Distinctiveness in the study of public management in Europe

Abstract

This article presents three clear examples of distinctive approaches to the study of public management, that is, in France, Germany and Italy, three countries with peculiar legalistic state traditions. For each country a historical sketch of state and administration is first given, then both the administrative (public management) reforms are described, the state of the art of administrative sciences and finally the specificness of the study of public management. The historical-institutional context of a particular state and administration apparently does influence not only the form and content of the administrative ‘public management’ reforms but also the scientific study of public management in that country.     

Examining public service motivation in the voluntary sector: implications for public management

Building on research about the nature of public service motivation (PSM) and its application outside the public sector, the authors provide a qualitative-based examination of PSM’s relevance to voluntary sector employees. In doing so, they explore how far their motivations extend beyond those encompassed within current conceptualizations of PSM and whether PSM research can be enriched through the adoption of qualitative methodologies. The findings suggest that PSM accounts for some, but not all, of the motives of voluntary sector employees and indicate that public sector managers involved in outsourcing public services need to be sensitive to their distinctive features.     

政府购买社会组织服务的动因、困境和策略

随着我国社会经济的发展和改革力度的加大,政府购买社会组织服务越来越成为政府提供公共服务的重要途径之一。目前,我国政府在购买社会组织服务上存在购买范围不明确、缺乏法律和制度规范、缺乏有效的监督和评估、社会组织力量薄弱等诸多问题。因此,需要建立科学的购买社会组织服务决策机制,规范相应的法律法规,加强对社会组织的培育和监督。     

地方政府公共服务全面质量管理探讨

随着全球化和信息化的变革,经济的发展和社会的进步,公众受教育水平、政治参与意识不断提高,对政府的期望值和服务要求也在提高,这种情况下,传统的政府管理已不能适应要求,而将全面质量管理引入到政府公共服务中来,就成为构建服务型政府的一种必要途径。     

公共服务绩效管理的流程分析

文章认为公共服务绩效管理不是一个单一的行为过程,而是由许多环节和步骤组成的循环系统流程。公共服务绩效管理是基于公共服务绩效的价值、指标、信息、方法等系统,由制定绩效计划、实施绩效计划、进行绩效评估、开展绩效诊断与反馈、应用绩效评估结果5个基本环节组成。     

Due process before discipline: What public employers need to provide

This paper examines content and procedural due process requirements that must be met before an employee is disciplined by a public sector employer. The paper begins by analzying the circumstances and significance of the United States Supreme Court's historicLoudermill decision in 1985. Three key issues in predetermination hearing; are treated: (1) the procedural requirements to be met in a predetermination hearing; (2) the scope ofLoudermill; (3) the due process requirements of a predetermination hearing.     

Formulation of public debt management strategies: An empirical study of possible drivers

A well-designed public debt management strategy can help countries reduce their borrowing cost, contain financial risks and develop their domestic markets. Using survey data on debt management strategies, this paper studies whether the probability that a country has a formal debt management strategy, publishes the strategy document, and uses quantitative benchmarks to formulate its debt management strategy is affected by democratic accountability, institutional quality, past debt crises/defaults, official development assistance, and participation in debt management programs. We find that countries located in Latin America and the Caribbean are less likely to have developed a debt management strategy and, if they have, are less likely to publish it. In contrast, countries located in the Middle East and North Africa are less likely to use quantitative benchmarks in the formulation of their debt management strategies. A country is more likely to have developed a debt management strategy if it has the experience of a past debt crisis, but not of repeated debt crises. Institutional quality and democratic accountability could significantly contribute to the emergence of more transparent and accountable debt management strategies in developing countries. IFIs’ technical assistance on public debt management could be enhanced by IFIs conducting their own, prior diagnostic reviews.     

The offspring of new public management in English Universities

New Public Management emphasizes the importance of Accountability and Performance evaluations. The purpose of this article is to explore the use of performance models and goal-setting in universities as a means for gaining insight into the use of similar performance approaches in the broader context of the new public management. The article deals with the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) which is a research evaluation mechanism used by the English Higher Education Funding Council (HEFCE) to determine the distribution of research funding among the universities.     

The role of employers in collective bargaining in Britain

Phil Beaumont and Mary Gregory seek to provide some substance to Alan Flanders’ long-held view that employers, in certain circumstances, have played a positive role in influencing the extent of collective bargaining arrangements in the UK.     

Fiscal Retrenchment in Southern Europe: Changing patterns of public management in Greece,Italy, Portugal and Spain

The vulnerability of the four south European countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain) to the global financial turmoil makes the analysis of their responses to the fiscal crisis particularly interesting for the assessment of the implications of fiscal austerity for public management. Drawing on the historical institutionalist approach, our analysis reveals a picture of variation in the impact of crisis on patterns of public management across south European countries. However, it also shows uniformity in the strategies of retrenchment as in all the four countries under examination governments failed to connect cutback management to ambitious administrative modernization programmes.     

Beyond public management

The Netherlands are often considered an excellent example of ‘new public management’ reforms. Especially the ‘Tilburg model’ of management reform that took place in Dutch local government in the mid-1980s has become internationally renowned. In this review of public management reforms that took place in Dutch local and national government during the 1980s and 1990s we will show that managerial reforms were not the only dominant story in the The Netherlands. Dutch administration experienced a shift in frame of reference beyond public management. This review will not concentrate on ‘factual reforms’ but rather on reform ideas. This study departs from the empirical positivist approach where ‘objective facts’ play the central role. There is no one and single ‘objective truth’ about reforms. Managerial reform seemed the dominant story. In ‘reality’ there was a variety of reform ideas.     

The management service company's expectation of the customer

The one constant factor in health care today is change. Choose your management support company carefully, expect high quality results, and communicate both positive and negative feedback immediately. This formula will give you excellent results as well as a long-term productive partnership in which cost, risk, and the end objectives can be balanced for maximum benefit.     

The measurement and management of intellectual capital in the public sector

This article compares and contrasts the stage of development reached by the public and private sectors with regard to intellectual capital. Whereas the private sector in many parts of the developed world has still not fully embraced the importance of measuring intangible assets, the public sector, with its different objectives, has always had to focus on non-financial results. This has become more critical in recent years due to successive government initiatives that have required the use of a number of prescribed performance indicators. Having briefly outlined the history of both intellectual capital and the culture of performance measurement this article analyses the results of a survey of public sector organizations in Northern Ireland to assess how they are dealing with both the measurement and management of intellectual capital assets.     

青岛港口物流公共信息服务平台的架构与建设

港口作为交通运输的枢纽,不再是简单的装卸货物集散地,其功能已发生变化,对我国港口城市、区域经济的发展起到了促进作用。文中旨在分析青岛地区港口物流公共信息平台的功能、架构及建设的迫切性和可行性。通过该文可知青岛港口物流公共信息平台的建成,对于提高青岛市现代物流管理水平,增强港口和相关物流企业的整体竞争实力,具有十分重要的意义,为该信息平台的建设提供决策依据。     

农业院校图书馆信息服务的管理探究

在大数据时代,用户对信息服务的需求愈来愈大,文章通过对农业院校图书馆信息服务的现状进行分析,提出对从事信息服务的人本管理、信息资源的管理和信息服务对象的管理途径及改善措施。     

Policy capacity and evidence-based policy in the public service

Governments in many jurisdictions have called for an increase in ‘evidence-based’ policy-making. However, the international evidence-based policy movement has so far shown little progress in transforming the way that public policy is formulated and implemented. Much research on evidence-based policy has focused on political interference and contextual frames of reference as barriers to the uptake of research evidence. With the support of data from a survey of over 2,000 Australian public servants, we argue that individual and organizational deficits can leave the public service structurally unprepared for an engagement with diverse forms of evidence, including academic research in particular.