. Despite varying commissions of inquiry and fact finding teams set up to attract and retain talents in the Federal Civil service as a measure of improving performance towards effective and efficient service delivery in nation building, there are challenges to retaining talent which consequently result in increased turnover costs, inability to preserve and transfer knowledge and lack of succession planning. Existing literature provided the basis for the conceptual and theoretical clarifications of the problem statement. The study adopted a mixed method. The study purposively selected 149 samples for the study. Factor analysis, ANOVA and content and thematic analysis were deploy for both quantitative and qualitative analysis of data respectively with the aid of SPSSv25 and Nvivo 10. The study found among others that political interference, low pay and reward, lack of talent management policy framework are impediments to talent retention in the Nigerian Civil Service. The study concludes talent retention in public service is majorly impeded by poor remuneration, lack of policies for talent management and unconducive working environment. Further, lack of patriotism; poor civil rules and guides, poor leadership, poor fringe benefits, and political interference significantly impede talent retention in the Nigerian Civil service. The study recommends decisive policy framework to focus on managing talent in the Federal Service as it is critical to aid the implementation of government policies and programmes, enhance public service performance, and above all improve employees retention. The study makes a theoretical contribution through the validation of the cost benefit theory.
How UK Local Authorities Control Their Subsidiaries: A Conundrum in Corporate and Public Governance (661)
Author/s: Simbarashe Muzarurwi Donald Nordberg Hany Elbardan
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: Local government service delivery, public governance, subsidiary companies, new public management, corporatization
Abstract: The pursuit of greater efficiency in a time of austerity in the past decade has led UK local governments to deliver local services in a new way, using subsidiary companies, many of them taking the form of conventional, non profit enterprises, rather than outsourcing to private enterprises. The practice has energised service innovation by motivating these new corporate managers to act in entrepreneurial ways alien to the ethos of the civil servants whose work they superseded. It is called corporatisation, rather than privatisation. However, the rapid spread of the practice has outpaced both our theoretical appreciation of the issues and raised a series of practical concerns about the potential for conflicts of interest and the loss of control. This paper examines the small but growing literature about this phenomenon. Using a combination of theory from corporate governance and ethics, as well as documents from the public policy arena, it develops an agenda for research that will explore the varieties of approach to both the value creation and the governance of this new development.
A Never Ending Story? Expertise, Crisis Incubation And The Brexit Decisions. (711)
Author/s: Denis Fischbacher-Smith
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: crisis incubation, calculative practices, expertise, ideological choice, Brexit
Abstract: The notion of a crisis is a much mis-used term by both politicians and the media and the aim of this paper is to explore the ramifications of a crisis within the context of the Brexit decision and its relationships to elements of crisis management theory. The decision of the UK electorate to leave the EU has prompted some commentators to warn of an impending crisis, especially in terms of the economy and the impact that the referendum decision will have on future inward investment to the UK. What superficial definitions of crisis fail to capture are the phase transitions that occur between the various systems states that constitute the crisis event and the role that those who manage the process can play in the generation of the crisis. The paper begins by considering the role that evidence and expertise play in the assessment of future systems states and the implications that high degrees of uncertainty have for those processes. It then examines how determinations of risk can be shaped by the ideological perspectives of powerful interests within society. It does so by using an analytical framework developed by Fischer (1980). The paper concludes by setting out the role played by ideological drivers within the Brexit decisions that have traction with theories around the incubation of future crisis states. The paper hopes to stimulate future discussion about the relationships between Brexit, the potential for crisis, and the processes by which policy makers deal with uncertainty and emergence.
An Integrated Conceptual Framework of Collective Climate Action: Examining Local Government Accountability and the Socio-Psychological Processes of Citizen Participation (735)
Author/s: Brett Lee Quayle Elisabeth Wilson-Evered Nick Sciulli
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: N/A
Abstract: Climate change response is a social contract that requires collective action, which can be enhanced through human agency. There is a need in management research to examine how institutions at various levels are accountable for climate change while considering the social and behavioural contexts when engaging with the community. This paper seeks to conceptualise collective actions on local climate change response through an integrated model of local government accountability and human agency through psychological adaptation. Empirical evidence was systematically appraised to support the development of a framework and theoretical propositions intended for future research are presented. The conceptual model emphasises the important role of citizen participation in community climate change response at both the institutional and community levels.
Coproduction of Public Leadership: the Engagement of Mayors with Citizens, Managers and Politicians in Local Governance (811)
Author/s: Alessandro Sancino Giacomo Carli Davide Giacomini Michela Pagani
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: N/A
Abstract: This paper studies how mayors engage with citizens, managers and politicians to coproduce public leadership in the pursuit of several local governance processes: agenda setting; institutional decision making; public services design and delivery. We draw on an extensive survey with answers from 1,119 Italian directly elected Mayors. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and then clustering, we shed a light on the existence of four different clusters of engagement who coproduce different types of public leadership: political managerialism oriented leadership; multi-actor and participatory leadership; centralised leadership; conventional leadership. Our findings show that centralised leadership is the most popular cluster among the four; female mayors tend to enact a more multi-actor and participatory type of leadership; leadership in rural areas is more conventional. Interestingly, some mayors prefer to engage with politicians for issues related to public service design and delivery rather than with managers. We discuss how our findings advance public administration theory, specifically the literatures on public leadership and on the relationship between politics and administration.
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Quality in Care; A study of Factors Impacting the Performance of Care Homes in an Evolving Environment. (864)
Author/s: John McCormack Tim Burnett
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: Public Management, Care Home, Performance, Competition, Management
Abstract: Developing a better model for the delivery of care is one of the greatest challenges currently facing industrialised countries. An aging society, and the assertion that the best care is provided closer to home has driven significant changes in the delivery model over the past two decades; emphasising the role of the private sector and the existence of choice and competition as a driver of quality in the sector. Despite these changes to the way services are provided, there exists limited research into the impact that management practices in care homes can have on quality of care.
Adapting the investigative framework used in Bloom and Van-Reenen (2007), this paper studies a set of twenty-one management practices in a broad sample of care homes from across the United Kingdom, their determinants, and the relationship between such practices and care-quality outcomes.
Headline results suggest that care quality is associated with good management, but crucially that such an effect is not equally sensitive to all management practices, with some being more relevant than others - this result is confirmed through the use of a factor analysis approach. Meanwhile, analysis of the determinants of such management practices indicates a broad range of factors which are associated with good management.
A headline result of this paper concerns the role of competitive pressure faced by care homes; indicating that, although it is indirectly associated with good care quality owing to its positive association with management practices, this positive association is outweighed by a direct negative association with quality of care offered by homes.
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Modernisation and Cultural and Historical Influences: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan (985)
Author/s: Ashique Jhatial Nelarine Cornelius James Wallace
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: Modernisation, employment practices, society, colonialism, Pakistan
Abstract: Scholars have called for a better understanding of public sector management from non-Western perspectives (e.g., Hood and Peters, 2004). Indeed, Budhwar and Debrah (2009) have long called for the need to theorise historical, religious, socio-cultural and ethnic influences on employment management and their consequences for society. This study investigates the impact of modernisation policies on management practices in Pakistan. An empirical study was undertaken, based on semi-structured interviews with key informants in public, private, privatised (former government-owned companies) and multinational organisations. Our findings support our proposals that colonial and postcolonial practices and occupational elites, established during the period of British colonial rule, impact management policies and practices, albeit differentially, across sectors, with the influence strongest in the public sector. The implications of the findings for employment management and modernisation in Pakistan, are discussed.
Post-New Public Management in Public Healthcare: Recycled, Hybridized, Paradigmatic? (1042)
Author/s: Erik Masao Eriksson Andreas Hellstrom Thomas Andersson Christian Gadolin
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: Healthcare, New Public Management, Post-NPM
Abstract: New Public Management NPM is increasingly used pejoratively and claimed unfit for the complex challenges in contemporary societies, for example aging population structures and, as a result, increased number of cancer patients. Consequently, post NPM gains increased attention. Drawing from a longitudinal case in Swedish cancer care, the present article seeks to pinpoint post NPM in public healthcare practice. It is revealed that some post NPM aspects are recycled by combining traditional public administration pre-NPM and NPM aspects, the formers re professionalisation is combined with the latters foci on performance measures, decentralisation, and accountability. Other post NPM aspects are hybridizing typical NPM aspects with new post NPM aspects, for instance, customer focus is taken further to include the patients active participation in co designing services, and standardization is reinterpreted to concern meeting places rather than efficiency. Yet other aspects are replacing NPM shortcomings: for instance, trust is replacing control, and a systems approach is replacing the intra organisational focus.
Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride: Organisational Decoupling, Institutional Isomorphism, and Quality Culture in Pursuit for International Accreditation (1076)
Author/s: Nofie Iman
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: decoupling, accreditation, quality, business education, Indonesia
Abstract: For much of the past decade, international accreditation process has been widely adopted in top schools in developed countries. Little is presently known about the process by which the pursuit for international accreditation happens in emerging countries. This paper attempts to shed light on this issue through an in-depth field study of the Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia. Using an institutional approach, this study shows how institutions coevolved with organisational forms. It then led to the expansion of bureaucratic forms, which differed from the original logic of institutional theory. Thus, I argue that schools in developing countries are facing external pressure to be the best, but has not yet been the best due to its peculiar characteristics and bureaucratic structures.
Analysing The Development of an Efficient NHS (1089)
Author/s: Twanale Akilah Kallon
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: N/A
Abstract: To analyse the development and implementation of efficiency in the NHS, by analysing the success of Lord Carters efficiency savings, paying added attention to centralised procurement and how change can be implemented successfully within the NHS. With the current state of the NHS and employees feeling disenchanted along with pressures to perform to higher levels with reduced resources it has lead to a crisis within the NHS. Morale is low and strikes have occurred within the NHS for the first time in its history. It is therefore important for this research to identify ways to successfully implement change within the NHS with particular regards towards efficiency savings. A qualitative method was used with semi structured interviews along with the secondary data obtained via freedom of information requests and asking the participants of the study in order to triangulate the data. Three trusts formed the case studies with one being more depth including participants from Strategic procurement managers Chief procurement officers with hospital operational staff doctors, in addition to community staff GPs and Psychologist. Progress has been made in the implementation of the Carter challenge, there is still a lot to do, however, there are two more years to achieve it. The efficiency savings have impacted Staff, patients and to a lesser extent businesses, however it is not clear if this is due to the latest Lord Carter efficiency savings. Doctors feel extremely demoralised therefore I recommend a HR strategy should be deployed to manage the biggest resource in the NHS.
From E to Open Government in delivering European Union funds to beneficiaries the case of Greece (1100)
Author/s: Evangelia Fragouli Ivana Despoina Doulgerof
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: N/A
Abstract: The aim of the current research is to examine how and to what extent existing egovernment services in planning, managing and delivering EU funds in Greece, can evolve into new open government models. It also aims to examine how to effectively engage citizens and potential beneficiaries to participate in processes, such as policy making or projects and funds allocation within the framework of the Partnership Agreement 2014 to 2020. The importance of the subject lies within identifying ways to promote government efficiency through open government initiatives motivating citizens participation, interaction and collaboration, especially during times of distrust in national public and in European Union institutions. The study comprises of a combination of both primary and secondary data collection. To this end, it includes a literature review to define egovernment, open government and means to deliver eservices. It showcases policies, the legal framework and available platforms and trends in both Greece and Europe. The review offers a perspective on actual e and open government efforts in the EU funds management. In this context, the research further presents a study carried out and the responses acquired among public bodies managing authorities and potential beneficiaries public entities and citizens with regard to their awareness, perceptions, concerns and attitudes on existing and possible future open government models. Findings show that respondents recognize the benefits of egovernment services, yet they encounter difficulties using them, mostly due to the platforms technocratic language. They are uncertain however on the impact open data have had on the EU funds management and demonstrate reservations on trust and security issues, including interaction and integration of their proposals in policy and decision making processes. The study concludes with proposals on future academic research and policy applications in order to further advance the openness of governance in the EU funds.
Specialist Commissioning in the NHS - Future Provision of Oral Surgery (1170)
Author/s: Max {Mahesh} Chauhan Ioannis Christodoulou
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: N/A
Abstract: This paper explores the future provision of a specialist commissioned NHS service. In this case oral surgery is considered, will this service be provided by community, private or acute hospital providers, The advancement of oral surgery has been on a backdrop of NHS cost improvement savings along with a demand calling for high quality care Delivering Public Value. Given these environmental changes, this preliminary investigation canvasses opinion on where the future oral surgery service may be located. Findings from this case may be translated to other services and applicable at a national level. The paper provides views that may improve the value chain of stakeholders. For this, a qualitative methodology is chosen. The research employs a number of semi structured interviews to canvass opinion and obtain primary data from key opinion leaders KOL. The content of the interviews are analyzed and the individual themes are identified followed by a narrative discussion.
Paradoxical Leadership in Public Sector Organisations: Its role in Fostering Employee Resilience (1201)
Author/s: Geoff Plimmer Esme Franken Sanna Malinen
Track: Public Management and Governance
Paper Type: Full Papers
Keywords: Public administration, leadership, paradox, perceived organisational support, employee resilience Summary at a glance: Paradox, leadership and resilience
Abstract: Government organisations, and their employees, need to be resilient to manage challenges such as resource constraints, rising demands, and the inherent tensions and contradictions that underlie much public sector work, often stemming from the need to balance different stakeholder interests. Employee resilience, defined here as the capacity to continuously adapt and flourish, even in the face of challenge, is an individual level construct that also benefits organisations. Despite its benefits, little is known about how to foster it. Paradoxical leadership (PL) - the ability to balance competing structural and relational demands over time - may be one means of supporting employee resilience, as it corresponds to the tensions and paradoxes that underlie much public-sector work. PL can help manage tensions in public administration (PA) work, and to employees with both the skills and motivation to behave resiliently. Using a quantitative survey design (n=233) in a large New Zealand public sector organisation, our findings show that the effect of PL facets on employee resilience are partially mediated by perceptions of organisational support, and that some facets of PL, such as treating people both individually and uniformly, are more salient than others. Findings indicate that paradoxical leadership enhances resilience in PA.