New development: Exploring public service markets

The authors explain why public service markets are fundamentally different from regulated utilities markets by looking at the product characteristics, market structure, funding oversight and legal arrangements in such markets. They highlight the issues which will be important as marketized delivery becomes increasingly mainstream in public services provision.     

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.     

New development: Determinants of financial performance in public organizations

In the slipstream of NPM, public organizations worldwide have had to increase their financial performance by adopting management practices. Nonetheless, financial performance (FP) might be mostly predicted by contingencies that are not within direct managerial control. Drawing on evidence from 308 Flemish municipalities, this article shows that organizational and environmental contingencies affect FP, but a significant amount of variation in FP is unexplained—indicating that management could well matter.     

New development: COVID-19 as an accelerator of digital transformation in public service delivery

ABSTRACT

In an unexpected circumstance, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, public service delivery cannot be suspended, but must be delivered online, relying on the available digital technology. Social media, specifically, have been widely used to reach a broader portion of the population. This article discusses the digital acceleration that governments and organizations are now facing. The focus is on Italian state museums, which have been pushed for years to adopt digital tools to increase participation. This article highlights three main dilemmas in service delivery: user engagement; planning and control; and costs. The three dilemmas show the social and organizational challenges connected to digital transformation, underlining the issues that organizations will have to face in the future and not just in an emergency such as COVID-19.     

Together we measure: Improving public service outcomes via the co-production of performance measurement

Not-for-profit organizations (NFPs) aim to deliver public services and achieve outcomes for their beneficiaries. However, little attention has been given to how NFP professionals engage with beneficiaries to develop the performance measures that inform service improvement and accountability. Our findings illustrate how a co-production approach to performance measurement can enhance the meaningfulness of outcome measures, hence supporting service improvement and facilitating ‘collaborations for accountability’ between NFPs and their beneficiaries.     

Relationship marketing,relational capital and the future of marketing in public service organizations

This article proposes an innovative model of marketing practice for public services. This is rooted in the paradigm of relationship marketing and emphasizes the need to build relational capital between and within organizations operating in the public services arena. It is argued that this is essential for the effective management of contemporary public services in the fragmented state.     

南京市民卡:银行卡的创新与发展

随着我国城市化进程和信息化建设的不断加速,用于金融、劳动和社会保障以及生活领域的各种银行卡、非银行卡越来越多.目前,南京市银行卡发卡量已达2774万张,社会保障卡(简称"社保卡")349万张,公共交通卡(简称"公交卡",亦称"金陵通卡")482万张,而在社会生活其他领域应用的卡则更是难以计数.为了更好地服务市民和规范各类卡的应用,南京市政府决定实施市民卡建设项目.     

Measuring up: examining the potential for voluntary sector performance measurement to improve public service delivery

This article explores the impact of recent trends towards privatism through a study of neighbourhood governance in Baltimore and Bristol and considers its implications for the big society in the UK. The self-help ideology of the big society has been prevalent in Baltimore for many years and the city's experience highlights profound difficulties in substituting volunteering for government-led revitalization. The article concludes that the Baltimore experience is a warning to British policy-makers, posing a major dilemma.     

New development: The UK coalition government and the future of public sector pensions

This article presents a critical analysis of the contemporary attack on public sector occupational pensions in the UK. It traces the implications of the attack for future pensions policy on this issue.     

Risk management challenges of shared public services: a comparative analysis of Scotland and Finland

This paper analyses the risk management challenges of shared service provision in Scotland and Finland. Policy context and institutional frameworks largely determine the local choice of organizational arrangements and so the risks that arise and the way they are shared. Finnish municipalities have developed joint municipal arrangements for sharing services, whereas Scotland's shared service challenges are related to the historical separation of health and social care services and the search for cost savings while improving service effectiveness.     

New development: The conceptual underpinnings of international public sector accounting

The conceptual underpinnings of accounting standards are potentially very important for the future of public sector accounting internationally. The authors explain why and comment on the implications for public sector accounting.     

Examining the process of performance measurement system design and implementation in two Italian public service organizations

In the last two decades, the adoption of new public management (NPM) practices in the public sector has increased as public sector organizations seek to improve efficiency, effectiveness and public accountability. We present case study findings of a NPM initiative to implement balanced scorecard (BSC) performance measurement systems in two Italian public sector organizations. This study considers the question of whether the BSC development process can be effectively translated into the public sector context. Our findings highlight the importance of aligning the development of performance management systems with a greater understanding of the internal and external environment of public sector organizations. Our results further emphasize the significant role of emergent stakeholders and management culture for the success of NPM performance management initiatives.     

New development: The protective role of conservatism in public sector accounting

This article picks up a discussion in international business accounting about the appropriate definition and use of conservatism (or prudence) and calls for a similar discussion in public sector accounting. If financial reports present an overly optimistic situation, politicians might use them to justify spending public money that is not there, risking the sustainability of services and ‘borrowing’ from future generations.     

New development: Eloquent silence—civil service career development in the EU financial assistance programmes conditionality

ABSTRACT

This article examines how civil servants’ career development was treated in the loan-driven EU reform recommendations for Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Ireland and Spain in the aftermath of the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. Neither the European Commission (EC), nor the ‘Troika’, made any proposals for reforming the career development of those countries’ civil services. This omission is dysfunctional given the otherwise ambitious reform agenda the EC required from these countries in order to grant them financial support.     

New development: Flood events continue to raise issues of public sector accountability

Climate change scientists argue that there is a link between climate change and the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. The catastrophic consequences of these natural disasters on human life, agriculture and infrastructure calls into question the role and responsibility of governments in managing such events. Mixed messages are being communicated by governments to the public from one extreme advocating the provision of as much assistance as required to rebuild communities following an extreme weather event, to policies being developed encouraging communities to become more resilient. Seemingly, there is no contradiction in following both approaches, however, it is currently not clear the extent of responsibility and accountability for protecting its citizens versus the onus on the community to defend itself from natural disasters. This paper explores these themes from the perspective of local government in relation to the devastating floods that hit Victoria, Australia in 2010/11.     

Analysing the role of sustainable development indicators in accounting for and constructing a Sustainable Scotland

The main objective of this paper was to analyse how sustainable development indicators impacted upon the integration of sustainable development into the governing of Scotland. A major concern was whether an accounting technology could represent this complex multi-dimensional and interdisciplinary concept. We analysed the relationship between the official sustainable development strategy of the Scottish Executive and the associated indicator set using an analytics of government framework (Dean, M. (1999). Governmentality: Power and rule in modern society. London: Sage Publications. Dean, M. (2007). Governing societies. Berkshire: Open University Press). We observed a lack of alignment between these sustainable development indicators and the visions, fields of visibilities, forms of knowledge and techniques of government contained in this strategy. Critical aspects of this strategy were omitted from the indicator set and we argue that these indicators did not to effectively measure progress towards a Sustainable Scotland but that they could calculatively capture and distort the sustainable development governing process. The analytical framework used allowed us to problematise these indicators and contribute to a wider discourse on the composition and nature of sustainable development indicators.     

The use of performance measurement systems in the public sector: Effects on performance

We study the use of performance measurement systems in the public sector. We hypothesize that the way in which these systems are being used affects organizational performance, and that these performance effects depend on contractibility. Contractibility encompasses clarity of goals, the ability to select undistorted performance metrics, and the degree to which managers know and control the transformation process. We expect that public sector organizations that use their performance measurement systems in ways that match the characteristics of their activities outperform those that fail to achieve such fit. We test our hypotheses using survey data from 101 public sector organizations. Our findings indicate that contractibility moderates the relationship between the incentive-oriented use of the performance measurement system and performance. Using the performance measurement system for incentive purposes negatively influences organizational performance, but this effect is less severe when contractibility is high. We also find that an exploratory use of the performance measurement system tends to enhance performance; this positive effect is independent of the level of contractibility. The effectiveness of the introduction of performance measurement systems in public sector organizations thus depends both on contractibility and on how the system is being used by managers. These findings have important implications, both for practice and for public policy.     

New development: Accounting recognition of public infrastructure—applying a practical control criterion approach

ABSTRACT

The accounting recognition of public infrastructure can be extremely complex. This article explores and discusses the key IPSAS definitions and reviews the national accounting frameworks of some countries as regards their criteria for recognizing these assets. The author makes an important contribution to public sector accounting research by presenting a new way of recognizing public infrastructure as an asset based on the control criterion.     

Fulfilling its promise? Strategic public procurement and the impact of equality considerations on employers’ behaviour in Scotland

ABSTRACT

Public administration is an important force influencing equality in today’s society. Like budgetary choices, public procurement has increasingly gained attention as a means to promote equality. Yet, there are important gaps in knowledge, especially regarding how equality requirements in public procurement affect company behaviour. This paper sheds first light on the impact strategic public procurement has on employers’ behaviour. Based on empirical research, this paper highlights that companies perceive a limited prevalence of equality stipulations in Scottish public procurement practices and raises doubts about the impact of public procurement practices to create a successful business case for equality.