Formal Mandate Research Articles

Enablers or deterrent? Role of street level managers in use of creativity at the frontlines

AbstractUsing qualitative data from frontline police organizations in Punjab, Pakistan, this article investigates the role of street level management on creativity and improvisation in the frontline. Our findings show that the professional identities and attitudes of the street level managers play an important role in mediating creativity by the frontline workers, especially in the hierarchal organizational structure. If the managers adopted rule‐following attitude, frontline workers often faced hindrances in the use of creativity, leading to alienation. In contrast, if managers adopted a defiant attitude, frontline workers engaged in moderated creativity as they assumed the risk of rule breaking. This shows that creativity and innovation in organizations with no formal mandate to improvize is a messy and political process. Our study indicates the need to extend the research on policy innovation to hierarchal bureaucracies and organisational contexts where team work is not encouraged.

HIGHER INSTITUTION STUDENTS’ CHALLENGES IN WRITING JOURNAL ARTICLES: CHARACTERISTICS AND PROPOSED SOLUTIONS

This qualitative study aimed to identify the challenges faced by final semester students in Indonesian tertiary institutions when writing journal articles, and propose potential solutions to these challenges. The study analyzed 32 articles published in Timor University e-journals, selected purposively from 16 study programs. Results showed that the majority of articles (59%) scored 75, indicating a need for improvement. The most significant challenges faced by students were related to introduction and method (13%), results (13%), and discussion (13%). These findings were consistent with the results of a questionnaire analysis, which identified method and abstract (22%), discussion (30%), and all parts (26%) as problematic areas for students. To address these issues, the study proposes a formal mandate requiring all lecturers to accompany their students in writing journal articles. This mandate would provide students with necessary support and guidance to improve their writing skills and meet the acceptable journal template requirements. The proposed solutions aim to alleviate the academic burden faced by thesis advisors, editors, and reviewers, while also improving the quality of articles produced by students.

National governance of de-implementation of low-value care: a qualitative study in Sweden

BackgroundThe de-implementation of low-value care (LVC) is important to improving patient and population health, minimizing patient harm and reducing resource waste. However, there is limited knowledge about how the de-implementation of LVC is governed and what challenges might be involved. In this study, we aimed to (1) identify key stakeholders’ activities in relation to de-implementing LVC in Sweden at the national governance level and (2) identify challenges involved in the national governance of the de-implementation of LVC.MethodsWe used a purposeful sampling strategy to identify stakeholders in Sweden having a potential role in governing the de-implementation of LVC at a national level. Twelve informants from nine stakeholder agencies/organizations were recruited using snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed using inductive thematic analysis.ResultsFour potential activities for governing the de-implementation of LVC at a national level were identified: recommendations, health technology assessment, control over pharmaceutical products and a national system for knowledge management. Challenges involved included various vested interests that result in the maintenance of LVC and a low overall priority of working with the de-implementation of LVC compared with the implementation of new evidence. Ambiguous evidence made it difficult to clearly determine whether a practice was LVC. Unclear roles, where none of the stakeholders perceived that they had a formal mandate to govern the de-implementation of LVC, further contributed to the challenges involved in governing that de-implementation.ConclusionsVarious activities were performed to govern the de-implementation of LVC at a national level in Sweden; however, these were limited and had a lower priority relative to the implementation of new methods. Challenges involved relate to unfavourable change incentives, ambiguous evidence, and unclear roles to govern the de-implementation of LVC. Addressing these challenges could make the national-level governance of de-implementation more systematic and thereby help create favourable conditions for reducing LVC in healthcare.

Time and temporality in organisations: The case of Eskom

ABSTRACT This paper proposes analysing organisations as temporal phenomena composed of multiple temporalities. We argue that the likelihood that an organisation is well placed to function instrumentally with regard to its formal mandate is when what we will call ‘operational time’ is dominant in the temporal regime. We propose that organisations perform poorly when other temporalities come to dominate the temporal regime and/or when the temporal regime is chronically disrupted. We apply this framework to a study of Eskom, the state power company in South Africa. In Eskom, for example, we show how operational time was displaced by a political temporality that ultimately destabilised the temporal regime of the organisation as a whole.

Marine Protected Area Networks in Indonesia: Progress, Lessons and a Network Design Case Study Covering Six Eastern Provinces

Indonesia is the largest archipelagic nation in the world with 17,504 islands, a coastline of 108,000 km and 15.8% (27,255 km2) of the world’s coral reefs. This paper reviews the status of marine protected areas (MPAs) and networks of MPA in Indonesia, draws on lessons learned, and highlights what has been learned from the design of a network of MPAs for Fisheries Management Area (FMA) 715 across six eastern provinces as an example of how such work can be adapted for other parts of the country and elsewhere. Nationally, the 235,622 km2 of MPAs are mostly large (average 2,380 km2) with use zones and small no-take areas (<15 percent). MPAs are implemented by provincial governments or one of 2 national agencies. The design of a network of MPAs across FMA 715 began with 14 MPAs covering 1,977,276 ha or 4% of the marine waters of FMA 715 in 2016. Now there are 48 MPAs covering 3,062,206 hectares in the planning area, and the design process identified an additional 44 Areas of Interest required to establish new MPAs to augment the existing MPAs in FMA 715 to achieve the objectives of enhancing fisheries, protecting biodiversity, adapting to climate change while supporting community livelihoods and traditional practices. Issues identified in the process are that the scale and complexity of science and management needed is beyond what most stakeholders can easily comprehend; that implementation cuts across multiple jurisdictions with a still-new formal mandate for planning and managing the large network area; and, that the present process could only be possible with outside facilitating expertise. Finally, since the national conservation agency is currently finalizing legal guidelines for the planning and implementation of sub-national networks of MPA, this process has educated many and the result will lend legal and governance support to the continued planning and implementation of the FMA 715 MPA Network and for other areas.

Theorising the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on European health integration: Crisis-induced reforms

By looking into the case of the latest EU health policy reforms, the author analyses whether the European integration theories are equipped for an explanation of integration outcomes during the Covid-19 pandemic. The author primarily considers theories that hypothesise crises as a critical factor in integration dynamics, i.e., neofunctionalism and post-functionalism. In the last decade, multiple crises have been hitting the European Union (EU), and there have been many attempts to theorise their impact on European integration. Nevertheless, the answers are far from clear-cut regarding whether crises have been beneficial or detrimental to further integration, either in terms of its scope (widening the EU policy areas and/or membership) or level (increasing the EU institutions' competences and/or capacities). After analysing how the crisis has been handled and the reforms taken in the health policy sector, the author concludes that post-functionalist expectations about the crisis triggering Euroscepticism and identity-driven mass politicisation, thereby precluding further integration, have not materialised so far. On the contrary, the Covid-19 crisis has led to an increase in the EU's capacities in some essential policy sectors. Health policy is one. So far, this policy has seen reforms that neofunctionalism would call a build-up - a transfer of more authority to supranational institutions without expanding its formal mandate. As neofunctionalism would expect, the coronavirus crisis triggered an elite politicisation that created an environment conducive to further integration rather than disintegrative outcomes.

The enduring effects of relational attributes on subsidiary evolution after mandate loss

AbstractResearch SummaryWe explore the importance of the relational attributes, trust and commitment, and their association with subsidiary development after mandate loss. We examine how greenfield and acquired subsidiaries, through their interaction with headquarters and sister subsidiaries, develop relational attributes through mutual‐orientated adaption. These relational attributes are subsequently important elements in upholding and developing subsidiary activities despite the loss of a mandate. We trail this process through a longitudinal field study following the evolution of four multinational enterprise (MNE) subsidiaries. We explain how the subsidiaries relational attributes and part of their activities, associated with its mandates, remain even after the loss of a mandate. The study shows how these relational attributes mitigate and compensate for formal mandate loss.Managerial SummarySubsidiaries have been increasingly seen as the locomotive of MNEs value creation. This has coincided with the disaggregation of the MNEs value chain which has had a positive effect on the development of foreign subsidiaries. However, there is now more competition for responsibilities among subsidiaries leading to increased movement of responsibilities and activities between them. We find that the subsidiary managers relationship attributes (trust and commitment) between them, their headquarters and other subsidiaries in the MNE has a mitigating effect on the loss of these responsibilities for the subsidiary. By showing the impact of managerial micro‐activities in the MNE, our study offers insights for subsidiary managers on what they can leverage to pursue subsidiary charter consolidating activities and survival, or charter enhancing activities and growth.

Broadening the Mandate of the Incident Command System to Address Community Mental and Behavioral Health Effects as Part of the Federal Response to Disasters.

In the United States, the Federal Incident Command System (ICS) directs response to major oil spills. Its initial imperative is to prevent immediate impacts on human health and safety. Subsequently, the ICS primarily turns its attention to environmental concerns, including considering vulnerable ecosystems. There is a growing body of evidence that disasters such as major oil spills lead to adverse psychosocial effects; yet, preventing such effects has not been formally incorporated into ICS disaster mitigation considerations. Community mental and behavioral effects are increasingly recognized as a significant impact of disasters. Standardized ecosystem analytical frameworks are key to ICS responses to its mandate for environmental protection. Similar frameworks have only begun to be developed for mental and behavioral effects. Providing the ICS with a formal mandate would likely lead to the prevention of community mental and behavioral effects being more systematically incorporated into ICS disaster responses.

Alliances of Change Pushing Organizational Transformation Towards Sustainability across 13 Universities

Universities are expected to play a leading role in developing and maintaining sustainability. To contribute to a systemic and dynamic understanding of organizational change that is necessary in order to play such a role, we comparatively analyzed processes of organizational changes towards sustainability across thirteen universities in Austria. This comparative analysis is based on data from guided interviews and document analysis and on validation of preliminary results via group discussion and individual comments. The results show that all universities embedded sustainability in most of their areas of activity (research, teaching, operations, organizational culture, societal engagement), but the depth of integration and the type of structural embedding varies. Especially for early changes dating back to the 1990s, academics working in the broader field of sustainability studies were those agents of change, who—without formal mandate—skillfully and proactively initiated and drove organizational transformations following an idealistic and intrinsic motivation. A timeline analysis illustrates peaks of sustainability-related changes in the years of the foundation of inter-university networks in 2011 and 2017, which acted as alliances of change. Ministry intervention in 2015 helped to bring sustainability on the agenda of those universities with less change agency. In summary, sustainability transformations across the fields of teaching, research, operations, organizational culture, and societal engagement were driven by a fruitful interplay of change agency and change alliances and to a minor degree by top-down interventions.

COP25 in Search of Lost Time for Action: An Assessment of the Madrid Climate Conference

Last year's conference of the global climate change regime took place from 2 until 15 December 2019 in Madrid, Spain. Despite marking a new record for overtime in the history of the UNFCCC, the conference did not only fail to meet the increasing public demand for swift and strong climate action, it also failed on its formal mandate to finalise the Paris rulebook. A record number of issues were left unresolved and shelved for the next session. COP25 thereby highlighted how much work still lies ahead both domestically and internationally if 2020 is to see a step-up in climate action that is consistent with the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement.

The Role of Internal Audit Quality in Promoting Public Sector Performance: Evidence from South Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Regional State, Ethiopia

The quality of internal audit plays a significant role in enhancing public sector bureaus performance by bringing effective and efficient use of the public resource. So, the objective of this study was to examine the role of internal audit quality on performance of public sector bureaus in southern Ethiopia. To this end, the researcher employed quantitative research approach with explanatory research design where the effect caused by the independent variable on the dependent variable is observed through regression analysis. The primary and secondary data were collected. Then, both descriptive and inferential statistics analysis (multiple linear regression) have been done through SPSS version 21.0 in order to get the reliable research findings. Consequently, the result of regression analysis showed that out of five variables incorporated in the multiple linear regression model, four variables such as independency of internal audit, competency of internal audit staff, management support, and formal mandate of internal audit have positive and statistically significant impact on public sector performance. Whereas internal audit standard was not statistically significant. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher forwarded possible recommendations for bureaus to work on independency of internal audit, competency of internal audit staff, management support, and formal mandate of internal audit due to the fact that they are statistically significant and has positive influence public sector performance of bureaus in southern Ethiopia. Keywords : Quality of Internal Audit, Public Sector Performance, Southern Ethiopia DOI : 10.7176/RJFA/10-17-05 Publication date :September 30 th 2019

Internal Audit Quality and Its Impact on Public Sector Organizational Performance: Evidence from Sector Bureaus of Southern Ethiopia

The quality of internal audit plays a significant role in enhancing organizational performance of public sector bureaus. So, the objective of this study was to examine the effect of internal audit quality on organizational performance of public sector selected bureaus in southern Ethiopia. To this end, the researcher employed quantitative research approach with explanatory research design where the effect caused by the independent variable on the dependent variable is observed through regression analysis. The primary data was collected using structured questionnaire from 112 respondents out of total 148 respondent’s selected using simple random sampling technique from bureaus of southern Ethiopia. Then, both descriptive and inferential statistics analysis (multiple linear regression) have been done through SPSS version 21.0 and E-views version 9 in order to get the reliable research findings. Consequently, the result of regression analysis showed that, four variables such as independency of internal audit (positive), competency of internal audit staff (positive), management support (positive), and formal mandate of internal audit (positive) and statistically significant out of eight variables incorporated in the model. Whereas, other explanatory variables like objectivity, internal audit standard, competent leadership and unrestricted access to audit evidence were not statistically significant respectively. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher forwarded possible recommendations for bureaus to work on independency of internal audit, competency of internal audit staff, management support, and formal mandate of internal audit due to the fact that they are statistically significant and has positive influence in improving internal audit quality on one hand and organizational performance of bureaus on the other hand.

Challenges and prospects to the integration of ocean education into high school science courses in Nova Scotia

Ocean education can potentially improve understanding and engage individuals to act sustainably. Within Canada, a country bordered by three oceans with vast ocean resources, there is no formal mandate to teach ocean literacy within the school system. The ocean impacts the economy, culture, and ecology of Nova Scotia. This study examines, through semi-structured interviews, the challenges experienced by high school science teachers to the integration of ocean education into science courses. Results from this study indicate that despite placing value on the ocean the main challenges teachers incurred were limited background knowledge, lack of resources, curriculum outcomes, and time constraints.

INTERNAL AUDIT EFFECTIVENESS IN THE INDONESIA PROPERTY INDUSTRY

The main purpose of this study is to analyze on the determinants of internal audit effectiveness in the public listed company in Indonesia specifically Top Ten Property Company by BCI Asia. Questionnaire was using for collecting data and distributed to the internal auditor and manager that has been audited by internal audit. The result of the study is to show the positive relation effects of Organizational Independence (OI), Formal Mandate (FM), Unrestricted Access (UA), Sufficient Funding (SF), Competent Leadership (CL), Objective Staff (OS), Competent Staff (CS), Stakeholder Support (SS) and Professional Audit Standards (PAS) with the internal audit effectiveness on the public listed company in Indonesia. The regreesion result shows OI, UA, SF, CL, OS, CS and SS have contributed for the internal audit effectiveness in the public listed company significantly and positively. The remaining two variable; FM and PAS were positively related with the IAE but their contribution for the IAE were statistically not significant. All of these nine independent variable are making 64% of the contributions for internal audit effectiveness in the public listed company.

Advisory bodies and morality policies: does ethical expertise matter?

Governments and parliaments struggle to design biomedical policies: while research and practice make rapid progress, they often trigger value conflicts. One response involves institutionalised ethics expert bodies. Drawing on in-depth empirical research, this article analyses the influence of such expert bodies within the policy advisory system. Specifically, it examines the critical case of the Belgian Advisory Committee on Bioethics (BACB). In spite of an exclusive formal mandate, the BACB’s direct influence on policies is limited. The BACB analysis enables to complement existing theories by highlighting the importance of looking beyond organisational and inter-organisational factors and studying the politico-institutional settings of a particular polity. These settings help better understand patterns of influence and factors affecting the type and level of influence of advisory bodies.

The ambulance nurse experiences of non-conveying patients.

Aims and objectivesTo explore ambulance nurses' (ANs) experiences of non‐conveying patients to alternate levels of care.BackgroundIncreases in ambulance utilisation and in the number of patients seeking ambulance care who do not require medical supervision or treatment during transport have led to increased nonconveyance (NC) and referral to other levels of care.DesignA qualitative interview study was conducted using an inductive research approach.MethodsThe study was conducted in a region in the middle of Sweden during 2016–2017. Twenty nurses were recruited from the ambulance departments in the region. A conventional content analysis was used to analyse the interviews. The study followed the COREQ checklist.ResultsThe ANs experienced NC as a complex and difficult task that carried a large amount of responsibility. They wanted to be professional, spend time with the patient and find the best solution for him or her. These needs conflicted with the ANs' desire to be available for assignments with a higher priority. The ANs could feel frustrated when they perceived that ambulance resources were being misused and when it was difficult to follow the NC guidelines.ConclusionIf ANs are expected to nonconvey patients seeking ambulance care, they need a formal mandate, knowledge and access to primary health care.Relevance to clinical practiceThis study provides new knowledge regarding the work situation of ANs in relation to NC. These findings can guide future research and can be used by policymakers and ambulance organisations to highlight areas that need to evolve to improve patient care.

Enhancing policy implementation to improve healthcare practices: The role and strategies of hybrid national-local support structures.

In this study, we followed a national initiative to enhance the use of quality indicators gathered in national quality registries (NQRs) for improvement of clinical practices in Swedish healthcare, more specifically by investigating the support strategies of regional support centers with national and local missions. The aim was to increase knowledge on the role, challenges, and strategies of support structures with mixed and complex missions in the healthcare system. Documents and 25 semistructured interviews with staff at 6 regional support centers, ie, quality registry centers, formed this multiple case study. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis. The centers' strategies varied from developing the NQRs to become more suitable for improvement to supporting healthcare's use of NQRs, from the use of task to process-oriented support strategies, and from taking on national responsibilities to responding to local initiatives. All quality registry centers engaged in initiatives inspired by the Breakthrough Series approach. Some used preexisting change concepts or collaborated with local development units. A main challenge was to overcome a lack of formal mandate to act in the healthcare organizations they served. Support functions with mixed and complex missions have to use a variation of strategies to reach relevant actors and achieve changes. This study provides valuable input for policy and decision-makers on the support strategies used and challenges of support functions with complex missions situated in-between national and local levels of the healthcare system, here denoted hybrid national-local support structures.

Formal and Informal Interests of Donors to Allocate Aid: Spending Patterns of USAID, GIZ, and EU Forest Development Policy in Bangladesh

Summary Whether aid serves the development needs of a recipient country rather than the interests of donors has been a topic of much debate and research in the field of development studies. Donor agencies have interests, as does any political actor, and bureaucratic politics theory states that any bureaucracy has a dual interest, consisting of delivering on its formal mandate as well as informally increasing its power by maximizing budgets, staff, and fields for political responsibility. This study aims to conceptualize the formal and informal interests of bilateral foreign donor bureaucracies in allocating aid, using Bangladesh forest development aid by USAID, GIZ, and the EU as a case study. Quantitative analysis of documents on actual spending in the context of forest development projects and qualitative analysis from detailed interviews with development aid experts are employed. Important informal interests of donor agencies were observed as follows: (1) drawing on consultants as well as products and services from the donor’s country; (2) expanding favorable markets for the donor’s economy; (3) increasing the donor’s geopolitical as well as policy influence in recipient countries; (4) obtaining information that is independent from the recipient government; and (5) shaping good governance as a prerequisite for investment from donor countries. Of the three donor organizations, USAID was found to have allocated extensive aid to two activities—consultancy, and collaboration and networking—that advance USAID’s informal economic and political interests. GIZ allocated major aid to recipient developmental interventions; it also advanced its informal economic and political interests (albeit to a smaller extent). The EU allocated the largest amount of aid to developmental interventions, though its informal economic and political interests were also served, even if only to a limited extent. This study concludes with key points regarding informal interests of donor bureaucracies as well as on future research fields.

Adaptation by stealth: climate information use in the Great Lakes region across scales

While there has been considerable focus on understanding barriers to climate information use associated with the character of climate knowledge, individuals’ negative perception of its usability and constraints of decision-contexts, less attention has been paid to understanding how different scales of decision-making influence information use. In this study, we explore how water and resource managers’ scales of decision-making and scope of decision responsibilities influence climate information use in two Great Lakes watersheds. We find that despite availability of tailored climate information, actual use of information remains low. Reasons include (a) lack of willingness to place climate on agendas because local managers perceive climate change as politically risky, (b) lack of formal mandate or authority at the city and county scale to translate climate information into on-the-ground action, (c) problems with the information itself, and (d) perceived lack of demand for climate information by those managers who have the mandate and authority to use (or help others use) climate information. Our findings suggest that (1) scientists and information brokers should produce information that meets a range of decision needs and reserve intensive tailoring efforts for decision makers who have willingness and authority to use climate information; (2) without support from higher levels of decision-making (e.g., state), it is unlikely that climate information use will accelerate significantly; and (3) the trend towards characterizing climate specific actions within a broader concept of sustainability practices, or “adaptation by stealth,” should be supported as a component of the climate adaptation repertoire.

Transnational organizing: Issue professionals in environmental sustainability networks.

An ongoing question for institutional theory is how organizing occurs transnationally, where institution building occurs in a highly ambiguous environment. This article suggests that at the core of transnational organizing is competition and coordination within professional and organizational networks over who controls issues. Transnational issues are commonly organized through professional battles over how issues are treated and what tasks are involved. These professional struggles are often more important than what organization has a formal mandate over an issue. We highlight how ‘issue professionals’ operate in two-level professional and organizational networks to control issues. This two-level network provides the context for action in which professionals do their institutional work. The two-level network carries information about professional incentives and also norms about how issues should be treated and governed by organizations. Using network and career sequences methods, we provide a case of transnational organizing through professionals who attempt issue control and network management on transnational environmental sustainability certification. The article questions how transnational organizing happens, and how we can best identify attempts at issue control.