Juico P E
The Asian Manager, (Phillipines), Sep-Oct 1998 Vol 11 No 5
Start page: 11. No of pages: 2

Discusses the task of managing public resources in an environment of scarcity and under a critical public gaze, where the concern is with accountability and productivity. Describes the difference between private and public sector management, and argues that both perform the same business functions (including production, finance, human resources development) and the same management functions (including planning, leadership, organization) but that their respective constituencies are very different in both number and nature. Contends that new skills are needed to deal with the new issues, such as environmentalism, gender equality, empowerment and disability rights; considers the need for a change in attitudes as proposed by a Price Waterhouse ‘change team’, specifically in honesty, courage, respect for diversity and sensitivity to all stakeholders and constituencies. Believes that measuring effectiveness in the public sector is more ambiguous than in the private sector, where profit is the indicator; defines what accountability really means and concludes that accountable persons and organizations take responsibility for and are responsive to the objectives of the organization.

Read more on PUBLIC PROFIT PRIVATE SERVICE…

Peters B G
Public Administration, (UK), Vol 76 No 2
Start page: 295. No of pages: 17

Sees the pursuit of ‘horizontality’ as being the perennial quest of government to link their departments, which have become differentiated and remote from each other, to prevent policy being unco-ordinated between them. Identifies the reasons that this co-ordination is becoming more difficult and considers how this can be remedied. Lists the mechanisms available which would promote policy co-ordination, assessing the potential of policy networks. Sets out the characteristics of a network, outlining how their co-ordinative capacity can be weakened or strengthened and the factors that affect this.

Read more on MANAGING HORIZONTAL GOVERNMENT…

Beck A, Broadhurst K
Public Administration, (UK), Winter 1998 Vol 76 No 4
Start page: 779. No of pages: 14

Examines the debate over the introduction of national identity cards in the UK and assesses proposals to introduce a voluntary card scheme. Asks whether a voluntary scheme will be any different in practice to a compulsory scheme, comparing the experience of European Union countries that have introduced a compulsory scheme with those that have introduced a voluntary scheme. Finds that the degree of compulsion is less important than the nature of accompanying legislation which spells out the circumstances in which an individual might have to prove his/her identity. Sees evidence in the countries with voluntary card schemes that the number of situations in which identity has to be proved increases over time, labelling this ‘compulsion by stealth’. Also highlights evidence that those people who do not have an identity card, in countries where the scheme is not compulsory, will be treated with suspicion, increasing the pressure on individuals to carry an identity card.

Read more on COMPULSION BY STEALTH – LESSONS FROM THE EU ON NATIONAL IDENTITY CARDS…

Maddock S, Morgan G

The International Journal of Public Sector Management, (UK), Vol 11 No 4 98. Start page: 234. No of pages: 18

Looks at the role and effectiveness of public agencies in the UK, barriers to the movement away from bureaucratic administrations formed as a feature of the contracting environment and the impact which health and social service reforms have had on staff: new skills required to manage competition, reduced morale, changed management processes and cross-departmental working. Contends that the impact of contracting and managerialism has resulted in a loss of social capital and a mismatch between management and contracting models and the policy desire for partnership and collaboration between individual staff and individual agencies. Claims that a combination of a medical resistance to managerialism and the medical establishment’s traditional codes of practice forms a major obstacle to bringing professionals and agencies together. Explores issues of equal opportunities and the particular views, perceptions and experiences of women managers in relation to managerialism.

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Woods G, Lantsheer C, Clark R E
The Learning Organization, (UK), Vol 5 No 2 98
Start page: 74. No of pages: 9

Reports research that indicates the training which has a ‘customer service’ focus produces different knowledge and organizational results from training which is job and task focused. Describes a training programme that focused on customer satisfaction, designed for the European Patent Office and assesses the success of this approach to training. Outlines the content of the training, which was designed to improve the way that people chair the oral hearings involving technical and legal disputes, and which focused on how the people involved in the hearings (the customers) were treated during the proceedings. Sets out the training methods used, including the use of role play and feedback, and explains the way that the learning is structured. Concludes that the training was very successful, achieving major improvements in the way that the hearings were handled.

Read more on FOCUSING LEARNING ON CUSTOMER SERVICE…

Curry A, Herbert D

Managing Service Quality, (UK), 1998 Vol 8 No 5.
Start page: 339. No of pages: 11

Highlights the importance of measuring service quality in public service organizations, stating that client quality, professional quality and management quality all need to be carefully evaluated. Aims to demonstrate the relevance to services measurement of the SERVQUAL model and of quality function deployment (QFD). Identifies criteria for measuring service quality: tangibles; reliability; responsiveness; assurance; and empathy. Discusses many of the ‘gaps’ experienced by customers. Describes QFD in detail and develops a logical progression from SERVQUAL. Presents two short case studies: the first in a psychological service and the second in a careers advisory service, both in Scotland, and outlines how QFD, in association with process mapping, has been used to improve service and enhance staff motivation and understanding.

Read more on CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IN PUBLIC SERVICES…

Mabey C, Skinner D
The International Journal of Public Sector Management, (UK), 1998 Vol 11 No 6
Start page: 494. No of pages: 15.

Examines the meaning of empowerment and its adoption in a UK Next Steps Agency. Finds that little research exists regarding the views of those on the receiving end of empowerment programmes. Explores this and related issues through interviews with staff at two headquarters sites and two operational sites. Found a mixed response indicating varying degrees of adoption of the required approach. States that for many staff, the positive empowering structural changes brought about were inconsistent with the less-than-empowering style of the more senior managers around them. Finds that those who had experienced a psychological benefit from the empowerment training were positive and felt more in control and accountable. Points out that staff are not mere passive recipients in any change process and that in this case the question of trust featured significantly in many respondents’ answers. Believes their research findings gives further insight into grass roots feelings even though the sample size was small.

Read more on EMPOWERMENT IN AN EXECUTIVE AGENCY…

Erridge A, Fee R, McIlroy J
The International Journal of Public Sector Management, (UK), Vol 11 No 5 98
Start page: 341. No of pages: 13

Discusses the application of quality approaches within the public sector, describing an assessment of the UK Government’s purchasing agency’s quality performance against the European Quality Model criteria. Looks at a variety of approaches to quality in the public sector such as the citizens charter (1991), total quality management, and techniques such as quality circles and quality action teams. Outlines the features of the European quality model which consist of criteria linking enabling actions to results, including leadership, people management, processes, customer satisfaction and business results. Finds that the adoption of a quality approach by the government purchasing agency not only produces a good level of performance in relation to treasury and cabinet office targets, but shows that a predominantly private sector model of quality can be usefully applied to the public sector.

Read more on PUBLIC SECTOR QUALITY…

Bichard M
Public Administration and Development, (UK), Oct 1998 Vol 18 No 4
Start page: 327. No of pages: 7

Contends that the public sector in the UK is in crisis and has no agenda for change or modernization. Proposes a modernizing agenda for the UK covering the areas of policy process, management and delivery. Argues that the modernization of policy process must address the question as to what the essential ingredients of good policy are in a changing society. Suggests that there should be greater input from those who deliver policy and participation by the wider community; that good policy needs time; that there must be clarity as to what the policy is designed to achieve, requiring good presentation and communication; that there should be contingency planning; and that policies should be evidence-based and good value for money. Discusses the conditions for modernizing management, focusing particularly on leadership qualities. Describes the four issues believed to be central to the modernization of delivery – a focus on clients; better use of local partnerships; an increased capacity for government and parliament to work together; and a more effective use of technology. Concludes that an unwillingness to address these three areas will result in little being done.

Read more on DEVELOPING STRUCTURES, PROCESSES AND LEADERS FOR THE FUTURE…

Barnett N J, Crowther D E A
The International Journal of Public Sector Management, (UK), 1998 Vol 11 No 6. Start page: 425. No of pages: 15

Outlines and contrasts the approach to local government in southern and northern Europe with the UK exemplifying the northern approach of large units. Notes the development of an instrumental attitude in the UK that views community considerations on economic terms. Reports that in a UK government review, the proposal to re-create Rutland as a Unitary Authority was the only one, of many made, where overall community welfare concerns overrode efficiency considerations. Takes that recommendation as broadly representative of the postmodern view being put forward. Discusses postmodern concepts surrounding community and welfare and argues that a postmodern sensibility can address an individual’s welfare needs within a welfare-maximizing model, i.e. local government responding to a situation mandated by individuals who create communities of purpose in relation to need. States such adaptability is far removed from current local service provision but that insights and debate into possible democratic and local government forms are promoted by taking a postmodernistic stance.

Read more on COMMUNITY IDENTITY IN THE TWENTYFIRST CENTURY…