Public Sector Organizations Research Articles

The Influence of Competency and Professional Behavior on Internal Auditor Performance in the Digital Era with Time Budget Pressure as a Moderator

This research examines and analyzes the influence of competence and professional behavior on internal auditor performance achievements in the digital era, as well as the moderating role of time budget pressure. The research was carried out quantitatively using statistics to process data. The total research sample was 135 internal auditors in the public sector in the province of North Maluku, Indonesia. The sampling technique is a census or saturated sample because the number of qualified and certified internal auditors is relatively small. Empirical research found that competence and professional behavior significantly affect the performance achievement of internal auditors in the digital era. The moderation results show that time budget pressure can be well integrated with the effect of strengthening competence and professional behavior in achieving the performance of internal auditors in the public sector. That means that time budget pressure plays a moderating role. The research contribution is aimed at theoretical and practical development, namely at developing attribution theory in accounting or auditing research, and as a means of forming policies for the government or other public sector organizations in using audit mechanisms based on information technology or digitalization to facilitate services and increase organizational performance achievements in this era Digital today. The practical implication is that using e-audits in public sector organizations coupled with professional competence and behavior and integrated with time budget pressure will improve the performance of internal auditors organizationally and individually.

Employee trust and performance constraints in public sector organizations

Theory suggests that employee trust is key to productivity in organizations, but empirical evidence documenting links between trust and performance constraints is scarce. This paper analyzes self-collected observational and experimental data on public sector employees from eighteen Latin American countries and finds that individual-level trust is relevant to three types of performance factors. First, high-trust employees are more willing to collaborate and share information with coworkers and are more supportive of technological innovation. Second, high-trust employees have different perceptions of organizational constraints: they are less concerned with low staff quality or lack of discretion to innovate, and more concerned with staff shortages. Third, trust in coworkers is associated with stronger mission motivation. These findings are robust to instrumental variable strategies based on the transmission of trust through social or professional channels. A survey experiment on preferences for social distancing policies shows how trust enhances mission motivation: employee policy preferences align better with the implied government policy when their trust in the public sector is higher.

EFFECT OF PUBLIC SERVICE MOTIVATION ON JOB PERFORMANCE: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Public service motivation is gaining substantial empirical support as a valuable variable in public sector organizations. Several studies have observed organizationally desirable relationship between public service motivation and several employees’ attitudes and behaviour. However, the various accounts on public service motivation spread over several journal articles, thereby lacking practical appeal. This paper aimed at filling this gap as it reviews studies on public service motivation and job performance. The purpose of the review is to identify and put together in a single paper the dominant implication of public service motivation on job performance as indicated in the literature This systematic compilation would plausibly make the observed dominant findings (that is, positive influence of public service motivation on performance) appealing and convincing for organizational practitioners to adopt and apply. Person-environment fit theory offers theoretical support for the dominant pattern of relationships that is revealed in the reviewed empirical studies.

Elevating Public Sector HR: A Comprehensive Exploration of E-HRM Adoption Drivers

This comprehensive study explores the intricacies of Electronic Human Resource Management (eHRM) adoption within public sector organizations. Focusing on adoption drivers, e-HRM typologies, and the evolving role of technology, the research uncovers diverse opportunities and challenges faced by government agencies in the digital era. The findings emphasize the potential of e-HRM to enhance both strategic HR functions and operational efficiency. The proposed conceptual model, incorporating organizational, political, legal, social, technological, economic, and environmental perspectives, provides a nuanced understanding of the complexities surrounding e-HRM adoption. By acknowledging the transformative influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on HR practices, the study underscores the interconnected nature of HRM effectiveness and organizational outcomes. In conclusion, this research contributes valuable insights for HR practitioners and decision-makers navigating the dynamic landscape of eHRM adoption in the public sector. It emphasizes that while e-HRM holds great potential for improving organizational functions; its effective deployment requires a customized strategy and a deep understanding of the organizational context. The discussion on technologydriven HR transformations is enriched by insights into the impact of AI on HR practices and the relationship between HRM effectiveness and organizational outcomes. This study serves as a foundation for informed decisionmaking, practical implications for HR practitioners, and a significant contribution to the ongoing conversation on the future of HR management in the public domain.

Protecting migrant children's well-being in Ecuador's public schools

Education plays a crucial role in the adaptation and broader societal inclusion of immigrant students and their families. The current study explored the inclusion of migrants in Ecuador's school system as a fundamental tenet of protecting their health and well-being. We conducted a thematic analysis of 13 policy documents, 12 national laws and international agreements, and 31 key informant interviews, applying a human rights lens. We find that, although the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution and migration laws protect the right of migrants to health and education, key informants argue that these laws are poorly implemented. Furthermore, they agree that the health sector generally does not consider education as a relevant setting for health. In contrast, the public education sector and non-profit organizations at the national and local levels appear to recognize the importance of coordination across the health and education sectors, including school-based initiatives for migrant inclusion.

The Healthy and Active Fund: Lessons From the Evaluation Experiences of Community-Based Physical Activity Projects in Wales.

The "Healthy and Active Fund" involved 17 community-based projects focused on the delivery of physical activity interventions, led by a variety of public and third sector organizations. As a novel, direct approach to capturing impact at this level, these organizations were encouraged to robustly evaluate and monitor their own project's outcomes, with core funds allocated to this process. This study aimed to explore project experiences of planning and completing evaluation activities, to better understand how to support community-based practice improvement. In-depth semistructured interviews were completed with individuals who had supported their project's evaluation. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify key facilitators and barriers associated with evaluation in this context. Across 3 identified themes, participants (N = 15, 12 projects) referred to a need for greater organizational capacity and expertise, familiarity with evaluation methods, partnership-working, inclusivity, and flexibility, particularly when collecting data from project beneficiaries. Overarching program support (eg,case officers) was viewed as a valuable resource that was disrupted by COVID-19. Participants highlighted the resilience of their projects when engaging with evaluation processes and acknowledged wider learning across organization networks as a result of this success. This study shows that projects may benefit from closer support and external expertise for research and evaluation. There is willingness by third sector and public bodies to adopt research and evaluation methods into routine practice, but significant barriers persist. Future programs should continue to support adaptable approaches to evaluation at community-level, to better progress health and well-being goals for diverse populations.

Achieving Governmental Innovation through Artificial Intelligence Adoption

The study aimed to identify the role of readiness for artificial intelligence (AI) requirements (technical infrastructure, data sets, administrative and organizational readiness, laws and legislations, AI ethics, and societal challenges) in government innovation from the point of view of the employees in Jordanian government agencies. (342) valid questionnaires were collected from employees working at information technology departments of Jordanian government agencies. After analyzing the data, the study concluded that the level of availability of artificial intelligence in Jordanian government agencies is moderate, and the degree of availability of the sub-dimensions of artificial intelligence was moderate, except for two dimensions data sets and legislation, which came within high level. The availability of government innovation is high. The study also found there is a significant effect of artificial intelligence on government innovation in Jordanian government agencies and explained 62% of the variance in government innovation. The study recommended the need to pay attention to the development of artificial intelligence requirements because of continuous development in technology and environment, and to make this a continuous process. In addition, government agencies need to cooperate with public and private sector organizations, build partnerships with them for the benefit of both in developing artificial intelligence, and thus government innovation, and making artificial intelligence and government innovation on the ladder of their priorities and strategic plans.

Can Implementing New Services Organization Models to Better Meet the Needs of Young People Bring About Practice Changes? Analysis of an Experiment in Québec.

The research question addressed in this article is: Can implementing new services organization models to better meet the needs of young people bring about practice changes? More precisely, we examine the effects of a new model called Aire Ouverte (AO) which is implemented gradually across Quebec since 2019. This new model involves public sector and community organizations. To grasp practices' change, we use cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and employ a qualitative approach. Beyond a precise description of work activities, we gained an inside view of how the actors involved represented their practice and context. Our results show that practice changes seen by actors are in line with the object of the intervention, that is, responding rapidly to the expressed needs of young people. The development of new tools, flexible functioning, strengthening of interprofessional and intersectoral collaboration, involvement of young people in decision-making, all should contribute to improving response to their needs. This being said, a critical look at practice changes reveals a challenge in aligning the design and objective of AO with the needs of some young people. We noted also a poor alignment of effective collaborative practices between levels of care and the practices sought from intersectoral collaboration.

A comparative analysis of tacit knowledge in Indian public and private sector organisations

A comparative analysis of tacit knowledge in Indian public and private sector organisations

A model for enterprise resource planning implementation in the Saudi public sector organizations

Studies dedicated to user's adoption, acceptance, and use of IT have been rampant since the advent of computers and IT. Therefore, it becomes essential to assess the value of IT to organizations and to understand the determinants of such value in terms of acceptance, integration, and technology use. In this regard, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) adoption remains challenging for professionals and practitioners alike. Previous research neglected many vital factors, such as user involvement (participation, engagement, and resilience) and environmental factors (change management, competitiveness, and pandemic pressure). Therefore, this study aims to identify the most significant factors that influence the successful adoption of ERP and propose a conceptual model. The Technology Acceptance Model with DeLone and McLean Information Success Models were the base for the study. The findings of this study reveal a conceptual model that facilitates the successful adoption of ERP systems. Through the identification of critical factors, one factor emerged as a permanent component in the adoption process. This conceptual model provides valuable insights for organizations seeking to implement and adopt ERP systems effectively. The study's findings offer valuable insights for firms pursuing long-term economic success through ERP adoption. Understanding the influencing factors enables efficient and effective deployment. Implications are relevant to organizations, ERP vendors, and decision-makers, guiding informed decision-making and prioritizing success factors.

Work Motivation under Communist Rule: Heritage from the Past in Modern Public Sector Organisations

Abstract Applying retrospective design methodology, the article adds to our knowledge about inherited organisational values and their impact on management policies and practices. Questioning the label of Central and Eastern European workforce as low-motivated, shirking and passive, this article outlines the historical context of work motivation in former communist countries, investigating to what extent the motivation in public service organisations today may be explained by the past. It employs a framework developed by Vandenabeele et al. (2013) that connects management intentions to organisational and employee outcomes to analyse the malfunctions of the former rewards system and to examine how those impairments continue to influence public sector motivation today. Confirming Inglehart’s ‘scarcity’ theory, this article demonstrates that the several decades that passed after the fall of communism were insufficient in completely overcoming communist heritage. Malfunctions of the centralised communist motivation system resulted from the discordance between the management intentions and actions. Dysfunctions of monetary-based incentive schemes caused overwhelming work lethargy of shirking employees, who were discouraged from being creative or displaying initiative. Such patterns have still been observable at some public organisations in former Soviet countries. Thus, the past centralisation of the state continues to determine individual work motivation in public sector domains even today.

Envisioning Contestability Loops: Evaluating the Agonistic Arena as a Generative Metaphor for Public AI

Public sector organizations increasingly use artificial intelligence to augment, support, and automate decision-making. However, such public AI can potentially infringe on citizens’ right to autonomy. Contestability is a system quality that protects against this by ensuring systems are open and responsive to disputes throughout their life cycle. While a growing body of work is investigating contestable AI by design, little of this knowledge has so far been evaluated with practitioners. To make explicit the guiding ideas underpinning contestable AI research, we construct the generative metaphor of the Agonistic Arena, inspired by the political theory of agonistic pluralism. Combining this metaphor and current contestable AI guidelines, we develop an infographic supporting the early-stage concept design of public AI system contestability mechanisms. We evaluate this infographic in five workshops paired with focus groups with a total of 18 practitioners, yielding ten concept designs. Our findings outline the mechanisms for contestability derived from these concept designs. Building on these findings, we subsequently evaluate the efficacy of the Agonistic Arena as a generative metaphor for the design of public AI and identify two competing metaphors at play in this space: the Black Box and the Sovereign.

РАЗВИТИЕ ГРАЖДАНСКОЙ СЛУЖБЫ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ: ЭКСПЕРТНЫЕ ИДЕИ И ПРАВОВЫЕ РЕАЛИИ

The purpose of the article is to summarize the positions of modern domestic scientists on key problems in the development of the civil service, to assess how these problems have been solved in recent years at the regulatory level, and to develop recommendations for further directions of development. An institutional approach, methods of bibliometric analysis of scientific publications and subject-thematic classification by key (thesaurus) words were used. The method of comparative legal analysis was used to assess the degree of fulfillment of the tasks set in the “Main Directions for the Development of the State Civil Service of the Russian Federation” and plans for their implementation in 2016–2018 and 2019–2021. Some proposals for the development of the civil service institution of the Russian Federation are formulated using methods of legal modeling and thought experiments. Some proposals are developed related, in particular, to highlighting the status of an official as a qualifying feature when adjusting the legislation on the civil service, as well as to extending the status of public officials to all types of public sector organizations. The potential of digital transformation is proposed to be used to fix the connection between the volume and quality of implementation of government functions (powers), on the one hand, and the number of civil service positions and budgetary expenditures for their financing, on the other.

From Tech Skills to Performance Gains: How Digital Literacy Drives Productivity Improvements in the Public Sector

With rapid technological advancements, developing a digitally literate workforce is imperative for public sector organizations to enhance performance. However, research linking digital literacy and employee outcomes in developing country contexts has been limited. This study investigated the relationship between digital literacy and productivity among local government employees in Nigeria. A survey was conducted with 113 employees in Ilorin West Local Government in Nigeria. PLS-SEM was used for the analysis. Digital literacy demonstrated significant positive effects on productivity. Access to ICT positively moderated the digital literacy-productivity relationship. The study makes important theoretical contributions by extending ICT adoption research to public sector contexts and revealing the performance benefits of digital literacy in the workplace. Practically, it capacitates public organizations to increase investments in structured digital skills development programs to motivate employees and unlock productivity improvements.

EFFECT OF EMPLOYEE ADAPTABILITY ON SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF STRATEGIC PLAN IN PUBLIC SECTOR: A CASE OF SELECTED PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS UNDER THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH IN TANZANIA

This study through the aid of BSC aimed to determine the effect of employee adaptability on implementation of strategic plan in public sector with the objective to examine its effect on successful implementation of strategic plan at selected public sector organizations in Tanzania. The study was positivist research with a quantitative approach under both descriptive and correlational research design through a survey research strategy. Population of the study was 541 permanent staff at MSD, NHIF, TMDA, NIMR and NPHL where a sample of 230 staff was selected through systematic random sampling. Data was collected through questionnaires with a response rate of 96.9 percent and analysed through regression analysis. The study has found that independent variable affects significantly the dependent variable (F=152, p-value=0.0<<0.05) and the coefficient is positive and statistically significant from zero. Consequently, employee adaptability has positive and significant effect on successful implementation of strategic plan in public sector. This finding indicates that employee adaptability has significant effect on successful implementation of strategic plan in public sector. The study therefore recommends PSOs to strengthen identification and implementation of initiatives geared toward developing and or improving employee adaptability competencies which will enhance employees’ capabilities to adjust themselves and adopt accordingly to the changes as they take place within their organizations, which is critical for effective implementation of Strategic Plan.

Organizational level energy conservation and efficiency - a case of public sector organization in Karachi, Pakistan

Pakistan is facing chronic energy crises since many years. This paper aims to provide an overview of the current status of energy efficiency and conservation practices at organizational level in Pakistan. The first phase of this study evaluates the trends in electricity consumption in selected buildings over the last six years (2017–2022). Subsequently, a survey was conducted in selected buildings to assess employee morale and knowledge of energy efficiency and conservation. Results show an insignificant change in electricity consumption in selected buildings during the past six year’s period indicating a poor culture of energy savings in the selected organization. Despite a constant electricity consumption from 2017 to 2022, a significant fluctuation in average billing amounts was observed. This is possibly due to electricity tariff that has continuously been fluctuating since last few years in Pakistan including Karachi. Study reveals that more than 50% of the employees in selected organization were aware about the importance of energy efficiency and conservation however, they rarely practice the energy saving measures during their routine activities. This is perhaps due to the lack of sense of national stewardship among the employees. It was also found that most of the employees of the selected organization are aware and motivated towards the environmental and climate change concerns related to energy production and its efficient use. However, again a small number of employees were found practicing the energy conservation and efficiency measures. According to this study, companies should encourage staff members to save energy by offering frequent trainings and educational opportunities. Additionally, the organizations ought to think about switching to renewable energy sources.

The Role of Leadership in Embedding Risk Management: Lessons from an Irish Public Sector Organisation

The Role of Leadership in Embedding Risk Management: Lessons from an Irish Public Sector Organisation

Capital Budgeting Implementation by Public Sector Construction Firms in Tanzania’s Housebuilding Industry: An Exploratory Study

This exploratory study investigates the implementation of capital budgeting practices (CBP) by selected public sector construction firms (PSCF) in Tanzania. This investigation seeks to assess the extent, to which such practices are used for effective investment decision-making, with a particular focus on the country’s housebuilding sector. A case study research design was adopted to collect data from five Tanzanian PSCF, serving as cases through a mix of questionnaires, interviews and document reviews. The emergent data was analysed using thematic analysis. An appreciable level of CBP implementation was observed in all the cases. The internal rate of return (IRR), net present value (NPV) and payback period (PBP) capital budgeting techniques (CBT) were observed to be mostly used by these PSCF, while sensitivity analysis was widely deployed for risk mitigation. The influence of top management in decision- making, political influence and lack of advanced software were some of the implementation challenges identified. The findings contribute to the elucidation of CBP implementation praxis in the public sector organisation context in developing countries, as it relates to the housebuilding industry in Tanzania’s unexplored context. The study proves to be a valuable resource for public sector entities in developing countries intent for facilitating effective investment decision-making about infrastructure procurement and it contributes to improving knowledge of CBP implementation, consideration of risk mitigation factors and post-project implementation audits by public sector firms.

The Role of Accountability and Islamic Work Ethics on the Relationship between Human Capital and Public Services Performance: The Case of Public Sector Organizations in Bahrain

The Role of Accountability and Islamic Work Ethics on the Relationship between Human Capital and Public Services Performance: The Case of Public Sector Organizations in Bahrain

Emerging human resource development practices in the Ghanaian public sector organisations

Emerging human resource development practices in the Ghanaian public sector organisations