Donnelly M
Managing Service Quality, (UK), 1999 Vol 9 No 1. Start page: 47 . No of pages: 6

Examines responses to quality initiatives in the UK public sector and points to a change in outlook since the election of a Labour government in 1997; briefly outlines the ‘Best Value’ approach to which public sector organizations are now supposed to work. Discusses the aims of public-sector services which have broader societal aims than just direct service provision. Explores the logic of quality as it may be applied to public services and states that practical circumstances and aims differ from those in private enterprises. Looks at the nature of public services, the customers and the decision makers, and the complex nature of the relationships and goals. Argues that in spite of the high uptake of quality awards and initiatives in the public sector, the quality movement has yet to provide a model which addresses the true nature of public services.

Read more on MAKING THE DIFFERENCE…

Karl K A, Sutton C L
Public Personnel Management, (USA), Winter 1998 Vol 27 No 4
Start page: 515. No of pages: 12

Investigates if there has been any change in the aspects of their jobs that US workers value (e.g. high wages, job security, interesting work, etc.), generating a number of hypotheses: that workers will rank wages and job security more highly nowadays than they did in the 1970s and 1980s; that private sector workers will rank wages as more important than workers in the public sector; and that workers in the private and public sectors will rank job security equally. Tests these out in a survey of full-time US employees, working in a wide range of jobs, and finds evidence that bears the hypotheses out. Notes, in particular, the finding that workers value wages and job security over interesting work, unlike workers in the 1970s and 1980s who rated interesting work as the most important factor in their work. Considers the implications of this research for reward and remuneration policies.

Read more on JOB VALUES IN TODAY’S WORKFORCE…

Lewellyn S
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, (UK), 1998 Vol 11 No 3
Start page: 292. No of pages: 17

Looks at how responsibility is being devolved along with United Kingdom social services budgets to client services managers, team managers and frontline care workers. Explains the difficulties raised by the concept of responsibility, the new structure of social service departments after the 1991 National Health Service and Community Care Act, and how devolution has worked out in practice. Surveys eight regional social work departments where frontline hostility ensured budget responsibility rests with team managers; and where there are multiple sources of access to a budget, which diffuses responsibility. Shows how budget holders are not held responsible for overspends, prioritization rules are not agreed, and the Director is seen as the only responsible decision maker, to whom teams report rather than individuals. Advocates simple, narrative accounting practices clearly communicated.

Read more on PUSHING BUDGETS DOWN THE LINE…

Wheatley M
Human Resources, (UK), Oct 1998 No 39
Start page: 28. No of pages: 3

Challenges the belief that the UK public sector is amateurish, inefficient, remote and poorly managed. Argues that private sector managers are looking to the public sector for best practice in training; staff retention (through family/friendly policies); motivation; change management; recruitment; and human resource management in general. Acknowledges that this good practice is uneven, pointing to problems in public sector remuneration, but suggests that the ability of the public sector to recruit people with business backgrounds indicates the excellence that can be found in the public sector.

Read more on WHERE THE PUBLIC SECTOR SCORES…

Matheson A

Public Administration and Development, (UK), Oct 1998 Vol 18 No 4
Start page: 349. No of pages: 15

Outlines the evolution of New Zealand’s (NZ) approach to the determination of the strategic direction of its public services during a decade of reform beginning in 1984. Describes the most novel reforms as being the core mechanisms for allocating, managing, controlling and accounting for public resources and lists the key components of these reforms. Addresses the issues relating to the ‘strategic management process’ and claims that the evolution of this process offers an insight into the changed dynamics of NZ’s public management system. Discusses the sources driving strategic change, such as the need to refocus attention on the ‘collective interest’ of government, and to rethink and formalize the role of the State Services Commission. Explores the role of government and suggests that the key ideas for the development of a coherent government policy is an understanding between the main players of the intended direction of the whole; a sense of joint cause; and the co-operation of senior public servants in implementing it. Contends that governments must become more strategically able in the light of current environmental conditions. Concludes with an analysis of the reasons for innovation and change, and the attempt to improve and systematize the leadership and co-ordinating processes of government.

Read more on GOVERNING STRATEGICALLY…

Nash M
The International Journal of Public Sector Management, (UK), Vol 11 No 4 98
Start page: 252. No of pages: 10

Examines the feasibility of two UK government services, the police and the
probation service, combining to deliver a jointly identified agenda of
public protection. Looks at the effect of the ethos of new public
management on both services, leading to the establishment of key
performance indicators which have reshaped the aims and directions of all
public sector organizations. Suggests that while the public protection
target for the police can be defined as improving detection or reducing the
occurrence of certain crimes, the probation service, operating after the
event, would find difficulty with such a proactive target and has to aim at
reducing future risk in the form re-offending. Considers how the probation
service can work with the police in identifying potentially dangerous
offenders (PDOs) but points out that sharing of such information between
agencies would pose a problem of confidentiality for the probation service.
Comments on multi-agency PDO conferencing, jointly devised and run by the
police and the probation service aimed at protecting the public from harm
by sharing information; identifying risk and ways of managing it; and
planning and co-ordinating the work of the respective agencies. Relates the
views of both the police and the probation service on the value of such an
initiative.

Read more on MANAGING RISK – ACHIEVING PROTECTION…

Peters L
Public Administration and Development, (UK), Oct 1998 Vol 18 No 4
Start page: 381. No of pages: 6

Aims to complement existing research into the problems of downsizing the civil service in developing countries by putting the issue into the wider context of public sector management reform. Argues that civil service reform should not be seen as an end in itself, and as such likely to provoke resistance, but as one of many initiatives to improve the allocation of scarce resources between the private and public sectors. Suggests that a key approach is to move from input-driven public management to out-put driven management. Explores the zero-budgeting technique as a reform mechanism and highlights its drawbacks in relation to developing countries. Contends that accrual budgeting is a more useful reform mechanism since it focuses on the delivery of well-specified outputs at competitive prices and devolves the implementation of management reform to groups rather than to a single government agency, thus averting the potential risk of resistance.

Read more on DOWNSIZING THE CIVIL SERVICE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES…

Dickens L
Human Resource Management Journal, (UK), Vol 8 No 1 98
Start page: 23. No of pages: 18.

Examines the literature on human resource management (HRM) and questions whether it represents an advance for gender equality, as some commentators have suggested. Argues that the HRM model is gendered and that this is reflected in HR concepts and practices which serve to perpetuate gender inequality. Examines UK research into a number of these concepts and practices which indicates that this is the case, notably the concepts of flexibility and commitment and the practices of selection, performance appraisal and pay. Sees these developments as undermining the existing equal opportunities legislation and practices. Believes that the problems facing equal opportunities initiatives will be compounded by the trend towards devolving responsibility for human resource issues to line managers. Concludes that this review illustrates the extent that HRM practices disadvantage women, despite them appearing to be gender-neutral. Looks at the implications for human resource practitioners wanting to promote gender equality.

Read more on WHAT HRM MEANS FOR GENDER EQUALITY…

Dorsch J J, Yasin M M
The International Journal of Public Sector Management, (UK), 1998 Vol 11 No 2. Start page: 91 No of pages: 25

Considers the extent to which benchmarking has been used in the private sector compared with the public sector in the USA through an extensive review of benchmarking literature focusing on current practices in the manufacturing, service and public sectors. Reveals that: the academic community is lacking in terms of providing and advancing models and frameworks that integrate the many facets of organizational benchmarking. States that most of the research related to benchmarking fails to assess its impact on the organization, and there is a shortage of literature relating to its costs and benefits. Puts forward a framework that characterizes the nature of the cost-benefit function for investment in benchmarking activities. Contends that when benchmarking investment is conducted systematically, long term organizational effectiveness may be realized, promoting both enhanced operational efficiency and strategic effectiveness of the public sector organization.

Read more on A FRAMEWORK FOR BENCHMARKING…

Morley L R, Magnussen J
Applied Economics, (UK), Aug 1998 Vol 30 No 8
Start page: 1089. No of pages: 12

Compares public and private hospitals to find out if ownership has any influence on efficiency. Looks at the Norwegian public system and the Californian private system, where there are similar states of health but very different financing patterns. Tests whether competition forces a convergence between the behaviour of private and public hospitals, or whether market failure means private hospitals are inefficient. Looks at number of beds, medical hours worked and case mix, using data envelopment analysis on one fiscal year’s results (1991 in California, 1993 in Norway) for Norwegian public hospitals, Californian non-profit urban and rural, and Californian for-profit hospitals. Finds that Norwegian hospitals utilize capital better and have higher scale efficiency. Warns that varying the case-mix can lead to different results. Concludes that high US health costs are partly due to economic waste.

Read more on AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF HOSPITAL EFFICIENCY…