Lean and mean in the civil service: the case of processing in HMRC

The public sector has been importing private sector methods and practices aimed at generating efficiencies and cost savings. However, the consequences of these changes on the working lives of civil servants are under-researched. This article uses detailed fieldwork to investigate the impact of Lean on labour processes in HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). We argue that Lean has a detrimental effect on employees, their working lives, and the service that is provided to the public. The consequences of Lean on public sector work are highly problematic, which is of serious concern given its progressive impact on other civil service departments in the UK.     

Local adaption and central confusion: decentralized strategies for public service Lean implementation

There are a number of arguments for implementing public service Lean in a decentralized fashion, characterized by employee participation and local adaptions of the concept. This paper reports on a longitudinal case study of decentralized Lean implementation in a large Norwegian public service provider. The analysis points to unintended consequence of communication and co-ordination difficulties. The authors suggest ways of striking a reasonable balance between centralized and decentralized strategies of Lean implementation.     

New development: Wang Anshi's Wanyanshu as the origins of modern public management?

The drive for efficiencies across all areas of public spending in the UK has accelerated the need for improvements in service performance. This article considers how police performance might be improved through the adoption of a ‘Lean’ philosophy. This is seen as a potential driver for internal police improvements and is made in response to the government's call for reform and to address the challenges of a decrease in future police funding.     

Assessing performance and value-creation capabilities in Lean healthcare: insights from a case study

ABSTRACT

Lean thinking is increasingly being applied worldwide. Yet its actual impact is still a puzzle, particularly when a ‘full-implementation approach’—which entails the adoption of a strategic approach to Lean dissemination on policy deployment procedures—is used. Focusing on the healthcare sector, this paper presents and tests a comprehensive measurement framework for Lean interventions. The paper explains how Lean testing can help decision-makers to solve managerial issues related to Lean initiatives.     

Understanding before implementing: the context of Lean in public healthcare organizations

A three-year study of Lean implementation in public healthcare organizations in Québec identified poor understanding of the organizational context as a contributing factor to unsustainable Lean implementation. This paper presents a holistic perspective of the unique context of public healthcare organizations and discusses its implications with regards to Lean implementation.     

Data-driven innovation in the social sector in Australasia—data ecosystems and interpretive communities

Much has been made of the potential for government and public agencies to address the challenges and problems they face through the more effective linkage, sharing and use of data. The authors review the opportunities and issues involved, with a particular focus on the social (including human) services sector, where some of the most challenging problems facing government exist and some of the most far-reaching and transformational changes might be achieved. Using recent developments in Australasia as illustration, the paper explores how different stakeholders see the opportunities and challenges involved and the issues and problems to be overcome.     

Talent management in government in times of economic instability: selected cases from the BRICS countries

This paper explores the policies that three BRICS countries used to tackle the growing problem of attracting and retaining talent in public sector institutions. The authors trace the changes in these countries’ strategies and approaches resulting from growing budgetary constraints; labour market shifts; new demographic trends; increasing demands for higher performance by public servants; and complex challenges faced by governments worldwide. Although talent management in public sector institutions was a government priority for the three countries—Brazil, China, and Russia—the results achieved have been modest. The authors draw lessons for other governments from their analysis.     

Management across boundaries: A municipal dilemma

Public sector mergers have the potential of being viable alternative to other public sector reforms in the striving toward making public service provision more equipped to confront some of the challenges faced today. Mergers however often fail to deliver promised results. Previous research point to the importance of post‐merger integrating processes for realizing the synergies expected from mergers. However, so far these studies have focused on what occurs inside organizations and less on the interplay between different levels. By adopting a governance and top management perspective, this study increases our understanding of the importance of political decisions on the outcome of a merger in the public sector context. Further, this study increases our understanding of how organizational boundaries on different levels of merging organizations influence post‐merger integrating processes and the role of different actors as boundary spanners. The results of this study are based on five case studies of public sector mergers at the local level in Sweden.     

Use of derivatives in public sector organizations

The present paper develops and tests a model explaining public sector derivative use in terms of budget discrepancy minimization. The model is different from private sector models. Private sector models do not readily translate into the public sector, which typically faces different objectives. Hypotheses are developed and tested using logistic regression over a sample of Australian Commonwealth public sector organizations. It is found that public sector organization derivative use is positively correlated with liabilities and size consistent with the hypotheses concerning budget discrepancy management.     

Using bandwidths to visualize and improve patient pathways

Global healthcare systems are struggling to manage the increasing demand for services. What is becoming apparent is the need for a greater understanding of the design of existing patient care pathways (journeys) and how these might be improved. Taking a Lean perspective, a popular approach employed for improving healthcare services, the authors consider how existing patient pathways can be visualized. Examples are used to illustrate varying degrees of complexity within the design and when Lean principles might help in providing a standardized and predictable service. The merits and challenges associated with using bandwidths are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.     

IPSAS in Latin America: innovation,isomorphism or rhetoric?

ABSTRACT

Over the past 30 years, many initiatives have been undertaken to reform public administration in Latin American countries. Among other aspects, the reforms seek to improve the transparency and accountability of the public sector by modernizing public accounting and budgeting systems. The adoption of accrual accounting in the public sector has been seen as an innovation and it is driven by the implementation of IPSAS. This paper sheds light on the process of reform of public financial management in Latin America and the state of implementation of IPSAS. The paper analyses the driving forces for adopting or adapting IPSAS, as well as the obstacles and challenges in doing so.     

The association between organizational culture and the use of management initiatives in the public sector

This paper examines the association between five factors in O'Reilly et al. (1991) Organizational Culture Profile and the use of Activity Management (AM), Total Quality Management (TQM) and Employee Empowerment within public sector organizations. The results show that the use of AM and TQM is lower in public sector organizations than in their private sector counterparts, and is facilitated by an organizational culture of Outcome Orientation and Attention to Detail. The extent of use of Employee Empowerment is similar across the two sectors, and is facilitated when public sector organizations exhibit higher Respect for People and Innovation.     

Wage Structures in the Private and Public Sectors in West Germany

In this paper, we investigate pay structures in the private and public sectors for West Germany. We commence by describing some basic features of the public sector. We use micro-data from the German Socio-Economic Panel for the years 1984–93 to analyse developments and differences in public and private sector wage distributions for both males and females. We break wages down into different education groups and age-groups, and use regressions to construct conditional wage differentials. Our results differ in many aspects from findings for the UK. For instance, we find that although mean wages are higher in the public sector for both males and females, conditional wages are higher in the private sector for all education groups for males, but higher in the public sector for females. JEL classification: J3.     

New development: Mutual solutions to shaping public service delivery

There have been a number of developments in approaches to public service delivery in the UK, partly as a response to austerity measures, as well as a shift to new models of public sector, private and third sector provision. This article considers the development of public service mutuals—those organizations that have spun out of the public sector, and where employees of the new providers play a key role in shaping and delivering public services at local and national levels. The authors identify areas where further work is needed to better understand these new models and to consider whether the perceived benefits associated with traditional mutual models are applicable when applied to public service provision.     

There may be trouble ahead: exploring the changing shape of non-profit entrepreneurship in third sector organizations

This paper explores the challenges and benefits of managing non-profit organizations and social enterprise activities in an increasingly complex and difficult environment of austerity, reduced public sector funding, and higher competition for resources. It draws on the experience of women senior managers within the context of small/medium third sector organizations in Wales. Findings indicate diverse perspectives, but a consensus on the relevance of entrepreneurial behaviour to the third sector, and the importance of relationship-building and collaboration within gendered entrepreneurial practice.     

Reappraising the UK social value legislation

This paper appraises the scope and legal obligations of the UK Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. The law, by imposing on public authorities an obligation to consider wider social, economic and environmental benefits before they enter into major public service contracts, in principle improves service outcomes for communities, and facilitates better access for third sector organizations to public contracting opportunities. Evidence of the legislation’s impact has been mixed.     

Tracking Resource Use in a Welfare Organization: Needs, Costs and Co-production

Public sector welfare organizations are situated at the sharp end of resource allocations in society and must cope in an environment where demand frequently far exceeds supply. In consequence, the resource problem of meeting the need for social welfare is never fully resolvable and evaluations of the ways in which scarce resources are used within the public sector are of critical importance for public policy. This paper draws on an empirical study of a welfare service for homeless young people in order to illustrate, first, the cost implications of two different approaches to service delivery (one more superficial – termed 'people-processing'; one more in depth – termed, 'people-changing') and, second, how the characteristics of the clients served (in particular, their ability to fully engage with the service termed –'co-production') can have a marked impact on the cost of the services delivered to them.     

The use of Call Centres by local public administrations

European local public administrations (PA) are rapidly adopting information and communications technologies often with a view to offering e-commerce. Call Centres (CCs) feature prominently in the technology mix used by private sector e-commerce, but as a survey in this paper shows, CCs are less often used in public sector. This paper analyses the differences between private and public sector commerce and their implications for public sector e-commerce and its prospective use of CCs over the next ten years. It outlines the evolution of CC technologies and argues that current developments make the technology increasingly appropriate for the public sector. A model of e-commerce featuring connectivity, interactivity and agility is developed in the paper. From this it is concluded that many of the advantages from the use of CCs by PAs, are in system integration and process re-engineering — attributes positioned in terms of bridging technology and acting as a learning organisation. From this perspective, the paper concludes that CCs are likely to increasingly feature in the information and communications technology-mix for e-commerce delivery of PAs over the next ten years.     

Fostering Innovation in Public Services

Innovation is essential to the improvement of public services; it is not an optional luxury but needs to be institutionalized as a deep value. This article presents a framework for thinking and action to foster higher levels of successful innovation in the public sector. The major barriers to innovation in the public sector are identified. Finally, some immediate and practical steps which government departments and public service organizations could take to foster innovation are described.     

LINKING COMPREHENSIVE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT TO THE BALANCED SCORECARD: EVIDENCE FROM HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL

Over the course of the last twenty years there has been a growing academic interest in performance management, particularly in respect of the evolution of new techniques and their resulting impact. One important theoretical development has been the emergence of multidimensional performance measurement models that are potentially applicable within the public sector. Empirically, academic researchers are increasingly supporting the use of such models as a way of improving public sector management and the effectiveness of service provision ( Mayston, 1985 ; Pollitt, 1986 ; Bates and Brignall, 1993 ; and Massey, 1999 ). This paper seeks to add to the literature by using both theoretical and empirical evidence to argue that CPA, the external inspection tool used by the Audit Commission to evaluate local authority performance management, is a version of the Balanced Scorecard which, when adapted for internal use, may have beneficial effects. After demonstrating the parallels between the CPA framework and Kaplan and Norton's public sector Balanced Scorecard (BSC), we use a case study of the BSC based performance management system in Hertfordshire County Council to demonstrate the empirical linkages between a local scorecard and CPA. We conclude that CPA is based upon the BSC and has the potential to serve as a springboard for the evolution of local authority performance management systems.