Private Sector Respondents Research Articles

Incentives and disincentives to private sector reporting on family planning in Kenya: why these matter, and how they may change over time.

Background: This study sought to understand private sector reporting on family planning in Kenya's health information system (KHIS). We approached this through three lenses: governance, procedural and technical. Our study looked at these areas of interest in Kenya, complemented by deeper exploration in Nairobi County. Methods: The study used mixed methods drawing on analysis from the KHIS and surveys, complemented by desk review. The qualitative research entailed group discussions with public sector personnel while more in-depth qualitative interviews were done with public and private sector respondents. A framework matrix was developed for the qualitative analysis. The study was approved by the Ministry of Health in March 2022 and conducted over the period March - May 2022. Results: From a governance lens, private sector respondents recognised the importance of registry and reporting as a government policy requirement. From a procedural lens, private sector respondents saw reporting procedures as duplicative and parallel processes as reports are not generated through digitised information systems. From a technical lens, private sector reporting rates have improved over time however other data quality issues remain, which include over- and under-reporting of family planning services into KHIS. Secondary analysis for Nairobi County shows that the private facility contribution to family planning has declined over time while family planning access through pharmacies have grown over the same period; there is no visibility on this shift within the KHIS. Changes in private sector family service provision have implications for assumptions underpinning modern contraceptive modelled estimates and programmatic decision-making. Conclusions: There is limited monitoring of the incentives and disincentives for reporting by private health facilities into the KHIS. These have changed over time and place. Sustained private sector engagement is important to align incentives for reporting as is greater visibility on the role of pharmacies in family planning.

Management Barriers to Inter-Organizational Collaboration in Preoperative Treatment of Patients with Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis.

Inter-organizational collaboration among healthcare institutions is widely recognized to improve healthcare services. Because there is a research gap in examining the management barriers to inter-organizational collaboration in countries with less efficient healthcare systems and the reasons for non-implementation of innovations, the aim of this study was to identify key management barriers to inter-organizational collaboration in the preoperative treatment of patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis in Slovenia using a mixed-methods approach with key stakeholders. A cross-sectional study was conducted using multiple methods. An online survey (n = 135) and a multilevel qualitative approach were used, interviewing patients (n = 21), healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders (n = 42). The overall assessment of barriers affecting the integrated approach at the macro, meso, and micro levels revealed that macro-level factors were statistically significantly perceived as the major barriers, while micro-level factors were the minor barriers. There was no significant difference between public and private sector respondents in the barriers at the three levels. However, there were significant differences in the perceptions of different professional groups at the micro and meso levels, but not at the macro level. The analysis of the in-depth interviews confirmed the importance of macro-level barriers. A culture of noncooperation combined with "managerial indecision" prevails in the Slovenian healthcare system due to weak management support for inter-organizational collaboration, with managers and other key stakeholders failing to make urgent decisions due to a lack of autonomy. Interviewees commonly noted that one of the major barriers to inter-organizational collaboration was a lack of resources and staff, particularly of primary care physicians and nurses. In the preoperative treatment of patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis, the culture of non-collaboration and executive indecision are the major macro-level barriers to inter-organizational collaboration in Slovenia.

Incentives and disincentives to private sector reporting on family planning in Kenya: why these matter, and how they may change over time

Background: This study sought to understand private sector reporting on family planning in Kenya’s health information system (KHIS). We approached this through three lenses: governance, procedural and technical. Our study looked at these areas of interest in Kenya, complemented by deeper exploration in Nairobi County. Methods: The study used mixed methods drawing on analysis from the KHIS and surveys, complemented by desk review. The qualitative research entailed group discussions with public sector personnel while more in-depth qualitative interviews were done with public and private sector respondents. A framework matrix was developed for the qualitative analysis. The study was approved by the Ministry of Health in March 2022 and conducted over the period March - May 2022. Results: From a governance lens, private sector respondents recognised the importance of registry and reporting as a government policy requirement. From a procedural lens, private sector respondents saw reporting procedures as duplicative and parallel processes as reports are not generated through digitised information systems. From a technical lens, private sector reporting rates have improved over time however other data quality issues remain, which include over- and under-reporting of family planning services into KHIS. Secondary analysis for Nairobi County shows that the private facility contribution to family planning has declined over time while family planning access through pharmacies have grown over the same period; there is no visibility on this shift within the KHIS. Changes in private sector family service provision have implications for assumptions underpinning modern contraceptive modelled estimates and programmatic decision-making. Conclusions: There is limited monitoring of the incentives and disincentives for reporting by private health facilities into the KHIS. These have changed over time and place. Sustained private sector engagement is important to align incentives for reporting as is greater visibility on the role of pharmacies in family planning.

Identifying Key Selection Criteria for Smart Building Technologies in the United Arab Emirates Prisons

The selection of an appropriate smart building technology has been a challenge for stakeholders, because no specific selection criteria are currently available. This study aimed to identify the potential selection criteria for the selection of smart building technologies for prison buildings in the United Arab Emirates. A questionnaire survey was conducted to evaluate the relative importance of smart building technologies and the specific selection criteria. 238 experts from the public and the private sector with rich experience in the construction and prison industry participated in the survey. The data obtained were analyzed for descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney U test was conducted to compare the responses of the government and private sector respondents. Cronbach’s coefficient was estimated using reliability analysis. Finally, exploratory factor analysis was performed by Principal Axis Factoring (PAF) to extract the contributing factors and was further improved by varimax rotation using SPSS. To evaluate the appropriateness of the factor extraction, the Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling accuracy and Barlett’s test of sphericity were conducted. The results demonstrated that most participants thought that the safety and security, anti-hacking capability, high working efficiency, and durability of the new smart building technology were very important. 14 listed selection criteria were extracted into three factors by factor analysis explaining 50.585% total variation. Regarding smart building technologies, fire protection was mostly voted by the participants followed by video surveillance and heat, ventilation, and air-conditioning system (HVAC). This study is a novel research study identifying the key selection criteria for the selection of important smart building technologies and would be helpful for a broad audience.

Enhancing medication risk communication in developing countries: a cross-sectional survey among doctors and pharmacists in Malaysia

BackgroundMedication risk communication is essential to ensure the safe use of medicines. However, very few nations worldwide have established effective risk communication systems. To date, the effectiveness of risk communication among healthcare professionals in Malaysia has never been evaluated. Our study aimed to (i) evaluate doctors’ and pharmacists’ awareness of regulatory risk communication methods; (ii) identify factors predicting the usefulness of these methods; and (iii) compare respondents’ preferences for risk communication to outline suggestions for enhancement.MethodsWe conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey covering four commonly used risk communications, namely a national drug bulletin, safety alerts, Direct Healthcare Professional Communication letters (DHPCs), and educational materials. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between independent variables and the usefulness of risk communication. We performed qualitative analysis of free-text responses to gain insights on respondents’ perspectives on risk communication.ResultsOf the 1146 responses received, 650 were from pharmacists (56.7%). Among the four methods surveyed, 71.5% of respondents were aware of educational materials, while awareness of the other three methods ranged from 20.7 to 53.9%. Pharmacists had higher awareness of all four methods compared to doctors. Private sector respondents were more aware of DHPCs compared to those from the public sector. The strongest predictors for finding risk communication useful were being a pharmacist [odds ratio (OR) = 18.2; 95% CI: 10.98–30.07; p < 0.001], having ≥30 years’ work experience [OR = 4.9; 95% CI: 1.98–12.08; p < 0.001], and working in the pharmaceutical industry [OR = 4.6; 95% CI: 1.08–19.72; p = 0.039]. Both doctors and pharmacists preferred risk communication in the English-language and electronic format. However, other preferences differed between the professions and sectors. Analysis of free-text comments revealed five core themes to guide risk communication enhancement strategies.ConclusionsRisk communication awareness differed between public and private sector doctors and pharmacists depending on communication source. Integrating our findings with the theory of effective communication, we provide suggestions for developing strategic plans on enhancing risk communication. Public-private sector collaboration is key in ensuring risk communication effectiveness.

Critical success factors for PPP MSW projects – perception of different stakeholder groups in India

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are increasingly being seen as the answer to solve the wide gap in municipal solid waste management (MSWM) service delivery in developing countries. However, not much emphasis has been given to the requirements for successfully implementing them. This paper attempts to identify a set of critical success factors (CSFs), which considered, would increase the chances of success in PPP MSWM projects in India. Seventeen perceived CSFs were identified from secondary sources and validated through sectoral experts. Questionnaire survey was then administered to public sector and private sector respondents involved in the managerial aspects of MSWM through PPP mode. Results suggest similarities in CSFs for PPP projects irrespective of sector and geographical locations. Also, Public sector and Private sector share a common perception of PPP success factors in MSWM except for a few factors. The research can help practitioners to identify key focus areas in MSWM PPP projects.

An Evaluation of Barriers obstructing the Applicability of Standard Bidding Documents (SBDs) in Public Procurement of Iraq

According to Order Number 87 of 2004 which had been issued by Dissolved Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, the Ministry of Planning MoP in the Iraqi Government started its efforts toward enhancing and developing the federal level of Public Procurement System by issuing a stream of procedures to the contractual entities (Standard Bidding Documents SBDs, procurement Planning Forms, Performance Indicators, Guide of Archiving Process… etc.). The financial crises which hit the international economy and the noted reduction in crude oil prices and the war against ISIS on the local level reflected an obvious shortage in funding process to the implementation of the project to the very minimums. At 2018 the Iraqi government allocated more funds to compensate the shortage in initial services projects at a time when the SBDs became mandatory to apply by all the public contractual entities, as a result, the local contractors were not able to meet the standard requirements and criteria of a modern experiment in the bidding process which led to more delay by re-announcing these projects. This research is to determine if the Iraqi contractual environment can be considered as healthy and supportive for the SBDs or not? Nine evaluation criteria for the SBDs projects were listed in the questionnaire targeted 100 private sector respondents and 130 public contractual entities, the mean comparison and relative important index RII were used to rank and match respondent agreement on assessing the importance mentioned criteria evaluation. The findings indicated that all respondents had agreed on ranking the average of annual revenues and financial liquidity as the top hurdles that need to be considered by MoP to ensure the success of the SBDs system.

Making cooking champions: Perceptions of local actors on private sector development in Uganda

Most households in Uganda depend on traditional use of wood fuels associated with huge environmental and health issues. Even with the future development of a sustainable national grid, small-scale solutions like efficient biomass stoves, biochar, and biogas installations will remain important. Despite the apparent benefits from clean cooking resulting from “dissemination” programs since the 1980's, many developing country households have been slow to adopt them. Hence, questions arise concerning commercially viable business development. This study takes a qualitative approach and actors-based perspective from the major players at the supply-side of the clean cooking on biomass market sector. A field research in Kampala (Uganda) explored the success factors according to local private actors' perceptions. The confrontation between these perceptions and a literature-based success-factor framework revealed original insights in terms of enabling conditions to strengthen the supply-side, related to the demand-side and the clean cooking market. First, becoming a ‘clean cooking champion’ is still highly dependent on the role of supportive and intervening development programs, especially in terms of financing, capacity-building, and awareness-raising. Second, up to now, carbon finance is an additional incentive rather than a determining factor for business activities in the clean cooking sector. Third, while some policies and targets exist, private sector respondents lament the lack of a level playing field and the competition of the informal cooking sector. Thus, this research provides an empirical basis for a possible approach to leverage private sector experience and expertise to improve access to clean cooking on biomass in Uganda.

Accessing DMPA-SC through the public and private sectors in Nigeria: users’ characteristics and their experiences

Background: Beginning in 2015, subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) was added to the contraceptive method mix in Nigeria, primarily through social marketing in the private sector and community-based distribution in the public sector. We compare user experiences in acquiring DMPA-SC across sectors during this national scale-up. Methods: From October 2017 to February 2018, 459 women (Npublic=235; Nprivate=224) completed a phone survey from a convenience sample of 1,444 women (Npublic=912; Nprivate=532) who obtained DMPA-SC from participating providers and agreed to be contacted. We examined the sociodemographic predictors of attending a public vs. private provider and analyzed differences in care-seeking across sectors (becoming aware of DMPA-SC, choosing a provider, choosing DMPA-SC, quality of care). Results: Respondents obtaining DMPA-SC from public providers were younger and less educated than those attending private providers. Both program respondents were comprised of similar percentages of new users of modern contraception (58.7-60.3%), although most respondents became aware of DMPA-SC through a friend/family member (43.1%) or a provider (41.5%). Relatively more public sector respondents also heard about DMPA-SC through community outreaches whereas relatively more private sector respondents became aware through media. Convenience was the most common reason for choosing a provider—43.8% among all respondents (higher among public sector respondents). Private sector respondents were also more likely to choose a past or usual provider. Having overall higher quality interactions were more likely among clients who attended private providers than public providers, but responses to individual quality item measures show specific areas of poor quality for providers in each sector. Conclusions: Training emphasizing technical thoroughness, sensitivity toward younger women, and client choice may help improve women’s experiences with obtaining DMPA-SC, ultimately contributing to accelerating demand for and uptake of DMPA-SC specifically and contraception in general.

Accessing DMPA-SC through the public and private sectors in Nigeria: users’ characteristics and their experiences

Background: Beginning in 2015, subcutaneous depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA-SC) was added to the contraceptive method mix in Nigeria, primarily through social marketing in the private sector and community-based distribution in the public sector. We compare user experiences in acquiring DMPA-SC across sectors during this national scale-up. Methods: From October 2017 to February 2018, 459 women (Npublic=235; Nprivate=224) completed a phone survey from a convenience sample of 1,444 women (Npublic=912; Nprivate=532) who obtained DMPA-SC from participating providers and agreed to be contacted. We examined the sociodemographic predictors of attending a public vs. private provider and analyzed differences in care-seeking across sectors (becoming aware of DMPA-SC, choosing a provider, choosing DMPA-SC, quality of care). Results: Respondents obtaining DMPA-SC from public providers were younger and less educated than those attending private providers. Both program respondents were comprised of similar percentages of new users of modern contraception (58.7-60.3%), although most respondents became aware of DMPA-SC through a friend/family member (43.1%) or a provider (41.5%). Relatively more public sector respondents also heard about DMPA-SC through community outreaches whereas relatively more private sector respondents became aware through media. Convenience was the most common reason for choosing a provider—43.8% among all respondents (higher among public sector respondents). Private sector respondents were also more likely to choose a past or usual provider. Having overall higher quality interactions were more likely among clients who attended private providers than public providers, but responses to individual quality item measures show specific areas of poor quality for providers in each sector. Conclusions: Training emphasizing technical thoroughness, sensitivity toward younger women, and client choice may help improve women’s experiences with obtaining DMPA-SC, ultimately contributing to accelerating demand for and uptake of DMPA-SC specifically and contraception in general.

Public–private partnerships in Tanzanian affordable housing schemes

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and rank policy and regulatory framework factors and inherent pitfalls in the delivery of Tanzanian public–private partnerships (PPPs) affordable housing schemes. The strength of interactions between pitfalls is established, with practical solution proposals offered.Design/methodology/approachPrimary data were collected from questionnaires administered to 28 Tanzanian stakeholders. Semi-structured interviews with public and private sector respondents then complemented survey findings with proposed solutions. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, mean scores, parametric tests and correlation analyses. Directed content analysis was used for the interview transcripts.FindingsResults show that “current PPP policy and guidelines need further improvement” and “Tanzania has a PPP policy and clear regulatory framework” were rated higher as policy and regulatory factors. In contrast, “poor planning skills and analytical capacity”, “high cost of building materials” and “inadequate access to housing finance” were the critical pitfalls. Most practical solutions were broadly financial in nature, or related to training, project management or PPP-enabling environment.Originality/valueThe paper provides solutions that can be tailored to international practitioners interested in understanding the effects of PPP policy, regulatory issues and pitfalls on Sub-Saharan Africa and other similar developing economies.

Driving forces for adopting public–private partnerships in Tanzanian housing projects

Despite the vast documentation of the PPP research in many countries, the PPP research in the context of Tanzania is lacking, let along the housing sector of Tanzania. To address this knowledge gap, the purpose of this paper is to identify the driving forces for adopting PPPs in Tanzanian housing projects. Second is to examine how driving forces differ between the public and private sector respondents. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 public and private sector practitioners to collect data and the interview transcripts were analysed using NVivo (version 10 package). Direct content analysis was used to validate the findings and provide in-depth insights into the findings. The results shows that out of the 19 driving forces identified, the top 3 driving forces for PPP adoption in Tanzania for the public sector respondents are ‘the need for redeveloping condemned properties’, ‘lack of enough financial capacity to undertake housing projects’ and ‘fear to lose their condemned properties’. In contrast, the top driving forces for the private sector are ‘prime location’ and ‘being a previous tenant’.

An analysis of the delivery challenges influencing public-private partnership in housing projects

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to identify and rank the challenges influencing the delivery of the housing public-private partnership (HPPP) in Tanzania; and second, to suggest solutions in the form of a conceptual public-private partnership (PPP) framework model that will address the identified challenges and boost the chances of success.Design/methodology/approachUsing a convergent parallel (concurrent) mixed method approach, data were collected from 28 stakeholders involved with HPPP projects in Tanzania using a hand-delivered and e-mail survey and 13 semi-structured interviews with public and private sector respondents. The quantitative data included subjecting the 19 challenges as identified from the literature to parametric tests such as one-sample t-tests and descriptive statistics tests such as measures of central tendencies and frequency analysis through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 22.0). Qualitative data employed content analysis. The research was further underpinned by a number of theoretical perspectives such as Gidden’s structuration theory, contingency theory, relational and equity theory.FindingsThe top five ranked challenges influencing the delivery of HPPP were “inadequate PPP skills and knowledge”; “poor contracting and tendering documents”; “inadequate project management”; “inadequate legal framework”; and “misinformation on financial capacity of private partners”. The least six ranked and most significant challenges based on the one-sample (single) t-tests were as follows: “Poor risk allocation”; “inexperienced private partner”; “unequal qualification and contributions of expertise”; “poor enabling environment to attract competent partners”; “inadequate mechanisms for recovery of private investors’ capital”; and “high costs in procuring PPP projects”. The qualitative study further confirmed the challenges and cited the reason for the failure of joint venture projects as the lack of motivation for undertaking similar PPP projects. Despite the increased awareness of PPP projects and associated marginal benefits, the main impediment to the uptake and delivery of PPP housing projects remained the lack of skills and expertise.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed framework model is not yet tested, but since this paper is part of the ongoing research, the next stage involves the testing and validation of the model. Future studies could test the applicability of the proposed framework in other HPPP projects in Tanzania, and in other similar developing countries. Second, the validated framework can contribute towards addressing similar challenges as well as providing guidance. The proposed framework model is not yet tested, but since this paper is part of the ongoing research, the next stage involves the testing and validation of the model. Furthermore, recommendation for future research is to test the alignment of the identified challenges to the proposed remedial solutions across the five phases within the proposed PPP framework with a number of case studies.Practical implicationsThe identified challenges were used to form the basis of the framework presented in this paper. Furthermore, these provide useful information, thus leading to increased awareness to enable successful delivery of HPPP in Tanzania. Similarly, both the government and policy makers could use the findings as the basis for re-examining the existing PPP policy and regulations, and reflecting on the existing situation with a view to improving the delivery of future HPPP projects.Originality/valueThe empirical study is among the first that identifies and ranks the challenges of PPP for housing projects delivery within the Tanzanian context. The identification of the challenges enabled their ranking, resulting in the mapping out of the most critical challenges. Furthermore, using the Gidden’s structuration theory, the study illustrates how institution mechanisms (structures) address these delivery challenges, thus influencing the implementation of HPPP in Tanzania, and how individual stakeholders (human agents or agency) are able to make choices (advocated solutions) in dealing with the challenges. More so, these constraints (challenges) as identified and viewed through the contingency and equity theoretical lenses form the foundation for developing the PPP conceptual framework. The proposed framework would thus serve as a mechanism for providing practical solutions as well as reducing the level of severity of the identified challenges.

Attitude and consumption of Bangladeshi professionals toward biotechnological products

BackgroundTo expand the biotechnology market, the opinions of professionals toward biotechnological products are highly valuable for the industry personnel, government policy-makers, and others for taking appropriate decision. Bangladesh is considered as a highly potential country for marketing biotechnological products. It is indispensable to know the present status and future potentiality of biotechnological products to develop a demand-driven market in Bangladesh. This study aimed to assess attitude and consumption of professionals working in public and private organizations in Bangladesh toward biotechnological products.MethodsThe data were collected by simple random sampling model, while structured questionnaire provided by the researchers. Collected data were analysed by using Chi-square and logistic regression tests.ResultsFindings reveal that Bangladeshi professionals have an optimistic viewpoint about biotechnology and its products. However, age and education of the respondents had a significant effect on their attitude towards biotechnological products. The most common biotechnological products used by respondents were genetically modified (GM) soybean oil, antibiotics, skin care cream, stress-resistant hybrid rice and vaccine in Bangladesh. Most of the respondents demonstrated a pessimistic consumption level of biotechnological products that showed a menace toward the progress of biotechnology in Bangladesh. However, none of the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents had a significant effect on the consumption of biotechnological products, but private-sector respondents had a more sanguine stance to consume biotechnological products compared to public-sector respondents.ConclusionThe favourable attitude and marginal consumption of professional toward biotechnological products reveal that it is important to expand the application of biotechnology to ensure food and nutritional security of Bangladesh. This study includes a limited number of professionals from public and private sectors who have been involved in biotechnological products in Bangladesh. The findings and suggestions for this study might be useful for food producers, industry and food policy makers involved in biotechnological production in Bangladesh.

Critical Success Factors of Public Private Partnership in Hydropower Sector of Nepal

This paper aims to identify the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in hydropower secter of Nepal. The study was based on a survey of 141 experts and practitioners involved in private and public hydropower projects. The study revealed that project technical feasibility, favorable legal framework, good governance, transparent procurement process and macro-economic stability were identified as most CSFs of PPPs. The comparative analysis of rank, found that among the 21 CSFs, four factors: macro-economic condition, employment opportunities, government’s technical support and government’s managerial support were considered equally important CSFs by the public and private sector respondents. It is concluded that for the success of PPPs in hydropower sector, the concerned authorities should use private sector more efficiently, specially for the technical support and government for devising favorable legal framework for the PPP projects. This study offers some insights on CSFs for policy makers concerning the successful implementation of PPPs in hydropower sector. Key Words: Public private partnership, Hydropower sector, Critical success factors. Mr. Gautam is Lecturer at Public Youth Campus, Tribhuvan University.

Private Finance Initiatives (PFI): Getting it Right

Recently, the UK government reformed the popular PFI into what is now referred to as PF2 after years of denying that the PFI was not delivering value for money. The reform is the result of many factors, principal of which was public sector PFI capacity deficiencies which has compromised the success of many projects. Therefore, this study set out to determine the most important PFI skills from the perspectives of public and private sector PFI practitioners and if there exists differences in opinion between the sectors. A survey of the most important PFI skills was conducted among practitioners during the course of 2 infrastructure conferences held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Factor analysis of 17 PFI skills produced 3 factor groupings that broadly explain the PFI skills requirements. These skills include Contract design skills, Contract Management skills, and Risk identification and Management skills. There was however no statistically significant difference in opinion between the public and private sector respondents.

By ‘default or design’? The expansion of the private health care sector in Madhya Pradesh, India

Objective Despite an extensive tiered public healthcare system, India has one of the most privatized healthcare systems in world. There is no evidence suggesting that this privatization at anytime has been deliberate. So what has contributed to the private healthcare sector becoming so dominant in the setting? Methods We explore possible reasons for the rapid expansion of the private sector through in depth interviews with policy makers in the public and private sectors in Madhya Pradesh province, Central India. Interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions Public and private sector respondents concurred that the expansion of private sector had occurred by default; a passive privatization resulting from an underfunded and underperforming public health sector. Regulation by the public sector has lagged behind the development of a popular private healthcare market. Professional self-regulation functioned poorly, with professional bodies reported as being opportunistic. The private sector is fractured and heterogeneous making it more difficult to regulate. Further, the state has focused on regulating its own public sector, little attention has been paid to the expanding private sector. Income and career opportunities for qualified healthcare professionals are attractive in the private sector. India needs to invest more in the public health system, develop ways of reducing out of pocket expenses through integration of, regulation of and partnerships with segments of the private health sector.

Differences between the public and private communication of rumors. A pilot survey in Belgium

Liu et al. (2010) and Gelders et al. (2007) called for evidence-based research on differences between public and private sector communication. This article offers such data by focusing on an increasingly important domain of public relations (i.e., corporate communication about rumors vis-à-vis internal and external stakeholders). Our results show government communicators are more frequently confronted with harmful rumors than business communicators but a similar number of respondents from each group have experienced the listed effects and these respondents rate the effects as equally severe. However, fewer public sector communicators have applied most of the proposed strategies, and those who did found them to be in most cases less effective than private sector respondents. In other words, government communicators hear more rumors, experience equally often the negative effects and find them equally severe as business communicators, but they often do not react to them and if they do, they do not find the strategies to be very effective. This study suggests that typical features of public sector organizations, such as the capricious political climate and the influence of party politics, might offer an explanation for these findings.

Public versus Private Perceptions on Hiring an External Program Manager

As construction industry service providers have expanded their service offerings to meet the demands of construction owners, new management techniques have evolved. One of these management techniques, program management, has emerged as a service offering that covers all aspects of the construction life cycle. This paper reviews specific topics related to the hiring of an external program management service provider, including fees, types of firms, factors considered, and organizational models. Each of these topics was addressed in a recent survey of nonresidential construction industry owners. The survey results are first presented for all respondents and are then segregated by sector (public and private sector respondents). It is apparent that the use of program management firms is still lacking in comparison to the use of other firms and service providers and that construction owners typically use an organizational model that allows them to retain control of their construction program, which true external program management does not. Also, the survey results showed differences between the public and private sectors in the factors considered when hiring a program manager. Because program management is the ultimate form of outsourcing, it is both a particularly timely topic and a topic that is very relevant to construction professionals.

Managing Knowledge Strategically: A Comparison of Managers' Perceptions between the Private and Public Sector in Australia

This paper compares the perceptions of private and public sector managers in regard to knowledge management (KM), using data derived from a survey conducted in Australia. The objective is to develop understanding of the current practice to assist in developing strategies to improve public sector KM practice. Findings revealed that public sector respondents in Australia had a less developed understanding in KM and intellectual capital (IC), as compared to the private sector respondents. This poorer understanding had led to a much weaker KM practice in the public sector: KM initiatives were not commonly addressed at the strategic level; employees were less trained and developed; few measurement systems were developed and almost no incentive and reward measures were established. In addition, public sector respondents were less confident about the roles of organisational culture, organisational structure and IT in KM in their organisation. They had lower agreement on the role of organisational structure, culture and IT as knowledge creation and sharing facilitators. The study, to a certain extent, supports the proposition that industrial context has an effect on managers' perceptions of KM.