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Article
Publication date: 1 February 2002

Business excellence in the public sector – a comparison of two sub‐groups with the “private” service sector

Vas B. Prabhu, Andrew Robson and Ed Mitchell

Over the past decade, the public sector in the UK has made great effort in adopting business excellence thinking. To what extent have such practices taken root and what…

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Abstract

Over the past decade, the public sector in the UK has made great effort in adopting business excellence thinking. To what extent have such practices taken root and what has been their impact? Presents some of the key results from a recent empirical study of 119 public sector organisations in North‐East England. They show considerable strengths in some of the related HR practices, leadership issues, service delivery and quality matters. Equally, many of them face major challenges in adopting appropriate performance measurement systems, in eliminating waste and reducing costs, and in being innovative in service design.

Details

The TQM Magazine, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/09544780210413228
ISSN: 0954-478X

Keywords

  • Public sector
  • Service
  • Education
  • Quality
  • England

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Article
Publication date: 21 September 2012

Shared services: lessons from private sector for public sector domain

Muhammad Mustafa Kamal

The purpose of this paper is primarily to analyse the implementation of shared services models in business enterprises or private sector and the benefits realised…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is primarily to analyse the implementation of shared services models in business enterprises or private sector and the benefits realised, thereafter; to a greater extent, focusing on the lessons learnt from such operations and exploring the potential of applying similar models in the public sector.

Design/methodology/approach

This research attempts to examine whether or not the concepts regarding shared service in the private sector are valid and applicable in the public sector.

Findings

Even though the shared services concept and related models are significantly prevalent across the business enterprises or private sector and government sector, the author argues that the shared services model developed in the private sector may further significantly facilitate governments and public agencies in dealing with the recent changes (i.e. due to global financial crisis) in their environments and to become more effective and efficient.

Originality/value

This paper brings together some of the key discussions from the business and private sector on shared services and discusses their applicability in the public sector context.

Details

Journal of Enterprise Information Management, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/17410391211265124
ISSN: 1741-0398

Keywords

  • Public administration
  • Public services
  • Shared services
  • Private sector organizations
  • Public sector
  • Benefits realization

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Article
Publication date: 7 April 2015

Service sector statistics in India: problems and way forward

Seema Joshi

It has been observed in various studies that the “servicization” of the structures of production and employment has taken place in India. However, a problem peculiar to…

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Abstract

Purpose

It has been observed in various studies that the “servicization” of the structures of production and employment has taken place in India. However, a problem peculiar to this sector or several types of services is that the output of some components of this sector is difficult to measure as well as to value it in monetary terms. The purpose of this paper is to identify the problems encountered in the measurement of service sector output.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper makes use of secondary sources of data including various reports, books and journals, etc. An attempt has been made in this paper to review those studies which deal with measurement problems in services sector output.

Findings

In the Indian context, it has been found that the data base on the service sector is highly disorganized. It has been recognized in studies that the limitation of the existing system is marred by the absence of a well-organized mechanism for maintaining a regular and proper database for this sector. A large number of the unorganized units are located in the service sector and the composition of units in the domain undergoes changes at a rapid pace because new units or newer service areas come into existence and others disappear with alarming frequency. Therefore, the need for “devising a proper classification of services” by identifying all new services and adopting a suitable methodology so as to maintain international comparability of data has been highlighted in various studies.

Originality/value

Although there are studies which try to point out measurability problems of services in developed European economies, however, studies related to service sector statistics problems in India are far less in number. This paper will therefore mainly focus on the service sector statistics problems in India and point out the way forward.

Details

World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, vol. 12 no. 2
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/WJSTSD-03-2015-0014
ISSN: 2042-5945

Keywords

  • Quantification
  • Service sector statistics

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Article
Publication date: 5 October 2010

Balancing values and economic efficiency in the public sector!: What can public welfare service institutions learn from private service firms?

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…

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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.

Details

Society and Business Review, vol. 5 no. 3
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/17465681011079518
ISSN: 1746-5680

Keywords

  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Public sector organizations
  • Private sector organizations
  • Social welfare organizations
  • Resource efficiency
  • Business ethics

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Article
Publication date: 26 October 2020

Service innovation or collaborative tradition? Public motives for partnerships with third sector organisations

Caroline Hellström

The purpose of this paper is to investigate public partners’ motives for seeking and/or accepting partnerships with third sector organisations.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate public partners’ motives for seeking and/or accepting partnerships with third sector organisations.

Design/methodology/approach

The approach is to seek to identify and explain motives from different perspectives; as responses to government failure or voluntary failure, as related to governance structures, and/or as driven by resource dependencies. The empirical material was gathered through semi-structured interviews with public employees in Swedish municipalities. The aim of the interviews was to grasp the public partners’ motives for partnerships with third sector organisations. Each interview started with questions on the presence and forms of partnerships, thus creating a backdrop for the motives, both during the interview and as a map of the partnership landscape.

Findings

The most prominent motives for public engagement in partnerships with third sector organisations are related to democratic values, the need to solve concrete problems, and economic rationality. The motives vary with the type of partnership of which there is considerable variation in scale, content and contribution; the types of partnership vary with different policy fields and services. Different perspectives highlight different motives but none of them excludes other perspectives.

Originality/value

The main contribution of the paper is the empirically based findings of a multi-layered public–third sector partnership landscape where policy fields, forms and complex motives are intertwined.

Details

Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/JAOC-09-2020-0133
ISSN: 1832-5912

Keywords

  • Resource dependence
  • Public governance
  • Partnership motives
  • Voluntary failure
  • Public–third sector partnerships

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Book part
Publication date: 26 September 2011

Chapter 10 Exploring the Determinants of Employment in Europe: The Role of Services

Roberta Serafini and Melanie Ward

Over recent decades both Europe and the United States have experienced an increase in the share of service-related jobs in total employment. Although narrowing in all…

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Abstract

Over recent decades both Europe and the United States have experienced an increase in the share of service-related jobs in total employment. Although narrowing in all European countries, a significant gap in the share of service jobs relative to the United States still persists. The aim of the chapter is to identify the main drivers of the service sector employment share in the EU-15 as well as its gap relative to the United States. The analysis is carried out for the aggregate service sector, 4 sub-sectors and 12 service sector branches over the period 1970–2003. We find some evidence to support the hypothesis that a number of labour market regulations – such as union density and the degree of centralisation of wage bargaining – together with the mismatch between workers' skills and job vacancies, have affected Europe's ability to adjust efficiently to the reallocation of labour from manufacturing into services. Furthermore, we find significant heterogeneity in the relative weight of the various determinants of the employment share across sub-sectors and branches.

Details

Research in Labor Economics
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0147-9121(2011)0000033013
ISBN: 978-1-78052-333-0

Keywords

  • Services
  • sectoral adjustment
  • service sector
  • employment share
  • Europe
  • the United States
  • institutions in the labour and product market
  • heterogeneity

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Book part
Publication date: 18 January 2013

New State-Level Estimates of Personal Income in the United States, 1880–1910

Alexander Klein

This paper presents estimates of total personal income for every U.S state in 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910. The series includes new figures for 1890 and 1910, and revisions…

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Abstract

This paper presents estimates of total personal income for every U.S state in 1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910. The series includes new figures for 1890 and 1910, and revisions of Richard Easterlin's (1960) figures for 1880 and 1900 based on recent economic history research. The new estimates allow better examination of U.S. interregional income differences and cyclical behavior of U.S. states’ total personal income.

Details

Research in Economic History
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/S0363-3268(2013)0000029008
ISBN: 978-1-78190-557-9

Keywords

  • State national income
  • regional GDP
  • U.S. pre-1913
  • U.S. regional development

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Book part
Publication date: 15 December 2016

Developing the ICT Industry

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Abstract

Details

Mastering Digital Transformation
Type: Book
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78560-465-220151027
ISBN: 978-1-78560-465-2

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Article
Publication date: 9 November 2015

Service quality and customers’ behavioural intentions: Class and mass banking and implications for the consumer and society

Koushiki Choudhury

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the different dimensions of service quality influence customers’ behavioural intentions in the private and public sector banks…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how the different dimensions of service quality influence customers’ behavioural intentions in the private and public sector banks, that is, in class and mass banking, respectively, and the implications for the service provider, consumer, society and consumer policy.

Design/methodology/approach

A contextually modified SERVQUAL instrument was used to capture customers’ perceptions of service quality followed by exploratory factor analysis to study the dimensionality of service quality in retail banking. Multiple regression was used to probe the influence of the dimensions of service quality on customers’ behavioural intentions.

Findings

The study revealed four dimensions of service quality in retail banking, namely, customer-orientedness, reliability, tangibles and convenience and showed that the service quality factor customer-orientedness comprising of the responsiveness and attitude of employees is most important in influencing customers’ behavioural intentions in the case of private sector banks and reliability of the service is most influential in the case of public sector banks.

Research limitations/implications

Future research can focus on “service excellence” being extended beyond assessment of the quality of services, towards evaluation of the quality of life outcomes, to which public organizations contribute, appraisal of the quality of public governance processes and quality of performance in meeting social objectives.

Practical implications

Retail bank managers must realize the importance of employees providing competent, reliable service in the case of public sector banks and their responsiveness and behaviour towards customers in the case of private sector banks, as the keys to foster a culture of service excellence.

Social implications

High-quality financial consumer policy must not only be able to increase customer satisfaction with financial services but also build security and trust in public administration through transparent processes and accountability. In this context, with public agencies being regarded as service providers and citizens as customers, the concept of quality must also visualize public agencies as catalysts of a responsible and active civic society.

Originality/value

This study explores the relationship between service quality and customers’ behavioural intentions in the private and public sector banks by linking both constructs at their dimensional level. It highlights major implications for the service provider, society, consumer and public policy based on the different needs, characteristics and requirements of customers of class and mass banking, that is, private and public sector banks.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 27 no. 5
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-02-2015-0025
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

  • Society
  • Service quality
  • Behavioural intentions
  • Public sector banks
  • Private sector banks
  • Consumer and policy implications

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Article
Publication date: 9 March 2012

Performance management challenges in hybrid NPO/public sector settings: an Irish case

Frank J. Conaty

This paper explores the characteristics and organisational attributes of hybrid non‐profit organisation (NPO)/public sector settings to identify the particular challenges…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores the characteristics and organisational attributes of hybrid non‐profit organisation (NPO)/public sector settings to identify the particular challenges presented for performance management and to further explore the extent to which such characteristics and attributes might impinge on a move to “performance governance” as a performance framework ideal type.

Design/methodology/approach

A preliminary case study of an Irish NPO/public sector hybrid organisation was used to ground a review of NPO and public sector performance management concepts and theoretical developments. The review focused on the implications of organisational characteristics/attributes of the hybrid case study organisation for performance management.

Findings

Five organisational characteristics/attributes are identified as central to the understanding of the challenges for performance management in such settings: inter‐stakeholder relationships; tensions across priority objectives; culture and institutional clashes; power distribution; and interdependent stress. Further, it is suggested that while the adoption of collaborative public sector models suggests a move toward performance governance, the performance challenges identified in the hybrid setting give rise to particular barriers to any substantive movement in that direction.

Originality/value

Performance of NPO/public sector hybrid organisations has only relatively recently attracted the attention of researchers. The paper contributes to this emerging area by identifying certain organisational characteristics/attributes particular to such hybrids that are critical to understanding the challenges for performance management in such settings.

Details

International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, vol. 61 no. 3
Type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/17410401211205650
ISSN: 1741-0401

Keywords

  • Performance governance
  • Performance Management
  • Public sector organizations
  • Non‐profit organizations
  • Hybrid organizations
  • Disability services
  • Ireland

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