Strategic Planning and Implementation Success in Public Service Organizations: Evidence from Canada

In this article, we examine the role that formal strategic planning plays in determining the success of strategy implementation in a set of more than 150 public service organizations from Canada. We also analyse the mediating effects of managerial involvement in strategic planning and the moderating effects of stakeholder uncertainty on the planning-implementation relationship. A structured online questionnaire was used to collect the data. Our findings suggest that formal strategic planning has a strong positive relationship with implementation, which, though mediated by managerial involvement, becomes even more salient in the face of stakeholder uncertainty. Several implications of these findings are discussed.     

Towards redressing historical inequities?

Abstract

This article examines women's positions at senior management levels of South Africa's civil service given its affirmative action policy that attempts to tackle women's historical marginalization in public sector organizations. It examines ‘women's empowerment', gender and race inside the public service within the context of South Africa's historical inequities within the civil service, and the post-apartheid government's attempts to correct these. It concludes that women's positions inside the civil service have improved gradually since the demise of apartheid, an initial step towards substantive equality with their male counterparts, but recognizes that much still needs to be done if women are to be represented proportionately in senior civil service positions. It argues that this might help to improve the implementation of gender sensitive programs at various policy levels. Information for this article was gathered from various sources including interviews with civil servants in selected national and provincial departments.     

政府组织创新及其对非政府组织的启示

非政府组织作为社会管理的重要组成部分,但受资助力度低、对政府的过厦依赖、缺乏公信力以及规模财政等问题制约了其健康发展.非政府组织所面临的问题,可以通过政府组织改革创新途径的启示予以解决.从政府组织创新的动因,政府组织创新的模式以及政府组织创新的趋势三个方面出发,提出了非政府组织解决相应问题的借鉴方式,可能对非政府组织自身结构、社会影响以及其可持续发展等三个方面带来积极的成效.     

基于全过程视角的财政支出项目绩效评价研究

基于国际金融组织全过程绩效评价理念,分析了当前国内财政支出项目绩效评价实践,基于国际金融组织全过程绩效评价理念,提出推进财政支出项目全过程绩效管理的基本策略,以进一步完善财政支出项目全过程动态绩效评价体系。     

Rethinking the policy of contracting out Social Services to non-governmental organizations

The article describes, analyzes and evaluates the lessons and dilemmas resulting from the Government's policy of contracting out with non-governmental organizations for the provision of three types of services: foster care, adoption and home care services for the elderly. The dilemmas are: structural tension between governmental control and autonomy of provider organizations; power?–?dependence relations between the Government and the providers, the choice option available to clients; the ethical, moral and professional aspects of contractualism; the myth of innovative programs initiated by provider organizations; service quality versus price of services; and accountability of provider organizations to their stakeholders. Based on the lessons learned, the article highlights the need to rethink the strategy of contracting out and reassess the role of the Government in providing social services.     

论建立乡镇政府审计机关的必要性——基于审计需求和审计主体的理论框架

以资源为基础的委托代理关系、激励不相容、信息不对称、环境不确定性,这些是主要的审计需求因素,独立性和审计成本是影响委托人构建或选择审计主体的主要因素。根据上述理论框架分析,乡镇政府各行政部门、乡镇直属事业单位、村居集体经济组织、乡镇集体经济企业、村居委员会这些组织对乡镇政府审计机关作为优先审计主体有着稳定和相当规模的需求,从独立性和成本效益原则两个视角,为了满足乡镇审计需求,组建乡镇政府审计机关是完全必要的。     

A risk perspective supporting organizational efforts for achieving high reliability

Many industries and organizations are actively searching for approaches that can help them enhance the reliability of their operations and avoid mishaps. The concept of high reliability organizations (HROs) has been given considerable attention in this regard. HRO theorists have emphasized the process of mindfulness as a characteristic that allows for better interaction with risk and uncertainty, in order to minimize the potential for failures. From a risk management perspective however, it is not straightforward how to best proceed to obtain a mindful infrastructure which enables such capabilities. Various perspectives on risk and uncertainties exist, which call for different approaches and solutions. A key question studied in this paper is to what extent are traditional risk perspectives based on probability and historical data limited in their ability to support an HRO mindset for managing risk. The main purpose of the paper is to draw attention to an alternative risk perspective that replaces probability with uncertainty in the definition of risk, and to show how such a risk perspective can better support the implementation of HRO theory than the more traditional perspectives. We discuss the implications of such a shift in thinking – from focusing on probabilities to the broader domain of uncertainties regarding risk – for organizations that are seeking to improve their risk management capabilities and enhance the reliability of their operations.     

法团主义视野下政府与非政府组织的互动关系研究——以社会福利服务领域中的个案研究为例

法团主义,是研究国家与社会关系的一种西方理论模式,于20世纪90年代在对多元主义质疑中出现。本文以法团主义理论为基础,以依赖、回馈等概念为分析工具,运用个案研究方法对社会福利服务领域中非政府组织与政府的互动关系进行比较深入研究,发现个案与政府所形成的合作关系,建立在非政府组织依赖、回馈政府,政府支持、控制非政府组织的基础之上,并具有人治化色彩。从实证分析入手,提出二者关系由人治化向制度化发展是必要的。     

中国公民社会：一种再审视

中国公民社会不仅具有相对独立性、自治性和非营利性等,而且由于形成与发展特殊环境,折射出不同于一般公民社会的双重品性,从发生学视角进行审视,其双重品性主要彰显为:产生过程的自发性与自觉性并存;发育动因的内生性与外引性并存;未来趋势的光明性与曲折性并存。中国公民社会在调节经济运行、规制政府权力、重建社会资本、联结"私域"与"公域"等方面蕴藏着巨大的潜能并扮演着十分重要的角色。     

Industrial relations in South-Eastern Europe: disaggregating the contexts

This study critically evaluates industrial relations (IR) in South-Eastern Europe and points towards future practical and research-oriented opportunities in the region. A survey of organizational policies and practices has been used to explore the state of IR in both private and public organizations in this region. Specifically, the data, collected in 2009–2010 (including the latest changes due to the economic crisis), cover 840 different organizations located in Slovenia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece and Cyprus. We discuss the development of ‘regional-specific’ IR policies, the ‘importing’ of varieties of capitalism models, the diffusion of the European Union social model and the role of foreign MNCs in changing IR in the region.