Users Of Public Services Research Articles

Question order bias revisited: A split‐ballot experiment on satisfaction with public services among experienced and professional users

AbstractPublic decision‐makers increasingly rely on satisfaction surveys to inform budget and policy decisions. Yet, our knowledge of whether, and under what conditions, this input from public service users provides valid performance information remains incomplete. Using a preregistered split‐ballot experiment among government grant recipients in Denmark, this article shows that the ordering of survey questions can bias satisfaction measures even for highly experienced and professional respondents. We find that asking about overall satisfaction before any specific service ratings lowers overall user satisfaction, compared to the reverse order, while the correlations between specific ratings and overall satisfaction are relatively stable. Also, the question order effect outweighs that of a large‐scale embezzlement scandal, which unexpectedly hit the investigated government agency during the data collection. Our results support rising concerns that subjective performance indicators are susceptible to bias. We discuss how practitioners should approach satisfaction surveys to account for the risk of question order bias.

Instruction in a holistic approach to discrimination

Administrative activity is present in all walks of life and it has a universal character nowadays. This article has been tabled to draw attention to the discriminatory erosions that sometimes appear as a hiding place in public administration, which may appear as minor deviations in childhood, but may lead to disintegration of organizational unit in adulthood. On the other hand, however, the quality of life of workers is impaired because workers exposed to psychosocial risks show significantly higher levels of health risk than those who are not. The most common symptoms are stress, sleep problems, fatigue and depression (URL1). I have tried to approach the relationship between instruction and discrimination holistically, from the slightest socialization error of man to the most serious crime. I believe that a person's discriminatory behavior is characterized by the inclusion of the milder deviations of a person to the more serious ones. Genocide certainly involves its four milder stages, the physical assault transmission, discrimination, verbal expression, and discriminatory thought. We have drawn attention to the harmful effects of ’invisible’ in its form, but abnormal in its content. Perhaps avoidance is one of the most insidious behaviors of our time, which, by distorting personality in childhood, can put its mark on the daily life and public service of an adult. In the case of discrimination, sanctions of a non-legal nature which undermine the offender's social authority may also be significant, e.g. mocking, exasperation, appearance, speaking, which are more common than legal sanctions and can cause a great deal of torment to the perpetrator and his environment, we need anti-instructional discrimination in the public sector to ensure good public services and well-being of public service employees. In the bureaucratic system, it is precise regulation that can be used to combat discrimination by instruction, because it not only serves to coordinate and fix the best method, but also ensures standardized, equal treatment of individual cases (Gajduschek, 2000, 44.). It is also worth noting that enforcing the prohibition of discrimination, its principles, its loyalty, impartiality, responsibility or professionalism, and the confidence of users of public services in the public service is in the interests of professional administration.

Public Pension Reform and the 49th Parallel: Lessons from Canada for the U.S.

Public employee pension systems around the world show remarkable diversity in design and execution. Among these, the U.S. defined benefit public pension system has drawn increased attention because of questions about the long-term sustainability of many of the underlying pension funds – as well as concerns of equity between pension plan members, retirees, taxpayers, bondholders, and users of public services. The Covid-19 pandemic introduced new fissures in state and local government finances, heightening the need to bolster long-term public pension fund robustness. As an alternative model, the Canadian public pension system is widely respected. This was not foreordained. The authors trace difficult decisions undertaken in Canada in the 1980s and 1990s along with essential descriptive features of the Canadian Model. Using a novel primary dataset, the authors benchmark the 25 largest U.S. plans against their ten largest Canadian peers, exploring key issues in a paired analysis. The authors extract fundamental lessons from the Canadian experience, proposing a roadmap for reform of the U.S. public pension system. They argue that long-term pension sustainability, once politically prioritized, most be built on equity and discipline in plan design, funding, and amortization of existing deficits. They emphasize the importance of legal framework, particularly joint sponsorship, alongside enhanced governance and unified legislation. They also draw lessons from the Canadian experience with respect to enhanced investment organizations and investment strategies.

Coproduction and cocreation in public care services: a systematic review

PurposeTo analyze and discuss the research on the public healthcare services (PHCS) through the lenses of coproduction/creation by systematizing the antecedents, the process enablers and the outcomes of coproduction/creation in terms of organizational and individual/patients factors.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review was performed based on 46 papers found in ISI Web of Science and Scopus databases following the Prisma Protocol for the search.FindingsThe results show that antecedents of coproduction/creation are connected to organizational/institutional capabilities (e.g. codesign of services or trust development) or patient/individual factors (e.g. physical and mental capabilities). The process of coproduction/creation relates with enablers, such as interactive and dynamic relationships between public care service providers and users. Finally, outcomes have diverse nature, namely quality of life, compliance, behavioral intentions, among others.Research limitations/implicationsThis study addresses the overlooked topic of coproduction/creation of value within PHCS. It contributes to public healthcare services literature wherein concepts of coproduction and cocreation of value are still on debate. It contributes to the transformative service research (TSR) by underlining that healthcare factors, processes and approaches may have a positive or negative (value codestructing) influence on the well-being. It yields crucial implications for PHCS.Originality/valueIt is the first attempt to systematize scientific knowledge on this topic, therefore conferring some novelty potential.

Making the user useful? How translation processes managerialize voice in public organizations

AbstractOne of the most pervasive topics in public management discussions in recent decades is the notion of user orientation. More than ever, external stakeholders expect public organizations to “get closer” to users and to treat citizens as knowledgeable consumers of public services with a view and a voice. Existing literature highlights how, through a wide range of calculative practices, information gathered from and about public service users is assembled into descriptions of organizational activity that are useful for managers in addressing issues of surveillance and internal control as well as legitimation. In our multiple case study of hospitals and prisons in Germany, we introduce a two‐step model of translation for explaining how user voice is transformed into management objects, which are then further translated into organizationally “useful” information. In doing so, we make three contributions to further our understanding of how user views are formatted to organizational activity and put to use by managers in the public sector. First, we developed a model of translation that highlights how user voices and the prospect of user orientation are enacted across diverse organizational contexts. Second, we found that different types of organizations deploy distinct methods of accounting, which nevertheless make user feedback useful in similar ways: to develop information that helps construct an image of performance, gain financial leverage, and enact compliance. Third, we found that in addition to quantitative forms of accounting, narrative accounting techniques played important roles in making users “useful” in public organizations.

The study of public perceptions on the quality service of Trans Mebidang Bus

Transportation is a pivotal thing that supports everyday human life and the movement of logistics goods. The transportation system is said to be good if the cost is economical and affordable. However, it seems that the city of Medan has not been implemented, costs are only determined by the government and public transport organizations without involving the community. The low quality of services in terms of safety, comfort, feasibility, ease and efficiency of public transport, provide a feeling that is less comfortable and safe for users of public transport services. The increasing number of people using private vehicles in the city of Medan increases traffic congestion which results in longer travel times, due to many vehicles and lower speeds. The point is that private vehicle users cause congestion, inefficiency in the use of road space, and reduce road capacity. To reduce congestion in the city of Medan, the Medan city government held collaboration with Deli Serdang Regency and Binjai City; Trans Mebidang Bus was established to overcome the bottleneck. Therefore, the researchers are keen to find out the quality service of the bus through the public perception.

Innovation in Delivering Public Health Service: Practice In Banyuwangi Regency – Indonesia

Objective - The objective of this study is to elaborate that innovation in public sector organizations (PSOs), especially in delivery of public service, is not mostly determined by top management in the public sector. A new paradigm of public management has led to the creation of a new cooperation scheme across actors in forms of co-design, co-production, and collaboration between public service supplier(s) and users. In the public sector, interconnectedness among actors to make innovation in public service delivery is rare. Methodology/Technique – The method of this research is a case study of 3 different health agencies (Puskesmas) in the Regency of Banyuwangi, East Java Province, Indonesia. All three Puskesmas agencies represent 3 different cultures influencing the practice of innovation in public health service delivered by them. Finding - The findings reveals that the practice of innovation in public service delivery within new paradigm of public management by which interconnectedness between public agency and local communities has occured. The findings of this study show that there is strikingly different impact of innovation delivered by the 3 Puskesmas agencies. Novelty - This study contributes to existing literature on public or organizational management that culture values of local communities as target groups cannot be neglected in implementing innovation in PSOs. Type of Paper: Empirical. Keywords: Innovation, Public Service, Health Service, Banyuwangi, Indonesia. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Asmara, A. Y; Rahayu, A.Y.S. 2020. Innovation in Delivering Public Health Service: Practice in Banyuwangi Regency – Indonesia, Global J. Bus. Soc. Sci. Review, 8(1): 12 – 21. https://doi.org/10.35609/gjbssr.2020.8.1(1) JEL Classification: H80, H89.

Public service motivation- individual performance relationship: Does user orientation matter?

Many studies find positive associations between Public Service Motivation (PSM) and individual performance, but we know little about potential mediators and moderators.In this study, we test the mediating role of User Orientation (UO) - the motivation to benefit individual recipients of public services - and the moderating role of individual and work-related characteristics by collecting data from 618 teachers and 156 school principals working in all grades of state schools in southern Italy. After applying structural equation modeling and group comparisons, results show that individuals with a strong orientation to do good for others and for society (PSM) are also better oriented towards helping specific public service users, the students in our case. In turn, the desire to benefit students and satisfy their needs leads individuals to enhance their self-reported performance at work. Eventually, the implications of our findings and possible areas of future research are discussed.

PERSEPSI KENYAMANAN DAN HARGA TERHADAP MINAT PENGGUNAAN JASA TRANSPORTASI ANGKUTAN UMUM KOTA DI KABUPATEN PURWAKARTA

Reduced interest in the use of city public transport services because there are still many public transport facilities that do not attach importance to the convenience of service users and the absence of alternative tariff options for long distance or short distance, so service users choose to use other transportation services that can answer their needs, such as transportation online that already exists in Purwakarta today. In this case the author is very interested in conducting research, with the title "The Influence of Perceptions of Comfort and Price Against Interest in the Use of City Public Transportation Transportation Services in Purwakarta District". The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of perceived comfort and price on the interest in using the City Public Transport Service in Purwakarta Regency. In this study respondents were users of public transportation services in Purwakarta using sampling techniques called Non-Probability Sampling. The research method used is descriptive qualitative method, which is a method that is done by collecting, presenting and analyzing data that gives a clear enough picture of the object under study. This study uses a multiple linear regression analysis model with the help of IBM SPSS 21 program. Hypothesis This study shows that the variables of perceived comfort and price have a positive and significant effect on the interest in using public transportation services in the city of Purwakarta.

Eksplorasi Faktor yang Mempengaruhi Loyalitas Konsumen Ojek Online

Ojek Online is a motorbike based public transportation application. Gojek and Grab is the top ojek online in Indonesia. There are still many local startups in the ojek online business such as Ladyjek, Blu-jek, and Motorcycle taxi. They are unable to compete because their rates are less competitive. This is because the capital owned is not too big to do the "burning money" like other startups. A model is needed to analyze what factors affect passenger using ojek online services. So, we hope local startups can compete with their innovation based on needs from consumer which will be analyzed in this research. There have been several studies that have examined the behavior of users of public transportation services, both of conventional and online transportation, which is currently booming. However, the author has not found a detailed study observing what factors influence the behavior of ojek online’s users. Therefore, the authors develop a model that integrates variables which include overall service indicators not only the application but also overall aspects like the driver and usefulness of the services. In this study a set of questionnaire was distributed and used to measure the model and data taken as many as 200 samples. Partial Least Square is used to analyze the data that has been taken. The measurement results show the model has a predictive power that is good enough to measure customer loyalty from ojek online user and all hypotheses are accepted.

The impact of population size on the risk of local government default

Since the outbreak of the international economic crisis in 2008, governments’ fiscal policies have been strongly influenced by high levels of public debt and default. Studies of the causes of debt problems for large local governments have emphasised the interest and timeliness of identifying factors that may influence the probability of municipal default, and have concluded that fiscal policies should be defined according to population size. The present empirical study was conducted on a sample of 1476 local governments, with data for the period 2009–2014, to determine the influence of financial, socioeconomic and population factors on default risk in small, medium-sized and large municipalities. The results obtained show that the factors that influence the risk of default vary according to the size of the municipality, although some are common to all or most cases, such as real estate taxes, vehicle taxes, financial autonomy and per capita income. The main elements found to vary according to municipal size are overall immigration, female immigration, female unemployment and proximity to the next elections. Our findings show that the financial risk of local governments is affected not only by population size but also by financial and socioeconomic variables. These results can help policymakers to design fiscal policies appropriate for the size of each municipality, thus contributing to avoiding bankruptcy, cuts in public spending and tax increases. Our study findings may be of interest to politicians, managers, fiscal authorities, central governments, supervisory bodies, financial institutions, banks, voters, taxpayers and users of public services.

Prenatal care in the Brazilian public health services.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To verify regional inequalities regarding access and quality of prenatal and birth care in Brazilian public health services and associated perinatal outcomesMETHODS Birth in Brazil was a national hospital-based survey conducted between 2011 and 2012, which included 19,117 women with public-funded births. Regional differences in socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics, as well as differences in access and quality of prenatal and birth care were tested by the χ2 test. The following outcomes were assessed: spontaneous preterm birth, provider-initiated preterm birth, low birth weight, intrauterine growth restriction, Apgar in the 5th min < 8, neonatal and maternal near miss. Multiple and non-conditional logistic regressions were used for the analysis of the associated perinatal outcomes, with the results expressed in adjusted odds ratio and 95% confidence interval.RESULTS Regional inequalities regarding access and quality of prenatal and birth care among users of public services are still evident in Brazil. Pilgrimage for birth associated with all perinatal outcomes studied, except for intrauterine growth restriction. The odds ratios ranged between 1.48 (95%CI 1.23–1.78) for neonatal near miss and 1.62 (95%CI 1.27–2.06) for provider-initiated preterm birth. Among women with clinical or obstetric complications, pilgrimage for birth associated with provider-initiated preterm birth and with Apgar in the 5th min < 8, odds ratio of 1.98 (95%CI 1.49–2.65) and 2.19 (95%CI 1.31–3.68), respectively. Inadequacy of prenatal care associated with spontaneous preterm birth in both groups of women, with or without clinical or obstetric complications.CONCLUSION Improvements in the quality of prenatal care, appropriate coordination and comprehensive care at the time of birth have a potential to reduce prematurity rates and, consequently, infant morbidity and mortality rates in the country.

Citizens’ Satisfaction with Government in a Highly Corrupt Public Life: Role of Trust in Democracy and Civil Society Participation in Somalia

Corruption is the biggest obstacle in the way of human development. In a highly corrupt public life, citizens’ satisfaction seems to be a mirage. But can citizens’ satisfaction be possible even if there is less chance of sounding the death knell for corruption? To investigate this, this study examines the mediating effect of trust in democracy and civil society participation in the relationship of corruption and citizens’ satisfaction in the context of Somalia, considered to be the most corrupt country in the world. Using a survey, a total of 205 valid responses from public service users in Somalia were put into confirmatory factor analysis. The empirical results show the partial mediation of civil society participation and trust in democracy; however, civil society participation is more effective than trust in democracy in mediating the relationship of corruption and citizens’ satisfaction, because of less negative indirect effect.

“Free” and “unfree” money in German prisons: The role of accounting in educating public service users

AbstractThis paper explores how public organizations use accounting as a pedagogical instrument for educating individual citizens. Drawing on conceptions of financial literacy and governmentality, our paper presents the findings of a qualitative case study of German prisons and analyzes how accounting practices shape interactions between public organizations and individual citizens. Our findings show how three types of financial accounts—prison money, gate money, and private money—grant prisoners differentiated access to funds. Prison administrators refer to these accounts as “free” or “unfree,” depending on whether prisoners can decide how the money will be used. The study reveals how German law, ministries, and prison administrations attach three basic virtues to prisoner accounts—legal consumption, financial prudence, and social responsibility—in an attempt to include individuals (back) into a population of economically and socially functioning citizens. To public management research, this paper contributes a description of how public institutions employ accounting as a pedagogical technology in interactions with individual citizens. To prior works on financial literacy, we add the idea that educative measures not only produce viable and disciplined market actors, but also transport specific virtues of being a social citizen. Finally, our study discusses how disciplinary and postdisciplinary notions of accounting interact and provide possibilities for governing through freedom—even behind bars.

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ЭНТРОПИЙНОЙ ОРГАНИЗОВАННОСТИ ПЕРЕВОЗОЧНОГО ПРОЦЕССА НА ТИПИЧНЫХ МАРШРУТАХ ГОРОДСКОГО ОБЩЕСТВЕННОГО ТРАНСПОРТА

The paper presents the possibility, necessity, ideology and essence of the entropy method of estimating the orderliness of the transportation process in relation to urban public transport. Examples of numerical definition of the relative entropy of the transportation process on typical public transport routes are given. The paper shows that the level of orderliness of the transportation process, identified by relative entropy, is determined by the specifics of the spatial location of public transport routes in terms of the urban area and mainly depends on the quality of users of public transport services.

Nutritional status coverage trend registered in the SISVAN web in seven municipalities of the Zona Da Mata Mineira, Brazil, from 2008 to 2017, and its association with socio-economic, demographic and organisation of health system variables.

We analysed the coverage trend of the evaluation of the nutritional status of users of public health services registered in the Food and Nutrition Surveillance System (SISVAN) between 2008 and 2017 in seven municipalities and verified the association of the coverage trend with the socio-economic, demographic and organisational aspects of health system variables. It is an ecological time-series study performed with secondary data extracted from health information systems. Descriptive statistics, linear regression model and repeated measures analysis were performed. The coverage of evaluation of nutritional status was low over the period. Five municipalities showed a tendency to increase coverage, although small, while two remained stable. The highest annual variation in coverage increase was concentrated in the group of pregnant women and the lowest in adolescents and older adults. There was a downward trend in follow-ups from the Bolsa Family Programme and a trend towards increased follow-ups from SUS Primary Care (e-SUS AB). SISVAN coverage was positively associated with the proportion of rural population (P ≤ 0·001) and coverage of community health agents (P < 0·001); and negatively associated with total population (P < 0·001), demographic density (P = 0·006) and gross domestic product per capita (P = 0·008). Despite the tendency to increase coverage in some municipalities, SISVAN still presents low coverage of nutritional status assessment, which compromises population monitoring. Knowing the factors that influence the coverage can subsidise the elaboration of strategies for its expansion.

Phenomenology of the quality of life of autistic children

The quality of life (QOL) of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is related to the symptomatic and idiopathic characteristics of the existential condition of the child and is determined by the subjective understandings attributed according to the individual experience. The primary objective of this article is to describe and understand the subjective constructs about the self-referenced QOL of mothers of children with ASD. It is an empirical study, qualitative and based on a reading of phenomenological psychopathology. Participated 10 mothers of children with ASD, users of public health services in Goiânia. The following instruments were used: a sociodemographic and clinical data questionnaire and a semi-structured interview script about QOL. The interviews were submitted to the construction of thematic categories, according to the methodology of Giorgi (1985), and later were correlated with the existential categories of Augras (2004). It was observed that although a standard is sought to understand QOL, each mother has subjective factors that reflect in her way of experiencing the condition of being a mother of a child with special needs. It is concluded that it is the science, when seeking to understand the quality of life of people with similar characteristics, to consider the relevance of the subjective aspects and the meaning that each mother constructs of its own reality.

Understanding Single Homing and Multihoming User Switching Propensity in Cloud File Hosting Service Relationships

This paper compares the commitment and switching propensities of single-homing users, who only consume services from a single provider, and multi-homing users, who consume similar services from multiple providers at the same time. The study surveys 217 users of public file-hosting services, a popular but controversial cloud-based service. The study reveals significant differences between single-homing and multihoming users. For single-homing users, propensity to leave is motivated by trust. For multihoming users, propensity to leave is motivated by commitment. However, the results also indicate that both single-homing and multihoming users perceive similar relationship components (e.g. shared values, mutual understanding, relationship costs and benefits), despite their homing preferences. The findings provide theoretical insight into how different types of users approach online service relationships. The findings have implications for highly separated online service providers.

Estrutura dimensional da satisfação dos usuários da Saúde da Família

O estudo objetiva analisar a estrutura dimensional do instrumento SERVQUAL, utilizado para mensuração da satisfação dos usuários de serviço de saúde pública na atenção básica. Estudo quantitativo, realizado por meio de um survey com 353 usuários da Estratégia Saúde da Família. Os participantes foram: gênero feminino (71,7%); idades entre 31 e 40 anos (30,9%) e com Ensino Médio completo (43,3%). Na análise do ajuste do modelo, os resultados foram insatisfatórios para os critérios estabelecidos. Sugeriu-se um novo modelo dado o contexto específico da saúde pública que apresentou resultados adequados para todos os critérios. Os resultados foram satisfatórios para validade convergente e discriminante. O estudo implica na indicação de um novo modelo ajustado, utilizado para a compreensão da satisfação de usuários da saúde da família, que, testado em estudos futuros na área de enfermagem e saúde pública, com análise aprofundadas que discutam os achados desta pesquisa, consolidem um novo instrumento analítico.

Kinerja pengelolaan arsip Kantor Pelayanan Utama Bea dan Cukai Tipe A Tanjung Priok

The dynamic records management of goods import notification documents is an essential activity in storing data on goods entering Indonesia. The Main Service Office for Customs and Excise Type A Tanjung Priok as a government agency is obliged to record incoming goods as trade data. This study aimed to determine the dynamic records management of imported goods notification (PIB) documents on customs activities for the success of dwelling time at the Main Service Office for Customs and Excise Type A Tanjung Priok. The research method used a case study through a qualitative approach. Data collection techniques used were observation, interviews, and document study. The results showed the process of recording imported goods document notifications through the process of creating and receiving import documents began from the delivery of imported goods document notification (PIB) to the Customs Office. Submitting of the notifications was through the Electronic Data Exchange (PDE) system to the determination of the document path for 4 minutes. The organization process of notification documents for imported goods goes through 5 stages, namely, distribution of documents, the process of completing customs administration of imported goods documents, storing the processed documents, rediscovering documents, and maintaining imported goods documents. The process of dissemination at the Customs and Excise agency itself is inseparable from a system called Customs-Excise Integrated System and Automation (CEISA). The system is an integrated system of all Directorate General Customs and Excise services to all public service users. Their can access this system without limited space and place.