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Article
Publication date: 16 November 2012

John Tizard

Public services will face major challenges over the next decade; severe financial pressures and cuts; growing demand; raising public and user expectations; decentralisation and…

2583

Abstract

Purpose

Public services will face major challenges over the next decade; severe financial pressures and cuts; growing demand; raising public and user expectations; decentralisation and community empowerment; opportunities to deploy new technology; and global competition. This will result in a changing relationship between citizen and services users with the state and service providers. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the challenges and opportunities in contemporary public sector leadership which face executive leaders.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper considers what public service leaders will need to do; how they will need to behave; and the competencies and styles of leadership that will be required. It is a commentary and thought piece based on the author's wide experience, conversations with leaders from all sectors in the UK and his advisory and research projects.

Findings

There will be a paradigm shift in the relationship between the business, public, social and third sectors and this will require more effective collaboration between the sectors. The result of these far‐reaching changes is the need for a strong, outcome focused and collaborative leadership across all sectors, and specifically in the public sector. Leadership will be critical.

Originality/value

This article provides challenge and advice for leaders in the public sector and in the business, social and third sectors who work with the public sector and are responsible for public service delivery. It should enable leaders and potential leaders to consider how they can develop and practise collaborative leadership personally and within their organisations.

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2001

Sandford Borins

The public sector has traditionally been considered inhospitable to innovation, particularly innovations initiated by middle managers and front‐line staff. Unlike the private…

10290

Abstract

The public sector has traditionally been considered inhospitable to innovation, particularly innovations initiated by middle managers and front‐line staff. Unlike the private sector, the public sector is characterized by asymmetric incentives that punish unsuccessful innovations much more severely than they reward successful ones, by the absence of venture capital to seed creative problem solving, and by adverse selection by innovative individuals against public service careers. A growing body of evidence based on applications to innovation awards reveals that, despite this inhospitable environment, frontline public servants and middle managers are responsible for many innovations. In addition, some public sector organizations have consistently produced a large number of innovations. Draws on this evidence to suggest ways of enhancing public sector organizations’ capacity for innovation.

Details

Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1469-1930

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 February 1982

P.B. Beaumont

A recent OECD report on labour disputes noted that there has been a considerable increase in strike activity in the public sector of a number of member countries in recent times…

Abstract

A recent OECD report on labour disputes noted that there has been a considerable increase in strike activity in the public sector of a number of member countries in recent times. Moreover, it was noted that strikes have started to occur in the traditionally “quiet” parts of the public sector in various countries. There is little need to stress this point in the last few years as the strikes that are attracting attention throughout the world are virtually all in the public sector; witness, for example, the air traffic controllers' dispute in the United States, the campaign of selective industrial action by civil servants in Britain and the postal and telecommunications disputes in Australia in mid‐1981.

Details

Employee Relations, vol. 4 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0142-5455

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2015

Kwabena Frimpong

This article aims to focus on the impact of the current austerity measures on UK public sector anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resource capacity building initiative…

1134

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to focus on the impact of the current austerity measures on UK public sector anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resource capacity building initiative developed over the years to tackle fraud against the public purse.

Design/methodology/approach

The article draws on secondary sources of data and available literature on fraud and financial crime.

Findings

Fraud is a challenge in the UK public sector but the cut-back on anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resources, given the scale of public sector fraud, the growing emphasis on accountability and the time of austerity with public money more exposed to fraud is arguably a back-door/u-turn policy on zero-tolerance approach in tackling public sector fraud and financial crime. There is the potential of this encouraging more fraud and financial crime against the public sector in the long term if measures are not taken to devise strategies for enhancing anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resource capacity.

Research limitations/implications

The research implication for this article is that it opens an avenue for future studies to examine post austerity strategies for strengthening public sector anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resource strategies to deal with emerging fraud threats to UK public sector.

Practical implications

This article acts as a reference guide for policymakers to reflect on the long-term adverse impact of the austerity on anti-fraud and financial crime investigative resource capacity and capability in tackling fraud public sector fraud.

Originality/value

The paper attempts to present an alternative lens to examining the scale of UK public sector fraud problem rather than relying on headline story of declining fraud in UK.

Details

Journal of Financial Crime, vol. 22 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-0790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 September 2010

Kirsten M. Rosacker and Robert E. Rosacker

The project management literature contains a growing body of research addressing information technology (IT). Currently, the majority of these studies direct attention towards…

5243

Abstract

Purpose

The project management literature contains a growing body of research addressing information technology (IT). Currently, the majority of these studies direct attention towards projects completed within private sector organizations. Given the unique characteristics surrounding public sector organizations, this paper aims to argue that it is inappropriate to apply the lessons learned from private sector organizations in the public arena without investigating their applicability empirically.

Design/methodology/approach

A review of the historical evolution of IT usage within public sector organizations is offered. The broad body of project management knowledge is discussed, and the unique characteristics of public sector organizations are detailed. These three concepts combine to provide a conceptual framework for reviewing empirical research published in Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy.

Findings

It is concluded that the additional empirical research is needed to further our understanding of the applicability of project management principles, developed and applied in private sector organizations, to the unique organizational format presented by public sector operations.

Originality/value

As the use of, and dependence on, IT within all organizations continues to expand throughout the world, it becomes critically important for managers to understand “best business practices” so that these successful managerial techniques can be applied appropriately to enhance and refine operational practices. Importantly, problems associated with the successful management of information technology projects have been and continue to be significant concerns, thus highlighting the need for better knowledge development and transfer that can be provided by well designed and completed research.

Details

Journal of Enterprise Information Management, vol. 23 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-0398

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 September 2021

The authors assumed PSM would be higher in the public sector, but they set up a trial to find out if this was the case.

157

Abstract

Purpose

The authors assumed PSM would be higher in the public sector, but they set up a trial to find out if this was the case.

Design/methodology/approach

To test their theories, the authors conducted two independent surveys. The first consisted of 220 usable responses from public sector employees in Changsha, China. The second survey involved 260 usable responses from private sector employees taking an MBA course at a university in the Changsha district. A questionnaire was used to assess attitudes.

Findings

The results found no significant difference between the impact of public sector motivation (PSM) on employee performance across the public and private sectors. The data showed that PSM had a significant impact on self-reported employee performance, but the relationship did not differ much between sectors. Meanwhile, it was in the private sector that PSM had the greatest impact on intention to leave.

Originality/value

The authors said the research project was one of the first to test if the concept of PSM operated in the same way across sectors. It also contributed, they said, to the ongoing debate about PSM in China.

Details

Human Resource Management International Digest , vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0967-0734

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 October 2010

John Storm Pedersen and Jacob Dahl Rendtorff

The paper discusses the balance between values and economic efficiency in the public sector in comparison with the private sector. The argument is that the public sector, hence…

1771

Abstract

Purpose

The paper discusses the balance between values and economic efficiency in the public sector in comparison with the private sector. The argument is that the public sector, hence the public welfare service institutions, can learn much from the private service sector, hence the private service firms with regard to the relation to values, ethics, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and efficiency in order to improve the balance between values and efficiency in the public sector.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper discusses the concept of balance in relation to the development of the management of private service companies as a useful alternative to new public management (NPM). It discusses this with regard to three issues: the evolution of the management of private companies; what can the public sector, hence the public welfare institutions, learn from the evolution of management of private companies? How would it be possible for governments to work for an alternative to NPM, on the basis of the experiences of management of private companies, improving the balance between values and economic efficiency in the public sector?

Findings

It is argued that a deadlock in the development of efficiency management in the public sector, hence in the public welfare service institutions, is created. It is argued, furthermore, that this deadlock to a great extent, paradoxically, is created because of the focusing on NPM for almost two decades as the most important tool to develop efficiency management in the public sector. Finally, it is argued that the experiences in private companies regarding how to find a proper balance between values, ethics, CSR and economic efficiency can be very helpful in developing a strategy within the public sector to unlock the deadlock regarding the development of efficiency management. That is why the experiences of management of the private services companies can become a constructive alternative to the experiences of NPM in the public sector at the level of welfare institutions.

Research limitations/implications

There would be potential for more research on CSR, business ethics and values‐driven management in relation to the public sector.

Originality/value

The paper offers new insight into the relation between values, CSR and management models in the private and in the public sector.

Article
Publication date: 31 December 2009

Roger Gill

Recent criticism of the UK's public sector has rekindled the debate about public service leadership in comparison with the private sector, particularly in the context of the…

Abstract

Recent criticism of the UK's public sector has rekindled the debate about public service leadership in comparison with the private sector, particularly in the context of the financial austerity we face for years ahead. This article first reviews recent research on leadership and compares the public and private sectors, finding both commonalities and differences. The article then considers the kind of leadership required of public service leaders in the present economic climate and to handle crises and emergencies. The place of individual leadership and collective leadership and consensus is discussed, with a suggestion that charismatic individual leadership may play a more important role in the public sector than it typically has done in less turbulent times in the past. The public sector is becoming more like the private sector in this respect. The article ends with key implications of the analysis for leadership in practice.

Details

International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, vol. 5 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9886

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2006

Deepak K. Srivastava, Hardik Shah and Mohammad Talha

The establishment of a public sector enterprise in India is based on socialist philosophy, and socialist philosophy believes in the role of government as an agent for change and…

Abstract

The establishment of a public sector enterprise in India is based on socialist philosophy, and socialist philosophy believes in the role of government as an agent for change and entrepreneurial function. A more practical definition of public enterprise is given by Friedmann, (1954) a well‐known jurist. He termed public enterprise as an institution operating a service of an economic or social character on behalf of the government but as an independent legal entity, largely autonomous in its management, though responsible to the public through government and parliament and subject to some direction by the government, equipped on the other hand with independent and separate fund of its own and the legal and commercial attributes of a commercial enterprise.

Details

Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, vol. 16 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1059-5422

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2019

Sasidhar Reddy Bhimavarapu, Seong-Young Kim and Jie Xiong

Many public sector organizations have shown a consistent lack of capability to execute their strategic plans compared with private sector organizations. This failure explains why…

1178

Abstract

Purpose

Many public sector organizations have shown a consistent lack of capability to execute their strategic plans compared with private sector organizations. This failure explains why most public sector organizations are grappling with the dynamics of the twenty-first century in service delivery. Further, the strategy execution gap is vast in the public sector organizations than in the private sector organizations. The purpose of this paper is built based on the curiosity to develop a conceptual model that can close the strategy execution gap in public sector organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The research adopted a qualitative research design, particularly, a case study research design approach as an ideal tool to conduct a holistic and in-depth survey of the trends in strategy execution in the public sector.

Findings

From the findings of the study, it has been found that five out of the nine strategy execution components that were investigated showed higher scores. These strategy execution components perceived to be vital by this study and were integrated into the MERIL-DE model, which will significantly contribute to closing the strategy execution gap in the public sector.

Originality/value

This research was built based on the curiosity to develop a conceptual model, the MERIL-DE model that can close the strategy execution gap in public sector organizations.

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