Parastatal Organizations Research Articles

Transformational Leadership As A Catalyst For Enhancing Gender Equality And Women's Representation In Public Administration: Opportunities For Increased Access And Involvement In South Sudan

The Gender Equality in Public Administration Study was carried at the National Transformational Leadership Institute (NTLI) of the University of Juba in partnership with the Ministry of Gender Child and Social Welfare and UNDP South Sudan. The Study employed UNDP’s global GEPA initiative framework and UNDP-OECD Toolkit for Mainstreaming and Implementing Gender Equality in Public Life. which consists of four pillars, namely,1) Institutional and governance frameworks for gender equality and mainstreaming; 2) Gender-sensitive practices in parliaments; 3) Gender-sensitive public employment systems; 4) Gender-sensitive practices in the judiciary. Based on South Sudan context and the systems alreadyestablished,some key aspects of the UNDP-OECD tool with particular emphasis on Pillars (1) and (3) were adopted. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection that include surveys, face-to-face interviews, consultation workshops and focus group discussions were used to reach out to gender focal persons from all government institutions (ministries, commissions and parastatal organizations), organized forces, Academia and Civic groups that include Faith Based Organizations, Civil Society Organizations and Disability Persons Organisations.The collated information was analysed using SPSS and interpretation provided. The studyfound the existence of considerable gender differentials in terms of genderrights, accessto humanrights and access to justice. Gender inequality and Sexual Gender-Based Violence are widespread and mostly intensified by cultural norms and insecurity caused by interstate and intracommunal conflicts. Gender equality and women’s access, involvement and representation in Public Administration are linked to multiple structural and functional constraints which differ across sectors in South Sudan. Analysis from this study, clearly underlines that participation and access to formal political power structures is impeded by inherent gender imbalance in institutionalstructures, unequal power sharing, socio-economic context, culture, ideological and psychologicalfactors, which remain sticky, normalized and increasingly accepted as part of life. From the foregoing, it is imperative that directed policy initiatives and legal framework be established to address the issues. The Government of the Republic of South Sudan should conduct a review of the legislative and policy framework to integrate the minimum of 35% quotas for womenin all public administration (National Gender Policy; National Strategic Plan Framework; LabourAct, Civil Service Act and Public Service Regulations);

Leadership Styles and Their Effect on Employee Productivity in Zambia’s Parastatal Organizations: A Case Study of Lusaka

Leadership is the ability to influence adapted the setting so that everyone feels empowered to contribute creatively to solving the problems. Leadership is an ability meaning a leader has a capacity to do something through talent and skill. this research will investigate the different leadership styles and their effect on the employees’ productivity of Zambia Railways and its employees. The study explored the problem in an interpretative view and investigation, using a descriptive approach which uses focus group, interviews. The research design used both qualitative and quantitative research approach. Qualitative research design focused on open ended questions from which responses from key informants was collected for narration purposes as well. Qualitative research emphasised the understanding of verbal narratives. Quantitative research focused on closed ended questions from which responses given were non-verbal. Data collection was done using self-administered questionnaires as part of data collection from the employees. The interviews scheduled and structured for the key informants was strictly based on the interview guide. Data collected from both open and closed ended questions emanating from questionnaires administered to the respondents was analyzed by the use of a computer software known as the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 16). With regard to qualitative data collected from the key informants, a narrative report was employed as obtained from them. Then findings of the study has demonstrated that positive relationships between leadership styles and organisational productivity. Overall findings from this study suggest that participative and democratic leadership behaviours do play important roles in determining levels of affective commitment, continuance commitment and normative commitment.

Mapping Personality Traits and Gender-Based Stereotypes on Perceived Negotiation Skills

Implementing effective dispute resolution strategies such as negotiation has proved to be quite effective whenever there is a divergence of interest between two conflicting groups. This study aims to see if gender-based stereotypes or specific personality traits can positively or negatively influence negotiation skills in an attempt to improve the negotiation process, whereby individuals could be trained to adopt specific behaviors to obtain more favorable negotiation results. Using the expectancy violation theory (EVT) to analyze how individuals respond to unanticipated violations of social norms and expectations whilst negotiating, a quantitative study was carried out among legal officers working in private, public, and parastatal organizations in Mauritius. The sample size, 270, was calculated based on a population size of 899 as per records of the Mauritius Bar Council. The results demonstrate most legal officers were equipped with good negotiation skills, with no significant difference between males and females (U = 1138.50, p > 0.05), while a high level of neuroticism was indicative of poor negotiation skills (τb = −0.167, p > 0.05). These findings demonstrate that participants agreed that their negotiation skills were influenced in gender-dominated meetings which align with the principles of the EVT, the violation of certain expected negotiation behavior based on gender impact negotiation outcomes. Since negotiation skills were significantly associated with negotiation outcomes (χ2(4) = 37.963, p < 0.05), this provides pointers to businesses on how to improve and optimize negotiation outcomes by choosing a negotiator with the most apt personality traits.

Impact of Corporate Governance in the Performance of Parastatal Organizations in Zambia

Impact of Corporate Governance in the Performance of Parastatal Organizations in Zambia

Tracking progress in the implementation of the Access to Information (ATI) Act

Purpose Parliament of Malawi passed the Access to Information (ATI) Bill in 2016 but was operationalised on 3 October 2020. The purpose of this study is to track progress in the implementation of the Act. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted the survey research design. Data were collected through a questionnaire adapted from the Carter Centre’s Access to Information Implementation Assessment Tool (2009–2021). The questionnaire, mounted on Kobotoolbox, was administered to heads of ministries, departments, agencies, constitutional bodies and parastatal organisations through email and the WhatsApp mobile application. Data collected was analysed through Kobotoolbox and SPSS Version 19 to generate descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings The study concluded that information holders in Malawi had performed fairly well in the implementation of the ATI Act over the past two years. This determination was made after noting progress registered in the appointment of information officers, setting up a functional record management function to aid operationalisation of the Act and that information holders were receiving and positively responding to requests for information. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study undertaken in the country to determine progress in the implementation of the ATI Act from the time the Act was operationalised. Its findings would assist in shaping practical interventions to deal with challenges standing in the successful implementation of the Act. Additionally, the findings of the study could assist in policy formulation on matters related to implementation of the ATI Act.

Some psychoanalytic reflections on the Irish real estate bubble

AbstractWe use the recent destructive Irish residential real estate bubble and its parlous economic and social consequences to explore the role of repressed ancestral suffering in driving institutional and broader societal responses to contemporary events. We demonstrate how a traumatic past can become interwoven in the fabric of the social order, rendering state and parastatal organizations and their leaders powerless. The concept of intergenerational transmission of trauma is key to our analysis. We show how the Irish obsession with owning property and land is a psychic attempt to transcend the traumatic past to “inhabit” an idealized pre‐colonial land leading to emergent feelings of empowerment, euphoria and omnipotence. We also explain why the Irish real estate bubble is being re‐enacted so soon. The potential to enhance interpretation through insights from literature, drama, and poetry is illustrated.

The effects of political interference on procurement performance in the parastatal organizations in Dar es Salaam Region

The study aimed to examine the effect of political interference on procurement performance in Tanzania's parastatal organization. It was specifically intended to investigate the impact of political interference on the contract award, project allocation, and legal framework implementation on procurement performance and make some recommendations for improvement. The data were collected from heads of departments at 93 parastatal organizations in Dar es Salaam using structured questionnaires. The study's population consisted of 712 respondents, with a sample size of 256 randomly selected, but only 241 questionnaires were returned, completed, and used for analysis. The data were descriptively and inferentially analyzed using a multiple regression analysis with the help of SPSS version 26. The finding shows that political interference in contract award and legal framework implementation negatively influences procurement performance. In contrast, political interference in project allocation positively impacts procurement performance. The study implied that the procuring entity should ensure that politicians were not involved in the procurement process and that only authorized officers were allowed to participate.

Impediments to procurement performance in the parastatal organizations of Tanzania

This study aimed to examine the factors that affect the procurement performance of Tanzania’s parastatal entities. It examined the impact of political interference and staff competency on procurement performance. The questionnaire was used to collect data from heads of departments from 93 state-owned organizations in the Dar es Salaam Region as part of an explanatory research approach. The sample of 258 respondents was randomly selected from the population of 712 heads of departments. However, 241 questionnaires were collected from the respondents. The data were descriptively evaluated to establish the mean and standard deviation. The data were compiled using frequency distribution tables before being analyzed using multiple regression analysis. This study shows that political interference has a negative influence on procurement performance, whereas staff competency has a positive impact on procurement performance. The study implied that political influence in the procurement process should be avoided to the greatest extent possible because of its adverse effects and that staff competency should be stressed to give staff members the new skills and competencies needed to solve procurement difficulties.

Factors Affecting Preparation and Implementation of Annual Procurement Planning in Parastatal Organisations a Case of Tanesco Zone of Geita

Procurement plan is a document of identified and consolidated requirements and determined timeframes usually an annum for their procurement with the aim of having them as and when they are required for effective execution of an organization. A number of factors may hinder the preparation and implementation of the Procurement Plan in this study termed as Annual Procurement Plan. The Objective of the Study was to assess factors that affect the preparation and implementation of annual procurement plan at TANESCO, Zone of Geita. Purposive sampling technique was employed. Representative sample for the study came from four departments namely, Procurement Management Unit, Finance, Transmission and Distribution. Data was collected using Interview guide and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by Thematic and SPSS software respectively. Total number of 36 respondents was selected and interviewed. This study has shown that 62.5% from finance department admitted not to have experienced the use of Budget forecasts in the preparation of annual Procurement Plan. Forty percent of the age category between 45 - 54 years of age seemed to have skills about Annual Procurement Plan. The study has shown that there is a support from Top Management Procurement and Finance Departments as compared to the other departments in terms of allowances. There is less involvement of user departments in the preparation of Annual Procurement Plan and males than females use Information Communication Technology. Top Management TANESCO and other Parastatal Organizations should support use Budget Forecasts and involve all staff in the preparation of Annual Procurement.

Procurement Contract Management and Procurement Performance in Parastatal Organisations in Tanzania

Despite a lot of initiatives being undertaken by the United Republic of Tanzania to improve public procurement, the performance of many of the contracted projects is not satisfactory since a significant amount of public money is lost through procurement contract management. The aim of this study was to determine the role of procurement contract management in Tanzania's parastatal entities. The study examined the impact of contract preparation, the competence of the contract management team, and the contract allocated budget on procurement performance and made recommendations for improving it. The study used a quantitative approach with an explanatory research design whereby data were collected by using a close-ended questionnaire. Simple random sampling technique was used to select 241 respondents who were heads of departments from the 93 parastatal organizations. The data were analysed descriptively by computing descriptive statistics and inferentially using a multiple regression model. The findings indicated that contract preparation, competence of contract management teams, and contract allocated budget had significant positive relationships with procurement performance at p<0.05. The study recommends that parastatal organizations' management should ensure that there is proper contact preparation, each contract being managed by a competent contract management team, and there is enough budget allocation for every project before it is started.

Testing the interaction effect of knowledge management and creative climate towards organizational innovation: Evidence from parastatal organizations in Uganda

Extant literature shows that knowledge management needs the support of creative climate towards organizational innovation. However, existing studies have paid less attention regarding the interaction effect of knowledge management and creative climate on organizational innovation. This paper aims to clarify this relationship by examining the interaction effect of knowledge management and creative climate on organizational innovation in parastatal organizations in Uganda. This paper seeks to broaden the knowledge based innovation system domain by including the creative climate. This paper used an explanatory cross-sectional design where quantitative data were collected from 235 managers of 51 parastatals using a survey instrument. Data were aggregated to a parastatal level. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the interaction effect. This paper clarifies the interaction effect of knowledge management and creative climate towards organizational innovation. Knowledge management and creative climate independently rather than interactively enhance organizational innovation. The findings suggest that effective knowledge management practices and favorable creative climate are essential for organizational innovation. This paper suggests the adoption of an effective knowledge management system and a favorable creative climate as antecedents for organizational innovation. This paper makes a contribution on the question whether knowledge management interacts with creative climate to build organizational innovation, which seems to have been less studied.

The effect of employee value proposition on normative commitment

Organisations continuously seek opportunities to be more productive through the human capital they employ. A firm offering of the employee value proposition (EVP) and understanding of employee commitment could enable organisations to have committed employees that enjoy their work and are oriented towards a growth trajectory. This study sought to examine the effect of the EVP on normative commitment in a parastatal organisation. A quantitative research approach was selected to explore the research objectives. The research instruments comprised of value attributes scale and normative commitment scale. The population sample consisted of employees (N=251). Convenience sampling was used within the context of the study. Descriptive statistics, Factory analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and Regression analysis were employed to interpret data collected and address the research objectives. A positive relationship between the variables was established. The three EVP factors (work, rewards, and opportunity) positively correlate with normative commitment. Recommendations are made to managers and HR Practitioners regarding the EVP and normative commitment of parastatal employees, which have the potential to employee commitment when implemented. The study provided insights on the factors, affecting EVP and normative commitment. The study also showed the relationship between the variables, enabling management, and HR practitioners to implement strategic interventions to influence employees' normative commitment and EVP experience.

THE EFFECT OF INTERNAL AUDITING ON PROCUREMENT PERFORMANCE IN PARASTATAL ORGANIZATIONS OF TANZANIA

Despite the critical role of internal audit units along with various strategies undertaken to enhance this role, presence of fraud, corruptions and other unethical practices still discontented with the auditing units inability to undertake auditing functions effectively without being detected and become a common phenomenon in parastatal organizations of Tanzania. This paper determined the role of internal audit on procurement performance. Specifically, it determined the influence of competence, independence, and management support on procurement performance and recommended strategies for improving the same. Quantitative approach was adopted and data were drawn from an explanatory research design sampled with 94 parastatals of Dar es Salaam through questionnaires from head of departments particularly user departments. Descriptive data analysis were employed to get mean and standard deviation of the findings, whereby data were summarized using frequency distribution tables and finally multiple regression model was used to analyze the data. The findings showed that independence and management support had a significant positive association with procurement performance at p<0.05. Competence had a non-significant positive association with procurement performance. The study recommended managements of parastatal organizations to provide training opportunities to the internal audit sections, ensuring the internal auditors to exercise their duties with autonomy as well as be free from any type of influence. Furthermore,management should ensure that internal audit sections are given full support to execute their functions thereby ensuring satisfactory procurement performance

DMAIC methodology for achieving public satisfaction with health departments in various districts of Punjab and optimizing CT scan patient load in urban city hospitals.

The health care delivery system in Pakistan is in a process of rapid growth, and it consists of public and private sectors. The provincial government is preliminarily responsible for providing health care facilities within its province except in federally administered areas. In Pakistan, there are three tiers of governmental healthcare delivery systems, which comprise government, semi-government, and parastatal organizations. The purpose of this study is to understand the rapid increase in influx of patients in major city hospitals of the Punjab province. The reasons for patient flow towards the major city areas can vary, but our point of focus is mainly on those patients who are prescribed to get a computed tomography (CT) scan done for better diagnosis and early treatment, including but not limited to roadside accident cases. The study targets the define, measure, analyze, improve and control (DMAIC) problem solving approach to assess the potential cause of CT patient flow and the challenges that the health department is facing to cater to such a patient niche and process while minimizing the congestion in city government hospitals. The approach in this study summarizes with numerous quality tools like Voice of Customer (VOC) which is customer feedback, Customer Output Process Input and Supplier (COPIS) processes use for high-level process map to know what your customer value, Approver Resource Member Interested (ARMI) chart which is use to analyze the stakeholders on management of the project, evaluation with the help of fishbone diagram and house of quality, and for process improvement methodology we use the team brainstorming technique and the kaizen 5-why technique. The technique came up with an idea of a public-private partnership (PPP) project—partnership between public agency and private firm, as the health care industry in Punjab province is going through budgetary issues. In a PPP project, the Government will allocate the space to a private firm to build the facility on their own and provide quality service for CT scan diagnosis to the public of Punjab. The study identified the top 10 critical factors that the patients have expected from the government to be provided on priority. The Kaizen process improvement methodology has been adopted to provide the possible solution of government budgetary issues. The set of tools in this study can be adopted by other PPP projects to enhance the project performance.

USING TALENT MANAGEMENT TO LEVERAGE JOB EMBEDDEDNESS

Ponte Academic JournalApr 2022, Volume 78, Issue 4 USING TALENT MANAGEMENT TO LEVERAGE JOB EMBEDDEDNESSAuthor(s): Sanjana Brijball Parumasur ,Alia LatibJ. Ponte - Apr 2022 - Volume 78 - Issue 4 doi: 10.21506/j.ponte.2022.4.6 Abstract:Numerous organisations fail to manage the talents of their employees effectively, despite the care taken to recruit the talent. At the same time, employees have the need for belonging, affiliation, recognition and being valued. The premise is that when an organisation invests in employees and manage their talent, employees feel valued and this increases embeddedness in their jobs. Talent management therefore, has the potential to play a pivotal role in enhancing job embeddedness because talent management functions mainly to manage employees from an aspect that develops and serves their best interests. Organisations can facilitate and leverage job embeddedness through effective talent management. Efforts can be directed towards ensuring that the human resource functions (recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management, succession, planning, workforce planning) are strategically coordinated, structured and firmly integrated to enable organisations to make informed choices that support the overall strategic objective to meet the bottomline. The study assesses the relationship between talent management and job embeddedness. This study was conducted in a large parastatal organisation that provides bulk potable water in KwaZulu-Natal comprising of 399 employees from which a sample of 196 employees were drawn using the simple random sampling technique. Data was collected using electronic questionnaire surveys, and the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) were statistically assessed using Factor Analysis and Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha respectively. The data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results demonstrate that talent management is significantly related to job embeddedness and, organisations are encouraged to apply vigorous and conscious approaches to talent management in an effort to increase job embeddedness thereby reducing organisational turnover. This study provides guidelines and recommendations for the implementation of strategies for enhancing job embeddedness in the workplace. This will enable organisations to effectively manage the talent that they so conscientiously recruit. Download full text:Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution Username Password

China’s Leninist Response to COVID-19: From Information Suppression to Total Mobilization

Chinese party-state’s response to coronavirus outbreak has gone through two phases so far: the information suppression phase in the beginning of the crisis and the mobilization phase later aimed at containing the pandemic’s spread. The CCP achieved key objectives in both phases owing to the party-state’s hierarchical and authoritarian structure, the party’s ability to transcend state institutions, and the state’s ownership over vital economic resources. Beyond the party’s Leninist structure, the containment effort was helped by community parastatal organizations such as the neighborhood committees. This paper describes the institutions and processes that have helped CCP to achieve relative success so far in containing the coronavirus. It also points to its limits of China’s authoritarian response to public health crisis and to the plight of marginalized social groups like the migrants.

Establishing metropolitan governance and local governance simultaneously: Lesson from India's 74th Constitutional amendment act

Metropolitan regions are an increasingly relevant scale for political decision making and determining urban utilities and services functions. Metropolitan institutions functions with autonomous local governments, parastatal organisations and public-private enterprises. Therefore, it is always difficult to network between the decentralised municipal governments and create a hierarchy of planning, development and inter-local collaboration for governmental services delivery. One may expect that output legitimacy or legitimacy by performance is the dominant source for legitimacy in metropolitan governance. This paper examines India's metropolitan governance, its functioning under the decentralisation, the varied implementation of the act by states, its relevant comparison with global cases, and the opportunity of efficient collaboration between decentralised local governments within a metropolitan governance mechanism. The 74th Constitutional amendment act (74th CAA) 1992 provides the necessary legislative backdrop for decentralisation and establishment of the local governments or urban local bodies in India. The amendment act also pave ways for institutionalisation of metropolitan governance by establishing metropolitan/regional development authorities. The purpose of this metropolitan institution is to establish a framework of democratic governance, provide infrastructure services and improve regional prosperity. However, this contribution of the amendment act is not highlighted much in literature. The paper narrates the functioning of the metropolitan institution for the integration among the decentralised local governments and the relevant issues from two empirical evidences. It divulges the mechanisms of establishing metropolitan governance and decentralisation in India. In the process, it showcases the contribution of 74th CAA towards the establishment of the metropolitan governance. It also outlines the potential and challenges present in this dual system.

Governance Analysis of St Anne Marine National Park, Seychelles

The aim of this paper is to explore the governance effectiveness of St Anne Marine National Park, Seychelles. By collecting qualitative data through interviews and ethnographic observations from different constituencies in May and June 2018, the Marine Protected Area Governance (MPAG) analysis framework was applied. This case study revealed that the site is governed by a parastatal organisation (SNPA) and its Board through a largely ineffective top-down, government-led approach. The primary threats to the success of the park that fall within the purview of MPA (marine protected area) governance, are poaching, coastal development and unsustainable tourism, with a clear lack of state capacity, political will and capacity for enforcement as the key drivers undermining equitable and effective governance. Additionally, the study revealed a lack of community involvement in decision-making processes, resulting in a lack of sufficient participation and knowledge incentives, which reflects the need for the inclusion of more bottom-up governance approaches. This study contributes to the broader conceptual framework by supporting the understanding that a combination of governance approaches are needed to achieve MPA objectives and resilience. The governance structure coupled with the identified conflicts and many additional driving forces and constraints discussed throughout, are obstructing the achievement of strategic MPA objectives and severely undermining effectiveness. Suggestions for improvement are therefore explored as significant governance modifications are clearly needed. Since the completion of this research, significant advances have been made to the governance of SAMNP and where relevant these have been noted briefly throughout the paper.

Corporate Governance as a Strategy for Business Viability in Parastatal Organizations in Harare

This research looked at “Corporate governance as a strategy for business viability in Parastatal organizations in Harare”, the literature on good governance, cooperate governance and culture as well as factors that influence and affect proper governance implementation. The descriptive research survey was used to target employees and management. A sample size of 20 respondents comprising of 10 employees and 10 from management was used. The researcher used simple random sampling method in selecting the respondents. Questionnaires were used as key research instrument. The study found out that issues of good governance are not properly followed within the organization. Whilst there is a board to oversee the operations of the organization, it was not being fully utilized as they are not sometimes involved in decision making and policy making. The issue of Parastatal organization governance remains an issue of concern considering their contribution to national development. There is therefore need to document, analyze and promote good practice in relation to Parastatal organizations’ governance and accountability as this remains a grey area due to difficulties that the sector has in utilizing and implementing conventional corporate governance principles.

Recentralising Political Power Through Decentralised Environmental Governance: A Case from Mexico's Early REDD+ Program

The decentralisation of environmental governance is often associated with the interests of political parties and the fight for political power. In Mexico, constitutional reforms sought to provide more autonomy to local municipal governments, but until now, have had paradoxical effects. Now, in the face of international commitments like REDD+, Mexico is promoting the formation of decentralised parastatal organisations called Inter-municipal Juntas, to oversee broadly-defined environmental conservation activities at the local scale. Although the Juntas are proposed to be a model of decentralised environmental governance, this article draws upon a case study of one such Junta in the state of Jalisco to demonstrate that in reality, they merely serve to re-centralise political power at the local scale. Utilising the literature on decentralised environmental governance as well as the literature on democracy, decentralisation, and state power in Mexico, this article illustrates how the economic and political marginalisation of the municipalities in the region combined with the power of the political parties, particularly the PRI, undermine the process of decentralisation, and consequently the democratisation of environmental governance in Mexico. Such deficiencies have implications not only for environmental governance in Mexico but also for the broader process of democracy in Mexico.