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This chapter aims to contribute to the literature on sustainability in the public sector by discussing how human resource and human resource management can help to integrate environmental management into organizations and improve environmental performance. Public sector scholars have neglected the study of Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) until now. Nevertheless, implementing such practices could lead to positive outcomes regarding awareness of environmental issues, organizational reputation and attractiveness, job satisfaction and organizational performance. The authors discuss the relevance and the necessity of developing a field of research on GHRM in public organizations. Starting from a conceptual review of the main literature on GHRM, this chapter provided some directions for future research.

Although prior researchers have consistently established a significant relationship between different strategic stances and organizational performances across different research contexts, the mechanisms underlying this link remain unclear. This study attempts to fill this gap in the literature by testing the mediating effect of the use of strategic performance measurement systems (SPMS) on the relationship between strategic stances (prospector, defender, and reactor) and organizational performance in the public sector.

This research is based on data collected by surveying 224 managers at public organizations in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and conducts an analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM).

The study findings show that prospector strategy is positively associated with organizational performance through the use of SPMS. The reactor strategy was negatively related to organizational performance through the use of SPMS. The defender strategy shows mixed results in terms of its effect on the use of SPMS and organizational performance.

The results obtained here provide strong evidence of the vitality of the use of SPMS for efficiency and effectiveness as a mediator between prospector strategy and organizational performance. To extend this position, future researchers could incorporate other contingent variables, such as structural autonomy, or use experimental design methods during economic austerity in the aftermath of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) global pandemic.

This study represents an attempt to address public administration literature' general calls for grounded research that spells out to practitioners how different strategic stances are likely to affect the use of SPMS to achieve organizational performance levels in the public sector. The present study extends the public administration literature by examining the unexplored linkage of the use of SPMS through which strategic stances influence organizational performance in major public sector organizations.

Scholars have pointed out the need for improvement and refinement in public management research, also depending on the role of public administration for sustainable development. Because government organizations employ a substantial portion of the workforce, management practices in the public sector are critical areas for designing, implementing and delivering policies that can achieve the goals set forth in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. For these purposes, and in implementation of the Next Generation EU (NGEU) programme, Italy recently launched an ambitious National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) which includes, among other things, upskilling goals for staff employed, following the modernization process that has involved the Italian public sector in the last decades, with the Decree n. 150/2009. Aiming both to understand the extent of the application of the reform and to answer some basic questions (why, what and how) concerning Individual Performance Appraisal Systems (IPAS), we conducted a content analysis on the 220 documents already produced by the Italian Ministries. The study has been conducted in two different steps of the reform process and provides solid evidence of the reforms' effects on designing and implementing individual performance systems. The analyzed documents reveal no longer-term vision in implementing the IPAS that involves some critical performance management utilities such as training, development, fair pay and deployment of employees, raising new questions about a sustainable approach to the individual performance management process even in public organizations.

This chapter contributes to the Public Value (PV) literature in relation to accounting by providing evidence on its content's operationalization through performance measurement. In particular, it establishes the link with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which may work as guiding principles of a public organization’s action. Accordingly, organizations embedding SDGs include them in their strategic decisions and disclose them through performance measurement and narratives.

The SDGs' presence is explored in the PV of a sample of Italian health institutes through documentary analysis of their performance plans. The aim is to verify if and how SDGs are pursued and whether the COVID-19 pandemic has affected PV content.

Besides Goal No. 3 (Health), the PV content of the investigated institutes contains various SDGs. Before the pandemic, their PV was aligned with SDGs mainly related to prosperity, economic growth and social inclusion. In the following period, the number of SDGs increased, introducing planet and environmental protection dimensions. No one explicitly mentions pursuing SDGs, revealing a non-institutionalized sensitivity of managers towards SDGs. The analysis distinguishes between ‘core’ SDGs, revealed mostly by traditional performance measures disclosing the achievement of institutes' mission, and ‘complementary’ SDGs, expressed mostly through narratives. This can derive from performance measurement, which employs the language of performativity, while the contribution to society is relegated in the narratives, making them less incisive.

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationships between Lean adoption and organizational performance in a specific Greek public services subsector, namely, citizen’s service centers (CSCs).

An online structured questionnaire survey was distributed to all the Greek CSCs, and 672 employees responded and fully completed the questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were applied to assess the measurement model’s reliability and validity. The relationships between the latent constructs were examined through structural equation modeling.

The study revealed that Greek CSCs adopt at a medium to high extent the following principles: understanding customer needs, establishment of value streams, creating flows within the value streams and value perfection. The data also revealed a valid latent factor reflecting the Lean application, namely, “Lean adoption,” which, according to the findings, contributes to the organizational performance of Greek CSCs.

The small percentage of the responding employees of the Greek CSCs, given their large population and the subjective nature of the data collected, constitute the main limitations of the present study.

The findings of this research will serve as a reference source for managers and decision-makers of CSCs in order for them to set the foundations for successfully adopting the Lean principles and therefore improve their organizational performance in terms of operational performance and satisfaction with employees and citizens.

Building on the public sector literature, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that evaluates the adoption of Lean principles in the Greek CSCs and defines the relationships between Lean adoption and organizational performance.

This study investigates the effects of top management commitment (TMC) and Kaizen on quality management practices (QMP) and how the latter influence the performance of Jordanian public hospitals in the aftermath of COVID-19.

A survey-based questionnaire was employed to collect data from 222 practitioners and professionals working in public hospitals in Jordan. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was undertaken to analyze data.

Significant and positive effects of TMC and Kaizen (continuous improvement) on QMP are highlighted by the results. The findings also show that QMP has a positive and significant impact on public hospitals' performance. Furthermore, the effects of TMC and Kaizen on performance were also found to be significant.

Practitioners and researchers will gain a greater understanding of how implementing QMP can enhance the performance of public hospitals in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. The results underline the important role of Kaizen and TMC in the success of QMP and their effect on performance. This research is a cross-sectional study, and there is a need to conduct further empirical investigation based on secondary data or objective measurement of performance.

This research is one of the first studies to investigate the effects of QMP on public hospitals' performance following the COVID-19 outbreak. This study is one of the empirical examinations of QMP and Kaizen in developing countries by investigating Jordanian public hospitals.

The paper aims to explore the intergenerational maps project that set out to map the Brimbank and Moonee Valley residents' awareness of their favourite aspects of their local community. In reflecting on the way this project enabled local knowledge exchanges between different age groups, the paper examines the way intergenerational interactions become pedagogical and make public and public pedagogy visible.

This research paper employs the theoretical and methodological framework of performance (Charman and Dixon, 2021) to read the author's experience with the intergenerational maps project. Insights gained from performance framework are shared to illuminate the complexity of public pedagogy and its entanglement with place, public and knowledge.

The critical reflection on the author's encounter with a pedagogical event points to the importance of using a new theorisation of public pedagogy (Charman and Dixon, 2021) as a useful generative method to guide the reading, learning and research within the fields of public pedagogy and intergenerational relations.

The practical implications of this paper centres on its deployment of a new theorisation of public pedagogy as a useful framework for studying intergenerational interactions. This places these intergenerational interactional dynamics in the field of public pedagogy and can be practically applied to further develop desirable public pedagogical practices within the arena of public pedagogy.

The paper offers a subjective interpretation of the author's experience with an intergenerational interaction project and presents an application of a theoretical framework to read events as pedagogical performances that brings insights into the pedagogical potential of these public performances.

Governments worldwide have used administrative reforms to align public organizations with the needs of their key stakeholders. However, despite successfully implementing them, they do not consistently achieve the desired organizational performance. This paper aims to explore the relationship between the implementation of administrative reforms and the performance of public organizations from a comprehensive perspective. For this purpose, the authors analyze the mediation role of three crucial dynamic capabilities.

This research used a survey-based methodology. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data obtained from a sample of public officials and managers working in public organizations in the State of Ceará (Brazil).

The results of this study suggest that dynamic capabilities can have a decisive role in implementing government policy proposals and helping public organizations align their outcomes with stakeholders' needs. In addition, they indicate the existence of two levels of capabilities and identify a road map for their implementation.

From a practical point of view, by identifying these capabilities and their interrelationship, this study provides a roadmap to reduce the complexity of their use and help managers of public organizations deliver desired outcomes relating to the quality of individual and collective stakeholders.

This study makes important contributions to the literature, enabling scholars and practitioners to see the result of government policy proposals beyond the efficient use of public resources. It shows the role of dynamic capabilities as mediation instruments for changing public organizations, which can be used in administrative reform implementations and continuous improvement processes. Finally, it provides empirical research on the interaction between the three dynamic capabilities in the context of public organizations, differentiating these capabilities into two levels, which provides a road map for their implementation and development by public managers.

Os governos de todo o mundo têm usado reformas administrativas para alinhar as organizações públicas com as necessidades de seus principais interessados. Entretanto, apesar da implementação bem-sucedida, elas não atingem consistentemente o desempenho organizacional desejado. Este estudo tem como objetivo analisar a relação entre a implementação de reformas administrativas e o desempenho das organizações públicas, visto de uma perspectiva abrangente. Para este propósito, analisamos o papel de mediação de três capacidades organizacionais cruciais.

Este estudo utiliza uma metodologia baseada em questionários. Foi utilizada modelagem de equação estruturais para analisar os dados obtidos de uma amostra de funcionários públicos e gerentes que trabalham em organizações públicas no Estado do Ceará (Brasil).

Os resultados deste estudo sugerem que as capacidades dinâmicas podem ter um papel decisivo na implementação de propostas de políticas governamentais e ajudar as organizações públicas a alinhar seus resultados com as necessidades das partes interessadas. Além disso, eles indicam a existência de dois níveis de capacidades e identificam um roteiro para sua implementação.

Do ponto de vista prático, ao identificar essas capacidades e suas inter-relações, este estudo fornece um roteiro para reduzir a complexidade de seu uso e ajudar os gerentes de organizações públicas a obter os resultados desejados em relação à qualidade das partes interessadas individuais e coletivas.

Esta estudo faz contribuições importantes à literatura, permitindo que académicos e profissionais vejam o resultado de propostas de políticas governamentais além do uso eficiente de recursos públicos. Ele mostra o papel das capacidades dinâmicas como instrumentos de mediação para mudar as organizações públicas, que podem ser utilizadas em implementações de reformas administrativas e processos de melhoria contínua. Finalmente, fornece resultados empíricos sobre a interação entre as três capacidades dinâmicas no contexto das organizações públicas, diferenciando essas capacidades em dois níveis, o que fornece um roteiro para sua implementação e desenvolvimento pelos gestores públicos.

The aim of this study is to empirically explore and analyze the concrete tasks of output measurement and the inherent challenges related to these tasks in a traditional and autonomous professional public work setting – the judicial system.

The analysis of the tasks is based on a categorization of general performance measurement motives (control-motivate-learn) and main stakeholder levels (society-organization-professionals). The analysis is exploratory and conducted as an empirical content analysis on materials and reports produced in two performance improvement projects conducted in European justice organizations.

The identified main tasks in the different categories are related to managing resources, controlling performance deviations, and encouraging improvement and development of performance. Based on the results, key improvement areas connected to output measurement in professional public organizations are connected to the improvement of objectivity and fairness in budgeting and work allocation practices, improvement of output measures' versatility and informativeness to highlight motivational and learning purposes, improvement of professional self-management in setting output targets and producing outputs, as well as improvement of organizational learning from the output measurement.

The paper presents empirically founded practical examples of challenges and improvement opportunities related to the tasks of output measurement in professional public organization.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study how general performance management motives realize as concrete tasks of output measurement in justice organizations.

This study investigates the factors that influence citizens trust in public leaders [i.e. presidents, members of parliament (MPs) and local government leaders (LGs)] in 34 countries in Africa between 2019 and 2021.

Individual-level data with a sample size of 48,084 was obtained from the Afro-Barometer round 8 survey only and analyzed using multivariate binary logistic regression.

Several important and intriguing observations were made from this analysis: (1) the performance of public leaders influences citizens trust in their leaders; (2) the perceived corruption of public leaders and civil servants and the level of corruption influence citizens trust in public leaders; (3) perceived neighborhood problems (i.e. fear of violence, fear of terrorism and service delivery) influence citizens trust in their public leaders and (4) the socio-demographic characteristics of citizens (i.e. age, religion, education, location, employment and political party affiliation) influence citizens trust in their public leaders.

This study is exceptional in two ways: (1) it examines and compares citizens trust in public leaders across different levels, i.e. presidents, MPs and LGs in Africa and (2) it examines and compares the factors influencing citizens trust in public leaders in Africa comparatively.