The ‘post-bureaucratic’ public sector organization. New organizational forms and HRM in ten UK public sector organizations

This paper evaluates the extent to which ‘post-bureaucratic’ organizational forms have been introduced to the UK public sector and the implications for human resource management policies and practices in the sector. The study draws from interview data at ten public sector organizations including local authorities, the National Health Service, the Civil Service, police authorities, broadcasting and transport. It concludes that certain structural changes have been made, but that older functional lines of authority still exist and thus post-bureaucratic claims are misleading. However, a harsher working environment has arisen for managers in these public sector organizations, with longer hours and a more complex working environment. Older certainties such as job security, a safe career path and seniority-based pay have all been eroded.     

Towards a theory of the labor market with a public sector

The object is to specify and analyze equilibrium in a labor market with frictions when there is a significant public sector. In the vast majority of equilibrium studies on labor markets, a public sector has been ruled out by assumption. This seems a strange oversight as about 17% of workers in the US are public sector workers, whereas in western Europe, approximately 22% of workers work in the public sector. The goal in this study is to provide answers to such questions as: what happens to private sector wages if the public sector is increased? If the Government increases the number of public sector jobs, does this crowd out private sector jobs? When will private sector wages be greater (less) than the public sector wage? Reasonably complete answers to these questions (and others) are provided within the context of the model developed.     

The role of the public sector in the provision of housing supply in Turkey, 1950–2009

This study examines the changing role of the public sector in Turkey with regard to housing provision since 1950, and particularly since 2000, and seeks to clarify how public intervention has affected housing provision and urban development dynamics in major cities. Three periods may be identified, with central government acting as a regulator in a first period characterized by a ‘housing boom’. During the second period, from 1980 to 2000, a new mass housing law spurred construction activity, although the main beneficiaries of the housing fund tended to be the middle classes. After 2000, contrary to emerging trends in both Northern and Southern European countries, the public sector in Turkey became actively involved in housing provision. During this process, new housing estates were created on greenfield sites on the outskirts of cities, instead of efforts being made to rehabilitate, restore or renew existing housing stock in the cities. Meanwhile, the concept of ‘urban regeneration’ has been opportunistically incorporated into the planning agenda of the public sector, and — under the pretext of regenerating squatter housing areas — existing residents have been moved out, while channels for community participation have been bypassed.     

Decentralization,the New Public Management,and The Changing Role of The Public Sector In Africa

The role of the public sector in most countries around the world is changing both with respect to public service delivery and the stimulation of economic progress. That change, which was occasioned by the need for policy reform, has resulted in what is now termed ‘the new public management’, reflecting a movement away from the old values and norms of public sector administration. This article examines and analyses the concept of decentralization and its relevance to the changing role of the public sector, within the context of ‘the new public management’. and with special reference to Africa. The perspective of the article assumes that the new public management provides an appropriate framework for responding to the efficient delivery of public services in Africa.     

Understanding continuity in public sector HRM through neo‐institutional theory: why national collective bargaining has survived in English local government

Most HRM research over recent decades has concentrated on ‘change’, charting ever more fragmented, individualised and unitarist employment relationships. This is equally true of public sector HRM, where the emphasis has been on neo‐liberalism and marketisation. However, in many countries and sectors, collective, pluralist approaches to HRM and industrial relations have proved remarkably resilient. This article uses Neo‐Institutional theory to explain the ‘continuity’ of one such HRM system: national collective bargaining in English local government (1979–2007). We argue that this survives because it manages the political and managerial processes that link central government and central–local relations and acts as a conduit between institutional stakeholders to deliver services to the public. By understanding the ‘passive consensus’ that holds the collectivist HRM system together, we can anticipate the forces that might pull it apart.     

Public sector innovation in a context of radical populism

This article discusses the effect of radical populism on public sector innovation. It begins by considering the origins and components of radical populism and of public sector innovation. It is shown that the Trump Administration has been undercutting each of the factors research suggests facilitate public sector innovation. While radical populists have gained ground in Europe, they are constrained by being part of governing coalitions, and have a more limited policy agenda, primarily focused on reducing immigration. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research on the effect of populism on public sector innovation, both in the US and Europe.     

政府会计国际比较:发现与启示

文章首先从会计确认和计量、财务报告、预算报告等方面,比较了盎格鲁-撒克逊国家和欧洲大陆国家的地方政府会计体系,发现国际背景下公共会计系统的主要特征仍然是会计多样性;接着从法律体系、公共部门组织、公共财务报告的特定目标、会计职业界的兴趣和构成等方面分析了会计多样性的原因和本质;最后,基于我国公共管理领域改革的现状,就如何建立并完善我国的公共部门会计体系提出建议。     

A conceptual model of public sector corporate entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship has been conceptualized as a process that can occur in organizations of all sizes and types (Burgelman, Academy of Management Review, 8, 32–47, 1983; Miller, Management Science, 29, 770–791, 1983; Gartner, Academy of Management Review, 10, 696–706, 1985; Kao, Entrepreneurship, creativity and organization, 1989). This paper develops a conceptual model of public sector corporate entrepreneurship. The proposed model is intended to depict the main antecedents that relate to corporate entrepreneurship within the public sector and the impact of corporate entrepreneurship on public sector organizational performance (growth, development and productivity), as well as factors influencing its continuous performance. Following discussion of the model’s contents, the potential value for researchers and those engaging in public sector corporate entrepreneurship are described.     

Government and governance: The value of project management in the public sector

Governance is an emerging theme that has been associated in the public sector with a real political need to satisfy stakeholders by demonstrating accountability and transparency while effectively implementing policy. Many initiatives relating to governance are generated by a need for improvement of organizational performance and ability to implement and adapt to change. These generally take the form of projects and programs encouraging a variety of project management implementations in the public sector. This article reports on examination of the expectations and realization of value from investment in project management in four Australian public‐sector organizations with particular reference to the government context, the perspective of public value management (PVM), and the support that project management provides in meeting the demands of public‐sector governance.     

Public sector purchasing of health services: A comparison with private sector purchasing

Recent research has highlighted the existence of important differences between public and private sector procurement practices. Drawing on established transactional and relational conceptual frameworks, this paper examines whether the differing environments confronting public and private sector organisations affects procurement practices. By focusing solely on occupational health services as an example of a complex business service, the research allows the influence of environmental factors, notably policy drivers, to be considered across both public and private sector settings while service specific factors remain largely constant. Utilising a combination of questionnaires and in-depth interviews the research suggests that policy drivers had a major bearing on procurement practices adopted in the public sector, resulting in a very different pattern of engagement with service providers from that prevailing in the private sector. Specifically whereas private sector organisations utilised a range of approaches, which can broadly be classified as relational in nature, public sector organisations almost exclusively relied on transactional-based approaches. The nature of these services suggests that relational based procurement constitutes the optimal approach to the acquisition of such services. However, for public sector organisations the perceived restrictions imposed by public policy on procurement practices resulted in the adoption of an approach which can be viewed as resulting in sub-optimal outcomes.     

Sustainability challenges in public health sector procurement: An application of interpretative structural modelling

Sustainable procurement is an integral part of public sector sustainability, but developing countries are far behind in this area. This study explores the internal and external challenges in Pakistan's public health sector that hamper sustainable procurement. With the help of experts, we found eleven key challenges that hamper sustainability in public health sector procurement. We designed an instrument and fielded it to eighty-five procurement officials in government hospitals, who verified the presence of the challenges in health sector. The interpretative structural modelling (ISM) we used to develop a hierarchy among the identified challenges reflects that government regulations and senior management's commitment—all strategic challenges—are the most critical challenges, whereas perceived ineffectiveness, third-party involvement, and the unavailability of green products—all operational challenges—are less critical. The study presents comprehensive recommendations to policymakers and future researchers related to achieving sustainable development goals in the health sector.     

Regulatory influences on innovation in the public sector: the role of regulatory regimes

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of regulation on innovation within the public sector. This is done by integrating two separate frameworks, related to regulatory regimes and public-sector innovation. Through a case study of the Scottish water sector a matrix integrating these frameworks has been empirically developed, illustrating a continuous improvement path for innovation in the Scottish water sector. Findings indicate that customer and shareholder accountability is manifest at the transitional interface of the regulatory regimes, facilitating movement within the different systems. Interplay with the accountabilities and adjustments to the regulatory regime are paramount for progress. Through incentives to establish partnerships, the regulator provides conditions for new ideas to emerge with reduced risk of failure. Experimentation allows a new approach towards solving problems and enhancing innovation potential within the sector. The contribution of this paper is a framework demonstrating mechanisms required to move between government-centred, compliance- based regulation through to performance-oriented regulatory regimes.     

Employee isolation and support for change in the public sector: a study of the internal audit profession

ABSTRACT

We investigate the preferences of public sector internal auditors for changes in their work practices. Informed by the literature, we posit that feelings of trust in the workplace and/or frustrations arising from perceived organizational ‘isolation’—a dimension of work alienation—motivate support and acceptance of change. We also argue that professional bodies directly and indirectly influence these relationships. These conjectures are tested using structural equation modelling and a survey of Canadian public sector internal auditors. The findings provide valuable insights into the process of adaptation and transformation in public sector settings across countries, jurisdictions, and accountability functions.     

Exploring social media usage in the public sector: Public employees' perceptions of ICT's usefulness in delivering value added

The present paper explores the effectiveness of the implementation and use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the public sector, with a specific focus on the role of social media in improving both public decision-making processes and the quality of public services. We sought to deepen knowledge on this issue by disseminating structured questionnaires to Italian public servants, questioning them about the potentialities and criticalities of social media use in the public sector. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyse the data.The paper has two main goals. First, we aim to explore public servants' evaluation of social media's impact on public decision-making processes. Second, we are interested in understanding the main socio-demographic variables affecting public servants' perceptions about the importance of social media in these processes. This paper enriches the literature on public sector use of ICT and advances topical discussion on organizational change and decision-making processes in public administrations. In so doing, the paper reveals interesting practical and policy implications by highlighting the key aspects affecting social media's effectiveness and usefulness in the decision-making process and its impact on the public services delivered to the citizenry.     

Reporting public sector financial results

Part of the process of recent public sector reform has involved replacing traditional cashbased accounts with accrual-based financial statements, similar to those found in the private sector. This article examines the use of accrual-based accounting in the public sector and provides examples from the UK National Health Service of situations where the accruals system may be deemed inappropriate. It shows that one possible response is to withdraw from the accruals mode and revert to cash measures, deeming the accruals adjustments to be ‘merely technical’. An alternative response is to change the mode of operating so that the cash impact of a transaction matches its accruals reporting impact. The conclusion is that there are modifications to public sector accounting practices away from those of the private sector that undermine the metaphor of running the public sector ‘like a business’.     

Self/paid-employment, public/private sector selection, and wage differentials

We use Probit models to account for the double selection problem of choice between, on the one hand, self- and paid-employment and, on the other, employment in the public and private sector. These models provide corrections for sample selection in wage equations for paid employees in the public and private sectors. Using a modified version of the Oaxaca and Ransom [J. Econom. 61 (1994) 5] procedure, we decompose the wage gap between the public and private sectors into a portion attributable to differences in characteristics, the public sector advantage, the private sector disadvantage and unobserved selection effects. Rich data for the Republic of Cyprus, a thriving economy with institutional features reminiscent of a developing economy, help determine the choice of type (self/paid) and sector (public/private) of employment. The human capital model describes the wage determination process satisfactorily. The size and distribution of public sector rents between men and women are similar to those in North America and are bracketed by results for developing countries.     

The role of the informal sector in investment in Sub-Saharan Africa

For a long time economic researchers condemned the existence of a huge informal sector in economies, viewing it as a deterrent to investment, growth and development. This view is however being confronted with intense criticism particularly in developing countries where formal unemployment is rapidly growing and poverty widely spreading, which in turn is leading to an expanding informal sector. Thus alternative schools of thought that view the informal sector as a source of livelihood to the unemployed and poor have subsequently been developed. However, not much empirical work has been carried out to validate any of these theoretical claims, particularly in African economies. This paper attempts to fill this gap. The findings of the study indicate that there is a positive relationship between informal sector activities and investment. These results suggest a review of the standard thinking towards the role of the informal sector in development.     

Employee perceptions of performance appraisals: a comparative study on Indian banks

Performance appraisal is the most critical human resource practice and an indispensable part of every organization; however, the practice continues to generate dissatisfaction among employees and is often viewed as unfair and ineffective. Indian banking sector is one of the biggest and fastest growing financial service sectors. The post-liberalization era has witnessed significant changes in the structure and operations of banks operating in India. Arrival of new private and foreign banks has given a cause to public sector banks to be more competitive, effective and innovative in their approach. Past researches have compared public and private sector banks and have indicated that new private sector banks are outscoring public sector banks in terms of technical and economic efficiency parameters. However, no study could be found that compared public and private banks in India on fairness perceptions of performance appraisal system. Therefore, this research studied the differences between public and private sector banks with respect to perception of fairness of the performance appraisal system and performance appraisal satisfaction. Perception of fairness of the performance appraisal system has been studied through nine factors. The study used independent samples t-test and qualitative analysis to study the mean differences between the two banks. Results indicated that private sector bank employees perceive greater fairness and satisfaction with their performance appraisal system as compared to public sector bank employees.     

公共部门人力资源管理中的问题及对策

以政府为核心的公共部门,不仅可以为大众提供优质公共产品和公共服务,还对社会稳定和经济进步起到至关重要的作用。为了更好地推动国内经济社会的积极发展,必须使公共部门人员的自身价值得到最大程度的发挥。这就需要做好公共部门的人员资源管理,提高他们工作效率和服务质量。为了更好地促进国内社会公共部门人力资源管理发展,论文分析了公共部门人力资源管理中存在的问题,对如何改善提高公共部门人力资源管理提出相应解决方案。     

An applied stochastic model of the quality–quantity trade-off in the public health care sector

It is a striking feature of the many of the developing country public service sectors that the sectors in question often overproduce the quantity of services but underproduce the quality. This feature, which is exemplified in this paper, is rooted in a wide spectrum of economic and sociological factors ranging from the economic and sociological profile of the service receiving people to the asymmetric density of service-receiving population across their regions. This feature, we conjecture, is a source of a considerable degree of suboptimality in some of the developing countries. If our conjecture is correct, correcting such suboptimalities is likely to yield significant welfare improvements that could help speed up the process of development in the underdeveloped regions of the world. To analyze the supoopimalites in question, we will first develop a concept (and a model) of optimal quality in the public service sector, which indicates the level of quality that maximizes expected public satisfaction subject to available resources. Resources are used in an efficient manner to produce the service in question. The concept and the model in the paper make a needed contribution to the quality discourse by presenting a way of determining the quality improvements (or adjustments) necessary to achieve optimum in the public service sector. The paper presents an application (a case study) of this new concept in the public healthcare sector in Turkey, and explores the differences between the actual and optimal quality in the sector in question. It turns out that there is a considerable difference between the actual and optimal levels of quality (as well as those of quantity) in the Turkish public healthcare sector in an overpopulated city (Istanbul), indicating a significant overproduction of quantity and underproduction of quality. Thus, to achieve the optimal levels, the sector should increase quality and reduce quantity by a considerable margin. The quantified differences (gaps) between actual and optimal levels point out a considerable room for welfare improvement. Optimum-seeking adjustments closing these gaps could be shown to lead to considerable satisfaction and welfare gains, the measurement of which is worthy of future research.