Public sector

In this paper, we are showing how Information Technology (IT) governance frameworks contribute to the implementation of the key principles of the good corporate governance, particularly, in the public sector. We demonstrate that there are numerous links, explicitly and implicitly expressed through a set of IT governance instruments, matching the proposals of good governance principles with the behavioral goals of an IT governance framework implementation. We also provide a real experience of using a set of possible instruments, in our public university, through an IT governance framework based on the ISO/IEC 38500 standard. We also present the maturity of the good governance principles implementation with this set of instruments, after governing IT in our university during the period 2007-2013. We show that using an IT governance framework in a public entity mutually reinforces the key principles of good governance, especially the transparency and accountability goals for the IT assets.

The first comprehensive and authoritative work covering the entire public sector in India, including the public sector banks and the insurance companies as well as the public sector enterprises in the states, the book begins with the philosophy behind the public sector and traces their evolution in India and their subsequent privatisation and disinvestment after the economic liberalisation of 1991. Based on the most up-to-date data and the latest developments, it examines the plight and options before a public sector paralysed by excessive government interference and now trapped hopelessly between the State and the market. Drawing widely upon global experiences, the book argues that disinvestment and privatisation need not be the only answer to reform the public sector companies. They can be rejuvenated and transformed into global champions if freed from the stifling controls by an unimaginative government machinery and depoliticized, with separation of the Government’s roles as shareholder, policy-maker and regulator, along with changing their holding structure.

... Both authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the Public Sector Leadership Development Programme Steering Committee (Roma Bridger, Cathy Mercer, and Karen Taylor) and Memorial University's Gardiner Centre (Susan Arscott, Jackie Collins, and Bill Morrissey). ...

The implementation of e-government is a burgeoning phenomenon across the globe. It improves and enhances the infrastructures and services provided to the citizens. However, a review of the IS literature reveals that research on the implementation of e-government is rather limited, which could be due to the general misconception of the public sectors as rigid and risk-averse establishments. The shortage of studies on e-government's implementation presents a knowledge gap that needs to be plugged. This gap is significantly amplified by the increasing number of e-government initiatives being implemented by governments in recent years. This paper describes and analyzes South Korea's Supreme Court Registry Office, which has implemented e-government. The case study discusses practical implications and suggests future research areas. Findings of the study include the alignment of technology and business processes, integration of resources into core business activities, integrating stakeholders' trust and commitment, and better understanding of the role of organizational learning, which can enhance the adoption and institutionalization of e-government initiatives.

Since New Labour came to power in the UK in 1997, there has been a drive to improve the effectiveness of public services through the use of private sector principles. From, the Modernising Government White Paper to the development of the Public Services Productivity Panel who, produced a raft of White Papers tackling health, social services, welfare and criminal justice. This paper, through the analysis of two studies, will reflect on some of the general literature on public sector performance management and the findings and recommendations of the Public Services Productivity Panel in order to attempt to answer whether performance management in the public sector is currently fact or fiction? In other words the paper will aim to develop and answer, to a certain extent, if it really possible to raise productivity and performance within public sector organisations through developing performance management systems based on private sector experience.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach -A total of 300 employees from a public university comprising of both academicians and support staff responded to the survey. The survey questionnaire had 46 items covering selected HRM practices and university performance. Findings -The study has found that human resource practices: recruitment, training, performance appraisal, career planning, employee participation, job definition and compensation have a significant relationship with university performance.

Few school-age youth consume the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, and increasing fruit and vegetable intake in children and adolescents is an important public health goal to maintain long-term good health and to decrease risk of chronic disease and obesity. School salad bars are an important tool to promote fruit and vegetable consumption among schoolchildren. Studies show that introduction of school salad bars increases the amount and variety of fruits and vegetables consumed by children in schools. However, many schools cannot afford the capital investment in the salad bar equipment. In 2010, the National Fruit & Vegetable Alliance (NFVA), United Fresh Produce Association Foundation, the Food Family Farming Foundation, and Whole Foods Market launched Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools (LMSB2S) in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative. The goal of LMSB2S is to place 6000 salad bars in schools over 3 years. As of June, 2012, over 1400 new salad bar...

Whereas traditional transformational leadership studies tend to test the concept as an independent variable, this paper tests it as a mediator of the effects of management/peer trust, perceived organisational support and procedural justice. The study was undertaken within a large New South Wales (NSW) public sector organisation. In 2000, the organisation’s annual staff survey indicated that levels of trust in management were very low and, as a result, the authors were asked to investigate the possible causes of this outcome. Focus group results and survey questionnaires indicated that trust in management and trust in peers had a significant influence on transformational leadership and that transformational leadership was a significant predictor of turnover intention, OCB conscientiousness and affective commitment. Quantitative results did not support the proposed mediating effects of transformational leadership.

In the past, researchers in the field of public administration have been hindered in their ability to study trends in the representation of women and minorities in state government due to limitations in data availability. This article develops an alternative approach to examining the representation of women and minorities in state government bureaucracies over the period from 1987 to 2002. Based on estimates constructed using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey, our analysis shows that women are generally overrepresented in state government employment relative to their civilian labor force representation within a state, and African-Americans are overrepresented in many states. Latinos are typically underrepresented. We also examine the potential determinants of representation for women and minorities, and find, among other factors, private sector race and sex-based wage differentials, relative to those in the public sector, are positively associated with the representation of women, African-Americans, and Latinos in state government workforces.

Biometric based systems for individual authentication are increasingly becoming indispensable for protecting life and property. They provide ways for uniquely and reliably authenticating people, and are difficult to counterfeit. Biometric based authenticity systems are currently used in governmental, commercial and public sectors. However, these systems can be expensive to put in place and often impose physical constraint to the users. This paper introduces an inexpensive, powerful and easy to use hand geometry based biometric person authentication system using neural networks. The proposed approach followed to construct this system consists of an acquisition device, a pre-processing stage, and a neural network based classifier. One of the novelties of this work comprises on the introduction of hand geometry's related, position independent, feature extraction and identification which can be useful in problems related to image processing and pattern recognition. Another novelty of this research comprises on the use of error correction codes to enhance the level of performance of the neural network model. A dataset made of scanned images of the right hand of fifty different people was created for this study. Identification rates and Detection Cost Function (DCF) values obtained with the system were evaluated. Several strategies for coding the outputs of the neural networks were studied. Experimental results show that, when using Error Correction Output Codes (ECOC), up to 100% identification rates and 0% DCF can M. Faundez-Zanuy 123 202 M. Faundez-Zanuy et al.

There is growing interest in the application of citizen participation within all areas of public sector service development, where it is increasingly promoted as a significant strand of postneoliberal policy concerned with re-imagining citizenship and more participatory forms of citizen/consumer engagement. The application of such a perspective within health services, via co-production, has both beneficial, but also problematic implications for the organisation of such services, for professional practice and education. Given the disappointing results in increasing consumer involvement in health services via 'choice' and 'voice' participation strategies, the question of how the more challenging approach of co-production will fare needs to be addressed. The article discusses the possibilities and challenges of system-wide co-production for health. It identifies the discourse and practice contours of co-production, differentiating co-production from other health consumer-led approaches. Finally, it identifies issues critically related to the successful implementation of co-production where additional theorisation and research are required.

The implementation of a pharmacovigilance service compliant with the legal and regulatory responsibilities of clinical trial sponsors presents particular challenges for sponsors in a non-commercial setting.In this paper we examine these challenges in detail. We identify and discuss the key steps in the development of a pharmacovigilance service within a public health service and university setting in the United Kingdom. We describe how we have established a central Pharmacovigilance Office with dedicated staff and resources within our organisation. This office is supported by an electronic pharmacovigilance reporting infrastructure developed to facilitate the receipt and processing of safety information, the onward reporting in compliance with legislation and the provision of sponsor institution oversight of clinical trial participant safety. An education and training programme has also been set up to ensure that all relevant staff in the organisation are fully aware of the pharmaco...

An effective health workforce is essential for achieving health-related new Sustainable Development Goals. Odisha, one of the states in India with low health indicators, faces challenges in recruiting and retaining health staff in the public sector, especially doctors. Recruitment, deployment and career progression play an important role in attracting and retaining doctors. We examined the policies on recruitment, deployment and promotion for doctors in the state and how these policies were perceived to be implemented. We undertook document review and four key informant interviews with senior state-level officials to delineate the policies for recruitment, deployment and promotion. We conducted 90 in-depth interviews, 86 with doctors from six districts and four at the state level to explore the perceptions of doctors about these policies. Despite the efforts by the Government of Odisha through regular recruitments, a quarter of the posts of doctors was vacant across all institutiona...

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the political functions of government-sponsored social marketing campaigns aimed at changing citizens' behaviour and to argue for the reconsideration of the boundaries between political, public sector and social marketing. Design/methodology/approach-Critical discourse analysis of print advertisements and promotional material of a government-sponsored social marketing campaign is used. Findings-The paper identifies the discursive ways in which the campaign influences the public's views of social issues and actors and discusses the role of such campaigns in the redefinition of the relationship between the citizen and the state. Originality/value-The paper contributes to critical perspectives on the wider impact of social marketing activities on democracy by demonstrating the political impact function and effects of campaigns run by governments.

Background During the 1990s, Italy privatised a significant portion of its healthcare delivery. The authors compared the effectiveness of private and public sector healthcare delivery in reducing avoidable mortality (deaths that should not occur in the presence of effective medical care). Methods The authors calculated the average rate of change in age-standardised avoidable mortality rates in 19 of Italy's regions from 1993 to 2003. Multivariate regression models were used to analyse the relationship between rates of change in avoidable mortality and levels of spending on public versus private healthcare delivery, controlling for potential demographic and economic confounders. Results Greater spending on public delivery of health services corresponded to faster reductions in avoidable mortality rates. Each V100 additional public spending per capita on NHS delivery was independently associated with a 1.47% reduction in the rate of avoidable mortality (p¼0.003). In contrast, spending on private sector services had no statistically significant effect on avoidable mortality rates (p¼0.557). A higher percentage of spending on private sector delivery was associated with higher rates of avoidable mortality (p¼0.002). The authors found that neither public nor private sector delivery spending was significantly associated with non-avoidable mortality rates, plausibly because nonavoidable mortality is insensitive to healthcare services. Conclusion Public spending was significantly associated with reductions in avoidable mortality rates over time, while greater private sector spending was not at the regional level in Italy.

AbstractThis study examines whether auditors adjust their effort and pricing decisions for political visibility. We argue, from the behavioural literature, that political visibility will create the need for more justification by auditors. Using data on actual audit fees, hours and billing rates for a sample of New Zealand public sector companies, we find that total audit fees are positively related

PurposeThis paper seeks to explore whether the Western concept of servant leadership holds the same meaning in the public sector of the cross‐cultural context of China and to identify whether there is an alternative term in the Chinese language that closely relates to the concept of servant leadershipDesign/methodology/approachAn inductive approach is adopted based on critical incident technique, using an open‐ended survey to collect the data.FindingsIt was found that the concept of servant leadership holds parallel meaning in China to that of the West and that the Chinese concept of servant leadership can be described precisely as public servant leadership in the public sector and servant leadership in the non‐public sector. When asked to characterize Chinese servant leadership in the public sector, the study respondents consider six types of servant leadership similar to the West but also three types of Chinese extended servant leadership.Originality/valueThe paper is a first atte...

The Authors would like to thank the World Bank and Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) each for partial funding of the project ‘Improving Fiscal Health of Indian Cities’, which initiated the research on estimation of fiscal capacity and needs in Indian cities. We thank the research team of this project, particularly Kala Sridhar for her sincere efforts and Satadru Sikdar for his excellent research assistance in the initial drafts of the six reports submitted to the World Bank. We would also like to thank Om Prakash Mathur for his help and interest at different stages of the work. We are grateful to Andrew Reschovsky, Anwar Shah, Howard Chernick, Jorge Martinez, Melville Mcmillan for their comments and suggestions on an

Seaports provide multiple services to ships, cargo, and passengers. These services can be performed by a combination of public and private initiatives. Usually, the role of public sector institutions is to regulate and supervise private firms. In performing that task public sector institutions need to know firms' cost structure deeply. This paper offers a review of the literature about ports' cost structure and of its implications for regulation. The paper argues that the operation of port terminals should be analysed by means of multiproduct theory. This approach allows the calculation of several cost indicators (economies of scale, scope, and so forth) which are key tools to help regulators.

This paper examines the relationship between policy and politics in relation to the development of public- sector primary education through Breton and Gaelic, considering closely the patterns of power through which such provision is delivered. Brittany and Scotland present many similarities as culturally distinctive territories, contained within larger state-nations, which until recently allowed very little scope for minority language education. Initiatives to develop public-sector education through Breton and Gaelic were finally launched in the 1980s and have now became significantly institutionalised, even if they remain small in scale. The dynamics of institutionalisation have been very different in the two territories, however: parallel problems have been tackled in different ways, and issues that have proved fraught in one have presented few complications in the other. Both case studies demonstrate the importance of ‘bottom-up’ dynamics as a source of innovative energy.

Accounting is conventionally constituted and practised as a quantitative discipline which emphasises the use of money values. Where such values are unavailable or inappropriate, non-money quantifications or qualitative forms of information take precedence. However, the boundaries of conventional accounting remain imprecisely defined and this creates a jurisdictional tension between monetary and non-monetary systems of accountability. This issue is examined within the context of the Australian and New Zealand public sectors, where recent regulatory changes have mandated the valuation for financial reporting purposes of a broad range of government controlled resources that are of a non-financial character. Rationales for this expanded use of money values are re-evaluated within the context of practical and theoretical issues associated with their application, particularly with regard to the accountability of public sector institutions. This accountability theme is then extended in terms of the need to make accounting itself more accountable within the public sector.

This paper argues that pension funds can earn attractive risk-adjusted rates of return on targeted real estate investment in underserved capital markets. Targeted investing is designed to achieve both a financial and social return. Fiduciary duty requires public sector pension funds to put financial obligations at the forefront of their decision-making. However these funds also have a vested interest in ensuring vibrant, healthy communities that in turn underpin employer contributions to the fund. We examine the California Urban Real Estate (CURE) program of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) as a model of targeted real estate investment in urban and underserved capital markets. From this case study we draw some implications for best practice in targeted investment.

This paper explores the degree to which the Tijuana-San Diego metropolitan region functions as a transborder metropolis. It is shown that the border is quite porous, especially for work and shopping. In addition, the two metropolitan economies are much more complementary than competitive, with San Diego specializing in high-order services and the ''new economy'' while Tijuana primarily functions as a manufacturing center, based on maquiladora. However, much more cooperation and collaboration are needed in several areas: improving trade infrastructure; addressing the deficits in social infrastructure (especially in Tijuana); making the border crossings more user-friendly; expanding educational opportunities for Latinos in both areas; more priority to environmental problems, especially air quality and sewerage; attempting to reduce the public sector fiscal differentials between the two areas; and more attention to income distribution issues.

This article examines the factors that influence antipsychotic use among youth treated in public inpatient facilities. By combining data from 11 focus groups, a survey of 43 researchers and clinicians, and a chart review of 100 closed patient charts, we investigated the interplay between physicians' and staff members' perceptions of problems related to antipsychotic prescribing, their beliefs concerning optimal approaches, their actual recorded prescribing behaviors, and the discrepancies between their beliefs and their recorded practices. We discovered that antipsychotics are prescribed broadly to treat a variety of conditions, including nonpsychotic disorders among children in public inpatient facilities. Despite overall expert consensus regarding "best practices," physicians described systemic obstacles that prevent the application of these practices, and our data confirmed that best practices are not always followed. Future research should be done with this patient population and should investigate the factors that influence antipsychotic use among inpatient youth.

We describe the concept, strategy, and initial results of the Millennium Villages Project and implications regarding sustainability and scalability. Our underlying hypothesis is that the interacting crises of agriculture, health, and infrastructure in rural Africa can be overcome through targeted public-sector investments to raise rural productivity and, thereby, to increased private-sector saving and investments. This is carried out by empowering impoverished communities with science-based interventions. Seventy-eight Millennium Villages have been initiated in 12 sites in 10 African countries, each representing a major agroecological zone. In early results, the research villages in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Malawi have reduced malaria prevalence, met caloric requirements, generated crop surpluses, enabled school feeding programs, and provided cash earnings for farm families.

This article argues that the essential factors of a public service code of ethics can be divided into five categories. These categories or principles are fairness, transparency, responsibility, efficiency and conflict of interest. These principles are identified in this article as being the basic elements of democratic accountability in relation to public sector decision-making. The issues explored are not only the obstacles that the public service decision-maker faces in internalising these principles but, also, the challenges for a pro-active management in fostering such internalisation.

This paper analyses the impact of both fiscal and political decentralisation on regional productivity inequalities. The study of the influence of decentralisation on economic growth has received some attention in recent years, but very few studies deal with its impact on regional inequalities. We analyse the relationship between different measures of regional inequalities in productivity, and several measures of political and fiscal decentralisation for a sample of fifteen OECD countries. In order to check for other possible influences, the analysis also includes measures of public sector size and the type of party government. The results suggest a strong negative correlation between decentralisation, mainly fiscal decentralisation, and regional inequalities.

Background: Early detection of smear positive TB cases by smear microscopy requires high level of suspicion of TB among primary care physicians. The objective of this study is to measure TB suspicion and knowledge among private and public sector general practitioners using clinical vignette-based survey and structured questionnaire.

Aim Key factors of successful interorganizational partnerships are applied to the context of nursing and midwifery education. Background Reports in nursing education emphasize the need for more collaborative partnerships between the education and healthcare sectors of nursing and midwifery education. Evaluation There is little research examining the implementation of interorganizational relationships particularly in nursing. Key issues Key success factors are grouped into seven areas of trust and valuing the partner, leadership and managing change, a partnership framework, communication and interaction, equity and involvement in decision making, power and the role of partnership coordinator. Conclusion There is a need for contextual research in relation to implementing partnership in nursing and midwifery. Implications for nursing management Partnership arrangements are essential for quality nursing and midwifery education. This article adds knowledge by way of application of these factors to organizations that provide nursing and midwifery education. Nurse managers have an important role in determining the quality of learning experience within the health service. It is essential, therefore that both nurse managers and nurse educationalist know the key factors which promote successful interoganizational relationships to ensure these factors are manifest in practice.

this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the view of the World Bank, its Executive Directors, or the countries they represent. Policy Research Working Papers are available online at http://econ.worldbank.org. I.

The internet has become one of the most important means of communication in all areas of our life. In the paper we focused on central and local government bodies and their attitude towards information and communication technology. By analysing web pages, inquiring public servants and testing the responses on citizens' questions we tried to discover influences of Internet on better informing of citizens, their participation in making decisions of public interest and communication between citizens and central and local government bodies.

Urban America: Growth, Crisis and Rebirth begins with an account of population distribution, jobs and the main economic indicators in urban America in 1950, when the US was separated into three regions (North-East, South and West), each showing distinct cultural and economic characteristics. In 1950, the NorthEast was the region with the majority of urban centers (including Chicago, then the second largest city) and home to 58% of the nation's population. The South was home to 44 million people, but had no urban centers of more than 1 million; it was also home to 63% of the nation's black population. The West, in 1950, was sparsely populated, accounting for 13% of the nation's population. The two largest urban centers were in California-Los Angeles and the Bay Area (San Francisco-Oakland). The infrastructure, good weather and oil gave rise to rapid population growth in Californian cities, with many migrants moving to the state in the hope of a better future.i jur_878 577..590 McDonald then tackles the period 1950-70, an era characterized by urban growth and prosperity in the country as a whole. This was a period of great changes for the US, one of the most significant being, of course, the increasing labor force due to the participation of women. Another was the Great Migration of African Americans to the NorthEast. Suburbanization (triggered, in part, by racial tensions in central cities) is the most significant trend of the second half of the twentieth century. The population growth of the suburbs was equal to 28.7 million people, which accounts for 55% of the nation's population growth. The outcome of these changes was a very different labor force from the one that had existed up to then, with urban centers being most affected. The rapid growth of the West was another significant change of this era. Cities such as St Louis, Boston, Pittsburgh and Buffalo experienced a population decline of more than 20%, while, at the same time, the metropolitan areas of those same cities grew. During these two decades, the population of the South increased by 31.6%. Atlanta became the economic capital of the SouthEast , with the population growing by 131%. The population of Los Angeles doubled in 20 years, from approximately 5 million to 10 million, and the city became the second largest city in the US. The next section of the book is devoted to the years of urban crisis, which started in the 1970s. Racial riots expanded to many cities, including Cleveland, Detroit, Newark and Washington. The average population growth of the 17 NorthEastern metropolitan areas was 5.6% in 1970-90, compared to 40% in 1950-70. The population of cities such as New York, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Buffalo shrank. The median family income, which increased by 89% from 1949-69, increased by only 7.6% from 1969 to 1998, with the average income actually declining in Detroit. The decline of most metropolitan centers was evident in the collapsing central cities of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit. Another change that took place during this era was the change in the racial composition of the cities. The black population of the above cities skyrocketed, especially in Detroit (the city that suffered the worst urban riot of the 1960s in terms of lives lost), where the population of the central city was largely black and the suburbs almost exclusively white. Cities that suffered the least from the urban crisis of this era were those that were away from the industrial area of the NorthEast (Baltimore, Kansas City and Minneapolis). The urban crisis was less evident in the Sunbelt (South and West) but still had an effect on various cities. Atlanta was able to establish itself further as the economic center of the 'Old South', but was not able to avoid inner-city problems. Metropolitan Miami boomed in the 1970s and 1980s, but had its own share of