Practice In Public Sector Research Articles

Research and education in public sector practice: a systems approach to understanding policy impact

Impact—what does it mean and how do we know what “counts”? We all want to do work that has an impact, and this is true of all sectors, whether that be government, public, private, not-for-profit, university, education, or community stakeholders. However, understandings of what it means in practice, what it takes to achieve, and how it can be tracked and calculated remain largely unclear and contested. While the rhetoric of “impact” and the “impact agenda” has become popular in the last decade or so, our practice and research appear to be lagging. In this introductory paper to the special issue on Impact into practice: Demonstrating applied public administration and policy improvement we outline how systems thinking approach can aid understanding of research and education impact on government practice. A systems approach reveals where reliance exists, where responsibility falls, and where new and deepened relationships are needed. While more needs to be done by all parties to acknowledge the collective nature of impact and the necessary reliance on one another, we argue that redistribution of responsibility is needed, including the government’s significant role. Without collective recognition of reliance, responsibility, and relationships in the system of impact, our respective endeavors can only be expected to go so far. By thinking about impact as a system, we can end the “blame game” between university and government sectors, and encourage action within and across sectors, in the pursuit of better outcomes for citizens and society.

‘But who’s going to pay for it?’ Contemporary approaches to green infrastructure financing, development and governance in London, UK

ABSTRACT Green infrastructure (GI) research has grown in prominence as planners, politicians and environmental specialists have promoted its socio-economic and ecological value in urban environments. However, as the pace of growth has continued so has the exploration of how GI can mitigate the impacts of poor air and water quality, promote improved quality of place and support economic prosperity. Unfortunately, investments can be undermined by weak organisational understandings of the financial and societal value of GI. Consequently, we identify a historical reluctance by decision-makers and developers to support GI, partially based on the outdated appreciation of economic-ecological value compared to other built infrastructure. To examine how cities respond this paper discusses GI as a ‘boundary object’ aligning divergent understandings of the ongoing challenges and responsibility for GI funding. Using an examination of public, private and environment sector practice in London (UK), the paper argues that opportunities exist to align alternative funding mechanisms using ‘GI’ to promote cooperation between economically and socio-ecologically focussed stakeholders.

Use of active learning strategies in public affairs education: Advances and lessons from the scholarship and the practice

Public affairs education can benefit from the potential of active learning practices in preparing students for the complex surroundings of real public service. This article aims to explore the use of those practices in public affairs education and the extent to which those practices are suitable in a public affairs school in a country in the global South. To do so, it follows a threefold analytical approach. First, from a sample of empirical works in public affairs, it explores the active learning practices portrayed in the literature of public affairs education and identifies patterns and practices. Then, through content analysis of syllabi from a sample of master level courses of schools of public affairs in the US and Europe it identifies the most frequent participant-centered learning practices used in public affairs education. Finally, by means of a case study from a public affairs school in Colombia, it analyzes the adoption of active learning practices to be effectively adopted in such setting and compares them with the two sets of practices previously analyzed. The analysis provided some insights. Both the literature review and the benchmark of practices in public affairs schools, reflect that public affairs education already relies on a wide array of active learning strategies, which, according to some empirical literature, appear to be highly useful in preparing students for public sector practice. Then, the analysis of the use of active learning practices in a Latin American school of public affairs revealed a similarly evident use such practices, something that appears to be instrumental for the faculty, students and alumni of the program, and whose implementation does not appear to differ from other programs abroad.

PUBLIC SECTOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCY PROBLEMS, CASE OF LATVIA

The application of Project Management (PM) tools and techniques in public sector is gradually becoming an important issue indeveloping economies, especially in a new development country like Latvia where projects of different size and structures are undertaken.The paper examined the application of the project management practice in public sector in Latvia. Public sector projectmanagement in Latvia become popular in recent years as there is different type of public funding sources available. The paperdescribes the public sector project management practice in Latvia. Study shows that public sector project maturity level is low andshould be improved. Research period covers the time period from January 2013 – March 2013.

Cultural burning and public sector practice in the Australian Capital Territory

ABSTRACT Aboriginal peoples’ fire management practices captured global attention during the Australian 2019–20 ‘Black Summer’, as a possible method to mitigate bushfire risk; however, these ‘cultural burns’ are no straightforward matter for public sector practice. As the slow, retrospective work to address historical and contemporary discrimination is imperfectly underway, we explore a cultural burning program supported by a government agency in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). In this paper, two co-authors share their experiences helping create a cultural burning program as Aboriginal people but not as Traditional Custodians. We document the steps taken to build support, create opportunities and engage Ngunnawal and Ngambri Traditional Custodians, and identify early positive results and challenging matters being generated. We demonstrate that rather than being restricted by public sector bureaucracy, the ACT cultural burning program has leveraged policy and entwined itself around the machinery of government in a way that accesses resources, creates opportunities and is slowly but surely changing public sector practice. Nonetheless, this is a journey of iteratively learning. It remains that more substantive measures are needed to recognise Traditional Custodianship if the current cultural burning program is to become a more substantial expression of Aboriginal peoples’ cultural land management.

Email Vs. Instagram Recruitment Strategies For Online Survey Research.

In this study, we describe a method for reaching a target population (i.e., dentists practicing in Brazil) to engage in survey research using traditional e-mail invites and recruitment campaigns created on Instagram. This study addresses methodological aspects and compares respondents reached by different methods. A pre-tested questionnaire was used and participants were recruited for 10 days via a source list of email addresses and two discrete Instagram organic open campaigns. A total of 3,122 responses were collected: 509 participants were recruited by email (2.1% response rate) and 2,613 by the two Instagram campaigns (20.7% and 11.7% conversion rates), respectively. Response/min collection rates in the first 24 h ranged between 0.23 (email) and 1.09 (first campaign). In total, 98.8% of all responses were received in the first 48 h for the different recruitment strategies. There were significant differences for all demographic variables (p< 0.001) between email and Instagram respondents, except for sex (p=0.37). Instagram respondents were slightly older, had more professional experience (years in practice), and a higher graduate education level than email respondents. Moreover, most email and Instagram respondents worked in the public sector and private practice, respectively. Although both strategies could collect responses from all Brazilian regions, email responses were slightly better distributed across the five territorial areas compared to Instagram. This study provides evidence that survey recruitment of a diverse, large population sample using Instagram is feasible. However, combination of email and Instagram recruitment led to a more diverse population and improved response rates.

International donors as enablers of institutional change in turbulent times?

PurposeThe purpose is to explore the role of international financial institutions (IFIs) during public financial management reform in a transitional economy. In particular, the study focuses on interaction between external enablers and local actors.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on a qualitative study of public financial management reform in Ukraine during 1991–2014. This period is divided into stages corresponding with two projects financed by the World Bank: “Treasury System” and “Public Finance Modernization.”FindingsFirst, IFIs supported a Ukrainian economy weakened by financial crisis and insisted on a comprehensive reform of public financial management to facilitate recovery. By strategically addressing local challenges, eliminating local uncertainties and maintaining stable interactions, IFIs gained support from the central government. Local actors continued the reform by negotiating with other actors and getting quorum support. In the second stage, IFIs could not implement planned changes. Even though the change was well-perceived at the beginning, developed tensions between local actors were overlooked by IFIs, which resulted in loss of commitment of the State Treasury representatives. The continuous political instability in Ukraine constrained interaction between IFIs and the Ministry of Finance and reduced political will for conducting reforms.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the debate on the adequacy of externally driven public management reforms in developing countries by exploring actions and interactions of global and local actors during the change in public sector practices.

An audit of unnecessary preoperative urea and electrolyte panel tests in patients undergoing major orthopaedic surgery at a quaternary South African hospital

Background: Preoperative urea and electrolyte (U&amp;E) panels are frequently requested for major surgery patients at risk for postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI). There is only one published study that has audited unnecessary preoperative U&amp;E test panel utilisation in major surgery patients at a South African (SA) public sector hospital. This has significant implications for laboratory workloads, healthcare expenditure, and patient-friendly practice in the resource-limited SA public healthcare sector. Objective: To audit preoperative U&amp;E panel requests in a sample of SA patients undergoing major orthopaedic surgery. Methods: We conducted a retrospective audit of adult primary hip arthroplasty patients who attended a quaternary SA hospital. Data on demographics, medical history, preoperative anaesthetic evaluations, operation details, and U&amp;E panel requests were collected from each patient’s medical chart. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines, based on American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grading and the presence of AKI risk factors, was used to distinguish between necessary and unnecessary preoperative U&amp;E requests. We used descriptive statistics to analyse our study data. Results: Of the 175 patients comprising our study sample, 23 (13.1%) had preoperative U&amp;E panels requested unnecessarily. All 23 patients were otherwise healthy and did not have any AKI risk factors. Conclusion: A small proportion of preoperative U&amp;E test panels in our study sample of major orthopaedic surgery patients were deemed unnecessary. With that being said, there is still room for improvement in practices around preoperative U&amp;E panel requests, which could be achieved through educational, computerised, and audit feedback interventions.

Empirical assessment on factors contributing to integrity practices of Malaysian public sector officers

PurposeIntegrity-related issues are now endemic to public service bureaucracies. It is claimed that corruption in the public sector is very common in various departments/agencies. Lack of integrity will lead to failings in governance and proper oversight of procedures, and subsequently poor financial management and incidents of fraud. Based on the stakeholder theory perspective, this study examines the influences of accountability, risk management and managerial commitment on practices of integrity in the Malaysian public sector.Design/methodology/approachPrimary data were collected through both printed and online questionnaires given to 210 department heads operating within selected Malaysian federal ministries. Data were analysed via the partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach to examine the research hypotheses.FindingsIt is evident that integrity practices in Malaysia's public sector are statistically significantly related to risk management, accountability and management commitment.Practical implicationsThe findings will help the Malaysian federal ministries to take the necessary steps to improve integrity so that dependability and efficiency are the hallmarks of public sector services.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is one of the first to examine the role of accountability, risk management and managerial commitment to integrity in the public sector of a developing market economy.

EU AND UKRAINIAN INNOVATIVE EXPERIENCE IN EDUCATION: THE ORIENTATION POINT FOR VET OF UKRAINE

The article analyses the EU policy for innovations in the sector of vocational education and training (VET). It reveals the activity results of the European network “Innovations in vocational education and training” leading by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop). The paper identifies main development directions in VET systems and reviews its best practices of the EU countries based on the analysis of the experience of Campus of Occupations and Qualifications (France), Centre for Management, Training and Employment of Youth (Italy) and Centres of (Vocational) Excellence (Great Britain). Additionally, the following research covers some best practices in public and private educational sectors of Ukraine e.g. two university-based models of innovations eco-system realised via innovation hubs and startup schools, STEM-centres and Fabrication Laboratories. Therefore, the main ideas of positive European experience are identified being the valuable tool for developing the modern policy for innovations and VET in Ukraine. The identified local practices in education sector can be adapted to the capacity and needs of VET sector after additional and more detailed study.

Performative seduction: how management consultants influence practices of leadership

PurposeThis paper tracks how a policy recommended by management consultants becomes embedded as an integral part of leadership practice. It explores the launch of the concept of “talent management” by McKinsey & Company and how it becomes adopted as part of expected leadership practices in the English National Health Service. The use of Management Consultants globally has increased exponentially, and the paper considers this phenomenon and the ways in which management consultant advice influences public sector leadership and practice at local level.Design/methodology/approachA case study approach is adopted, focussing on the introduction of the concept of talent management into the English NHS, following the wider emergence of the concept through influential reports published by McKinsey & Company in the late 1990s. An analysis of the emergence of the concept is conducted drawing on this series of reports and the adoption of talent management policies and practices by the English government's Department of Health.FindingsThese influential reports by the management consultancy firm, McKinsey & Company, constituted an urgent need for this newly identified concept of talent management and the secrecy surrounding its reception. It is this mystery surrounding the decisions about a talent management strategy in the NHS and the concealment of decisions behind closed doors, which leads us to offer a theory of management consultants' influence on leaders as one of performative seduction.Originality/valueManagement consultancy is a vast business whose influence reaches deeply into public and private sector organisations around the world. Understanding of the variegated policies and practices that constitute contemporary modes of governance therefore requires comprehension of management consultants' role within those policies and practices. This paper argues that management consultants influence public sector leadership through insertion of their products into definitions of, and performative constitution of, local level leadership.

Analysis of Project Management Practices in Public Sector in Al-Salt Greater Municipality

The study aim at assessing the different project management practices in public sector in al salt greater municipality. To accomplish the target of objective of this study ;the study started with a systematic review of the literature was carried out from textbooks institutional and legal publications periodicals trade and academic journals and articles for seminars and conferences about project management and was followed by perpetrating and conducting a direct survey with a questionnaire distribute survey .a questionnaire distributed to General Directors, Directors, Head of Divisions, and Project engineers of related departments in the salt greater municipality. Collected Data was analyzed using descriptive statistical techniques. Computer software Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS V.22) Based upon the analysis of responses the results of the study showed that there is an efficiency of project management practices followed within al-salt greater municipality and these practices could be consider as high level with reference to best practices.

Senior manager as a strategy manager in change scenarios: practice in the brazilian public sector

How does the senior manager of a public organization practice the strategy and mobilize his team to enable continuously, in the organization where it is located: meeting its mission, stakeholder needs and the dynamics of the internal and external environment? This question guides the research of this article which also presents the structuring of a framework that brings together four academic approaches - Carlos Matus' Situational Strategic Planning (1991; 1997; 2005), as a central element; Whittington's Strategy as a Social Practice (1997; 2002; 2004; 2006); Freeman's Stakeholder Theory (2010); and Burns' Transformational Leadership (1978; 2003). Data were collected in semi-structured interviews and treated qualitatively by Thomas's inductive analysis (2006), the Gibbs coding and categorization method (2009) and the matching presented by Trochim (1989). The framework should serve as a reference for the action of the manager regarding the mentioned issue.

Towards Pragmatic Economic Policies: Economic Transformation and Industrialization for Revival of Zimbabwe in the New Dispensation Era

Whilst literature has many monetary and economic policies that were enacted before and after the dawn of the New Dispensation in Zimbabwe the country still faces a downward trend in terms of economic recovery. This study reviews the various policies put in place by the government and their impact on socio-economic development of Zimbabwe. A review of Zimbabwe’s economic history shows that the country dropped from being one of the best economies in Sub-Saharan Africa and now ailing and characterised by hyperinflation, agricultural challenges, corruption, very high tax regime, huge domestic and foreign debts, increase in consumer prices and being a chief net importer of most goods or services. The study was underpinned by a case study survey from Singapore’s revival with both qualitative and quantitative instruments used. The study found out that even though the land reform had an impact on economic performance, corruption, party-power politics and absence of an economic institute eroded any necessary contribution to economic transformation and industrialization in Zimbabwe. The study also revealed that the bilateral and multi-lateral agreements that were enacted in the dawn of the new dispensation have not yielded the desired economic revival transformations. The study recommended establishment of an economic institute to direct policy as well as removal of unethical practices in both public and private sectors so as to ensure financial and economic discipline.

Challenges of combating fraudulent practices: evidence from Nigerian public sector

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the challenges faced in combating fraudulent practices in the Nigerian public sector.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is essentially the result of primary data of in-depth semi-structured interviews. An in-depth interview was conducted with 14 respondents comprises (4) auditors, (4) accountants, (2) legal practitioners, (2) staff of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) and (2) staff of the Federal Inland Revenue Service. The interviews data collected were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach.FindingsThis study found that among the challenges to combat fraudulent practices in the Nigerian public sector is first the prevalence of Godfatherism in the Nigerian public sector. Godfatherism offers selective judgment, lack of agencies autonomous and the party system which remains a challenge. Second, the issue of political immunity undermines public governance which illustrates an exemption of punishment, constitutional protections and the political environment are some major challenges faced in preventing fraud in the Nigerian public sector.Practical implicationsThis study, therefore, offers an important platform to Nigerian anti-graft bodies such as the “EFFC,” “Independent Corrupt Practices Commission” (ICPC) and “Code of Conduct Bureau” (CCB). Thus, it perhaps eases the way of combating fraudulent practices in Nigeria.Originality/valueThis paper is original and unique in its form and has value to anti-graft bodies and practitioners in the Nigerian public sector, private sector other African economies and academics.

CCTV, Data Analytics and Privacy: The Baby and the Bathwater

While it can be criticised for polemic and hyperbolic language, the casual and inconsistent use of statistics and the trailing of unsupported conspiracy theories, commentary on the use of CCTV analytics by campaigning groups and others can raise important points. There is clearly a need for a defined regulatory approach to developing appropriate processes and safeguards to permit such analytics to be accountably incorporated into legitimate surveillance practices in public and private sectors. The problems with the nature of such commentary lie in its largely undiscriminating and scattergun approach to the technologies, and in the tendency of legislators and regulators to respond to its polarising rhetoric rather than promote critical review. The danger is that by conflating the capabilities of technology with wider systemic problems of poor organisational processes, lax regulatory standards and inadequate oversight, campaigning groups consistently overlook the fact that advances in the technology may contain the seeds of effective regulatory control. A more nuanced and thoughtful approach is required to the issue of CCTV analytics to avoid potential regulatory gains via the technology itself being lost in a wave of underinformed and poorly focused reaction.

The Combating Fraud and the Challenge of Political Willingness: Evidence from Nigerian Public

The purpose of this paper is to explore the lack of political willingness in Nigeria as a challenge to combating fraud among public employees. This study is a qualitative approach. The sources of data collection involve government reports, newspapers, and interviews. In all, 12 participants were employed for the study. The study found that a lack of political willingness in Nigeria shows a persistent challenge to combat fraud. Our findings suggest that (1) political intervention, (2) party system or political party and (3) lack of commitment from the government make fraudulent practices in Nigerian public sector (NPS) perennial. Thus, it has hindered the effort to combat fraud in NPS. This study has practical implications for regulators (like CBN), and anti-corruption bodies such as EFCC, ICPC, AMCON, and CCB. The study could perhaps redirect their efforts and eases the way of mitigating fraudulent practices in Nigeria's public sector. The study also has an academic contribution to the body of knowledge and insight to the literature. This paper is original and unique in its form and has the value on fraud prevention, detection of corruption, combating the contemporary fraud cases in the Nigerian public sector, and useful to those who might cherish its standing.

Combating Fraud and the Challenge of Political Willingness: Evidence from Nigerian Public Sector

The purpose of this paper is to explore the lack of political willingness in Nigeria as a challenge to combating fraud among public employees. This study is a qualitative approach. The sources of data collection involve government reports, newspapers and interviews. In all, 12 participants were employed for the study. The study found that a lack of political willingness in Nigeria shows a persistent challenge to combat fraud. Our findings suggest that (1) political intervention, (2) party system or political party and (3) lack of commitment from the government make fraudulent practices in Nigerian public sector (NPS) perennial. Thus, it has hindered the effort to combat fraud in NPS. This study has practical implications for regulators (like CBN), and anti-corruption bodies such as EFCC, ICPC, AMCON, and CCB. The study could perhaps redirect their efforts and eases the way of mitigating fraudulent practices in Nigeria's public sector. The study also has an academic contribution to the body of knowledge and inFraudsight to the literature. This paper is original and unique in its form and has the value on fraud prevention, detection of corruption, combating the contemporary fraud cases in the Nigerian public sector, and useful to those who might cherish its standing.

Inovasi Pelayanan Publik di China: Suatu Pembelajaran bagi Pemerintah dalam Peningkatan Layanan Publik di Indonesia

Innovation is becoming a warming issue to be often discussed by many actors like academician, politician, and business sectors at global world recently. Innovation is basically a better change of an organization, it is firstly applied in private sector. Development of current literature in public administration science, innovation emerges as a conceptual discourse stuff that is then sounded into public sector. Innovation practice in private sector is different to public sector. Innovation practice in public sector, particularly in public services is one of interesting things to be discussed in this study because China is one of economics superpower in the world that is able to innovate at midst totally strong political control from central government. Issue of public service innovation is critical issue which is linear with economic growth in China. This study is a research using qualitative-descriptive method with the source derived from secondary data, and this study is called as a desk research. This research finding is that innovation practices at public service which is successfully conducted by Government of China can be adopted by Government of Indonesia by adjusting key points for implementing innovation of public services in Indonesia. It is important that Government of Indonesia must seek an alternative way to find an appropriate model to implement best practices of public service innovation adopted from China.

Dimensions that characterize and mechanisms that cause the misuse of information systems for corrupt practices in the Nigerian public sector

AbstractThis article explores the dimensions and structural mechanisms that can foster the misuse of information systems (IS) for corrupt practices. Using the abductive‐retroductive strategy native to critical realism, we present a realist conceptualization of why the misuse of IS for corrupt practices occurs in the Nigerian public sector. Routine activity, reintegrative shaming, model of emergent IT use, and normalization theories were adopted as theoretical lenses. Danermark et al's six‐stage explanatory framework embedded with a single case study was adopted as the methodology. Focus group and semistructured interviews were used as primary sources of data, while archival documents and press media reports were used as secondary data sources. From the data analysis, malleability structures of the IS artifacts, dysfunctional structures of the Nigerian state, embeddedness of corrupt routines into IS artifacts, institutionalization, socialization, rationalization, and negative reintegrative shaming were identified as core causal structural mechanisms generating the misuse of IS for corrupt practices in the study context. Such corrupt practices were clustered in motivated offenders, suitable targets, and absence of a capable guardian as dimensions that characterized the misuse of IS by our findings. Our findings contribute to theory, practice, and the methodology of critical realism.