Public Administration Sector Research Articles

Critical infrastructure in the shaping of national security

Critical infrastructure plays a key role in ensuring the national security of a state, due to important functions thereof in military, economic, and public administration sectors. The destruction, damage, failure or other deprivation of critical infrastructure of its operational capabilities constitutes a direct threat to the structural and personal security of the state. The research methods and techniques implemented in the research process itself primarily hinge on critical analysis of acts of law and organisational and competence-related documents, subject-matter literature, synthesis and inference in order to reach the formulated objectives based on efficiency criteria. The main findings indicate that critical infrastructure is perceived as a set of systems which exerts a substantial impact on the security of the state and, obviously, its inhabitants. The results advocate for a reflection that critical infrastructure embraces a number of facilities which appear to be remarkably diverse. They are buildings, structures, installations, equipment and services which, integrally, form cohesive systems which allow the proper functioning of a given state. It is the state whose role is just to supervise and coordinate, whereas the operators of critical infrastructure are the ones who are to protect it. The overall findings of this paper present the notion that safeguarding critical infrastructure is a task of crucial importance to the national security of a state and, therefore, it would be worth reconsidering the intensification of rules which apply to the infrastructure of national security and its efficient functioning.

Drivers for a cross-sector successful collaboration: the Basque country model of action

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show the positive effects of a cross-sector collaboration between public administration and third sector in the Basque Country. Solidarity within European society is a concern increasingly addressed from broader perspectives in broader territories. Civil society involvement has also reached public administrations. The European Commission H2020 project, SOLIDUS Solidarity in European societies: empowerment, social justice and citizenship (2016–2018), responds to the need to build a “renewed” Europe after the economic crisis, addressing social areas as employment, education, housing, health, civic engagement.Design/methodology/approachThe communicative methodology (CM) has been used in this research paper, including qualitative fieldwork involving representatives of third-sector organizations. The CM already showed its impact on society, through several research projects in which it has been applied. CM is based on including stakeholders’ voices into research from the initial design until the end, responding their needs from research evidence. Thus, it contributes to put in common the knowledge of experts and stakeholders.FindingsSearching for successful practices of social innovation, this paper analyzed which elements enable such relationships between public administration and third-sector organizations to promote successful public policies. Even some risks and barriers have been highlighted, the authors’ specific aim focuses on the positive aspects. Therefore, it shows drivers for a most efficient way of public management, which could potentially be extrapolated to other contexts. Some of these drivers are the following: support and collaboration between sectors, institutional trust, co-creation, active participation of the third sector, solidarity and commitment, efficient social policies and workers’ professionalization.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to returning to institutions and society the atmosphere of trust that the crisis context has damaged. The Basque Countries’ comprehensive model of action proves to attend citizenship contributing to a better society, from engaging a successful collaboration across sectors. The creation of two models of collaboration helps to progress in the positive interaction between the third sector and government. This paper is also original because it gives voice to people directly involved on the field and uses their knowledge to describe drivers and assess collaboration and participation of the third sector.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this paper is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-06-2019-0378

Цифровизация в системе средств противодействия коррупции

The article is devoted to the current state of digitalization aimed at solving urgent problems of combating corruption in the field of public administration and private business sector. The work considers the experience of foreign countries and the influence of digital technologies on the fight against corruption. It is noted that the digitalization of public administration is becoming one of the decisive factors for increasing the efficiency of the anti-corruption system and improving management mechanisms. Big Data, if integrated and structured according to the given parameters, allows the implementation of legislative, law enforcement, control and supervisory and law enforcement activities reliably and transparently. Big Data tools allow us to analyze processes, identify dependencies and predict corruption risks. The author describes the most significant problems that complicate the transfer of offline technologies into the online environment. The paper analyzes promising directions for the development of digital technologies that would lead to solving the arising problems, as well as to implement tasks that previously seemed unreachable. The article also describes current developments in the field of collecting and managing large amounts of data, the “Internet of Things”, modern network architecture, and other advances in the field of IT; the work provides applied examples of their potential use in the field of combating corruption. The study gives reasons that, in the context of combating corruption, digitalization should be allocated in a separate area of activity that is controlled and regulated by the state.

Создание базы геоданных мелиоративной системы Калининградской области https://doi.org/10.35595/2414-9179-2020-3-26-184-198

The article describes the experience of creating a geodatabase of the melioration system of the Kaliningrad region for integration into an agriculture management automated system. The uniqueness of this melioration system is the scale of drainage facilities created during East Prussia time and Soviet period. The characteristic of the current condition of melioration system facilities is given. Actual problems and potential risks in the context of climate change are highlighted. The relevance of digitalization in melioration sector of public administration and in in the context of transboundary cooperation is explained. The primary data model, the structure of cartographic layers, and the composition of attribute information are considered. The features of the initial data and the problems of their preparation are described. The technology of inputting poorly formalized data has been developed. Authors used own service programs for geometry control, topology, and automation of operations, which allows increasing the productivity and accuracy of data input in comparison with standard means of basic geographic information systems. Thematic maps, examples of which are given, are the information basis for monitoring of drained lands of the Kaliningrad region to make environmental and economic management decisions. Promising areas of application of the geodatabase are proposed: geoportal project based on server data storage with using satellite information; project for hydrological modelling of hazardous and catastrophic occurrence in various melioration subsystems. The created geodatabase allows increasing the efficiency of processing and analysis of information about melioration systems on a local and regional scale enables the geographic visualization, helps in melioration management making-decisions.

The Perception, Incidence and Management of Sexual Harassment at Workplace: A Malaysian Case

This paper focuses on perception and management of sexual harassment (SH) at the workplace. The study was carried out in Northern Malaysia among 586 public sector administrators. Results showed that 43% of the total male respondents and 47% of the female respondents have faced some kind of sexual harassment. Findings showed that the internal whistleblowing mechanism is also inadequate, though the respondents are quite confi­dent with the management in reporting SH cases. Finally, the article outline strategies that could ameliorate the occurrence of SH at the workplace as it is important to the organization and the priceless workers in the organization.

Benchmarking and effective strategic communications: ways to implement in public administration

The current information environment is being extremely fast developed mixing up and joining public administration and commercial (private) sector. The article discusses benchmarking, including a proposal to implement benchmarking as measurement of effectiveness of realization of the strategic communications in public administration.

Eficacia de las estrategias legales para combatir el delito de trata de personas en Huánuco

Objetivo. Determinar el nivel de eficacia de las estrategias legales que se han establecido para combatir el delito de trata de personas en Huánuco, 2018. Métodos. Se siguió el método deductivo, porque a partir de las observaciones y análisis documental se obtuvieron inferencias para evaluar el nivel de eficacia alcanzado. Se siguió el enfoque cuantitativo, porque se calcularon los datos recogidos; los mismos que se expresaron en términos porcentuales para el análisis estadístico de la información. El nivel fue descriptivo explicativo, por cuanto se tomó conocimiento de los dispositivos legales emitidos por el Gobierno Regional de Huánuco, y se describieron las acciones realizadas. La población estuvo conformada por 32 entidades conformantes de la Red Multisectorial de Lucha Contra la Trata de Personas de la Región Huánuco, e igualmente los habitantes de la región. La muestra estuvo conformada por la totalidad de las entidades conformantes de la citada red y, además, por 80 pobladores. Resultados. El Gobierno central emite normativas que deben replicarse en cada una de las regiones con la participación del Gobierno regional y las autoridades del Gobierno local de los sectores de la administración pública y entidades de la sociedad civil; sin embargo, la carencia de presupuesto y la falta de personal capacitado son factores que impiden el logro de las metas trazadas. Conclusión. El nivel de eficacia de las estrategias legales para combatir el delito de trata de personas en Huánuco, durante el 2018 fue significativo; sin embargo, conociendo las carencias que no han permitido la eficacia requerida, en el futuro se puede aspirar a mejores resultados

EMPLOYERS’ POLICIES AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE PERFORMANCE OF OLDER EMPLOYEES IN LITHUANIA

The ageing labour force is the one of the main challenges for the labour market in Lithuania. The working career of older employees very much depends on the policies and attitude of employers. Thus, the aim of this paper is to analyse the policies and attitudes of Lithuanian employers towards older employees. The data of Eurobarometer 76.2 in 2011 and the data of the employers’ survey in Lithuania in 2014 were used for the implementation of the goal. The construction, trade, education, health care and public administration sectors were selected on arbitrary basis. The respondents were surveyed by telephone. The sample of the survey included 216 managers or staff managers. The employers in primary data of Eurobarometer 76.2 were defined as general and middle managers. The data were analysed using the method of factor analysis. The secondary Eurostat data were used for the analysis of socioeconomic context. The legal norms were analysed using national documents. The main findings of the research reveal the general positive attitude of employers towards older workers in Lithuania. However, the existing workplace practice gives little encouragement for prolonging the working career in older age due to obsolete cultural and legal norms.

Industrial path analysis for CO2 transfers induced by final consumption: A comparison of the United States and China

Abstract The final consumption of the United States and China strongly affects global greenhouse gas emission. We analyzed the amount of CO2 transfers by the two countries caused by final consumption and its structural distribution from 1993 to 2013. We identified the key domestic and foreign sectors and transfer paths among the sectors that contributed most to final consumption. The total consumption-based transfer quantity increased to 1.2 and 3.6 times the 1993 value for the United States and China, respectively, whose domestic production and consumption were around 75 and 90% of the total, respectively. The key domestic sectors in both countries were the Electricity, Gas, and Water sector, the Transportation sector, and the Petroleum, Chemical, and Non-Metallic Mineral Products sector, which each accounted for 20–30% of the total. Among the domestic transfer paths, the American Electricity, Gas, and Water sector and Transportation sector, and China’s Construction sector, had the most connections to other sectors. We identified frequent contributions of foreign sectors to final consumption in both countries. Their dominant transfers were to the American Public Administration sector and Education, Health, and Other Services sector, and to China’s Construction sector. Understanding these key sectors and the paths among them can provide the scientific basis for improved national emission mitigation plans.

AN INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH TO THE ANALYSIS OF KLEPTOCRATIC ECONOMY IN THE CONTEXT OF EUROPEANIZATION

Relevance. Kleptocratic economy, as an institutional system, is oriented towards a key function that involves gaining wealth by the ruling elite through the introduction of non-market transaction costs for companies and households, which is based on administrative, bureaucratic, and political violence. For this purpose, the kleptocratic states create such systems of state institutional management that give the authorities the possibility of rent-oriented behaviour, which impedes the functioning of the real sector of the economy and encourages the shadow one. Under such circumstances, transaction costs are redirected to administrative intervention into the market mechanism, rather than aimed at increasing its efficiency; property rights are not clearly specified; the level of uncertainty about rules and norms of economic behaviour increases, and the motivational system of business activity is distorted. As a result, on the one hand, inefficient allocation of resources and slow economic growth (decline) are observed, and on the other hand, there is the redistribution of income in favour of the ruling elite and its excessive enrichment, that is detrimental to the welfare of the majority of the population. The aim of the article is to analyse the political-economic formation of a kleptocratic basis, which in the future transforms the state and its economy into kleptocratic formations; defining ways of counteraction and institutional capacity for transformations in the direction of Ukraine’s aspirations for European integration. Methodological basis. The methodological basis of the research is the work of domestic and foreign scientists in the field of institutionalism and kleptocratic economy. The models of the development of a kleptocratic state and the influence of kleptocratic factors on the socio-economic processes in the country have been studied with the application of the method of analysis, systematization, and generalization. Results. It is determined that in order to liquidate the grounds of kleptocratic economy, it is of primary necessity to eliminate institutional obstacles that interfere with the unification of the legal and shadow sectors of the economy and ensure their institutional formalization. This requires the introduction of effective ways of restraining the ruling elite in order to restrict corruption abuses of the government and its close reigning coalition with special privileges and bureaucracies and form an institutional structure, in which firms and households have clearly defined property rights and also have the possibility to protect contractual rights provided by formal institutes. Particular attention should be paid to the ways of civil society’s monitoring the state information policy and methods of adopting laws, which is, the institutional foundation that guarantees the openness of information as to the actions of government institutions. According to the results of the study, definite measures are proposed, the implementation of which will ensure the opportunities for Europeanization, particularly in Ukraine. The emphasis is placed on the fact that the important factors of counteracting the kleptocratic economy are the wage reform and the “transparent” selection of employees in the public administration sector on the basis of their professional qualities only.

O princípio da eficiência e as contratações públicas com o terceiro setor

O presente artigo pretende tratar dos novos instrumentos de contratação da Administração Pública com as entidades do Terceiro Setor, instituídos pela Lei Federal n. 13.019/2014, buscando compreender em que medida o novo regime legal permite o cumprimento do Princípio Constitucional da Eficiência.

Effectiveness of Pontianak City Government Innovation Policy Bisnis Cakep Lalu Lintas Lancar and Government and Smart City Landmark

Pontianak is one of the regions that get appreciation from the Government of the Republic Indonesia on various creation innovation program policy in public administration sector. Among the products in the field of innovation is the application bisnis cakep lalu lintas lancar (BCL) and application government and smart city landmark (Gencil). Both applications are used Pontianak City Government to manage the government and public service. All policies or programs implemented by the government must be effective. However, to produce a product effectiveness of a policy or program should do some research. For that we need research that focuses in measuring about how effectiveness of Pontianak City government innovation policy bisnis cakep lalu lintas lancar and government and smart city landmark. This research is conducted qualitatively with the aim to find and search data and information in depth related to how big the effectiveness of product created. Thus will be known how the level of effectiveness of a policy or program that has been implemented by the government of Pontianak City.

The Financial Accountability of e-Government: The Information Transparency of Decision-making Processes in Public Organizations

Effective e-Government can contribute to the modernization of the public sector administration, and increase the efficiency in the activity of governments and national agencies facilitating the participation of citizens in the social and political life.The use of e-Government improves the electronic transactions between government agencies, companies and citizens, in order to improve the quality of the services and to increase the transparency in the public financial sector. The recent reforms in the public financial management are accelerated by new technologies and are creating the premises for a disciplined, transpired and flexible public sector administration.After a presentation of recent views from literature on some main problems of e-government and software services, the research is focused on the development of e-government and public finance administration.

Administrative Reforms in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The Case of Blockchain Use

The increasing interest in blockchain since the end of 2017 has induced many attempts to apply it to public sector administration. Blockchains have been shown to improve the levels of economic efficiency, security and decentralization in administration. This exploratory study examines the determinants of blockchain administration and their priorities through an analytic-hierarchy process (AHP) analysis. The priority ranking of internal factors was security, economic efficiency, and decentralization. The introduction of blockchains in the evolution of the current e-government to the future of convergent governments will be generalized through trial, error, and learning processes. As experienced both in the knowledge and information society and in the e-government development process, reforming government administration is not solely a technical problem. The study results suggest that future blockchain administration in the public sector be used in the field of e-voting to encourage citizen participation in the process of agenda-setting, to enhance the level of security and transparency of taxation, and to increase the level of equity. Blockchain technology can also be used to improve efficiency in the provision of individually oriented social welfare services. Its adoption via administrative reform may reduce the level of corruption in personnel management, recruitment, and procurement in public sector organizations.

The Healthy Learning Organizations Model: Lessons Learned From the Canadian Federal Public Service

This study evaluates the predictive validity of the Healthy Learning Organizations (HLO) model in explaining mental health and organizational commitment among executives from the public sector. Data were derived from a cross-sectional sample of executives from the Canadian federal public service ( N = 1,601). Latent class analyses (LCA) assessed whether (a) associative patterns in executives’ psychosocial work environment and organizational learning process expressed a typology of healthy and learning organizations; and (b) executives’ mental health and organizational commitment varied according to this typology. LCA yielded a three-latent class solution, supporting evidence of (a) differential arrangements in the healthy and learning components of the HLO model; and (b) differential impacts on executives’ psychological distress and organizational commitment (i.e., affective, continuance). The HLO model offers novel grounds to assess healthy and learning organizations in the public administration sector.

Value co-creation andco-production in the interaction between citizens and public administration

Purpose The aim of this paper is to address the value co-creation and co-production theories in public administration (P.A.) sector, particularly when public administration communicates with citizens during catastrophes, to provide a state of the art of the theoretical approach and its evolution. Design/methodology/approach Authors collected data between August and October 2017 from Scopus and Sciencedirect, looking for journals publications from 2010 to 2017, considering only articles containing in the abstract, title and keywords the following combinations: value co-creation AND P.A., value coproduction AND “P.A., crisis communication” AND “P.A.”. Findings By using three different keywords it appeared that the results of the individual topic contain results of all the other topics as well. It means that searching “value co-creation” AND “P.A.” appeared contributions of “value co-production” and “crisis communication” and vice-versa. The second reached result was to inscribe the theoretical approach of value co-creation into the interaction between citizens and public administration. Research limitations/implications Firstly, concentrating the research only on most recent articles from peer reviewed journals tends to exclude conference paper and other eventual contributions. Secondly, because the SLR has been conducted by searching with the keywords, only articles, which appeared in relation to the keywords connection in those databases, have been selected, excluding those papers closed to the themes, but classified under other terms. Originality/value This work value consists of trying to contextualize crisis communication during natural disasters in a theoretical context different from that which literature usually considers, i.e. value co-creation between public administration and citizens.

Employee involvement in the public administrative sector: an exploration of the engagement drivers in Cameroon

In many developing countries, despite the efforts made to roll out New Public Management, public service quality is still more of an ideal than a reality. Employee disengagement emerges time and again in reflections on the causes of the problem, without, in most contexts, having any precise explanations. The article sets out to identify the engagement drivers likely to secure the effective involvement of public officials tasked with providing the public administrative service. To do this, an empirical study is conducted in Cameroon. The analysis makes use of both statistical inference and content analysis. Its results tell us that the involvement of public officials is linked, in particular, to work organisation, human resources management practices and the recognition of their potential by their superiors. Points for practitioners This study identifies some major current issues. For anyone involved in human resources management, work involvement is a competitive tool that creates value. It is considered as one of the general objectives that staff management practices should help to achieve. A high-quality public service requires particular attention to be granted to work involvement. The study reveals many employee engagement drivers that can boost the performance of public administrations, particularly in developing countries.

Calculate, Communicate, and Innovate: Do We Need “Innovate” as a Third Position?

“Innovation” has become a pertinent and frequently used term in relation to public-sector administration and planning. This article is a review of the planning theory debate from the 1960s until today focusing on the definitions, understandings, and uses of the innovation. We seek to answer the following three questions regarding the use of the overlapping terms “innovate,” “innovative,” and “innovation” in planning theory texts: (i) To what extent have they been used? (ii) In what sense and to what purpose? and (iii) Are we heading for a third position (“innovate”) in planning theory, such that “communicate,” “calculate,” and “innovate” are three interplaying approaches?

International Standard for Government Finance Statistics (The Matters of Harmonization with SNA 2008 and Application in Russian Statistics)

The authors consider basic provisions of the Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM) published in 2014 by the IMF in the context of its harmonization with the 2008 SNA and taking into account the need to adapt it to Russian conditions. There is a uniformity of basic GFSM and 2008 SNA principles. The article, however, covers differences between these two systems that lie in the treatment of some important transactions. The authors consider issues of coordination between the mentioned above international statistical standards.A special section is devoted to questions of applying the GFSM to national statistics, which is possible based on adjustments to some fundamental - from conceptual and methodological position - considerations that are implemented in the Russian practice. Thus, there are several shortcomings that, according to the authors, need to be addressed: a vague distinction between the classifications of income and financial transactions, the use of the valuation principle for transactions at the time of acquisition of goods, and not at its actual consumption in the production process. The authors point out specific flaws in the most recent version of the Russian budget classification («Classification of Transactions of Public Administration Sector» - KOSGU).The final part of the article organizes the author’s proposals regarding the directions and priorities in improving Russian government finance statistics.

A preliminary evaluation of psychological stress amongst workers in Taiwan: a cross-sectional survey

BackgroundStress and psychological disorders have been assigned increasing significance in the field of occupational health. Based on Japan’s psychiatric disability occupational disease recognition regulation, Taiwan’s Council of Labor Affairs announced “Evaluation Guidelines for psychiatric diseases induced by work-related stress” in 2009. This evaluation tool was designed to assess the source and intensity of work-related and non-work-related mental stress, and references existing Japanese guidelines. However, empirical data from workers in various sectors in Taiwan are still required to validate the utility of the guidelines.MethodsThis study recruited 2319 workers from the manufacturing, service, and public administration sectors to participate in a survey between 2010 and 2011. The survey included questions regarding participants’ demographic characteristics, job type or attributes, a life event stress intensity evaluation Table (35 work-related and 23 non-work-related items on a scale of 1–10). The Chinese version of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (C-CBI) and Chinese Health Questionnaire (CHQ-12) were also included to explore associations between work-related/non-work-related stress and health outcomes.ResultsAnalyses of survey results showed events relating to employment security (e.g., “company bankruptcy” and “being fired or forced to retire” scores; mean stress intensity scores both 6.18) were the cause of the highest intensity work-related stress. Within different demographic/job type categories, women had higher stress intensity scores for most items than men (greatest difference in “sexual harassment in the workplace” score). Furthermore, executive class workers generally experienced more psychological stress than blue-collar workers (greatest difference in “serious injury or disease due to work” score). Results from regression analysis supported the observation that employees’ burnout and work-related stress was more significant than non-work-related stress. Moreover, work-related/non-work-related stress intensity levels both had significant negative predictive effects on mental health.ConclusionsRegarding policy, this study provides empirical evidence and practical suggestions for establishing a psychological stress intensity database of workers under specific social contexts in a newly industrialized East Asian country. Such a database can be employed to help identify workers with work-related psychological disorders. Additionally, this study also provides a point of reference for enterprises to prioritize agendas when developing employee stress management and support protocols.