Richard M. Walker, Emma Jeanes and Robert Rowlands.Although Governments encourage public service organizations to innovate, little is known about the extent of innovation in public service. A private sector approach to the measurement of innovation – the literature-based innovation output indicator (LBIOI) – is applied to public service organizations to address this significant information gap. The method is described and then explored in one public service sector, English housing associations. A sample of 257 innovations is constructed and then subject to analysis. This initial testing of the LBIOI indicates that the approach can be applied across public services to create longitudinal data sets, which will enhance the communication of good practice and the use of evidence in public policy, management and research. This methodology offers initial insights to public service innovation and would allow relationships to be explored notably innovation and performance.
By Donald R. Domm: John Carroll
Vision is a key part of both the concept and practice of leadership. Many
managers successfully create it and present it to staff. However, they are
often less good at retaining employees’ long-term commitment to the vision,
which results in lost opportunities. This article explores how effectively
senior managers build and sustain employee commitment to strategic vision,
and how they could improve.
Read more on STRATEGIC VISION: SUSTAINING EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT…
The latest employment survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development shows that 89 per cent of organizations in the public sector
are experiencing recruitment problems. Last year’s survey showed that 60
per cent of all public sector organisations experienced this problem in
2000. More than half of public sector organisations reported instances of
zero response to unfilled vacancies. Retention is growing in importance in
the public and private sectors due to recruitment difficulties, high labour
turnover and the need to motivate staff affected by reorganization. 50 per
cent of the respondents had retention problems; particularly with younger
employees being less loyal and more difficult to keep hold of.
This report by the Audit Commission reveals that 10% of operations are cancelled, representing about 300,000 operating slots each year. The causes of cancellation were found to be staff taking leave at short notice and unscheduled maintenance. There was a wide disparity in cancellation rates between hospitals and although the average was 10%, some of the poor performers had a 30% rate. The Audit Commission believes that the cancellation rate could be halved with tighter management and this would create an additional 150,000 operating slots per year. There was also criticism of time keeping for theatre sessions. Although 90% of session started on time, this fell to 32% in some cases.
Read more on OPERATING THEATRES – A BULLETIN FOR HEALTH BODIES…
By George Boyne and Jay Dahya.A theoretical framework is developed for the analysis of the impact of executive succession in public organizations. The central concepts in the model are the motives of chief executives, the means at their disposal and the opportunities available for influencing performance. The main hypothesis that flows from the model is that the effect of executive succession is likely to be small but significant. Furthermore, the strength of the impact of succession is contingent on a variety of external and internal circumstances. Seventeen testable hypotheses concerning these contingency effects are presented as a research agenda for studies of top management change in the public sector. The theoretical arguments are illustrated with reference to UK local government.
Read more on EXECUTIVE SUCCESSION AND THE PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS…
KPMG ReportThe report based on a survey by MORI reveals that Internet access at home or work has risen to 50%. Home access is up from 38% in April 2001 to 44% in 2002. Two thirds of the British population now want to access public services online but only 15% of the UK public have actually used the Internet or other digital channels to transact with government or local councils in the last twelve months. If the relevant electronic services were available: 38% of the population would be prepared to vote in a local council or general election online, 37% would apply for/renew a passport, 37% would book an appointment with their GP, 35% would notify their council of a fault in a council service and 30% would pay their council tax. The main barriers to Internet usage remain access, awareness and understanding. Call centres are now the most used channel for accessing public services up from 9% to 29%.
By Tom Christensen, Per Laegreid and Lois R. Wise.Administrative policies and practices may evolve and change slowly and incrementally or they may be transformed intentionally. Intentional efforts to change by transforming the structure, processes, or personnel of public sector organizations define an active administrative policy. This article focuses on the fulfilment of these preconditions in the three national contexts – Norway, Sweden and the United States of America – in order to determine the relevance of a transformative perspective for understanding the process of administrative change. We examine what impact constraints like polity features, historical-institutional traditions and external pressure, particularly through popular international administrative doctrines like New Public Management ideas and financial crises, have on the possibilities to enhance an active national administrative policy.
This report by the Performance and Innovation Unit in the Cabinet Office sets out a strategy for delivering more customer-focused public services through better use of personal information in a way that commands public trust and ensures effective privacy safeguards. A draft Public Services Trust Charter is put forward as the best way forward to secure greater openness in the interactions between public services and their consumers, as well as improved access to personal data along with simple processes for correcting mistakes. The introduction of data quality audits is recommended to ensure that only good quality, up-to-date, information is used in data-sharing. Making better use of technology to deliver more secure, more joined-up services is also seen as a key element of the strategy.The report is available at: http://www.piu.gov.uk  or from the PIU (tel: 020 72761416).
Read more on PRIVACY AND DATA SHARING: THE WAY FORWARD FOR PUBLIC SERVICES…
By Tom Christensen and Lois R Wise.Administrative policies and practices may evolve and change slowly and incrementally or they may be transformed intentionally. Intentional efforts to change administrative policy by transforming the structure, processes, or personnel of public sector organizations define an active administrative policy. This article focuses on the fulfilment of preconditions in the three national contexts – Norway, Sweden and the United States of America – in order to determine the relevance of a transformative perspective for understanding the process of administrative change. We examine what impact constraints like polity features, historical-institutional traditions and external pressure, particularly through popular international
administrative doctrines like New Public Management ideas and financial crises, have on the possibilities to enhance an active national administrative policy.
Paul WilliamsStrategic alliances, joint working arrangements, networks, partnerships and many other forms of collaboration across sectoral and organizational boundaries currently proliferate across the policy landscape. However, little attention is given to the pivotal role of individual actors in the management of inter-organizational relationships. This paper attempts to redress this balance by focusing on the skills, competencies and behaviour of boundary spanners. It provides a critical review literature and describes new research about groups of particular types of boundary spanner using a combination of surveys and in-depth interviews.