ALBERT

Notizen: Although the public sector has become a major employer of management consultants, no research has previously been undertaken to investigate the purchase of management consultants in the public sector context. Outlines an investigation into the purchase of management consultants by government departments, focusing specifically on the selection decision. The UK and Australia were examined to ensure that the findings were not merely local phenomena. Research focused on the public sector decision makers' guiding procurement principle, value for money, and the criteria and information sources both used and desired to assist the purchase decision. It was found that there was widespread and relatively uniform understanding of the procurement principle, value for money, although there appeared to be a lack of connection between this principle and procurement practice. Public sector decision makers also believed that they had adequate although not satisfactory access to information upon which to base their decisions while, significantly, it was revealed that these decision makers did not believe the selection decision for management consultants was, overall, difficult. Concludes that the implications of this research are twofold. First, it highlights the issues of "corporate memory" and information management, and their impact upon informed decision making, and secondly it questions the applicability of private sector research to public sector practice.

Notizen: Competition is now widely used as the means of choosing the providers of essential public services in the USA and the UK. Many different approaches are found in the USA and there are useful lessons for the UK. With particular reference to mental health and substance abuse services, describes the effects of using competitive tendering on users, providers, purchasers and citizens and examines the problems of specification, transaction costs, the use of consultants, supply, the level playing field, trust, innovation, local accessibility and accountability. Ends with discussion of co-operation and collaboration and the emergence of monopolies and integrated delivery systems in the USA and concludes by finding politics and political decision making of overriding importance.

Notizen: Reviews the past role of regional health authorities in the the British NHS and gives details of the recent changes to regions associated with the functions and responsibilities paper. Goes on to give details of the research project in which we are currently involved and reports on our interim findings (as of April 1996). In a final discussion section, reflects on those findings in terms of the evolving problems of influence and control in a national service operating in a devolved quasi-market.

Notizen: While the state dependency thesis seems widely accepted among students of the German non-profit sector, there is surprisingly little research that has systematically explored its empirical base and conceptual validity. Attempts to remedy this situation and offers an initial empirical examination of this thesis. Examines the extent and pattern of state funding of the German non-profit sector and develops three propositions, each adopting a different explanatory focus, which are then analysed with the help of data taken from a sample survey of West German non-profit organizations.

Notizen: The process of public policy making involves different levels of government administrative organs and other interests affected by it. One of the essential aspects of the implementation process of public policies is that of intergovernmental relations as, in many cases, the central government's policies are put into practice, not only by territorial government agencies, but also by regional and local government. Undoubtedly the particularity of the autonomous Basque Community's administrative system, in which intergovernmental relations are the key to its functioning, make it deal to observe and also to draw conclusions about the working relationships between different levels of the administration and other organizations of a private nature which can then be applied to the solution of programmes and social policies. In this way one attempts to detect possible institutional, political and administrative obstacles which hold back the development of coordination and cooperation and may finally determine the failure or inefficiency of public action.

Notizen: In recent years the "protection of the public" has risen to the top of the law and order agenda, fostered by a populist Home Secretary. Not only has the effect been to raise the stakes in the sentencing process but also to shape the working and managerial agendas of criminal justice agencies. This article explores the potential of two agencies working to the same agenda of public protection, the police and probation service. It asks who will gain most from joint working and what might be lost in the process. It explores the difficulty of setting and achieving targets in an area fraught with so much uncertainty but etched into the public consciousness as needing action.

Notizen: Performance measurement and programme evaluation have been promoted as a central mechanism of recent Australian public sector (APS) reform. Outlines recent reforms in the APS and identifies links between evaluation and performance information. Identifies the major issue of credibility, when performance information is produced internally and not verified externally. A lack of performance systems and standards can create difficulties for both internal and external programme evaluations. Concludes that: reforms introduced to evaluate performance in the APS were promoted with high expectations which have only partially been fulfilled; the present system is internally focused with a narrow role for evaluation and a lack of credibility because of the independence issue; the present systems associated with the performance approach and its evaluation are not providing enough information to deal with the tough questions of the effectiveness of government programmes. Proposes that a middle ground between internal and external programme evaluation strategies be adopted. This allows the strengths of internal evaluation to be retained. At the same time, it allows the possibility of improving programme evaluation by adding external independent verification and an extended effectiveness role.

Notizen: States that it appears that all civil service reform programmes in developing countries are predicated on the idea of cost savings which is an acid test of project success. Notes that yet a wider notion of reform is also prevalent, concerning governance, which involves the ability of citizens to influence government's provision of infrastructure and services. As if to give credence to the importance of service provision, the concept of institutional economics has come to the fore. This requires an explicit quantification of the range of public goods and services being generated by the institutions being reformed. All three perspectives are underpinned by the institutional development model. This focuses in range from value and sustainability to exploration and functional analysis, as an organizational starting point. Suggests that the institutional development base is the normative anchor for all substantive interventions in government reform.

Notizen: Explores the implications for gender equality of a decentralized organizational structure in which the key element is devolved responsibility to line managers. Asks whether this is an opportunity to integrate the importance of equality and the valuing of gender differences into organizational cultures or does it represent perfect conditions for opting out of addressing gender issues at work. A public sector organization is used as a case study and proposes a model for devolvement of gender management and suggests strategies - training communication, review of processes.

Notizen: Over the past decade, there has been growing international interest in utilising private contractors to improve efficiency and reduce costs of road maintenance. In developing countries the existing private contracting sector is often too weak to take on this work. Accordingly projects to foster private sector involvement have been designed and implemented through international technical assistance, with a varying emphasis on financial, training and other support in order to achieve a workable market. This paper discusses case studies from five different countries which vary widely, in terms of social, cultural, contractual and organizational practices. While there are many different aspects to a construction development programme the paper discusses the issues of international assistance, training programmes, equipment provision, contracts and payments, programme objectives, contractor selection. Lessons are drawn from previous project experience in order to propose guidelines for future contractor development projects.

Notizen: This article examines contracting-out in practice in public health and water services in Ghana. Drawing on in-depth interviews and discussions with knowledgeable officials, complemented by documentary analysis and secondary sources, the article provides insights into some of the institutional constraints and capacity issues that policy-makers and implementers need to be aware of in seeking to introduce and implement contracting-out policies in a developing country context. Though contracting-out in Ghana's health and water sectors has so far been used in the provision of support services, attempts to broaden its application to include the direct provision of core services raise a number of capacity questions related to regulatory frameworks, enforcement and monitoring mechanisms, development of management information systems and skills for contract management. The capacity and willingness of the private sector to take on direct provision of public services are also crucial.

Notizen: The focus of the paper is on the relationship between General Practitioners (GPs) and central government. This relationship dates from the introduction of national health insurance in the UK. From the outset it had an impact on GPs' medical role, their professional status and income. The structure created in 1911 meant that GPs operated as franchisees and, notwithstanding Labour's policy objective of creating a salaried service, this role continued, effectively unchanged, after the creation of the National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. General Practice was also the poor relation in contrast to hospital medicine, a feature intensified by the priorities of the NHS. These forces meant that GPs had a dual role: that of clinician and gatekeeper to specialist hospital services, a role in which they exercised substantial clinical freedom: and running a small business, a feature which was exaggerated by the absence of grant aid to improve premises prior to the Family Doctor Charter of 1965. This structural relationship has been progressively transformed by changes in the 1980s and 1990s. On the one hand the emphasis on cost control has seen central government attempting to combine a financial with a clinical gatekeeping role. The crucial change in this respect is the creation of GP fundholding which, in turn, could be seen to have implications for the subordinate status of GPs within the medical profession. However, this has been combined with trends to greater measures of control over GPs. Of central importance in this respect were the changes introduced by the 1990 GP contract. The contract involved an attempt to substantially reduce clinical autonomy by building in much more detailed contractual duties with respect for example, to health promotion activities. This was combined with the use of financial incentives to reach, for example, immunization targets. Control over clinical autonomy has also involved constraints over prescribing and the shift from Family Practitioner Committees to Family Health Service Authorities. The rationale for this shift is the move from an administrative to a managerial body, acting as the agent of central government in enforcing the contract and imposing financial norms. GPs are thus to be made managerially accountable. The paper analyses the place of general practitioners in central government's approach to health strategy and examines the tensions generated by the combination of conferring new powers on GPs and increasing controls over them. These tensions are related to current disputes over out-of-hours working and attempts by GPs to redefine a "core of service" approach to their job. The ambiguities of reliance on professionals combined with the desire to exert greater controls is traced in the recent policy statement by the Secretary of State Primary Care: The Future (1996). The paper thus aims to contribute to the critical discussion of the impact of central government managerialist initiative on key professional groups in the welfare state.

Notizen: Describes the reorganization of social services in Munich, Germany, from 1992 to 1996. A model of co-operation between different providers of public services was introduced. Its use was confirmed in 1997.

Notizen: The UK public sector has had a long-standing policy commitment to equal opportunities, alongside limited access to managerial positions for women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. In place of equal opportunities, a new paradigm, managing diversity, originating in the USA, has been proposed. This paper examines five areas of difference between equal opportunities and managing diversity: an internal or external driving force; an operational or strategic focus; the perception of difference; the focus of action; and finally, the epistemological basis. The paper discusses the application of this model to the public sector, discussing power and equity, the relevance of the "business case" argument, the focus on customer responsiveness, and a possible explanation for the 1980s backlash. There are case studies of an NHS Trust and a local authority. The paper discusses necessary attitudinal changes and skills to implement the managing diversity paradigm in the public sector.

Notizen: This paper deals with the management of complex environmental turbulence and organizational change in English local government. Research has been conducted to assess the perceptions of the strategic élites, chief executives and chief officers, to these change processes. However, no work had been undertaken to assess the extent of support and ownership amongst non-élite actors, the middle managers and street-level operatives, in English local authorities towards these élite change strategies. This paper identifies that different management styles do impact upon the roles of these non-élites in a number of distinct ways. It provides evidence that one of the management styles is more appropriate than the others identified in the paper in terms of effecting successful change management.

Notizen: Are quality initiatives in the public sector part of a political project or can they be a legitimate goal? These contrasting, but not necessarily incompatible, interpretations will be examined in this paper, first, by reviewing approaches to quality and their application in the public sector in general, and second, with reference to a case study based on assessment of the Government Purchasing Agency (Northern Ireland) against the European Quality Model (EQM) criteria. Through this, the paper concludes that quality improvement can be a legitimate goal and political project at the same time; that private sector quality models need to be adapted and integrated with other methods to fit public sector organisations; and finally, that their application to a commercially oriented departmental agency (whose customers are largely internal rather than the public at large) is easier than to other public sector organisations in more contentious, politically charged areas.

Notizen: The impact of strategic procurement is driven by the contribution of the function to overall corporate performance and its interface relationships. The actual impact on corporate performance in the UK government sector has been neither empirically substantiated nor rigorously examined. This paper provides empirical evidence that much progress has been achieved in strategic procurement in government and suggests areas for continuous improvement.

Notizen: A key concern in debates about local government structure has centred around the competing claims for democracy, usually seen to require small units based on recognised communities of interest, and those of administrative efficiency or the instrumental requirements of the centre, usually seen to require larger units which can encompass socio-geographical change and the functional requirements of large-scale welfare provision. Britain provides perhaps the best example of this issue being settled in favour of the latter claim with structure being designed to reflect changing patterns of economic interaction between people and the technical requirements of service delivery. Although the various recommended changes in structure have recognised the importance of a sense of community to local government the dominant considerations have been those of economic rationality and the scale required for the delivery of services. Thus local government structure has been determined by functional requirement, with the economic welfare of communities being equated to total welfare. The adoption of a postmodernist stance however, provides the opportunity to reintroduce the concept of spiritual community and for claiming that the maximisation of economic welfare is not necessarily the same as the maximisation of total welfare. Postmodernist arguments are used in this paper to suggest local government structures which contain units of varying sizes. To define community in terms of welfare maximisation in this way would allow the combination of economic, social, physiological and psychological welfare. It is argued that such a definition would help the development of a local government structure which is not purely instrumental but which also promotes ownership and involvement. This approach is equally applicable not only where an instrumental attitude has prevailed, but also allows for the potential to re-define "traditional" community bases for Local Government.

Notizen: This paper examines the operating environment of non-metropolitan urban water authorities in Victoria, Australia. It analyses the policy framework within which the industry operates and demonstrates that this framework generates inconsistencies between central agency driven economic outcomes and local politician driven social efficacy outcomes. The paper poses a solution based in a new leadership mindset of entrepreneurially driven core business centres providing co-ordination rather than direct services and the adoption of an approach recognising discontinuous change rather than the parameters founding "new managerialism" driven by Australian public sector reform agencies. The author asserts that these businesses will be required to paradigm shift - to move from service providers to service managers, to develop networks and strategic alliances with service providers and to embrace mindsets beyond the structured "new managerialism" of the 1980s. The paper draws on studies concerning network organisations, loosely coupled clusters and quality, customer focused solutions. It analyses the need for the implementation of the mindset underpinning these organisations into the sector.

Notizen: This article sets out the main conclusions of a research project into how UK local authorities are managing within limited resources (MLR). Frameworks are developed to aid authorities to plan their approaches to MLR and to situate what they have already done and what they plan to do within a wider portfolio of tactics and strategies. An evaluation is made of how well local government is learning its way through to getting "more from less" and of what local authority support agencies need to do to help authorities to accelerate their learning. Finally, the authors argue that existing learning systems like benchmarking and quality management, while developing rapidly in local government, need further, significant refinement if the costs and benefits of resource management strategies are to be systematically evaluated.

Notizen: This paper establishes the link between institutional development (ID) and process consulting. It does so by recognising ID's concern for client exploration and learning and process consulting's focus on client ownership and increased capacity. In that context, the paper outlines the modalities for generating organisation and efficiency reforms in the Tanzanian civil service. It highlights the central role of middle-ranking civil servants in the twin process of learning and the building of capacity. It looks at the resulting impact of the organisation and efficiency reforms. Finally, it reviews the process consulting experience in terms of the often elusive states of growing ownership and commitment to the reform process. Both are prerequisites for sustainability; an enduring challenge in the developing world.

Notizen: In many countries state ownership of public utilities is being abandoned in favour of private ownership with state regulation. To prevent monopoly abuse, regulatory structures are being created for the telecommunications, gas, electricity and water and sewerage sectors. From 1984 the UK privatised its major utilities and introduced a form of regulation that is proving to be a model for other countries. This paper looks at the performance of UK privatised utilities and the role of regulation in improving performance. It also considers the important subject of regulatory governance. The paper concludes that regulatory governance depends on the institutional context of regulation and that one country's regulatory system cannot be successfully transferred to another country with a very different set of institutional constraints without appropriate adaptation.

Notizen: The White Paper on Local Government in South Africa signals the intention to establish a performance management system for the sector. This paper suggests that current approaches to performance management, as used, for instance, in the UK public sector, would need substantial revision to be supportive of effective municipal development in South Africa. There is a need for low cost systems that fit the capabilities of the administrations that exist in many municipalities. A focus upon how municipalities manage their governance role would in the end be the best way of ensuring that liveable communities as well as improved services are created in the towns and rural areas of South Africa. The paper provides some ideas on the design of such a performance management or enhancement system. Its principal features would be that it is: based on mutual organisational learning and problem solving; using simple, indirect, low cost information gathering and dissemination techniques that are within the capabilities of existing leaders and officials; focused on processes in priority to outcomes.

Notizen: This paper begins by describing the trends and drivers of privatisation, as well as the benefits derived from privatisation programmes. It then considers the ownership debate, i.e. whether superior performance of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) can be achieved under state ownership. While empirical work shows that private ownership is associated with superior performance, the experience of Singapore is a clear example to the contrary. Singapore Telecom is described as a case where state ownership combined with several contextual factors has led to sustained world-class performance, in spite of global trends such as deregulation and technological advancement which create turmoil and reduce profitability in the telecommunications industry. These contextual factors include a clear corporate strategy combined with an efficiency focus by Singapore Telecom, a long-term national policy of infrastructure improvement as a strategic resource for national economic development, and a robust economic and regulatory environment. The implications of the Singapore experience are then discussed.

Notizen: This paper analyzes how public administration may improve the service it offers to citizens through a suitable organizational culture; for this purpose, it starts by studying the specific features of the culture of public administration. In this respect, it analyzes the existing taxonomies in public administration, the role of culture in these agencies and how a diagnosis of such culture is made. Then, it describes the problems of bureaucratic culture, typical of many public agencies, and briefly describes the features of a public service, citizen-oriented culture. Finally, it proposes a specific methodology for the modification of a bureaucratic culture into a culture based on the notion of serving the citizen, together with an analysis of when modification is necessary.

Notizen: Explores how globalisation has affected Australian public policy in general and higher education policy in particular. Considers the impacts of globalisation on Australian universities, and examines the ways in which university leaders invoke the rhetoric of globalisation to set the foundations for institutional change, pursue the repositioning of their institutions, and to develop a new discourse for the sector. The effects of globalisation on Australia and its universities are seen to be significant, and to impact in both direct and indirect ways.

Notizen: There is a a great deal of literature on performance measurement and accountability in government. Governments around the world have invested large amounts to develop performance measurement systems, the results of which are mediocre at best. There is also a growing recognition that financial performance measures alone measure only limited aspects of an organisation's performance. To improve performance measurement systems and accountability to different stakeholders, non-financial indicators have been developed for the for-profit sector. Prior research in the local government sector in the state of Victoria, Australia, showed low levels of accountability and very little performance measurement taking place. However, significant changes have been imposed on the sector, enhancing local and central accountability, making it more business-like, and focussing on the need to measure performance. This research studied the extent to which performance measurement systems are currently being used in practice in Victorian local government, the factors which lead to the use of performance measurement and the extent of non-financial indicators. The results revealed a substantial increase in the level of use of performance measurement in the sector, related to increased emphasis on accountability and organisational changes imposed on the sector by the state government. The performance of both people and programs is now being measured. Although there is an emphasis on financial and budgetary measures for financial accountability, the use of non-financial measures in determining outcome accountability is increasing. Customer service and quality are two of the areas in which non-financial performance measures are being developed.

Notizen: The 1990s have seen wide-ranging culture changes throughout the public sector, introducing a business focus and a customer-led approach, resulting in the recognition that organisations must invest training and development in their greatest asset - their staff. In this context, there is a growing trend to use universities as external providers of training and development, reflecting the need for continuous professional development, for flexibility and for continuous adaptability to change. Explores a spectrum of partnership arrangements between universities and public sector organisations, and discusses the mutually beneficial outcomes which can result, including the development of continuous learning, culture change, organisational development initiatives and appropriate restructuring. Presents three case studies to illustrate these developmental partnerships and concludes by offering significant learning points to those public sector organisations planning similar partnerships to facilitate management development.

Notizen: Contemporary debates over the future direction of retirement pensions policy have been dominated by a polemic over the scope of, and the future balance between, the respective roles of public and private sectors in the management and delivery of benefit "entitlements". This debate has negatively judged the institutional capacity of the state sustainably to supply adequate national retirement provision. This development is viewed as problematic as it is contentious in that it seeks to abandon lessons learned from the long, albeit currently underestimated, historical pedigree of public-private partnership in institutional pensions provision. Against the ascendancy of World Bank-driven attitudes regarding the limitations of "public"' pensions provision, it is argued that due recognition be given to the ongoing capacity of state sectors to contribute positively to the management and delivery of old-age pensions. Argues further that the social welfare-driven imperatives which led states initially to become increasingly more involved in national pensions provision remain no less salient today and for the future, and are particularly salient for developing economies with poorly developed private financial sectors.

Notizen: The impact of strategic procurement is driven by the contribution of the function to overall corporate performance and its interface relationships. The actual impact on corporate performance in the UK further and higher education sectors has been neither empirically substantiated nor rigorously examined. This research was carried out in UK fiscal year 1998/1999 with 60 UK further education (FE) and 40 UK higher education (HE) institutions participating. This paper provides empirical evidence that progress has been achieved in strategic procurement in FE and HE and suggests areas for continuous improvement.

Notizen: The paper is centred through an examination of a short piece of recorded talk between managers and shop stewards within a UK National Health Service (NHS) Trust, relating to the manner in which one of the shop stewards attempted to get the managers to accede to a request he made for changes to the wording of a section of the Trust's disciplinary procedure. In examining this piece of talk, the paper first contextualises the Trust through the decentralisation process of the early 1990s. The decentralisation process clearly did not introduce formal negotiation into NHS units, but instead increased the scope of formal negotiation encounters. The paper argues that there was an increased importance for persuasion as the need to gain others' assent on industrial relations matters at the local level was significantly increased. The paper analyses the dynamics of one particular negotiating encounter between two managers and two shop stewards. In analysing this, the paper focuses through rhetoric. In coming through a rhetorical framework, the paper highlights the need for managers, when negotiating, to be alert to the implied elements of the arguments of those across the negotiating table. Concludes by also understanding the rhetoric of the encounter in the light of the marketisation of the NHS during the 1990s.

Notizen: The literature on managerial competences has not sufficiently addressed the value contents of competences and the generic features of public managers. This article presents a model of five competence areas: task competence, professional competence in substantive policy field, professional competence in administration, political competence and ethical competence. Each competence area includes both value and instrumental competences. Relatively permanent value competences are understood as commitments. The assumptions of new public management question not only the instrumental competences but also the commitments of traditional public service. The efficacy of human resource development is limited in learning new commitments. Apart from structural reforms that speed up the process, the friction in the change of commitments is seen as slow cultural change in many public organisations. This is expressed by transitional tensions in task commitment, professional commitment, political commitment, and ethical commitment of public managers.

Notizen: The UK Government's' "modernisation" programme has impacted and will continue to impact on the Law courts and judiciary procedures. Explores these impacts in seven areas: judicial independence; quality of service; cost-effectiveness; democracy; efficiency; speed; and government as the driver.

Notizen: Human resource management in the public sector does not take place in a vacuum. It is carried out within a regulatory framework of laws, rules and regulations. Recent times have witnessed commendable efforts by many African countries to embrace democratic governance with its trappings of constitutionalism, which requires that the behaviour of politicians, public officials, public institutions and citizens should conform to the strictures of the Constitution of the land. This study examines the Fourth Republican Constitution of Ghana and identifies constitutional provisions or prescriptions which have some relevance for human resource management in the Ghanaian public sector. Constitutional provisions identified in this regard deal with the following issues: human resource management policy, laws, rules and regulations, recruitment and selection, equal employment opportunity, employee rights and welfare, compensation and benefits, state of the economy, human resource development, work environment, Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), decentralisation and ethical issues. The paper discusses the relevance and implications of issues raised and concludes that the Fourth Republican Constitution contains important provisions which make for sound human resource management in the Ghanaian public sector.

Notizen: Reports the dilemma faced by Australian universities in their international strategic alliance effort. While the 22 respondent universities espouse such motives as altruism, scholarship, and expansion into new markets as the reasons for entering into international strategic alliances, the true motives appear to be at variance with the former. Arguably, until the contradictions between the espoused and true positions are resolved, Australian universities may not realise the full potential of their international collaborative activities. Suggestions for resolving the discrepancy are offered.

Notizen: Crosby suggested that "quality is free". The purpose of this paper is to discuss the argument that, although it is not free, it can reduce costs. The UK's Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) for people with disabilities is used to illustrate this. The evolution of quality management systems implemented by BEL is examined. These include Charter Mark, Service First, Investors in People, the Business Excellence Framework and the EFQM Excellence Model. A comparative analysis is undertaken between the findings of the authors and those of other academic writers. Conclusions are drawn as to the appropriateness of these quality initiatives in facilitating continuous improvement at minimal cost.

Notizen: The phenomenal spread of privatization initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa since the 1980s created the impression that public infrastructure divestiture is a shortcut to economic growth and development. This has proven not to be the case due to the lack of enabling institutional prerequisites. It appears the case that while much faith is put in the potency of the free market, little thought is generally given to the institutions required for markets to perform their function. Accordingly, this paper discusses some of the embedded institutional failures that have made free-market development policies a mirage in many sub-Saharan African countries. Principally among these are corruption and government failures. To check these, it makes more sense to re-direct attention to the sources of failure rather than the free market ideological thrust.

Notizen: The linkage between strategic planning and daily activities within an organization is often obscure. Perhaps as a consequence, many well-developed strategic plans fail to be implemented, and required goals and objectives are not attained. Strategy deployment processes link strategic plans with implementation activities. Instead of investing more time and energy in improving planning or implementation processes, an organization should first examine the deployment processes used to link strategic plans with action - "deployment processes" may be the missing link in the strategic management system. This paper studies the application of formal strategy deployment processes within three US federal agencies. The strategic management literature provides the basis for the deployment processes analyzed in this study. Following the analysis of each individual case, an overall assessment of existing supporting and restraining forces that should be considered when working to improve deployment processes is discussed.

Notizen: The new South Africa came into being in 1994. The new government inherited the national public service and those of a variety of former provinces and homelands that had to be amalgamated to form a national unified public service. Although this task was accomplished rapidly, the resulting public service was very large, and exhibited many features of traditional bureaucracy, including hierarchical structures, limited automation and IT applications, low levels of training, a poor work culture, language and cultural barriers, and an overall orientation towards inputs and processes rather than service delivery and results. Within the first three years of the new order, substantial effort was devoted to reforming the bureaucracy. New public service legislation and regulations were introduced, new and powerful central personnel agencies were created, English became the language of administration, and substantial authority was devolved to departments and provinces. Despite these reforms, progress in improving results in terms of service delivery, especially to previously disadvantaged communities, was mixed. Towards the end of the 1990s increased attention was paid to means of improving service delivery. Three important initiatives in this regard were Batho Pele (1997), the adoption of eight nationwide principles for better service delivery; a public private partnerships initiative (2000) and the promotion of alternative service delivery. While alternative service delivery initiatives are largely at pilot stage, they offer a promising alternative both to traditional bureaucracy (with its cost and poor service delivery focus) and to a narrow version of privatisation (which could involve heavy social costs, job losses, and regressive redistribution of wealth). This paper reviews these developments and outlines some promising alternative service delivery pilot projects.

Notizen: Explores the record of alternative urban service delivery in selected world areas and assesses the prospects for new designs intended to implement specific programs. It is a continuation of a project which in 1999 culminated in a book entitled Bureaucracy and the Alternatives in World Perspective by Keith M. Henderson and O.P. Dwivedi, and seeks to apply the ideas in that volume to urban areas. The basic concern is how education, health, housing, transportation, utilities, micro-credit, and other goods and services may be provided to urban residents in the "Third world" without exclusively governmental agents and agencies. Shows examples of successful past and existing programs and presents a classification framework. Indicates the requirements for coordination, accountability, transparency, "scaling up", managerial expertise, and "outsider status".

Notizen: Examines the background to privatisation in the UK and explores current practice. The transition to change over two decades has brought about more demanding and value-conscious customers along with an information technology revolution. Corporate culture is seen as a litmus test, shaping changes in performance and unifying the social dimensions of an organisation. Privatisation has seen changes emerge in some companies more dominantly than in others. Uses this background as a building block to articulate detailed empirical research that has been conducted within three formerly nationalised companies: The National Remote Sensing Centre, Royal Ordnance Environmental and The Stationery Office. Concludes that pre-privatisation, notions of quality of service, lower prices and working for the good of consumers was not achieved, as profits were not seen as a commercial requirement. Of the companies researched, two seemed to be strongly influenced by the culture of their parent company. Two companies that have adapted a marketing culture seem to have fared better than the company with a strong financial culture. All three companies experienced difficulty in breaking free from an inbred philosophy of production orientation.

Notizen: Examines recent reform initiatives in the PRC compared with advanced industralised democracies, searching for common attributes in order to establish, if possible, global patterns in such administrative reform initiatives. Reviewing these issues, admits that administrative reform, along with all other matters, is decided by the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party. Details the history of Chinese administrative reform since the early 1950s. Asks, in conclusion, whether reform initiatives in the PRC are similar to those elsewhere. The PRC clearly differs in this from the principles of the New Public Management (NPM). However, with global economic competition and the increasingly free dissemination of ideas the PRC may find it hard to resist reform. Even so, administrative reforms borrowed from elsewhere will invariably be influenced by Chinese ethnocentric characteristics.

Notizen: It is estimated that civilian employees comprise 30 per cent of the police workforce in England and Wales, yet their working experiences have largely been ignored in the management literature. This article aims to help fill this void by analysing the antecedents of organisational commitment of 369 civilian support employees and how they compare with those of 1,242 police officers working in a large English police force. The study reveals that how individuals feel they are managed and supported has a strong bearing on organisation commitment, and that this is true for two very different groups of employees - police officers and civilian support staff. The implications for HRM development are discussed. The article concludes by suggesting that the findings could be extrapolated to a wide range of other public sector organisations, since they provide insights into managerial practices that have an impact on commitment regardless of job type.

Notizen: Development and management of ports is a major objective of economic development in many countries. As ownership and operations of seaports have traditionally been in the public sector, restructuring has often been slow and frustrating. Public-private partnership has been offered by many as a solution. This paper reviews a project at Pusan port, South Korea where close public-private partnership was the key to success. Relying on the experience gained from the Pusan port, a process model has been offered that many other ports in developing countries can use to achieve successful public-private collaboration.

Notizen: Proposes to determine the relative importance of factors on which people rely in choosing a place to live and their assessments of a local area in the Southeastern USA. Presents recommendations to aid local authorities in improving quality of life in the region. Concludes that this should be done in partnership with non-governmental entities such as Parent/Teacher Associations or trustees of local art councils for effective changes to be made.

Notizen: The new Labour Government elected in the UK in 1997 has a declared commitment to the modernisation of local government and has proposed radical change to the way councils plan and deliver local services through best value in service delivery. Best value emphasises the role of sound management as a means of delivering service improvements. Best value in Scotland has a core requirement for every council to develop an effective performance management and planning (PMP) framework. The Accounts Commission and Audit Scotland have developed a detailed audit approach to assess and support each council's progress in developing and improving its PMP framework. The audit specified sets out the key features of a best value service grouped under ten criteria, requires each council service being audited to critically assess their current performance, and requires each service to implement performance improvements that are necessary to deliver best value services. The key findings from the first audit are presented together with an evaluation of councils' reactions to the audit and an assessment of the contribution of the audit to continuous improvement in Scottish local government.

Notizen: As a consequence of changes in the steering of the public sector in Norway during the 1990s, evaluation has, as in other European countries, become a standard element in the governing of the sector. However, evaluation procedures also seem to be an important instrument in the implementation of public sector reforms in this country. Provides an "inside" report on how evaluation may function in this respect. By analysing the role evaluation played in the implementation of an educational reform in Norway, discusses to what extent this way of organising implementation processes represent a change in public sector steering.

Notizen: Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana are plural societies in the Commonwealth Caribbean in which two major ethnic groups, the Africans and the East Indians, vie for state control and power. Since the early pre-independence period in both these countries, electoral outcomes have reflected ethnic cleavages. However, this kind of ethnic divisiveness has not been confined to the political environment alone, but to a large extent has permeated the public sectors of these countries as well. This article will accordingly examine the extent to which allegations of ethnic imbalances are a reality in the public sectors of these two Caribbean countries, and the mechanisms that have been introduced to resolve ethnic imbalances in these countries. Finally it seeks to assess the relative successes or failures of these mechanisms.

Notizen: Reflects on the past decade of change in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Notes the varying degrees of successful reform and aid/technical assistance for the region provided by international organizations. Examines efforts to provide technical assistance through the application of best practice to local governments. Develops a case study, using Hungary as a setting, of a local government deputy mayor and simulates a technical assistance best practice transfer. Describes also an alternative home-grown best practice project at the local level. Lessons learned from these projects show that historical and contextual conditions have a very large impact on capacity building efforts in countries of transition; political values have to be developed and an organizational infrastructure to express them is essential. Ultimately, the knowledge and skills of senior managers must be cultivated, to assist them in nurturing the social capital needed for them to govern effectively.

Notizen: The widespread adoption and implementation of costing systems in the UK National Health Service (NHS) has been an important part of the response to the structural changes brought about in the health sector over the last 20 years. One key feature of costing systems in this context is to provide a guide by which efficiency and effectiveness may be measured against a background of decision making in a public service environment where the public service provision ethos is important. Re-assesses the role of costing systems in the NHS in the light of research on rules and habit formation in the decision-making process. In developing these points further argues that bureaucracies provide an important linkage in marshalling implicit habitual behaviour to multiple-organisational goals. In so doing, bureaucratic structures represent part of the mechanism which facilitates effective organisational performance. Such performance is made efficient through the use of accounting systems which measure performance and provide signals for resource allocation via quasi-costs (or the internal quasi-transfer prices), although the extent of the usefulness of such signals is questioned. In particular, argues that there is no connection between the market, such as it is, and intra-hospital resource allocations, at least not in a direct manner, nor in any manner in the short term.

Notizen: Delivering best value for money is accepted as the primary UK public sector purchasing objective and indeed a statutory duty for many in sub-central government. An investigation of a purchasing unit was carried out which aimed to establish how it sought to achieve best value for money. The investigation reflected a spectrum of five roles that purchasing have taken as "process" experts to assist in the achievement of best value for money, namely, researchers, detectives, teachers, doctors, and architects. The conclusion is that these roles represent a model that can be applied, regardless of sector, by professional purchasing managers as they seek to contribute, in a "hard core/soft core" purchasing structure, to the strategic objectives of their organisation. The paper should be of specific interest to those in the public sector undergoing structural or best value reviews of their purchasing function, seeking to compare and challenge existing approaches.

Notizen: Although politicians are desperate for innovation, few are brave enough to talk about how difficult it is to shift people away from predictable patterns of behaving and from conforming cultures. There is a tendency in national government to think radical and act conservative. The Labour government, in its modernisation policies, appears to be genuine in its desire for social inclusion and real change, but the thinking about how to persuade people to engage with this process is ill thought out. The conventional modes of delivering legislation, programmes and partnerships too often ignore the need to involve staff and communities. Modernisation and change are dependent on new forms of people-management. The report draws on MBS Change Centre audit and consultancy within local partnerships including the Health Action Zones and on research funded by the ESRC Management Innovation Programme. Concludes that the improvement process will only succeed if government's incentives and managerial frameworks sustain people-relationships in communities and in public sector organisations. Concludes also that there is a lack of leadership and "know-how" in the public sector about how to achieve transformation and that policy makers need to focus on managing the transformation process.

Notizen: Purpose - To consider the extent to which regimes of performance measurement in the public sector are fit for purpose, and the likely outcomes for public services and public sector workers of such performance measurement systems. Design/methodology/approach - The article considers four key issues: the context and content of performance measurement in the public sector, the specific examples of health care and higher education, the limitations of performance measurement systems, and the likely outcomes of performance measurement systems. Findings - Current systems of performance measurement in the public sector are unlikely to have a significant influence on improving services. The most likely outcomes of these systems is further commodification of services and deprofessionalisation of public sector workers. Originality/value - The article builds on established literature and offers a systematic metaphor-driven critique of performance management in the public sector, and discusses the implications of this.

Notizen: Purpose - To provide a critique of the strategies that the UK Government employed at that time of the closure of the countryside during the foot and mouth disease (FMD) and their subsequent effects upon leisure and tourism providers. The work evaluates the sector's responses to the FMD crisis and considers their significance and influence in relation to the strategies deployed. Possible alternative strategies are presented which both government and industries can consider. Design/methodology/approach - The complete sector of tourism and leisure providers within the market town of Keswick was surveyed twice over a two-year period. The initial survey was undertaken in 2002 and the second survey occurred in 2004. Keswick is situated in the northern sector of the English Lake District National Park, which is situated within the county of Cumbria. This area was seen to be the most affected by the foot and mouth crisis both in terms of severity and duration of infection. In addition to the survey conducted, key personnel from government agencies and voluntary organisations were also interviewed using a semi-structured approach. Additional information was accessed from a FMD discussion web site. Findings - The impact of the foot and mouth crisis devastated the rural tourism and leisure industries. The governmental policy utilized was myopic in its outlook and ineffectual in that it concentrated mainly upon the consequences to, and the needs of, the farming industry. The current proposals acknowledge to some degree that the town's tourism and leisure industry are a valued part of the rural economy, but the authors question if these are effective enough. Originality/value - The originality of the study has enabled the evaluation of the strategies put in place immediately after the FMD crisis. It not only critically appraises proposed policies (i.e. limited closure of the countryside in future) but uniquely proposes a number of alternatives.

Notizen: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to consider the impact of a major initiative (the National Competition Policy) and pieces of legislation (the Local Government Act and the Local Government Finance Standards) on the internal practices of a large Australian local authority. Design/methodology/approach - A theoretical framework is developed using new public management (NPM) and neo-institutional theory literatures to explain the findings. A case study approach was applied to collect the data for the research. Findings - The findings reveal that the National Competition Policy 1993, the Local Government Act 1993 and the Local Government Finance Standards 1994 mainly have brought about significant changes to the organisation's internal management control processes, such as financial reporting, budgeting and performance appraisal. The changes brought in appeared to be coincidentally similar to NPM ideals. Furthermore, senior managers (such as the chief executive and divisional heads) played a major role in implementing new accounting technologies (activity-based costing and the balanced scorecard type performance measurement system). Research limitations/implications - Future research on public sector financial management from the outset of organisational contexts could considerably further the stock of knowledge in this area, especially given the rapid changes occurring within the public sector throughout the world. Future research may wish to extend this study by assessing how external legitimating functions become internal reality, the perceptions of reality of the organisational members, and how these perceptions change over time. Practical implications - The findings reported provide evidence to further our understanding of how the introduction of private sector styles of organisational practices into large areas of the public sector brought about significant changes in the demand for "new" financial management practices. Originality/value - The findings reported on in this paper will open a new path of research that may increase our understanding about the factors that play a role in the design of management and accounting systems in a public sector context. Further, they will help policy makers and public sector managers in their day-to-day decision-making.

Notizen: Purpose - The objectives of the study are to identify and understand the environment, relationships and barriers for the key stakeholders in changing their workplace environment, and to negotiate and create an action plan to address the effectiveness issues in relation to rolling out CANDO across the Trust. Design/methodology/approach - This study has adopted a multi-method approach using action learning/research, questionnaire, participant observation, and reflexive analysis. Findings - The results indicate that there are individual, group and system improvements, but to achieve these the training in CANDO has to be action based as the "knowing-by-doing" (not just the theory) has to be experienced, learnt, shared and disseminated to other teams. Research limitations/implications - As this is a pilot study, the findings are at a preliminary stage and therefore limit the generalisibility of the results. However, there has been an opportunity to test methodological instruments that will enable us to understand the overall effectiveness of CANDO as a mechanism of change within the health setting. The implications of this research are discussed at three levels: individual, department and strategic. Originality/value - Undertaking research in the health sector is a break from the Lean Enterprise Research Centre's roots in manufacturing, distribution and retail/service sectors. The importance of improving quality and performance are key to all sectors and we wish to contribute to understanding the transferability of good practice and organisational change. This is the first time CANDO implementation has been reported in a health setting as a means of change within the NHS.

Notizen: Purpose - The purpose of this article is to explore the interrelationship between workplace stress, coping and resiliency and their influence on employee health and productivity. Design/methodology/approach - This general review includes an examination of selected theoretical models within the areas of stress, coping and resiliency. In addition, a conceptual framework is presented which emphasizes the role that personality characteristics and coping strategies play in impacting employees' overall health and productivity within the workplace. Findings - Through this general review, there is a recognition of the importance of both personality characteristics and coping strategies and their associated influence on employee health and productivity - specifically within Civil Service work settings. Practical implications - Managers, executives and human resource management practitioners are presented with proposed strategies as a means of examining coping, resiliency and workplace stress within Civil Service work environments. Originality/value - This article offers readers further insights into understanding why some employees are more or less resilient, given the same stressful situation. In today's Civil Service work environment, continually shifting performance expectations and media/public scrutiny are just two of the features common to working for government agencies. Therefore, the issue of understanding and building resilient Civil Service workforces that are able to handle the multitude of unique demands and constraints placed on them seems not only intriguing, but necessary.

Notizen: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse the structural effects of public sector catering tender procedures and suggests improvements that would benefit clients, users and small catering firms. The essential problem is that current tender procedures have the effect of limiting clients' knowledge of possible quality and cost configurations. Thus clients are unable to reveal their preferences in tender specifications, and so bidders bid low prices and low quality. Design/methodology/approach - The approach is an analysis of current procedures using concepts from market structure and asymmetric information. Findings - The main finding is that low prices and low quality are the norm because information relating to price is more complete than information relating to quality, and because not all interested parties participate in the decision making. In addition, present procedures probably favour larger firms. Research limitations/implications - Cases of appropriate quality are not available for observation precisely because of the "lemons" problem: appropriate and better quality are driven from the market because of the nature of existing structures and procedures. Practical implications - The implications of the research are that procedures should be changed in order to provide incentives for both sides to release information regarding possible configurations and preferences. The most important recommendation is that the bidding process should be undertaken in two rounds. The first round would reveal possible quality/cost configurations while the second would determine the price, as in a standard sealed bid auction. Originality/value - The paper explores a problem that is of practical importance using economic theory often regarded as rather abstract.

Notizen: Purpose - This study aims to test the belief that work-family practices could have a negative influence in the workplace for non-users of these practices. Design/methodology/approach - A quantitative approach was undertaken, where users and non-users of work-family practices reported on a number of job-related attitudes. Organisational justice theories suggest that employees will report lower attitudes if they feel that they are missing out on some benefit or practice. T-tests were used to compare differences in these attitudes between users and non-users. Findings - There were no significant differences in any of the examined attitudes between users and non-users of the organisations' work-family practices. Research limitations/implications - Implications are that firms should not necessarily decline the adoption of work-family practices if they fear a "backlash" from their employees who would not use work-family practices. The authors suggest that the social good these practices may provide might remove any negative feelings towards the organisation by employees who cannot use these practices. Practical implications - Practical implications for public sector organisations might be offering work-family practices that target the widest array of employees. Further, future research into work-family backlash should compare actual users of multiple practices as explored here. Originality/value - This is one of the few papers to explore users and non-users of multiple work-family practices. It confirms previous research into work-family backlash, indicating that the non-users are not adversely affected by work-family practices that they do not or cannot use. However, unlike other studies, this paper explored the use of multiple work-family practices, providing stronger and more realistic findings for managers to have confidence in their work-family practices.

Notizen: Purpose - Sets out to present current dynamics of public management reform in Austria, a country that is characterized by institutional governance features (federal structure, legalistic Rechtsstaat tradition) often described as an obstacle to management-oriented reforms. The paper's focus lies in the reception of management ideas and concepts by public sector executives within this special national context and in differences between federal and state administration. Design/methodology/approach - Presents results of a recent questionnaire-based executive survey (sample size: 385). Apart from non-parametric correlation analyses, investigates level differences (federal vs state) by using an independent samples Mann-Whitney U rank sum test. Findings - Highlights the importance of the national institutional background for understanding public management changes. Finds considerable support for reform initiatives despite some scepticism and resistance towards management knowledge and instruments. Results confirm that executives in a legalistic Rechtsstaat system are not per se opposed to management-driven reforms. Regarding the reception of public management reforms, at various government levels, differences between federal and state level are less pronounced than expected. Originality/value - Addresses the lack of empirical research regarding the reception of management ideas in legalistic Rechtsstaat systems by presenting data from a country which has hardly been covered by international public management literature so far. This study also compares the reception at federal and state administration to look for level variations of management reform dynamics.

Notizen: Headlines on all levels of government speak of the pending crisisin public sector services: expect to pay more for less. Budget deficit,once only a concern of the federal level, is a worry in state capitalsand municipalities. Additionally, an ever-looming question at this timeof economic reality is: are we getting all the government for which weare paying? This discussion of new developments in performance measuresof public programmes covers the causes for the increased concern forpublic sector productivity. Gives examples of performance measuresattempted on the state and local levels. Also analyses a method tocompute efficient versus inefficient performance. Lastly, in an effortto introduce competition and force performance measurement, there is amove to convert many services to private sector contractors. Even publicschool children would be allowed to choose between public or privateinstruction if the "choice" initiative gains steam andbecomes law. The key to this challenge to the public sector ismeaningful measurements of performance and taking appropriate action.

Notizen: Examines the principles which underlie the costing of policeservices when these services do not fit the rubric of being purely"public" goods. In such instances, it is necessary todetermine a unit cost for charging a user fee. As the unit price(marginal cost) of the goods is charged, either across the agency or tooutsiders who purchase the service, efficiency in terms of appropriateallocation of resources is enhanced. Also, the police board is then in abetter position to argue for funding for those services which contain agreater degree of "publicness", since the benefits of theseremaining police services clearly have some element of indivisibility,and thus benefit society rather than individuals.

Notizen: Addresses the general issue of the effective management of publicrelief programmes. Proposes that in the search for an appropriateguiding framework, public administrators could overcome some of theperennial problems stemming from lack of management continuity betweenad hoc programmes by adopting the so-called "privatizationparadigm". Develops a comparative analysis based on the Bureau ofIndian Affairs' (USA) recent effort to assist American Indians start andmaintain viable business ventures. Argues that the substantialnon-securing management costs of business relief programmes could bereduced if administrators applied management models provided byprivatization theory to the direction of their programmes.

Notizen: There is great emphasis in local authorities for strategydevelopment to reflect the characteristics and views of a localpopulace. Initiating research which effectively supports strategydevelopment is problematic, as the gaps in strategists' knowledge of apopulace are not self-evident. Examines the problems of initiatingeffective research which can support strategy development, and thebarriers existing in local authorities which can prevent the successfuldevelopment of research. Presents a format for a research brief that isseen as a means to develop negotiations between the strategist and theresearcher. The brief is seen as a means to test the nature of skills inproblem diagnosis and data interpretation of the researcher, in additionto their skills of measurement. It is a test of what the researcher canbring to the demanding tasks of strategy development.

Notizen: Attempts a critical evaluation of the theoretical foundation of thelocal government system in Nigeria. Re-assesses Nigeria's idea ofthree-tier federalism both as a theory of federal organization and as apolicy reform. Reviews the different definitions of "tieredfederalism" and attempts to synthesize them into a coherent idea.Shows that three-tier federalism is impossible to define in a consistentmanner. Proceeds from this to argue that its so-called successes are incentralizing the Nigerian state rather than in furthering the idea oflocal governance.

Notizen: Outlines some of the dramatic changes which have had an impact onpublic sector organizations in the United Kingdom, and the likelyeffects for employees. Argues that enhanced demands which haveaccompanied these changes create a cumulative spiral of pressures fororganization members, rendering them susceptible to the adverse effectsof work stress. This view is supported by a case study which outlinesthe experiences of one large public sector organization subject to thechange process. Consequently, it is essential that the issue of stressand its management features increasingly on the agenda of efficient andeffective public sector managers. Presents a practical, all-encompassingaction model, total stress management, as one approach to enableorganizations and their members to cope effectively with the stress ofchange in the public sector.

Notizen: Attempts to answer the question "Does politics make anydifference?" by comparing the total spending of local authoritiesunder three types of political control over seven years. Considersstatistical data for a seven-year period in the light of party-politicalmanifesto undertakings over spending on services. ANOVA and t-test statistical analyses are applied to data on a sample of 15 localauthorities, divided equally into Labour, Conservative and"hung" councils, to assess differences between their percapita spending. The results support the view that political ideologiesplay a significant role in local authority spending decisions.

Notizen: Examines the impact of compulsory competitive tendering on themanagement of UK local government. The changing managerial skillsrequired under conditions of competition are considered alongsideoverall changes in the role of local government. Drawing directly fromthe authors' recent research study, the "three Cs" of localauthority management are identified: the client-side, the contractor,and the corporate manager. Considers the characteristics of each inturn, before a general review of the implications for a"new" public management. Concludes that there has been afundamental diversification in the needs of (and skills required of)local authority managers in a competitive environment. This may bemoving UK local government either towards greater efficiency or towardsa fragmentation of its central activities.

Notizen: Examines recent reforms of the UK's National Health Service (NHS),and explores the pressures for change in the pursuit of an efficient NHSand the conflicts which this causes in an organization which was basedon the aim of equity. In particular, addresses the "falserevolutions" of managerial change introduced after the GriffithsReport (1983) and the accounting changes introduced in the wake of theGriffiths proposals. Evidence shows that these intended revolutions werelimited in impact. The result of these failures has been theintroduction of the "real revolution" - the internalmarket in health care. This is a radical change in both the NHSmanagement arrangements and in service delivery, with the division ofthe NHS into purchasers (health authorities and GP fund holders) andproviders (hospital and community services, whether provided by private,voluntary or state-owned facilities).

Notizen: The effectiveness of the reforms of the health sector in NewZealand will depend on the development of new accounting and informationsystems. The reforms have been rapid and significant. Increasingattention is being given to the development of costing and budgeting asa part of the reform process. Focuses on the organizational strategiesin implementing such reforms. Although the progress has beensignificant, problems of implementation and change of organizationalculture remain.

Notizen: Despite the rhetoric of new public sector management, criminaljustice agencies in England and Wales are still driven by a politicalagenda. Initiatives, such as the setting of targets and increasedefficiency objectives, can be over-ridden not only by reversals ofgovernment policy but by clashing agency policies. The absence of aclear management strategy for all criminal justice agencies renders themliable to sudden change in a sensitive political climate. Analyses caseexamples discussing cautioning of offenders and the granting of bail todemonstrate the "knock-on" effects of policy change in onearea for a whole series of agencies further along the line. Concludesthat moral panics and political pressure are greater predictors ofmanagerial change than sound business sense.

Notizen: Briefly outlines recent developments in the commercialization ofthe public sector at the federal level of government in Australia. Aftersix years of planning and implementation, debate continues over whetherthe dramatic changes in practice are achieving the proclaimed ends ofenhanced efficiency, economy and effectiveness or are merely subvertingequity and the once considered essential traditions associated withWestminster-derived public administration. The theoretical, ideologicaland epistemological problems associated with economics being the drivingintellectual academic discipline for commercialization are confronted.Within the context of full privatization in Australia yet to occur,organizational development, change and management education and trainingassociated with the commercialization of public agencies are addressedin detail. Discusses a human resource development agenda and amanagement educator's cognitive map for facilitating change processesassociated with widespread drives for commercialization. Externaltendering for management education and management training curriculumemerges as a novel development in Australian public managements' searchfor quantifiable behavioural outcomes.

Notizen: An important surge in recent years has emerged in qualitymanagement initiatives in the public sector. Numerous techniques andtools are available to organizations looking to implement change throughquality management. However, some organizations are unable to makeinformed choices using these options. Describes quality process analysis(QPA), a technique which enables the establishment of a comprehensivesystem for managing business processes. Seeks to answer the question"Is there a management strategy to strengthen the delivery ofservices in the public sector?" Presents a solution to strengthenthe capacity of management to implement quality strategies to achieveorganizational objectives and finally discusses the benefits of usingthe QPA approach.

Notizen: Recent increases in the use of planning consultants by localauthorities prompted an interest in the decision-making process. Initialinterviews uncovered some negative attitudes towards consultants;however, a follow-up mail survey of 240 chief planning officers revealedthat these attitudes were not wide-spread. Attitudes were significantlymore favourable when decision makers had commissioned similar workpreviously, were currently using consultants, had moved through thestages of the purchasing process and had been involved with consultantsa number of times before. Favourableness of attitudes also increased inproportion to the cumulative expenditure on consultants over the pastthree years and as the size of the planning department increased.

Notizen: Biotechnology involves the use of modern biological procedures toenhance economically desirable traits exhibited by plants, animals andmicro-organisms. These new technologies are currently reaching the stageof commercial application in agriculture. Developing countries will facea major challenge over the next decade as they attempt to developpolicies and administrative structures which will allow the successfulintroduction of agrobiotechnologies while minimizing the socio-economicdisruptions which may accompany rapid technological change. Attempts toprovide public sector managers with an operational planning frameworkwhich will allow them to anticipate the impacts of biotechnologies inadvance of their introduction and, hence, take steps to mitigate thecosts associated with their introduction.

Notizen: Offers a general historical analysis of the development of publicservice provision in Britain. First discusses the slow emergence ofindustrialism in Britain, then discusses the development of socialservices in this context. Suggests that there are three significantstages in development: local public administration, 1870-1950; centralWelfare State, 1950-1980; and decentralized provision, 1980-1995. Goeson to argue that, in order to understand this sequence, and especiallythe emergence of centralized public provision, it is necessary todiscuss modes of delivery of services within these institutionalframeworks of provision. Examines different stages in patterns oforganization for delivery of services which overlap with stages ofprovision. Suggests that the recent re-emergence of decentralizedprovision has a certain inevitability, but that it is important thatthis takes an appropriate form. Identifies this form as a participativemanagement

Notizen: Considers five topics in an attempt to review the concept ofinstitutional development (ID): institutions; development; institutionaldevelopment; projects; technical assistance. Institutions are seen asfundamental to the development process. Development is seen as apolitical process. ID is seen as exploratory rather than prescriptive.Projects are seen as mechanistic. Technical assistance is moving towardsa more exploratory and participatory mode of project formulation andimplementation. Seeks to offer a flavour of the considerable and rapidlygrowing literature on the subject of ID in order to establish someparameters to the concept. These parameters are captured by the scope ofthe process, modes of intervention and factors for success, distilledfrom an original literature search. Presents the resulting conceptualframework.

Notizen: The strategy literature focuses on the firm or industry as the unitof analysis. In the game of "jockeying for positions"through "a process of creative destruction", companiescreate imperfections (dominating suppliers and customers create entrancebarriers) to achieve results above average. Very seldom is government,as an entity with its own strategies, discussed in this "wargame" between companies. States that government (i.e. central andlocal) is the unit of analysis with a defined goal of maximizing utilityfor the inhabitants through the services rendered, i.e. internalefficiency and external effectiveness. To finance the services offeredto the public and various organizations, government must developstrategies which will maximize both short- and long-term tax revenueswithout reducing utility for the users. Consequently government succeedswhen companies are competitive. Discusses strategic factors which areunder the control of government in order to attract MNCs' globalinvestments by improving the industry structure and therebycompetitiveness; to create a win-win situation for both companies(domestic and MNC-subsidiaries) and government in order to securelong-term domestic growth (performance).

Notizen: Presents the first survey evidence of privatization of localauthority services in the Republic of Ireland. The survey focuses on thecase of refuse collection. Describes findings in the context of economictheories underpinning such policies which have relevance to countriesadopting pragmatic and gradual approaches to public-service reform.Unlike the pioneers of privatization such as the UK, this form ofprivatization has evolved in Ireland without any governmental edicts orpolicy guidelines. The consequence of such a development is theevolution of an array of privatization arrangements which have beengeneralized into three basic models. While it is too soon to assess theresults of the transformation in terms of cost savings and effects onservice quality, the survey primarily highlights the deficiencies inprocedures adhered to. This is attributed to the absence of a generalprivatization policy. Despite the inadequacy of procedures alreadyinitiated, argues that, because reform is at a preliminary stage, newdevelopments in public-service management can contribute positively to amuch needed public-service reform policy.

Notizen: It seems that the phenomenon of red tape may best be understood asa problem of individual perceptions rather than one of identifyingobjective measures for it. The result of these individual perceptions isthat one person's red tape may be another's sacred protection. In aquest to obtain a better understanding of red tape it has been linked,for the purposes of this article, to phenomena such as regulations,public accountability, procedures and forms. From this stems the beliefthat red tape is the result of both the internal and externalenvironment of the public sector. The total elimination of red tapeseems to be an impossible task, but a series of well-organized effortsto reduce red tape may prove to be worthwhile. A change inspecifications here, a relaxation of restrictions there, an improvementin a single procedure, or a simplification of a single form may make adifference.

Notizen: If we try to look at the future of public sector management in theUK, it might be more useful to think about what is happening in the restof Europe, rather than looking at the USA ("reinventinggovernment", etc.) and especially New Zealand. There are somecommon pressures on the public sector in Europe, but not a unified orconvergent approach to management. In the areas of structuralarrangements about policy making and service delivery, relationshipsbetween tiers of government, goal setting, planning, budgeting,evaluation, "user" orientation and personnel management,there are choices to be made.

Notizen: Aims to provide a clear rationale as to why customer responsivenessis an essential aspect of an organizational system, focusingspecifically on higher education (HE) institutions. Introduces anddiscusses material from the political contingency and competitivepositioning schools of thought. Identifies key strategic issuespresently at work in the HE market and explains how and why each ofthese gives additional power to customers of the HE system and why theythus require HE institutions to become more proactive and effectivecustomer responsiveness systems.

Notizen: In recent years local authorities and hospitals within the UK havebeen subjected to substantial change, which has resulted in an explosionin the use of information systems (IS). IS managers, personnel andexecutives within local authorities and hospitals were interviewed inorder to determine the effect of context and culture on the take-up ofIS. Context was considered at an external and internal level. Culturalissues were particularly important in the take-up of IS. In both localauthorities and hospitals the IT culture clashed with the subcultures itwas supporting. Highlights three issues: the cultural decentralizationof IS, which resulted in an unplanned proliferation of disparatesystems; the over-emphasis on operational systems by the IS function tothe detriment of management information systems; and the reinforcing ofbarriers between subcultures through incompatible IS. Suggests that ISdepartments within the public sector need to be proactive in theirsupport of subcultures and to enrol them in a common goal of theprovision of integrated IS within the organization.

Notizen: At all levels of the Australian public sector, cost constraints,coupled with the adoption of a total quality culture and associatedperformance evaluation techniques, have turned the attention of seniormanagement away from financial accounting to the management of costswithin a strategic framework. Argues that management accounting,planning and control systems can play a leading role in today's dynamicand challenging public sector environment. Unlike traditional costingsystems, which are often historical in focus and price-based, newcosting systems - such as activity-based costing (ABC) –operate on the premiss that it is the activities and processesundertaken within the organization which add costs and value to theproducts and services. An ABC system also focuses management's attentionon the underlying causes of costs. However, warns that, in applyingtotal quality management and ABC approaches, it is important torecognize the fundamental differences between the manufacturingindustries in which they originated and the service industries whichdominate the public sector.

Notizen: In contrast to the past record, there are now significant indications and evidence which suggest that public sector management in Botswana is being constrained by a number of factors. Examines and analyses the primary factors contributing to those constraints and also discusses the administrative reform responses which have been embarked on by the Government of Botswana in its effort to realign the public sector in the national interest.

Notizen: Attempts to draw a picture on the current practices of performanceevaluation of state-owned enterprises in China by using a case study inShanghai. Finds that aggregate firm performance was mainly evaluatedthrough the extent of fulfilment of the terms of a contract between theGovernment and the enterprise concerned. Although the contract islegally binding, it is difficult to sue the Government fornon-performance, because contract terms are loose and the Government,being the superior authority, can easily replace the enterprisemanagement. However, non-fulfilment of the contract terms on the part ofthe enterprise did not lead to severe penalties and the rewards wereinsufficient to have motivational effects. Overall, the evaluationsystem could be seen as part of the policy of gradualism towards freeingfirms, The loose contract terms and the changing economic environmentmake this system ineffective. Recommends further relaxation of statecontrol over the enterprises for improvement of the effectiveness of theperformance evaluation system.

Notizen: Describes Oxfordshire County Council's QUEST programme (quality;effectiveness; service to all) and its implementation by introducing adevolved cost-centre management accounting system to achieve accountablemanagement, and decentralization to give managers more flexibility.Examines each component: quality involves customers and clients indecisions about services; effectiveness was implemented by identifyingthree elements: structures, systems and people. Service was achieved byraising the council's profile and the final item, to all, promoted equalopportunities and ensured that services were available to the whole ofOxfordshire. Finally, sets out the council's achievements since theintroduction of QUEST.

Notizen: Quality management has been in vogue within manufacturing for overa decade. Service industries have more recently been making heavyinvestments in this area. Also there are major initiatives from thepublic sector to improve quality. Investigates the take-up of qualitymanagement techniques in the public sector, their perceivedeffectiveness and the consequent impact on the managers running theprogrammes (private sector services are used as a basis for comparison).Results of survey responses from 394 service organizations show that theuptake of quality management techniques is now similar between publicand private sectors, as is the perception of the impact on managerialwork. A major difference occurs in terms of perceived effectiveness andresults of the quality programmes. In this latter area the public sectorfares somewhat worse.

Notizen: How can education service managers, administrators and teachersmake educational instruction more effective? Can concepts fundamental tothe total quality management (TQM) philosophy be applied to teaching?Just as managers often buy the most advanced equipment but fail tointegrate it fully into their production process, so many administratorsand educators hear and read about, and are able to identify with, theTQM philosophy in general, yet they remain wanting of an understandingof how it can be applied to teaching. Presents a framework forTQM-oriented instruction in an attempt to serve this end. Presents thespecific practices that constitute this approach as part of an effort tofacilitate TQM-driven instructional processes across educational levelsand disciplines, and across nations. Assesses the effectiveness ofTQM-driven teaching through student feedback from course evaluations andadministers an educational survey. The approach presented can serve asone benchmark for use in the process of re-evaluating and realigninginstructional processes to ensure continuous improvement.

Notizen: Local government in the UK is not immune from the pressures drivingsuccessful organizations towards top quality services that delight theircustomers. Outlines some of the special features of local governmentservice provision and the way in which these might affect the assessmentof service quality. Highlights some of the limitations of conventionalcustomer satisfaction surveys which lead the authors to consider theSERVQUAL approach. This method, which has been the subject ofconsiderable academic scrutiny and extensive private sector serviceapplication, merits serious consideration by local government managersas a robust, adaptable, diagnostic instrument to measure servicequality.

Notizen: The Mental Health Act Commission (MHAC) is a "watchdog"body concerned with the rights of detained psychiatric patients inEngland and Wales. It was created by the UK government as a"quasi-governmental" body in an ad hoc manner todefuse the controversy engendered by competing lobbying bodies duringthe passage of reforming legislation. The consequence was that itsformal (legal) constitution conflicted with the "informalconstitution" of expectations about the structure and operating ofthe MHAC, leading ultimately to major and bitter internal conflict. Thehistory of the MHAC suggests important lessons about the need for suchbodies to have a clear and consistent constitution.

Notizen: Considers the inclusion of environmental policy dimensions into strategic development planning for the coastal environment of Barbados. Coastal zone management forms one aspect of development planning in Barbados, focusing on strategic development planning within the coastal environment. The environment and development are closely linked in a complex cause and effect relationship. Almost all types of development tend to erode a country's resource base and this can undermine a country's development strategies. Development continues to be seen and practised in the narrow context of growth; and little substantive progress has been made over time in explicitly integrating the environmental dimension into the regular programmes and activities of public and private sector organizations. One of the recurring features is that, in contemporary Barbados, environmental policies tend to muddle through and evolve incrementally as the need arises. Concludes that a durable development lesson for all lower income countries around the world is that development cannot be sustained for long if the environment continues to be undermined.

Notizen: Claims that the small but steady growth in discussion in academic circles of aspects of risk taking and risk management, as they affect public services managers generally, which is observable in the UK, does not appear to be reflected so strongly in the wider international literature. Here, the direction of the debate and discussion turns much more on quasi-constitutional issues and topics, such as "accountability" and "control". As efforts grow to decentralize public services organizations and give public service managers more control over the day-to-day operational running of their organizations, a new term has entered the language of the debate - that of "agility". Suggests this appears to combine the skill of handling increased accountability for decision making with that of the upgrading of managers' skills. Finds that risk is explored more widely in related texts, predominantly where a particular public service, such as the police, health or social services, is simultaneously viewed as a profession. Aims to explain why the international literature pointedly avoids much explicit discussion of risk, preferring to frame the issue within terms concerning levels of financial control and official accountability.

Notizen: Reports that transfer of ownership from government to private hands is touted as the only way to eliminate inefficiencies in the public sector. Argues that the alternative approach - increasing competitive intensity through decontrol of restricted industries without changing ownership to private investors - is likely to provide similar efficiency gains. Examines this hypothesis empirically in the context of state-owned manufacturing enterprises in India that face effective competition from private sector firms. Shows, from analysis of variance of efficiency indicators of a longitudinal sample of 108 firms over the period 1988-1992, that increasing levels of competition trigger corresponding increases in the overall level of technical efficiency of state-owned enterprises that face competitive conditions. Provides a persuasive case for introducing competitive markets as an alternative to complete privatization, especially in monopolisitc settings.

Notizen: As demand mounts for a review of the UK's privatized utilities regulatory system, focuses on an increasing public phenomenon - that of conflict between regulators and regulatees. Identifies the factors contributing to the difficulties which the regulators face in carrying out their roles. Utilizes the benefit of hindsight to reach conclusions as to why the current attacks on the roles of the regulators are natural outcomes, flowing from the ways in which regulatory systems have been designed.

Notizen: Outlines the urban redevelopment of Hong Kong from the early 1900s to the present day. Obstacles such as: absentee ownership, compensation to owners, resettlement of tenants, financial difficulties, piece-meal efforts and the lack of a centralized co-ordination body are discussed. The development of the Land Development Corporation has provided opportunity to address these problems, forming as it does a public/private development partnership.

Notizen: The research on which this article is based has been carried out over a period of five years (1992-1997). It focuses on the management of change in the National Health Service (NHS) since the reforms introduced in the 1990 NHS Act. The research comprises four case studies: two NHS Trusts providing mental health services and two colleges of nursing and midwifery. All four bodies have experienced major changes brought about, in the main, by the creation of the NHS internal market. The article attempts to map the process of managing change in these four organizations. It outlines the difficulties encountered by managers in designing and implementing effective strategies for their organizations. In particular, the article: highlights major discrepancies in linking strategic plans with the reality of managing public services and the complexities of planning for large-scale changes in the 1990s; shows that although leadership is important, it must be appropriate to an organization's situation; argues that organizations can make false assumptions about the immutability of the environment in which they operate and the degree of choice available. The article concludes by presenting a model of change which incorporates environmental conditions, internal cohesion, management styles and approaches to change.

Notizen: Empowerment has been described as providing local management with a clear framework within which to manage, with the maximum devolution of responsibility and with the skills and confidence to accept it. Despite their wide adoption there is a dearth of research which elevates the voice of those on the receiving-end of such empowering strategies, especially as applied in public sector organisations. This paper examines the impact of a five-year empowerment programme, as perceived by the managers and staff within a "Next Steps" agency. Based on individual and group interviews with 75 staff, it is found that the programme is associated with a number of new working practices and a shift in management attitudes but the extent to which these are experienced as empowering varies considerably.

Notizen: The paper summarises some of the main results of a study of inter-agency collaboration in the provision of community mental health services in one city in Britain. The research was based on interviews with service purchasers and providers in health, social services and the voluntary sector. The results suggest that, in spite of cordial working relationships and a historically stable organisational structure, collaboration between agencies in the provision of mental health services was being seriously damaged by contradictory central government policies of tight operational control yet fostering internal markets in purchasing and providing. It is recommended that research is urgently needed to assess the impact on vulnerable clients' quality of life and level of functioning of changes in inter-agency collaboration forced by the introduction of internal market mechanisms.

Notizen: Compares Palestine and Cambodia with respect to the involvement of NGOs in generating sustainable development. Both countries have suffered war and both still struggle for a fragile peace; success appears to hinge on the international community's ability to achieve economic development and real social and political improvements. Results can be achieved through: co-operation between donor services and local authorities, using assistance to increase local entrepreneurship, economic independence and active participation; making formal agreements between NGO and local authorities as to duties and remit of the aid operations; establishment of a workable accountability system; formation of a structured co-ordination framework; and using UN agencies more frequently and extensively.