Local Management Authorities Research Articles

Strategic Management and Governance Practices in Local Government Authorities of Tanzania: A Review of Resource-Based – Theory

Strategic Management and Governance Practices in Local Government Authorities of Tanzania: A Review of Resource-Based – Theory

Livelihood Analysis of People Involved in Fish-Drying Practices on the Southwest Coast of Bangladesh

The southwest coast, specifically the Khulna region of Bangladesh, has seen a substantial increase in the production of dried fish, involving marginalized coastal people. This study uses a mixed methods approach and the sustainable livelihood approach (SLA) to assess these fish-drying communities’ socioeconomic characteristics, ways of living, and adaptability. Due to their lower literacy, irregular wages, and labor-intensive employment, the research outcomes indicated that the communities engaged in the drying process were economically disadvantaged. Male workers exhibited a relatively higher participation rate compared to females. However, it was observed that females had less power over their wages and earned less than USD 2.74–3.65 per day compared to males at USD 3.65–5.48 per day. Even though there were a lot of opportunities for employment, the survey showed that very few vendors, manufacturers, and laborers regarded themselves as financially independent. To cope with various impacts and obstacles, off-season earnings, a variety of fish species, drying facilities, dealer associations, and social relationships were crucial for dried-fish processors, workers, and traders. The research suggests implementing suitable measures to diversify alternative sources of income and emphasizes the importance of fostering strong collaboration among the communities, local management authorities, and the government. With regard to dry-fish approaches, these steps are essential for ensuring long-term sustainability and improving community resilience among coastal communities.

Checklist of Macrofungi Associated with Nine Different Habitats of Taburno-Camposauro Massif in Campania, Southern Italy.

The checklist serves as an informative method for evaluating the diversity, geography, and ecology of established and reproducing macrofungi. Additionally, considering macrofungi as bioindicator species, their census should be incorporated into efforts to monitor the state of health of ecosystems and directly applied to conservation policies. Between 2019 and 2023, a census of macrofungal species was conducted in Taburno-Camposauro Regional Park (Campania, Italy) across nine distinct habitats. A total of 453 fungal taxa were identified, including several new records for the Campania region. The fungal diversity exhibited significant variations based on the dominant plant species in each habitat. Fagacean tree species and Carpinus spp. shared similar fungal communities. Equally, coniferous tree species displayed a comparable fungal composition. In Abies alba and mixed broad-leaved forests, low levels of ectomycorrhizal taxa were observed alongside a concurrent increase in saprotrophs, indicating a disturbed habitat and a reduction in the Gadgil effect. Notably, lower fungal diversity was documented in the grassland habitat, suggesting the potential implications of wildlife imbalance and excessive grazing. The provided checklist constitutes a valuable resource for local management authorities, providing insights to formulate specific management policies.

Community-based centralized solar mini-grid management for rural electrification: Evidence from remote villages

Centralized solar mini-grid Program (PLTS Terpusat) is a policy issued by the Indonesian government to assist rural electrification in remote villages. Muara Enggelam, Labuangkallo and Balikukup villages are remote villages that have received centralized solar mini-grid grants from the Central and Provincial Governments. This study aims to capture community-based centralized solar mini-grid management for rural electrification in remote villages based on a logic model perspective. Data collection was carried out qualitatively by conducting interviews with local authority, community leaders, business actors, community, and solar minigrid managers unit. The results of the study show that solar off-grid managed by the community includes: (1) Inputs: community involvement, technical and managerial competence, and sustainable budget; (2) Processes: integrated with business local, community contribution, community commitment, and monev; (3) Outputs: rural electrification, and socioeconomic benefit. However, there are several obstacles in the management of the Solar off-grid in Labuangkallo and Balikukup Village, namely the community’s commitment to providing monthly contributions and the weak leadership of the village government in managing the Solar off-grid.

Towards understanding climate change: Impact of land use indices and drainage on land surface temperature for valley drainage and non-drainage areas

The continuous increase of urbanization and industrialization brought various climatic changes, leading to global warming. The unavailability of meteorological data makes remotely sensed data important for understanding climate change. Therefore, the land surface temperature (LST) is critical in understanding global climate changes and related hydrological processes. The main objective of this work is to explore the dominant drivers of land use and hydrologic indices for LST in drainage and non-drainage areas. Specifically, the relationship between LST changes, land use, and hydrologic indices in Northeast Qena, Egypt, was investigated. The Landsat 5 and 8 imagery, Geographic Information System (GIS), and R-package were applied to identify the change detection during 2000–2021. The normalized difference between vegetation index (NDVI), bare soil index (BSI), normalized difference built-up, built-up index (BUI), modified normalized difference water index (MNDWI), and soil-adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) were employed. The non-drainage or mountain areas were found to be more susceptible to high LST values. The comprehensive analysis and assessment of the spatiotemporal changes of LST indicated that land use and hydrologic indices were driving factors for LST changes. Considerably, LST retrieved from the Landsat imaginary showed significant variation between the maximum LST during 2000 (44.82°C) and 2021 (50.74°C). However, NDBI has got less spread during the past (2000) with 10–13%. A high negative correlation was observed between the LST and NDVI, while the SAVI and LST positively correlated. The results of this study provide relevant information for environmental planning to local management authorities.

The Effectiveness of Internal Controls System over Cash Management in Local Government Authorities: A Case of Morogoro District Council

The Effectiveness of Internal Controls System over Cash Management in Local Government Authorities: A Case of Morogoro District Council

Implementing risk management in local authorities: An exploratory case study of Moroccan municipalities

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the main challenges and obstacles that local authorities may face in implementing risk management. Interest in this issue in the public sector, and especially in local authorities, is relatively recent, and only a few studies have been performed in this area concerning some developed and emerging countries. Consequently, this research aims to explore risk management adoption and diffusion in Moroccan local authorities. To this end, a risk management model developed in our previous research was used. This model is based on a comparison of nine of the soundest risk management standards released by national and international professional bodies. A research framework was created to transpose and test this model within Moroccan local authorities. In addition, an exploratory study was carried out based on qualitative data collected from interviews with middle and high officers from four Moroccan municipalities. The results show that Moroccan local authorities are facing both strategic and operational challenges in their implementation of risk management. To overcome these challenges, key recommendations are proposed to successfully implement risk management. Accordingly, this study provides an overview of risk culture, risk awareness, and risk management practices among Moroccan local authorities. It offers a practical guide for local authorities’ stakeholders who want to promote risk culture and lay a foundation for risk management implementation.

Collaborative innovation in a local authority – ‘local economic development-by-project’?

ABSTRACT This paper analyses how local authorities address the challenges of prolonged austerity by making use of collaborative innovation, financed through bidding for instrumental technology-based projects. Based on two case study projects within a local authority in England, analysis shows how local authority managers change their role, from brokers before and during bidding, to institution-builders during implementation, and networkers when attempting to capture long-term value from the projects. The findings also highlight the limits of this approach, as the limited nature of the projects makes it difficult for local authorities to capture long-term value, especially if there is no follow-up funding.

Water use characteristics of the artificial forests black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) on the Loess Plateau of China

AbstractThe broad leaf, deciduous black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) and needle leaf, evergreen Chinese pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) are the major afforestation species on the Loess Plateau of China, accounting for 29.5% and 15.9% of the afforestation area, respectively. The decay of black locust and drying of the forest land soil in this region have caused serious concerns among scientific community and local management authorities. Understanding the hydrological characteristics of the afforestation plantation may provide clues for choosing proper species. However, previous studies demonstrated diverse or even contradictory understandings due to incomplete observations of the water balance. We used a model to reconstruct the water balance based on 5 years (2015–2019) of incomplete soil water and transpiration observations at the field for these two species. The R‐squares of linear regression analysis of simulated and observed soil water in black locust and Chinese pine plantations were 0.69 and 0.90, respectively; and transpiration was 0.62 and 0.69, respectively. Based on the reconstructed water balance components, we found that (1) black locust and Chinese pine had similar annual evapotranspiration in quantity. However, the Chinese pine transpired less and evaporated more water from the canopy than the black locust, with their ratios to the annual precipitation 50.7% and 69.7%, 26.3% and 17.2%, respectively; (2) the Chinese pine has higher evapotranspiration than the black locust in the non‐growing season, accounting for 19.5% and 9.2% of the annual evapotranspiration, respectively; and (3) the Chinese pine is more tolerable to soil water drought than black locust. The findings may suggest that the Chinese pine is a more favourable species for afforestation than the black locust from the point view of drought resistance in this region.

The category “rural areas”: approaches to defining the concept, basic functions

The article examines variations in the interpretation of the category “rural areas” by various scientists and draws attention to the importance of rural areas for the development of the country’s agro-industrial complex. Theoretical approaches to defining the essence of this concept are characterized, namely: territorial, spatial, systemic, structural, and multi-criteria. The advantages and disadvantages of these approaches are highlighted. Proponents of the structural approach consider rural areas through the prism of their structure, parts, elements, and functional units. Proponents of the spatial approach describe rural areas as a space characterized by population and economic resources. Representatives of this approach interpret rural areas as a system. The systemic approach makes it possible to consider the components of rural areas both in relation to each other and in interaction with the components of other systems. This, in turn, makes it possible to single out a significant part of the properties of rural areas, such as structure, integrity, hierarchy, autonomy, and sustainability. Representatives of the territorial approach emphasize three components of the rural area – content, phenomenon, and result. Representatives of the multi-criteria approach use several criteria to define the category “rural area”. The main functions performed by rural areas are outlined. The definition of the concept of “rural areas” lacks functionality, i.e. the possibility to use it for the needs not only in various branches of the economy but also in social and ecological spheres in order to develop concepts for the development of rural areas and their management mechanisms. Therefore, the article suggests the following definition of the category “rural areas”: rural areas are a complex multifaceted socio-economic system characterized by autonomy, integrity, and sustainable development, which performs production, spatial-communication, socio-demographic, cultural-ethnic, recreational, political, and ecological functions, develops in space and time, is outside urbanized centers, and is under the management of local governments, state authorities, public organizations, and business structures.

The district medical officer's role during the pandemic - a qualitative study.

We studied the district medical officers' role during the pandemic with a view to enhancing our knowledge of their role in municipal crisis management. Fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with key participants in crisis management in five local authorities, in the fields of medicine, policy and administration. The data were subjected to empirical qualitative analysis inspired by stepwise deductive-bottom-up methodology. The study showed that as premise-setters and coordinators, the district medical officers were key actors in crisis management: The district medical officers' medical knowledge was sought and valued by the local authority management in a pandemic situation fraught with uncertainty. The district medical officers actively used different networks to coordinate the work, and interacted with various actors in the municipality, in industry and nationally, with regard to both infection control and infection management efforts. District medical officers' expertise in community medicine assumed greater significance during the pandemic and gave them access to central decision-making arenas and networks.

Integrated water resources management: A new strategy for DSS development and implementation

AbstractAlthough the recent concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is continuously searching for modern operational approaches to be implemented in practice, the Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have been considered a major effective tool for supporting IWRM. According to the weaknesses and limitations in the current DSSs, this paper presents a new DSS development strategy based on an architecture design including higher levels of competitive advantages in system flexibility, product maintenance, and user acceptance. Instead of producing a DSS as a stand‐alone product limited to real‐time monitoring, the selected approach presents a design for a real‐time DSS service setup with a multilayered user interface and a multimodular modeling system. The methodology has been used and implemented over the Var catchment (2800 km2) and has been validated with an operational application. The designed DSS is currently used by the local management authorities with a high level of user satisfaction with monitoring and forecast services. The obtained result underlines the promising applicability of the proposed approach for other DSSs addressing utilities.

The Impact of Internal Audit Practices on Financial Management of Local Government Authorities: The Case of Morogoro Municipality in Tanzania

This study intended to explore the impact of internal audit practices on financial management of the Tanzanian LGAs, mainly at Morogoro Municipal. Descriptive and multiple regression analysis were applied on the collected data through survey instrument. Our findings indicate internal audit independence and quality of internal audit work significantly affect financial management in the stated LGAs. On the other hand, internal audit proficiency has no negative insignificant impact on financial management. It is recommended that LGAs should ensure that internal auditors are always equipped with relevant audit experience to enable them carry out their activities with confidence. Also, independence of internal auditors in Tanzanian LGAs must be significantly emphasized in order to ensure effective operations and management of public resources. Since our study concentrated only in one Municipal Council (Morogoro Municipality), it is recommended that future studies should consider the remaining Municipals in Tanzania. Morever, consideration of qualitative research approach will add more in-depth understanding on how internal audit practices explain effective financial management principles in Tanzania. This can be achieved by applying focus group discussion, interview and other relevant means of data collection apart from survey instrument which is constrained by biasness.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BALANCED SCORECARD MODEL IN LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES

Relevance of the study is due to the need to implement tools of strategic municipal management in local self-government authorities in order to successfully complete the reform of decentralization. Foreign experience testifies that one such tool is the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) of Kaplan and Norton, which was evolved from a performance management tool for business to a dominant system of strategic management in the public setor. This tool allows use of non-financial indicators, take into account social aspects and environment as well as manage risks under uncertainty. The article argues that the BSC implementation in local self-government authorities will ensure the solution of the following tasks: 1) aligning the strategic and tactical goals with measures for their implementation; 2) increasing the institutional capacity of authorities (through development and motivation of personnel, formation of innovative organizational culture, introduction of performance management system, improvement of internal processes, development of information systems); 3) increasing the transparency and stakeholders confidence, in particular foreign investors, to attract financing in the post-war period. It was found that the structure of the BSC model and the algorithm of its implementation depend on the field of activity, size, tasks and features of the organization. An algorithm for developing the BSC model of the city council executive committee (its structural unit for the pilot project implementation) is proposed and the main strategies for the four components of this model (stakeholders, finance, internal processes, training and development) are identified. Based on the experience of Canada, Denmark, the Czech Republic and other countries, the main advantages, conditions of success and challenges of implementing the BSC concept in local self-government authorities are identified, taking into account political, organizational, financial and other aspects. It is proposed to define the ways to solve considered challenges using the design thinking methodology.

The influence of Smart City development in Romania on the financial management of local authorities

"Smart City's role is to improve urban life through sustainable integrated solutions and address city-specific challenges in various policy areas, such as energy, mobility and transport, and ICT, which must also be effectively implemented. Smart City relies on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to sustainably develop urban spaces and limit the negative effects of urbanization. Globally, there is a trend to promote the concept of Smart City as a solution for urban areas in efficient and sustainable development, without affecting the environment. In Romania, Smart City has become a concern for local, urban and rural administrations, in the context in which at European level there are non-reimbursable funds for such projects. In Romania, Smart City and the projects that have the role of making an administration to be Smart are in their infancy. The purpose of this article is to highlight the advantages of Smart City development in urban administrations in Romania and the influence on the financial management of local authorities. Urban spaces in Romania face certain difficulties, both in terms of development (economic, infrastructure), but also pollution. The paper will highlight the stage of development of Smart City and how it influences the financial management of local governments, where such projects are implemented. The paper is descriptive, by correlating the information highlighted in the literature and data on projects submitted for Smart City by urban areas in Romania. The study analyzes the projects submitted by the main urban areas in Romania in 2020 for their development as Smart City, according to the website https://steinbeis-romania.com, thus highlighting the concern of local governments for their development as Smart City. "

Conservation Assessment of a critically endangered endemic Polygonum samsunicum (Polygonaceae) with emended description from Turkey

Abstract Polygonum samsunicum is one of the endemic species from Turkey. Up to now, it has been only known from the type locality (Samsun /Ladik). This research intends to define the global conservation status and strategies of locally distributed endemic P. samsunicum which has been confronted with the danger of extinction due to anthropogenic effects in recent years. In this research, we did extensive field studies and collected all needed data for determining the precise conservation status of P. samsunicum. We reported nine additional populations from Upper Tersakan valley, where the Mediterranean climate is dominant, and the size of populations, altitude, coordinates, habitat types, and the threats it faces in each locality were given. GeoCAT analyses at global levels indicate the grade of occurrence 21.609 km2 and area of occupancy 10.094 km2 and there could be an inferred decline due to habitat loss and fragmentation of the original population, suggesting local endemic species might be classified as CR, based on criteria B1ab (i, ii, iii) + 2ab (i, ii, iii) in the Red List categorization. Its parts are also consumed by local people due to its medicinal features. For in-situ conservation, phenological life history and detailed ecological studies, as well as population monitoring and ex-situ conservation studies should be continued together. Establishing cooperation between universities, research institutes, and local management authorities is strongly needed for long-term monitoring of population size, distribution, overgrazing, and public awareness.

Community Training and Sensitization as a Flood Mitigation Strategy Influencing Household Livelihood in NyandoFlood Plains, Kisumu County

The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence community participation in training and sensitization on household livelihood in Kano Plains in Nyando Sub-County, Kisumu County. The study adopted descriptive survey design and targeted household heads in Nyando plains, village elders and chiefs of the locations under study, local government authority representatives, District Disaster management officer representative in Nyando and the NGOs. A sample size of 385 was sufficient for a target population of 11,050. Multistage sampling was used to sample locations and sub locations while proportional sampling was used to sample the number of selected household where the households were grouped into different classifications. The sample size was 370 household heads plus 15 officers were working in Nyando flood plains. Purposive sampling was used to identify the 4 village elders and 4 chiefs, 1 Sub-County Local Authority Management Officer who represented the government, 1 Disaster Management Officer, and 5 managers from the NGOs. Questionnaires for household heads and interview schedules key informants were used for primary data collection. The study found that majority of the households had never attended training and sensitization programmes concerning floods with 42.1% and that the training and sensitization received was not of high quality (60.6%).The study found a strong positive correlation R = 0.582 which was statistically significant as p<0.01 (p < 0.001) between community participation in training and sensitization and household livelihood and that community participation in training and sensitization accounts up to 33.8% (R2 = .338) of variance in the outcome. The study concluded that community participation in training and sensitization influenced household livelihood. However, trainings and sensitization programmes were not regularly done due to financial constraints to facilitate the trainings.The study recommends that more training and sensitization should be conducted to the communities in flood prone areas on how to mitigate floods to ensure improvement of their household livelihood.

‘The Best of Two Worlds’—Combining Classifier Fusion and Ecological Models to Map and Explain Landscape Invasion by an Alien Shrub

The spread of invasive alien species promotes ecosystem structure and functioning changes, with detrimental effects on native biodiversity and ecosystem services, raising challenges for local management authorities. Predictions of invasion dynamics derived from modeling tools are often spatially coarse and therefore unsuitable for guiding local management. Accurate information on the occurrence of invasive plants and on the main factors that promote their spread is critical to define successful control strategies. For addressing this challenge, we developed a dual framework combining satellite image classification with predictive ecological modeling. By combining data from georeferenced invaded areas with multispectral imagery with 10-meter resolution from Sentinel-2 satellites, a map of areas invaded by the woody invasive Acacia longifolia in a municipality of northern Portugal was devised. Classifier fusion techniques were implemented through which eight statistical and machine-learning algorithms were ensembled to produce accurate maps of invaded areas. Through a Random Forest (RF) model, these maps were then used to explore the factors driving the landscape-level abundance of A. longifolia. RF models were based on explanatory variables describing hypothesized environmental drivers, including climate, topography/geomorphology, soil properties, fire disturbance, landscape composition, linear structures, and landscape spatial configuration. Satellite-based maps synoptically described the spatial patterns of invaded areas, with classifications attaining high accuracy values (True Skill Statistic, TSS: 0.895, Area Under the Receiver Operating Curve, ROC: 0.988, Kappa: 0.857). The predictive RF models highlighted the primary role of climate, followed by landscape composition and configuration, as the most important drivers explaining the species abundance at the landscape level. Our innovative dual framework—combining image classification and predictive ecological modeling—can guide decision-making processes regarding effective management of invasions by prioritizing the invaded areas and tackling the primary environmental and anthropogenic drivers of the species’ abundance and spread.

THE TOURISTS’ SPATIAL BEHAVIOUR AND TOURIST MOVEMENT PATTERN IN MUAR JOHOR

Unsystematic transportation system and accessibility, fewer tourism packages supply, and disorganised digital marketing strategy in destination management are the factors of the limitation of the tourist movement in a destination. Therefore, this research aims to determine the characteristics of the tourist’s spatial behaviour and tourist movement pattern in Muar, Johor. This research implemented a qualitative method through the semi-structured interview, which involved seven respondents who visited Muar, Johor. The result shows the characteristics of tourists’ spatial behaviour and tourist’s movement pattern has a significant interaction in investigating visiting characteristics, spatial data and movement. In the context of the macro-level movement pattern, the findings indicate that Muar has the potential to be developed as a one-day trip and three days one-night trip destination. Hence, it has positively affected tourism destination management to improve the travel package for domestic and international tourists. The main contribution of this research is to apply the mutual understanding of the tourist movement concept among visitors in investigating the complex visitor movement during travel related to the physical environment factor such as attractions, route and accessibility, and mode of transportation influenced by tourists’ spatial behaviour. This study can also be a primary reference for Muar local authority and destination management to ameliorate many aspects of creating an efficient tourist movement considering sustainable development in the urban heritage area.

Do external benchmarking mechanisms facilitate performance management in Malaysian local authorities?

PurposeThis paper investigates the extent to which externally led benchmarking may have facilitated performance management design and use in Malaysian local authorities.Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal qualitative study of local authorities in Malaysia was undertaken, comprising interviews with key officers during the introduction of process-based key performance indicators (KPIs), and following the imposition of benchmarking (i.e. relative performance evaluation) on local authorities. Complexity theory was used in the analysing and theorising of data.FindingsExternal benchmarking mechanisms facilitated only operational performance management, with strategic performance management merely ceremonially adopted. As the focus was on mainly operational KPIs, strategic goals were not translated into detailed action plans and outputs at departmental level. In addition, operational and strategic performance management packages were decoupled. Thus, the efforts of external actors resulted in operational controls suppressing rather than facilitating strategic processes.Research limitations/implicationsThere is a need to transition from purely externally led benchmarking to internally driven benchmarking in local government, whereby benchmarking forms part of the interactive performance management mechanisms that lead to institutional learning and improvement.Practical implicationsBenchmarking activities should be based on comprehensive analyses of performance management design and use. A reflective approach to continuously identify gaps or weaknesses in performance management systems will enable local government administrators to improve systems and processes in a timely manner to meet stakeholder needs.Originality/valueThis paper explains the impact of central government policy and benchmarking initiatives on other levels of government. We have built on previous literature by examining the connection between external benchmarking and internal performance management design and use in local government. In relation to this, and following calls for research on holistic performance management, the integration between operational and strategic performance management packages was also examined.