Public Sector Management Research Articles

Contrasting the Perception of Open Government among Public Officials: A Factor Analysis of Mexico and Spain

ABSTRACT Open Government (OG) is an increasingly used term in public administrations. Public sector managers seem to be interested in modernizing their public management models and find OG strategies a means to respond to increasing citizen demands for transparency, participation, and collaboration in public affairs. Specifically, the broad scope of this term seems to have produced an assortment of what public managers understand as OG. This research is a comparative analysis of the perception that exists in the local governments of two countries: Mexico and Spain. Our research questions are: (1) How do OG managers understand this concept? (2) What is the perception of those who manage OG regarding the level of development in their organization? And (3) What are the realities of OG implementation in local public administrations? This article reports the results of a survey to city councils in Mexico and Spain, in order to compare the perception of OG. The survey’s descriptive results are complemented with an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), allowing us to define public managers’ perspectives in both countries and compare them. Results indicate that there are some points of agreement between both countries, such as the relevance of transparency and citizen participation as pillars of OG. However, there are also discrepancies, not only in the progress of implementation, but also regarding the general perceptions about what OG is, and its scope.

Designing an Optimal Pattern of Assessing Native and Non-Native Managers’ Performance in Sweden

Nowadays, the issue of public sector managers’ responsiveness to their actions in the new governance environment will be addressed more intensely. Therefore, in the modern attitude, assessing managers’ performance as a framework for implementing strategies and policies, achieving organizational goals, and their responsiveness to beneficiaries and the society is considered. This study aims to develop an optimal pattern to assess native and non-native managers’ performance in terms of four aspects of human, perceptual, and technical skills as well as personal traits and measure their performance through the combination of 360 –degree feedback and analytic network process. The statistical population consists of two groups of native and non-native managers in key posts in Stockholm province who were selected through proportional stratified random sampling. The required samples for the groups of native and non-native managers are respectively estimated to be 31 and 23. The indices of performance assessment are extracted through the meta-synthesis method and validated using the Delphi technique and experts’ opinions. By combining 360-degree feedback and analytic network process, native and non-native managers were appropriately ranked, which this ranking can be applied to administrative agencies.

The impact of social and organisational capital on service innovation capability during COVID-19: the mediating role of strategic environmental scanning

PurposeThis purpose of this study was to examine the impact of social and organisational capital on service innovation capability among service firms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachTo test the proposed research model, data were collected using a cross-sectional questionnaire. The study sample consisted of 188 private and public service sector managers in the UAE. Partial least square-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the research model's validity and reliability and to test the research hypothesis.FindingsThe empirical evidence indicates that during this pandemic the relationship between social capital and service innovation capability was fully mediated by strategic environmental scanning, while partially mediating the relationship between organisational capital and service innovation capability.Practical implicationsManagers in service organisations must be proactive during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, they should emphasise effective environmental scanning and the tracking of customer preferences to provide customised services that are valued and meet the emerging requirements of their customers. Prioritising investment in organisational capital to enhance innovation capacity is also recommended.Originality/valueThis study is the first to examine strategic environmental scanning as a mediator between social and organisational capital and service innovation capacity during a pandemic. There were significant differences between the findings of our study and previous studies: the authors found that, during crises, management priorities change, and businesses become more reliant on organisational capital to develop service innovation capability.

Guidelines for public sector managers on assessing the impact of outsourcing on business continuity strategies: a Brazilian case

PurposeThis paper aims to propose guidelines for public sector managers in assessing the impact of outsourcing on business continuity (BC) strategies. This paper evaluated how public managers from the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, perceive outsourcing, considering BC and how it relates to the outsourcing of services and activities.Design/methodology/approachTheoretical lenses of outsourcing and BC were used to derive the study hypotheses. A questionnaire was drawn up to collect information to test the hypotheses. To test the proposed hypotheses, binary logistic regression was used through an empirical analysis of a sample of 51 Brazilian public managers.FindingsThis study found that when the public sector suffers from negative impacts of financial restrictions, outsourced services are the first ones to receive the negative impacts. This has had an adverse impact on BC in the public sphere. On the other hand, the authors verified that the public sphere’s capacity for resilience and the existence of specific methodologies to support public managers in outsourcing decision-making can contribute to BC.Research limitations/implicationsThis study assists public organizations to take advantage of internal outsourced services in the best possible way, making better use of public resources, gaining social legitimacy and legitimacy also in the provision of public services. However, each public sector can present different risks of non-continuity, and this aspect could not be considered in this research as well.Originality/valueThis study is a pioneer in highlighting the relationships between outsourcing strategies and BC in public services in Brazil. Through the guidelines discussed in this study, public managers could develop a more effective response to the implications of post-outsourcing budget constraints. In addition, the findings of this paper add to an understanding of the importance of business strategies for public services continuity and seek to help reduce uncertainties and better inform the government decision-making process.

The value for money factors and their interrelationships for smart city public–private partnerships projects

PurposeThe amount of expenditure required to scale up smart infrastructure projects is often enormous. Public–private partnership (PPP) is one of the proposed and viable solutions for addressing the financial issues of smart infrastructure projects. However, the most important criterion in choosing PPP over other procurement methods is that the project under the PPP method should deliver the best value for money (VFM) while also including defined economic and social objectives, rather than relying exclusively on efficiency factors. While PPP provides a variety of advantages for developing infrastructure, significant challenges may arise as a result of smart infrastructure initiatives. Diverse PPP approaches have been used to build smart infrastructure around the world, with varying degrees of success. The purpose of this study is to identify the VFM factors that are suitable for smart infrastructure projects and to examine the impact of their interrelationships.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology for this study consisted of three stages: identifying VFM factors in PPP for smart cities based on an extensive literature review, analyzing data from a sample of 90 PPP practitioners using a Likert scale questionnaire and estimating interrelationships among VFM factors using structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsAfter performing a SEM analysis on the gathered data, the best fitted measurement model consisted of 11 VFM factors acting as indicators of three latent variables for smart infrastructure projects (clear output specification for measuring performance, efficient dispute resolutions, optimized risk allocation and business models, improved and integrated community services, economic sustainability, appropriate capital structure and collaterals, smart asset management, diffusion of smart technologies, technical innovation, Ince) and three clusters of their interrelations (economic sustainability, integration drive, optimization and smart technology).Practical implicationsThis research has resulted in a useful and readily applicable list of factors and clusters of value for money criteria for the implementation of PPP in smart infrastructure projects, assisting public sector management by providing a measure of pre-conditions that can be used as an assessment tool when determining whether a PPP should be used instead of conventional methods.Originality/valueIn addition to the theoretical and methodological contributions, this study produced a usable and readily adaptable list and clusters of value for money factors for the implementation of PPP in smart infrastructure projects.

Curriculum Gaps in Public Administration: Perceptions of Academicians and other Stakeholders in the Philippines

This paper aims to examine the limited area of public management education program of more than 70 institutions of higher education learning in the Philippines. The examination focused on distinguishing the variations of experts, college/university administrators, teachers, and students towards developing the public sector/administration management curriculum. To achieve the research objectives, it applies a survey in three phases. The first and second phase deals with questionnaire distribution to Master of Public Administration students, teachers, college administrators, and experts. The third phase was the distribution of questionnaires to all participants who have given their opinion on the proposed curriculum, their objectives, and the subjects/courses. The findings disclosed that the established curriculum confirmed with the Commission on Higher Education standards consisting of the core or professional subjects, research and evaluation, major subjects, and thesis writing. This study is helpful by universities in offering the public sector management curriculum at the master's level.

The Power Actor and Madrasah Performance: Political Connections as a Moderating Variable

With the background of public sector management reform in the world of education, the characteristics of the leaders have become the main thing in improving an institution’s performance theory; this study explores the influence of aspects of the heads of madrasah (their age, education, and tenure) and madrasah performance in Islamic educational institutions in East Java, Indonesia. This study shows that political relations strengthen the positive influence of the head’s age and tenure on madrasah performance. Meanwhile, political connections do not enhance the positive impact of the madrasah head’s formal educational background on madrasah performance.

The Determinant of Performance Accountability in Banten Province During Covid-19 Pandemic

This research aims to determine the effect of the public sector management control system, organizational culture, and reporting system on performance accountability and the role of competence of state civil servants in moderating public sector management control systems, organizational culture, and reporting systems on performance accountability during the Covid-19 pandemic. in the Regional Apparatus Organization (OPD) of Banten Province. This research uses primary data with the purposive sampling method. The object of research is in the OPD of Banten Province with a sample of 75 State Civil Apparatus in fifteen (15) OPD. The data analysis technique used is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis with the Warp PLS version 7.0.The results of this study indicate that the public sector management control system and organizational culture have a positive effect on performance accountability, while the reporting system does not affect performance accountability. Meanwhile, the competence of the state civil apparatus failed to moderate the public sector management control system for performance accountability. However, the competence of state civil servants has succeeded in moderating organizational culture and reporting systems for performance accountability.

XIZMAT KO'RSATISH SOHASIDA DAVLAT-HUSUSIY SHERIKCHILIGI SAMARADORLIGINI BAHOLASH USLUBIYATINI TAKOMILLASHTIRISH

At present, the use of Public-Private Partnership mechanism in investing in the services sector is becoming important in development of the national economy. Hence, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is an essential tool for ensuring the socio- economic development of the country and an important source of financial resources for investment projects that retain control of public authorities and cooperate with investors. This paper reviews a methodology for assessing effectiveness of PublicPrivate Partnership in the services sector, forms and conditions of mutually beneficial relations between partners, goals and objectives of PPP projects, cooperation through public and private sector assets and management skills, public-private partnership. Furthermore, the paper analyzes expected obstacles and limits of the private partnership, the process of organizing cooperation projects, assessment of project effectiveness and the impact of economic risks on it, key indicators for determining effectiveness of investment projects, integrated economic efficiency of the investment project, budget efficiency in the Public-Private Partnerships.

Putting value creation back into “public value”: from market-fixing to market-shaping

ABSTRACT In conventional economics, value creation occurs in the private sector with the state limited to correcting for “market failures”. Public management scholars have developed the term “public value” to describe how public sector managers can engage citizens in shaping effective policy. A more ambitious concept of public value rejects the “market failure” framework and puts public value at the centre of the economy. Public value is created by public sector actors creating and co-shaping markets in line with public purpose. This direction-setting role enables different sectors to collaborate to address major societal challenges, such as climate change and inequality.

Factors Influencing the Implementation of Integrated Financial Management Information Systems: Study Focus on Bangladesh

Background of the study: Integrated Financial Management Information Systems (IFMIS) can help improve public sector management by giving managers real-time financial data to make better decisions. The Bangladeshi Public Service is currently busy with the implementation of an IFMIS. However, implementing IFMIS such a project has proved to be a demanding undertaking and has not been met with resounding success. 
 Objectives of the research: The research is primarily focused to identify the factors influencing the implementation of IFMIS in Bangladesh. Along aside, this paper assesses the influence of technical capacity of staff on implementation of IFMIS in Bangladesh’s public institutions and staff resistance on the deployment of IFMIS. 
 Methodology of the research: The paper draws from two theories in investigating the issues of IFMIS adoption for public financial management. The theories include System Theory and Rodger’s Theory. A simple Random sampling technique is used to collect the information from targeted respondents with a structured questionnaire. Around 80 respondents were selectively targeted. 
 Findings of the research: One of the Major findings of the study is that the governments have a strategic plan that recognizes political, administrative, and capacity limits that were found to be supported by respondents. The study indicates that the government has revised the wage structure to compete with the private sector and to prevent skilled employee turnover. Research 
 shows that employees have the necessary skills and credentials to implement IFMIS. Furthermore, the study looked at how IFMIS deployment is affected by capacity and abilities. Contributions of the research: The results revealed a significant connection between capacity and skills and IFMIS deployment. However, it is found that the infrastructure is central concern for successful IFMIS implementation. Moreover, the government's interaction with the external consultants is seen to be indecisive. Finally, the study recommends that government should uphold the strategic plan that identifies all the constraints and should have detail plan for maintaining its education system's alignment with information technology.

Connections between Governance and Business Process Management – BPM

We researched governance from the perspective of Business Process Management – BPM. From the understanding of process management as a practice that aims to register organizational knowledge, BPM can be seen as a valuable tool for governance. The BPM uses methodologies of analysis and redesign of processes to represent and translate organizational objectives and strategies to add value to clients. This article presents a systematic mapping of scientific papers published between 2011 and 2021 through the data collected in Scopus and Web of Science databases. The co-occurrence of keywords allowed identifying research subareas such as the public sector, technology, and strategic management. The analysis of the evolution of the publications revealed that the theme is still growing; however, we did not find many articles contemplating the connection between the two constructs simultaneously. We concluded that despite the results found, the concepts of both constructs consider common elements as value generation, demonstrating that there is room for new approaches to analyze the evolution of the theme and possibilities of further research.

Which Combinations of Human Resource Management and National Culture Optimize Government Effectiveness?

Despite the need for culturally-grounded public sector management practices, only a few studies have empirically investigated the compatibility between HRM practices and national culture. This study used fsQCA to investigate ‘bundles’ of HRM practices (recruitment, appraisal, and compensation) and Hofstede’s original four dimensions of national culture as antecedent conditions for government effectiveness in 30 OECD countries. We found that performance-based appraisal, compensation and informal recruitment form a causal relationship with high individualism and low uncertainty avoidance for stronger government effectiveness. The results imply that local national culture is an important context for the transferability of public management practices.

ESSENSO: Meaning of Profit Oriented in Pharmacist’s Perspective

Profit in accounting is, all this time, still focused on anything material, but not on non-material aspects. This research aimed at reviewing the meaning of profit oriented in pharmacist’s perspective. This research used a qualitative approach with transcendental phenomenology as the analysis instrument. For ease of data analysis process, noema - noesis - intentional analysis - eidetic reductionmapping worksheet or paper was used. The research results show that profit for pharmacist can be of education, services, satisfaction, careness and economy. The synthesis of the five meanings is realized in the term ESSENSO (Education, Services, Satisfaction, Careness, and Economy) as the meaning concept of profit oriented in pharmacist’s perspective. Hopefully, with the benefits of ESSENSO, accounting profession can also apply it to its various scientific concentrations, including for educator accountant, public accountant, public sector accountant and management accountant.

Bridging leadership and transformation in Dumingag, Zamboanga Del Sur, Philippines

Learning outcomes At the end of the course, the participants are expected to be able to: understand and explain what is bridging leadership (BL); understand stakeholder, stakeholder engagement and stakeholder management; conduct a stakeholder analysis based on the details of the case; evaluate the BL processes based on the details of the case; and communicate how BL was used in Dumingag. Case overview/synopsis Mayor Nacianceno “Jun” Pacalioga’s journey towards the transformation of the municipality of Dumingag, Zamboanga del Sur in Mindanao, Philippines has been rooted in his daily interaction with its residents by way of morning walks around the town. He has always been involved in organizing people in his youth and as a public servant, improving the plight of the people of the 4th class landlocked and agriculture-dependent municipality has always been his primary concern. There are currently an estimated 50,000 people from forty-four (44) barangays (communities/villages) in the Municipality of Dumingag. In 2007, most farming households of the municipality earned US$ 60 monthly. By 2016, after Pacalioga’s 9-year stint as local chief executive or as mayor, the percentage of households with income below the poverty threshold have significantly decreased to 38%. Local health indicators have also become exemplary with only 0.77% of children between 0-5 years old recorded as malnourished, with maternal mortality death rate. When it comes to food, only 0.25% of households experience food shortage. This case highlights the Bridging Leadership Framework as a paradigm to help address social divides and inequities in complex environments such as Dumingag. In realizing bridging leadership as a community of practice, Pacalioga employed participatory processes to develop the Genuine People’s Agenda, and the integrated Transformative Education to build the capacity of different stakeholders in the municipality. These processes mobilized different stakeholders to move towards the common goal of improving the plight of the Duminganogs. Now Dumingag is enjoying the broad-based benefits of the program; including recognition by numerous local and international organizations and civic groups on the efforts of Pacalioga and the people of Dumingag in transforming their once poverty-stricken town in Zamboanga del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines. Complexity academic level Masters Level/Executive Education. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 10: Public Sector Management.

Exploring the Job Satisfaction of Public and Private Employess in Romania

Satisfaction at work is one of the most studied organizational variables and many studies show that it is extremely important for organizations. Closely related to work motivation and performance, satisfaction is an important factor for many attitudes such as absenteeism or intention to resign. The aims of the present study is to measure the degree of job satisfaction of public and private employees in Romania and to analyze the differences between the two sectors. In the present study participated a total of 120 full-time employees of various private enterprises and public organizations. The Job Satisfaction Survey (Spector, 1985) was used to collect data. The survey results indicate a moderate degree of work satisfaction of respondents across most analyzed dimensions of job satisfaction. Two of the analyzed dimensions, one intrinsic (nature of work) and one extrinsic (communication) registered a high score of job satisfaction in both sectors. Instead, the biggest differences are found on dimensions ""supervision"" and the ""co-workers"" (both extrinsic factors) private sector employees showing a higher degree of job satisfaction than those in the public sector. To enhance employee motivation, public-sector managers in Romania should improve their employees’ extrinsic job satisfaction and help unsatisfied employees transfer to jobs they find more satisfying.

Participatory Budgeting and Its Implementation Within The Self-Governing Regions in Slovakia

At present, the influence of individual communities of interest on the financing of regional development projects as a space for civic activities in the public interest provided as publicly available services that the region is not executing in an unsatisfactory manner or is not executing at all for various reasons is actively resonating). The article deals with the issue of participatory budgeting as one of the latest budgetary innovations in the field of public sector management and aims to identify the challenges and barriers to the implementation of participatory budgeting in Slovakia at the regional level. It also analyses the implementation of this tool in the regional authorities in the conditions of the Slovak Republic before and during the Covid-19 pandemic, which has significantly affected public budgets and their redistribution. The methodological approach applied in this research includes a systematic review of the literature on participatory budgeting concerning analyses, comparisons, clarification of causal relations, systematization, abstraction, and concretization, and results of researchers´ activities related to the subject of the conducted research. The chapter “Results” presents the findings of a survey carried out in all eight regional authorities of self-governing regions, and show the extent to which the issue in question has been affected by the ongoing pandemic. The paper provides an overview of the challenges and barriers to PB in Slovakia at the regional level.

Measuring human resources performance using process mining

Performance of human resources is an important issue for managers in profit sector and public sector as well. Performance evaluation can be measured by numerous factors. Traditional approaches are often subjective, and based on descriptive indicators which are hard to measure. Since modern organizations use the information systems to record information about business processes and activities of human resources, it is possible to use this information utilizing process mining techniques to acquire objective information about employees' performance.
 This paper reviews the literature and investigates the state of the art trends in human resource performance measuring using process mining, the indicators which are measured, methods, frameworks, main directions of development, and suggested future works.

Stress tests for public service resilience: introducing the possible-worlds thinking

ABSTRACT Tackling the COVID-19 pandemic and reverting to normal life and services requires resilience. This qualitative case study aims to help public sector managers understand service resilience and its accompanying breaking points by proposing a scenario planning model that tests resilience by applying possible-worlds thinking to public services. The proposed scenario planning model is based on empirical evidence showing how service design incorporated assumptions that became inaccurate in the pandemic, and how these inaccurate assumptions created pressures for change in the service design and production. The model we propose can help public managers apply such stress tests in practice.

Hidden risks of deforestation in global supply chains: A study of natural rubber flows from Sri Lanka to the United States

Growing global demand for natural rubber is driving deforestation due to the expansion of rubber plantations, with consequences for biodiversity, carbon storage, and local communities. There has been little attention given to these issues in Sri Lanka, where rubber production is central to economic growth. Although private initiatives and government regulations aim to reduce deforestation associated with these plantations, it is unclear if these measures effectively protect forests or limit associated risks in the supply chains of companies purchasing Sri Lankan rubber. This paper uses the TRACAST methodological framework and remote sensing to track natural rubber supply chains from Sri Lanka to the U.S and to identify hidden deforestation risks resulting from this trade. We estimate 196 km2 of forest were converted into rubber plantations between 2006 and 2016, including protected forests located in an emerging rubber frontier in southeast Sri Lanka. Our analysis identifies rubber traders and multinational tire manufacturers as key actors that hinder the traceability of rubber back to the plantations. This opacity increases the potential for unsustainably produced rubber to enter global supply chains of transnational corporations such as Loadstar (Michelin) and Nike. Most of these corporations have sustainable procurement policies, but the effectiveness of these policies is compromised by the lack of supply chain transparency. Integrating public and private sector management through inclusive multi-stakeholder initiatives and multi-level land use governance can help overcome these hurdles, prevent future deforestation, and assist Sri Lanka in moving towards more sustainable rubber production.