Bureaucratic Processes Research Articles

MOTIVES FOR AND BARRIERS TO CONSUMERS’ BEHAVIOR TOWARDS ADOPTABILITY OF SOLAR ENERGY: A CASE STUDY OF DISTRICT PESHAWAR

This study seeks to analyze various factors that affect consumers’ behavior towards adaptability of solar energy in district Peshawar. For the purpose, utilizing the survey of 373 respondents from Peshawar, logistic regression model was employed to investigate which technical factors and regulatory & institutional factors act as barriers or drivers in adoptability behavior of consumers towards solar energy. In results, it is concluded that the technical factors including: lack of skillful technicians and complexity in usage of the solar system act as barriers which have adverse and statistically significant impacts on the adoptability behavior of consumers towards solar energy. Moreover, among various technical drivers, the technology of net-metering remains the most significant driver to motivate individuals towards solar adoption. In terms of regulatory and institutional factors, encouraging private sector participation and strengthening regulation and legal framework remains drivers in enhancing solar adoption. Although, lack of institutions and government support for financial support, in-adequate policy and bureaucratic processes of registration and installation of solar energy have been found as barriers which negatively affect adoption of photovoltaic systems. Based on the results, it is recommended that both regulatory reforms as well as technological innovations through research and development must be supported to promote eco-friendly and sustainable solar energy. Keywords: Classification: Consumers’ Behavior; Solar Energy; Regulations and Institutions

A narrative review of staff views about dementia care in hospital through the lens of a systems framework.

Significant numbers of people with dementia are admitted into acute settings. They are likely to face poor health outcomes during hospitalisation. There is the need to fully understand the care provided to people with dementia through novel methods such as a systems approach (i.e. human interactions, policy, environment and equipment). The aim of this literature review is to explore hospital practitioners' views on dementia care and to analyse findings using a systems approach. We conducted a narrative review of primary studies that examined dementia care in acute settings. We analysed a total of 33 papers using Thomas and Harden's thematic synthesis guidelines. Thirty-three papers met the inclusion criteria for the review. The findings were as follows: (1) staff-patient relationships (e.g. coping with difficult behaviour), (2) staff-family relationships (e.g. the benefits of involving families in patient care), (3) staff-staff relationships (e.g. building a robust multidisciplinary team), (4) staff-patient care decisions (e.g. decisions directly related to the patient), (5) the environment (e.g. difficulty in adjusting to the hospital environment), (6) policies (e.g. hospital bureaucratic processes) and (7) equipment (e.g. pain assessment tools). The paper revealed multidimensional challenges in the provision of dementia care within hospitals. We conclude that training programmes, hospital policies and processes aimed at improving outcomes for patients with dementia should adopt a systems approach which focuses on the relational, environmental, procedural and instrumental aspects of the hospital system.

Lived experiences of successful women entrepreneurs (SMEs) in Iran: a feminist phenomenological study

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the entrepreneurial actions of successful Iranian women entrepreneurs. It is an attempt to find the roots, motivations, challenges and strategies of successful actions of these women, despite the unequal and masculine structure of the society.Design/methodology/approachThis research was conducted through the theoretical framework of poststructuralist feminism and the qualitative method. By purposive sampling, the researchers selected 10 women entrepreneurs living in Khorasan Razavi province for in-depth interviews. These women have created many jobs based on local potential and become recognized as top entrepreneurs. The narratives of these women were analyzed phenomenologically.FindingsThe actions of these women are fertilized under the influence of family background and early socialization and in the combination of internal motivations and external stimuli. These women resist social barriers such as widespread patriarchy, gender division of labor in society and complex bureaucratic processes through the “strategic cycle” resulting from the interaction of “reliance on intertwined social networks,” “social entrepreneurship,” “gradual formation of social capital” and “reliance on local potentials.”Social implicationsThe strategies to overcome gender inequalities at the micro (family) and macro (society) levels introduced in this research can inspire women entrepreneurs who seek success in their businesses.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first qualitative research that, by studying the actions of successful Iranian women entrepreneurs, describes how they overcome structural inequalities and their success strategies.

‘Back in order’: the role of gatekeepers in erecting internal borders in Barcelona

ABSTRACT Designed and implemented by public servants and NGO workers, local inclusion programmes in Barcelona result in the exclusion of illegalized migrants. Access to city provisions is gained by means of a ‘work plan’ applied by the local authorities. Bureaucratic processes divide potential clients between those who ‘deserve’ to access rights and those who do not. Much of the legal framework provides leeway to practitioners to decide the fate of those left ‘here, but nowhere’ (Fieldwork 2019). Bureaucrats, acting as ‘gatekeepers’, often become ‘annoyed’ with their ‘users’. This annoyance has the potential to illustrate how banal but resourceful emotions end up playing a key part in the exclusion of migrants from the city, strengthening institutional cohesion and a moral order. Focusing on bureaucratic processes and street-level interventions, this article tries to shed light on how borders inside the city are created not only by municipal regulations, but also by bureaucrats´ emotions.

Bridging infrastructure: Conceptualising non-state organisations in complex refugee settlement service landscapes

This article conceptualises the work of non-state organisations in the refugee and migrant settlement sector with a focus on universal services, bureaucratic process and social dimensions of settling in a new country. In so doing it augments conceptualisations of ‘social infrastructure’, to encompass the social, emotional and administrative dimensions of social connection in diverse societies. Drawing on analysis of non-state organisations in the settlement services sector in Melbourne, Australia, we reveal the crucial work of organisations in developing programs and initiatives that recognise the complexity of mainstream welfare services, engage with the intangible social and emotional aspects of service provision, and that contribute to the accumulation of knowledge and expertise of complex and opaque services landscape. Moving beyond conceptualisations of social infrastructure as everyday community spaces, we introduce the concept of ‘bridging infrastructure’ to denote the work of organisations in interpersonal facilitation of social networks that enable access to wider services; the creation of friendly and welcoming community spaces; and the development of knowledge and expertise about a complex services landscape. Recognising the crucial role of the non-state sector in the dynamic process of humanitarian settlement, we contend that limited conceptualisations of social infrastructure risk removing ‘the social’ from bureaucratic and non-state services landscapes that support settlement lifeworlds.

El Legajo Personal y el estudio de los procesos de modernización, burocratización y profesionalización en el Ejército Argentino a principios del siglo XX

In Argentina at the beginning of the twentieth century, the superior leadership and officers of the Army promoted projects of change in that Force that some historians characterize as processes of modernization, bureaucratization, and military professionalization. This article aims to analyze a fundamental document for the bureaucratic administration of the armies and the professional careers of the military: the Personal File. This document existed in the armies and militias of the Ancien Régime, but in much of the nineteenth century it ceased to be administered and preserved systematically. Law 4.707 Organic of the Army of 1905 and law 9.675 of Cadres and Promotions of the Army of 1915 fixed its content. In the Personal File, generic models of bureaucratic administration and professional career are expressed, but also individual profiles and trajectories. Therefore, they are an indispensable source for a history of the military and the Armed Forces.

Upaya Komunikasi Internal dalam Meningkatkan Kinerja Karyawan PT. Agta Sinar Jaya Bandar Lampung

The purpose of this study is to find out, understand and analyze how internal communication efforts in improving employee performance in PT. Agta Sinar Jaya Bandar Lampung which includes horizontal communication, vertical communication, and diagonal communication. The data analysis technique used is qualitative analysis with interactive models including data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. Data is collected through reference books related to internal communication and employee performance, through interviews, and field research. The result of this study is that internal communication in the vertical dimension occurs in the company PT. Agta Sinar Jaya Bandar Lampung is a tiered and systemized communication, causing a lack of openness, the delivery of ideas and ideas to improve employee performance is hampered because it has to go through the bureaucratic process of the company's organization. In the application of horizontal communication, internal communication programs in an effort to improve employee performance at PT. Agta Sinar Jaya Bandar Lampung has not been optimally implemented, such as the lack of space and time available for discussions between fellow employees, sharing information and supporting each other between employees. Meanwhile, diagonal communication in PT. Agta Sinar Jaya Bandar Lampung is still rare, because the communication applied to the company is tiered communication, so diagonal communication only occurs when it is a complex problem that must involve the leadership and solve the problem that occurs.

Reformasi Sistem Pelayanan Publik Melalui Mobile Jkn Di Bpjs Kesehatan Kota Padang

Bureaucratic reform is a fundamental change in the paradigm and governance of Indonesian government. On the basis of the desire for bureaucratic reform, the government seeks to improve the bureaucratic process. However, especially with regard to BPJS Health, it is still not running as expected, such as BPJS Health services which are sometimes often crowded, queued, and convoluted. With reform, there is a great need for digitization through the JKN mobile application. This method and writing uses a qualitative approach. Qualitative writing uses descriptive data, namely in the form of written or spoken words from people and observable behavior. This research utilizes open interviews to examine and understand attitudes, views, feelings and behavior of individuals or groups of people. Padang City Health BPJS services through Mobile JKN are getting better. It looks like participants don't have to come and queue to go to the office, and through their cellphones, everything they want is in mobile JKN and at the same time within their grasp, but it's also undeniable that as long as using the application there are still problems but they can still be controlled. So the presence of a digital-based service system reform makes it easier for the community

Assessing public–private procurement practices for medical commodities in Dar Es Salaam: a situation analysis

BackgroundIn Tanzania, the Medical Stores Department is the principal pharmaceutical provider to public health facilities throughout the country. However, growing demand from health facilities has proved difficult to satisfy and stock-outs at health facilities are frequent. The aim of the current study was to conduct a situation analysis of the procedures and practices of procuring medicines and medical supplies from private suppliers in the Dar es Salaam region when those commodities are unavailable at the Medical Stores Department.MethodsA mixed-method approach including qualitative and quantitative methods was applied to understand procurement procedures and practices and private suppliers’ performance at district level. Qualitative interviews with suppliers and district authorities, and a review of inventory documents at store level was conducted between February and March 2018. The quantitative approach included a review and analyses of relevant procurement documents from the 2016/2017 financial year to explore the funds used to procure health commodities from the private sector. The ten most frequently mandated private suppliers were assessed in more detail focusing on cost, quality and availability of medicines and lead times and delivery.ResultsA lack of consistency and written guidelines for procuring medicines and medical supplies from the private sector was observed. The procurement process was bureaucratic and lengthy requiring multiple steps between health facilities, suppliers and district authorities. A significant number of people were involved requiring a minimum of 13 signatures and 16 steps from order preparation to approval.Only 17 of 77 prequalified private suppliers received orders from public health facilities. The criteria for choosing which supplier to use were unclear. Completed orders amounted to USD 663,491. The bureaucratic process drove councils and healthcare facilities towards alternative ways to procure health commodities when Medical Stores Department stock-outs occurred.ConclusionThe procurement procedure outside the Medical Stores Department is inefficient and cumbersome, often circumventing government regulations. General lack of accountability renders the process susceptible to leakage of funds and medicines. Increasing the transparency and efficiency of procurement procedures from the private sector with a prime vendor system would help to better manage Medical Stores Department stock-outs and help improve health care services overall.

Refugee recognition in Brazil under Bolsonaro: the domestic impact of international norms and standards

Why did the far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, with financial support from Donald Trump’s US government, preside over the group recognition of around 47,000 displaced Venezuelans as refugees? It would appear implausible that a far-right, nationalistic government led by a president who had expressed visceral hostility to migrants and refugees would use the provisions of a progressive regional framework to grant refugee status to thousands of displaced people, aided by a US president whose government was literally caging child refugees. To address this question, we show that recognition of Venezuelans as refugees was grounded in an existing and credible legal and bureaucratic process managed by the Brazilian National Committee for Refugees (CONARE) that also brought to bear the influence and presence of key international actors, particularly the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). An additional crucial factor was Bolsonaro’s anti-communism, which provided a strong ideological and instrumental motivation for his government to engage with the US government of Donald Trump in its efforts to undermine the Maduro regime in Venezuela and led to the seemingly paradoxical situation of a far-right Brazilian government granting refugee status to thousands of displaced people that exceeded responses in other South American countries.

Techno-Bureaucratic Race-Making: Latino (Mis)Representation in Criminology and Criminal Justice Knowledge Claims

We ask: (1) how are Latino-identifying and Latino-identified persons (mis)represented in criminal and immigration systems data? and (2) how do institutions of formal social control, through their measurement systems, contribute to skewed understandings of racial-ethnic disparities in criminological research? We anchor this analysis in Omi and Winant’s racial formation theory to understand how variously situated Latinos are made both visible and invisible in the criminal and immigration systems. We use the term techno-bureaucratic race-making to reflect how bureaucratic institutions and processes contribute to the racialization and criminalization of Latinos in the United States. We argue that techno-bureaucratic nomenclature and data generating processes condition the capacity to identify the existence, scale, and scope of racial-ethnic inequities attributable to the carceral state.

Bureaucracy under pressure: New(s) management practices in central government agencies

How various central government agencies (CGAs) in Sweden respond to the contemporary and highly digitalized media landscape and explore intricate patterns of the ambiguity in organizational and media relations are discussed in this study. Organizational responses caused by the perceptions of the media landscape on governmental agencies are analyzed as a process of bureaucratization. This study suggests that the agencies do not attempt to defend themselves; their efforts are directed toward maintaining internal trust and trust of the public. The studied responses turned out to result in decision-making aspects as preemptive measures, casting light on the significances of the ideal hierarchical authority. Furthermore, the extent of openness in relation to the communication showed rule-based actions. Additionally, the consequences of the media pressure for the more general codes of conduct among the bureaucrats led to the ideal of professional staffing. Our contribution is twofold. First, we argue that the contemporary media landscape – including all institutionalized (i.e., both digital and conventional) forms, structures, platforms, and interfaces – has led to an increased self-control in CGAs; and secondly, that the bureaucratization turns professional employees into “passionate bureaucrats.”

Legal aid amid bureaucracy

Abstract Disaster lawyers navigate bureaucratic impediments to insurance claims and settlement and federal recovery and relief, and they act as third-party facilitators for disaster-affected clients to help enable their survival efforts. The roles of such lawyers in navigating paperwork and bureaucratic processes on behalf of survivors, while assisting them in meeting basic daily needs, has become seen as being integral to recovery in these processes. We utilise findings from semi-structured interviews with disaster law practitioners working with disaster survivors in the south-eastern United States (SEUS) to examine the bureaucratic socio-legal life of disasters. We marshal bureaucratic violence literature to analyse disaster law practitioners’ perspectives of the socio-legal nature of disasters in the SEUS, demonstrating that the bureaucratic technologies of recovery are primary obstacles to expedient recovery and successful legal work with survivors.

GENDER EQUITY AGAINST “ECONOMIC REALITIES”: HOW A CONFLICT BETWEEN TWO MOVEMENTS RESHAPED THE CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING OF PAY

In the United States today, there is a broad cultural understanding that market forces drive pay outcomes. But prior to the 1980s, pay was understood to be the product of bureaucratic processes internal to organizations. The question of whether pay is determined by the market or organizational decisions is essential for evaluating employers’ liability for gender pay inequality, as employers are not responsible for inequalities resulting from the “economic realities” of the labor market. This article locates the shift in cultural beliefs about pay in key court decisions in the 1970s and 1980s. At that time, a social movement for pay equity used the idea of comparable worth to hold organizations accountable for inequality between jobs held by women and similarly valuable jobs held by men. But the judges who ruled on these cases were informed by a different movement, known as law and economics, which led them to conceptualize pay as the product of market forces instead of organizational decisions. These judges’ decisions limited employers’ liability for the pay gap and precipitated a transformation of the cultural common sense of pay within organizations, which increasingly adopted market-based approaches. The case of comparable worth highlights the role of judges, who have a unique role in determining the impact of social movements while themselves being targeted by such movements.

“You Have to Prove that You’re Homeless”: Vulnerability and Gatekeeping in Public Housing Prioritization Policies

Building on theories of symbolic boundaries, this article explores the role of the state as gatekeeper to social programs, such as public housing. Using interviews with 75 randomly sampled households living in public housing in Honolulu County, we link contemporary research on gatekeeping with decades of work on how housing policy drives residential outcomes for marginalized groups. In particular, we consider the largely unexamined case of “local preferences,” which fast-track certain individuals into social programs based on locally established criteria. Our data suggest that these prioritization categories have evolved over time and are now largely focused on providing housing to those experiencing homelessness and victims of domestic violence. Ultimately, this apparently mundane bureaucratic process mediates relationships between social service agencies, individual needs, and overwhelming housing demand, all collaborating to construct symbolic boundaries across which deservingness is defined and adjudicated. We find that waitlist prioritization criteria cannot be reduced to a basic assessment of need as it necessarily instigates issues of definition (e.g., what is homelessness?) and legibility (e.g., how does one prove homelessness?). These collateral issues amplify the importance of institutional social capital and, in some cases, generate conflict between and within eligible communities.

Review: Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers, by Charles McCrary

Review: <i>Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers</i>, by Charles McCrary

SuratKu Application as Electronic Mail Innovation in Supporting Governance at the Kulon Progo Regency Communication and Information Office

This study focuses on the "SuratKu" electronic mail innovation made by the Kulon Progo Regency Communication and Information Office. The innovation aims to support good governance in the correspondence management process so that it is faster, more precise and accurate. This is a form of the bureaucratic digitilization process. Specifically, this paper tries to see how the developed information technology innovations can facilitate communication and coordination between government agencies/government to government in Kulon Progo Regency. The method used in this study is a qualitative research with a descriptive approach. Data collection techniques were carried out by observation, interviews and documentation. And for the results, the data was analyzed using an interactive data analysis model. The results showed that after going through various stages of testing and testing the feasibility of the SuratKu innovation, the implementation of the SuratKu innovation had run smoothly and was able to provide more effective and efficient mail administration services so that it could be adopted for implementation and use in all regional organizations.

Action recommendations to support people living in precarious conditions during a pandemic

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has deepened pre-existing health inequalities. As members of an EU-funded research consortium (SoNAR-Global) tasked with assessing vulnerabilities in five European countries, we explored the impacts of the pandemic on vulnerable populations and identified concrete actions that strengthen resilience. Here, we present our action recommendation development process for populations living in precarious conditions such as refugees, migrants and those living below the poverty line in Munich, Germany. Methods The process began by interviewing 82 people who were likely to face vulnerability mechanisms, followed by interviews with 19 community representatives. Based on this qualitative research data, we defined challenges and resilience factors, and matched these with a list of action recommendations. This list, named “Provision of social support to people living in precarious conditions in times of a pandemic”, was considered by a panel with ten experts on migration, health, poverty, social support, and inclusion. Results Through discussion, we eliminated one recommendation and re-defined three others and achieved consensus on six recommendations. They are: 1) work towards eliminating opportunity inequity in education, 2) streamline bureaucratic processes to improve access to care, 3) establish structures that allow for continuing social support even during a pandemic, 4) refrain from isolating socially vulnerable groups through blanket pandemic mitigation measures, 5) Hybrid (online and live) solutions for inclusion, 6) improving healthcare empowerment. Conclusions Through an inclusive process that involved citizens, vulnerable populations, and health- and government experts we identified a set of actions that should be taken now to ensure an equitable and just approach to pandemic preparedness. Our panel identified feasible and achievable goals within those recommended actions. Key messages • Vulnerability mechanisms are multi-layered. Therefore, policies that need to be developed should be based on comprehensive approaches, not selective interventions. • Actions to mitigate vulnerabilities in pandemics must be ambitious in order to prevent further exacerbation of existing issues with potentially catastrophic long-term consequences.

Bureaucratic Reform in The Village Government

The state of Indonesia has a grand design and a national time reform roadmap related to good governance 2010-2025. The grand design of Indonesian reform is regulated by presidential regulation no 81 of 2010 and the employee roadmap is regulated by the ministerial regulation of State Apparatus Empowerment and Bureaucratic Reform, overseeing the task of managing the village, namely the village ministry. The purpose of this study was to determine Bureaucratic reform needed to reorganize the bureaucratic process from the highest to the lowest level and make new breakthroughs (innovation breakthroughs) with gradual, concrete, realistic, earnest steps, thinking outside the existing habits/routines (out of the box thinking), a new paradigm shift, and with extraordinary efforts. The method used in data collection is to analyze the data qualitatively by describing the data. The analysis stage starts by collecting data from primary legal materials (Laws and Regulations) by selecting and classifying systematically to find out the general picture of the research. The data that has been collected is analyzed by using descriptive-analytical, analysis qualitatively as well as conceptual approach, constitutional, and historical approaches. The results of this study can be concluded that the implementation should be applied from the center to the regions and villages in Indonesia. Villages also recognize the concept of good governance directly related to the community.

Cloud Computing and Public Sector Transformation: Revolutionizing Governmental Services and Operations

This research delves into the transformative impact of cloud computing on public sector operations and services, examining its primary focus, methodology, key findings, and overall significance. The study employs a comprehensive analysis of government agencies' adoption of cloud technologies, emphasizing the shift towards efficient and agile service delivery. The methodology involves a combination of case studies, interviews with key stakeholders, and quantitative assessments to gauge the extent of cloud integration. Key findings underscore the substantial benefits accrued by governmental bodies through cloud adoption, including enhanced scalability, costeffectiveness, and improved data accessibility. The research elucidates the role of cloud computing in fostering innovation, streamlining bureaucratic processes, and optimizing resource allocation. Moreover, it investigates the challenges and potential risks associated with the migration to cloud-based platforms, providing a balanced perspective on the implications for security, privacy, and data governance. The significance of this research lies in its contribution to the broader discourse on public sector modernization. By illuminating the tangible advantages and potential pitfalls of cloud computing adoption, the study serves as a guide for policymakers, practitioners, and technology providers involved in governmental transformations. Ultimately, this research contends that cloud computing is a pivotal catalyst for reshaping public sector operations, facilitating a paradigm shift towards more responsive, citizen-centric, and efficient governance