Archives for July 2000

PUBLIC SECTOR TRAILING IN COMMITMENT TO E-BUSINESS

Headlines, PublicNet: 26 July, 2000

The public sector is not responding to the challenge of e-business as quickly as companies in the private sector. The National Computing Centre’s Annual Survey of IT users found that under 10% of the government, health and education users are fully committed to implementing electronic commerce systems. This contrasts with distribution and finance where almost 80% of companies are fully committed to implementing e-business systems.The primary force driving developments in the private sector is the impact on commercial relationships, whilst in the public sector it is central directives. Neither sector view new technology as providing opportunities for new ways of doing things.

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TAXPAYER HOPE OF LOST TAX RECORDS DASHED

Headlines, PublicNet: 25 July, 2000

The expectations of many taxpayers were raised when it was reported in ‘Computer Weekly’ that the Inland Revenue computer had lost pay and tax records. The story was picked up by national newspapers and given wide coverage. The flaw in the story was that it was untrue, but the Inland Revenue did explain how someone unfamiliar with their procedures could reach a false conclusion.Every year the IR computer has open records for individual taxpayers without pay and tax details for the particular tax year. This is not because records have been lost or problems with the computer systems. Open records can result , for example, because information has not been received from the employer or someone who was an employee in an earlier tax year has moved into self employment. There are well established arrangements to deal with these situations and ensure that the correct information is obtained and the right amount of tax is collected.

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MOD SETS TREND FOR ELECTRONIC COST CUTTING

Headlines, PublicNet: 25 July, 2000

The Ministry of Defence spends some 2.5 billion pounds a year with suppliers on buying everything from catering and clothing to high tech aircraft spares. It claims that it will achieve a 20% saving on output costs over the next five years by introducing an e-procurement system costing 45 million pounds.The Defence Electronic Commerce Service will be the MOD’s single electronic gateway to its trading partners and it will revolutionise the way it does business. The procurement system will include on-line catalogues of products and automatic purchasing transactions. It will allow communication across a variety of technologies and departments and speed up the buying process. The service will be provided through a Public Private Partnership by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young , who it is believed were preferred rather than EDS.

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TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Abstracts, PublicNet: 24 July, 2000

Barling J, Slater F, Kelloway E K
Leadership & Organization Development Journal, (UK), 2000 Vol 21 No 3.
Start page: 157. No of pages: 6

Asks if emotional intelligence might be a factor that encourages the development of a transformational leadership style. Sets out what is meant by emotional intelligence, and discusses how it could support a transformational leadership style. Tests out this association between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership by testing a group of 60 managers, working at all levels, within a Canadian pulp and paper organization. Assesses their levels of transformational and transactional leadership and tests their levels of emotional intelligence. Concludes that emotional intelligence is associated with three aspects of transformational leadership – idealized influence, inspirational motivation and individualized consideration.

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IMPROVING HEALTH IS A JOINED-UP PROBLEM

Headlines, PublicNet: 24 July, 2000

Variations in NHS performance are linked to poverty says a King’s Fund report published today. The report authors, John Appleby and Jo-Ann Mulligan surveyed all 120 health authorities and boards in Britain and the results were ranked according to their performance. This gave a single measure of health and health care for each area of the country.The report ‘How well is the NHS performing?’ shows that just over 40 per cent of the differences from one area to another could be linked to the amount of poverty experienced by people living in them. The rest, it argues, could be due to differences in the quality of NHS care, in access to NHS services, and in other factors influencing health, such as pollution levels or education.

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ONLINE SERVICE DEMANDS RETHINK OF PROCESSES

Headlines, PublicNet: 24 July, 2000

Don’t automate existing processes when moving a service on-line is a key message from a Cabinet Office benchmarking survey of global e-government. On-line service delivery creates new opportunities, capabilities and expectations and they cannot be exploited fully without re-thinking processes and re-engineering operations.The survey found that the Service Canada initiative and Singapore’s eCitizen centre were prime examples of ‘thinking outside the box’. Service Canada brings together a variety of Federal government services through citizen-focused one-stop shops under a strong government brand.

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ONE STOP LAND SHOP CONTRACT AWARDED

Headlines, PublicNet: 21 July, 2000

A one-stop-shop to provide property information is on course to open early in 2001 with the award of a contract to operate the ‘Hub’ of the system. The National Land Information Service is based on a ‘Hub’ or gateway, which will make possible electronic access to an array of property information from a range of sources at the click of a button. This will include ownership information from the Land Registry and local Land Charges information from all local authorities as well as other information relating to the property such as environmental or geological data. The service has the potential to reduce the time it takes to carry out searches necessary to complete the property conveyancing process from weeks to minutes.Later this month four licences will be awarded Channel operators. They will buy data through the Hub and re- sell it on to solicitors, conveyancers and the general public.The channels will operate in competition and it is likely that information will be packaged in a variety of ways to provide services tailored for other property professionals such as surveyors, estate agents, mortgage lenders, developers and insurers.

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HOSPITAL OUTPATIENT SHAMBLES SENDS WARNING TO PUBLIC SECTOR

Headlines, PublicNet: 21 July, 2000

A review of hospital outpatient management systems found that many are archaic with practices dating back to the 1950s. There were few long term improvement plans and rarely did Executive Directors have a direct responsibility for their management. Guidance issued by the Department of Health now requires NHS Trusts to introduce a new booking system model which has shown in trials that it is possible to reduce waiting time for outpatient first appointments by 40%. They are also required to set up a Clinical Management System, which initial use suggests will find surplus capacity in about one third of clinics.The findings of the review are relevant to any public service developing strategies for productivity and quality improvement. Services will not perform well without active leadership and dedicated senior management time. Where there is no senior management involvement, functional groups will operate in watertight compartments with no sharing of resources. Historical patterns of provision can quickly become out of date and there is a need to challenge patterns and track changing need. Most of the information needed to operate the Clinical Management System was already collected by clinics, but it was used for accounting and other purposes, consequently there was no overview of how the system was performing from a management perspective. Moving the focus away from the clinic and on to the patient not only improved the service, but also increased efficiency.

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CRISIS CULTURE AND CHARISMA

Abstracts, PublicNet: 20 July, 2000

Valle MPublic Personnel Management, (USA), Summer 1999 Vol 28 No 2

Start page: 245. No of pages: 13

Argues that public organizations in the USA need a different type of leadership which can cope with the continual and critical levels of environmental change that these organizations face. Sees the primary role of leaders in the public sector as developing an adaptive organizational culture which allow organizations and leaders to succeed in this type of environment. Contrasts leadership processes in a stable environment with leadership processes in a turbulent environment to underline the need for this adaptive culture. Sets out the leadership skills and personal requirements needed to build this type of culture, stressing the need for leaders to be able to build compelling visions of the future and to have the charisma to convince employees of the value of these visions.

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JOINED UP RESPONSE TO CRIME AND ITS CAUSES

Headlines, PublicNet: 20 July, 2000

The cross departmental review of crime reduction, which was part of the Spending Review 2000, has come out strongly in support of the local Crime and Disorder Partnerships. They will receive more funding so that they can improve their performance in identifying local problems crossing the crime, health education and environment boundaries. The Partnerships will oversee the implementation of measures based on contributions from all local agencies. There will also be closer working with area Criminal Justice Strategy Committees with the aim of transforming performance in the area.Research has shown clear links between youth crime and other factors and the work of the Partnerships will be supported from other critical areas. It was found that 30% of prisoners truanted when they were at school and there will be initiatives to reduce truancy. Some 60% of young offenders have poor reading skills and targets will be set to raise standards for the bottom 20% of pupils. Targets will also be set for the National Strategy on Alcohol Misuse and for child, adolescent and adult mental health services.

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