International Public Management Review
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Further Dissecting the Role of Citizen Participation in Strengthening Accountability of Local Governments in Nepal
No full textThis study assesses the impacts of citizen participation on strengthening the accountability systems of local government in Nepal. Based on qualitative analysis using multiple set of data, this study concludes that assessing the impacts of citizen participation appears to be rather challenging, as the inferences drawn are not conclusive. By and large, citizen participation mostly shows positive effects on enhancing transparency, strengthening monitoring systems, improving responsiveness, and controlling corruption risks, and, thus, strengthening local accountability. Yet, there appear some cases that show sometimes no such effects or negative effects of participation on achieving those attributes. The impacts of participation outcomes need to be judged by taking into account of such structural factors including empowered and mobilized citizens and the activeness and capacity of civic organizations to influence the responsiveness behavior of decision-makers
Citizen Preferences toward e-Government City Portals - An empirical Analysis of Full Online, Mobile and Social Media Services
Full text linkGovernments worldwide increasingly provide public services via e-Government city portals. During the last decade, e-Government practice has developed from a rudimentary use to an establishment of holistic citizen platforms offering different public e-Services. Recently, public e-Service provision has shifted toward three main developments involving full online service provision, public social media, and mobile government. Despite practical significance regarding these emerging trends and corresponding adapted citizen needs, understanding city portal user preferences is a neglected research issue. Therefore, this study carries out an explorative research approach to get insights into citizen preferences in order to provide implications for an efficient portal management and to contribute to the current scientific discourse regarding user-centric e-Government
Performance in complex, hierarchical government organizations: What can we learn from a comparative study of defense organizations?
No full textPerformance management, a management model with a long history (Van Dooren, 2008), has been used internationally to promote better government (OECD, 1996) and has been shown to be difficult to adopt (Lægreid et al., 2006) and more difficult to implement. Adoption of performance-based management systems (PBMSs) has been more successful than implementation (De Lancer Julnes and Holzer, 2001). Over the last thirty years, government practice has at its foundation New Public Management (NPM), which promotes managing for results in public sectors worldwide (OECD, 2005). The U.S. and Italian governments embraced this NPM tenet and introduced PBMSs in parts of or entire organizations. We assess the adoption and use of performance management practices in these hierarchical and complex public organizations, in particular how and to what extent the Italian Army (IA) and the U.S. Navy Surface Warfare Enterprise (SWE) implemented PBMSs. By analyzing the cases, we find that both organizations have encountered some benefits and difficulties in implementation. We address these critical factors and contribute to the literature and to practical use of performance management in government organizations by demonstrating some key factors of hierarchical, complex government organizations that enable or hamper successful implementation and use of a PBMS
Public Service Motivation for Executives Pension Trustees: A Qualitative Study
No full text The purpose of this paper is to establish if there is an element of public service motivation (PSM) in pension trustee roles that extend across public and private boundaries in the UK. The qualitative research indicates that public service is a requirement to enhance social commitment to this executive role but that this is also influenced by the organisational and political context of the trustee representation as an employer or employee representatives. The research highlights the multiple motives that encourage trustee participation but also how these can be changed through socialisation within this role utilising element of organisational citizenship and user orientation to serving and helping pension plan members. It is suggested that an orientation to public service should be made explicit in the recruitment process, induction and training of trustees
Liberalising Employment Services at the Regional Level: Implementation Lessons from an Italian Case
Full text linkThis paper explores the functioning of a public-private networked system for employment services’ provision implemented by Italy’s Lombardy region, and inspired by the principle of horizontal subsidiarity. Analysis of its implementation shows a considerable effort to apply the principles of quasi-markets and horizontal subsidiarity, and the related conditions for effectiveness and efficiency. Horizontal subsidiarity is meant to provide better responsiveness to users’ needs compared to other systems, and emphasises users’ freedom of choice. However, features of the analysed system such as the dominant market position of certain service providers, the enticement of users towards certain programmes, and weaknesses within the evaluation structure show that these same dimensions deserve closer scrutiny, together with medium-term examination of the overall system’s impact on equity
Overman, S. (2016). Great Expectations of Autonomous Agencies (Doctoral Dissertation).
Full text link Over the last two decades, the call for autonomous agencies has reverberated throughout all corners of the globe: many governments – from Great-Britain to Japan, from Tanzania to America – were unbundled into smaller agencies with a certain degree of autonomy. In most cases, these agencies carry out public services with sovereignty over policy design, decision-making and managerial matters. They are nonetheless tied to their respective ministry, because the political executives bear the responsibility for their performance. Well-known examples of services that are executed at arm’s length include tax collection, benefits administration, and scientific research. The rationale behind this agencification is that agencies are better equipped to deliver public services than the rather unwieldy government. Both the great expectations and the proliferation of semi-autonomous agencies raise the question whether the creation of these agencies is justified – i.e. whether their effects are in line with prior expectations
Towards urban governance in Poland – European Capital of Culture Wroclaw 2016 as a driver of change?
No full textThe paper explains the state of urban governance in Central European cities while concentrating on the case study of Wroclaw, the 4th biggest city in Poland. Unfortunately, while the city’s economy is doing quite well, especially in comparison with other Polish big cities, local governance hasn’t become a key asset yet and the city lacks an appropriate citizens oriented-policy and urban governance framework. That’s why this paper is about the chance linked with the initiative of the European Capital of Culture 2016 (ECoC), which can be considered as an pretext to introduce new strategies which better meet deficit solutions for new modes of steering at local level. The paper, which considers the on-going evaluation approach, juxtaposes assumptions made for the bid Wroclaw as a ECoC 2016 with their current implementation (state: mid-August 2015) in the light of concept of urban governance. It answers the question, if Wroclaw as ECoC 2016 is on the way towards urban governance
Rational or Institutional Intent? Knowledge Management adoption in Saudi public organizations
Full text linkA mixed-methods analysis examined the motivations of the Saudi public organizations to adopt knowledge management as a modern management philosophy by using rational and institutional perspectives. The results show that these organizations are affected by both institutional and rational factors, however, The role of the institutional perspective in interpreting the mechanism of decision making for the adoption of knowledge management, achieving the requirements necessary for establishing a knowledge management project, and the organizations ability to manage the knowledge management project is more prominent than the rational perspective. Regarding type of organization, the results has indicated a different response to the institutional pressures according to the type of organization. Organizations that operate in an environment that have more technologies are inclined to the rational perspective, as in the case of financial institutions and organizations operate in an environment that have limited technology and less identified objectives are inclined to the institutional perspective, as in case of training and educational organizations
Accounting in Networks. Hkan Hkansson, Kalle Kraus and Johnny Lind. New York: Routledge. 2010. 368 pp. $155 (cloth).
Full text linkWhile networks are increasingly seen as the right thing for public administrators to do (O'Leary & Gerard, 2013), there is little research on the financial accountability of public networks and collaborations (Thurmaier & Mitchell, 2013). Even though surveys of public managers reveal that some of the top reasons for collaborating and network service delivery are financial (O'Leary & Gerard, 2013), practical knowledge of how networks are financially managed is quite limited. As a field of study, accounting is much more directed toward these issues. While the book Accounting in Networks (Hakansson, Kraus, & Lind, 2010a) reflect that its subject is a new area of study even for the broader field of accounting, the publication of this book marks a foundational work for those that are interested in the subject of accounting and financial management of public networks as well
