International Review of Administrative Sciences recent issues

Editorial: public service quality -- between everything and nothing?

Pollitt, C. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

More quality through competitive quality awards? An impact assessment framework

Bovaird, T., Loffler, E. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

Given the growing international phenomenon of quality award competitions for public sector services and organizations it is timely to assess their impacts. While award schemes have become a popular marketing tool to increase the visibility of award organizers, it is unclear what impact they have on various dimensions of quality — organizational quality, service quality and the quality of life of citizens. So far, quality awards are a theory-free area with few evaluations being undertaken by the academic community. By the same token, quality awards organizers have not shown a great inclination to invest in impact assessments. Yet, major questions exist on the extent to which quality awards live up to their claims to help applicants and non-applicants to improve quality. This article maps existing pieces of evidence against an impact assessment framework and identifies the research gaps to be addressed by the academic community and public sector organizations.

Points for practitioners

Competitive quality awards can have benefits in terms of innovation, organizational learning, and reputational promotion. However, for the applicants these benefits come at a price — the innovations and the learning only occur if the organization undertakes the application in a way which builds these benefits into the process. Moreover, the promotional benefits depend on which awards they win, particularly on how well publicized they are. For organizers, too, a cost—benefit calculus is necessary — while competitive awards may be cheaper to organize than accreditation schemes, they may not lead to such careful preparation, with consequently lower impacts.

Mapping the terrain of public service quality improvement: twenty-five years of trends and practices in the United States

Holzer, M., Charbonneau, E., Kim, Y. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

The quality movement in the United States has been characterized as an impetus for organizational effectiveness and responsiveness since the late 1970s. ‘Quality’ can be a subjective term as each organization has its own definition and boundaries. Three emphases are evident in the field of quality improvement: quality circles, total quality management, and citizen satisfaction. Practices of quality improvement in the public sector have been driven by demands from citizens for more effective services, outcomes that require the implementation of suitable quality models and standards.

Points for practitioners

This article presents major intellectual trends in the practice of service quality improvement. Practitioners will be able to comprehend the most fundamental concepts of ‘what is public service quality improvement’. Practitioners will also obtain useful insights into defining quality criteria and assessing organizational improvement models based on substantive principles of quality management for promoting organizational effectiveness and responsiveness.

Quality as a reflection of innovation? Quality management in the Korean government

Kim, P. S. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

Quality management generally implies all the activities that are intended to bring about the desired level of quality. In order to improve the quality of a product or service in both private and public sectors, quality management has been exercised for a long time and broadly applied in various organizations. As many new buzz words emerge in both business and public management, however, it seems that its popularity has declined. Is quality management dead? Not really. Quality is a fundamental ingredient in innovation so it must not be disregarded, although there might be fluctuations in its popularity. This study reviews the developmental status of quality management in South Korea by looking at its status and conceptual changes from historical and comparative perspectives. Historically, quality management in modern Korea was influenced by Japanese and American practices. In a comparative perspective, however, European influence on quality management was not salient in Korea.

Points for practitioners

More buzz words or fads will be generated by issue entrepreneurs and business consultants. However, quality management will not fade away. Continuous improvement is an endless open-ended journey, as is quality management. It is fair to say that the need for government reform and innovation will never be exhausted. Therefore, the importance of quality management will be a continuing reality in the future, perhaps with some adjustment of its rhetoric or riding on an irresistible wave of reform for adaptation. Quality has been reflected through innovation, and vice versa.

Understanding the relationship between a national award scheme and performance

Radnor, Z. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

This article, drawing on a large data set collected as part of the national evaluation of a UK public service award scheme, aims to understand its relationship with performance measurement, reporting and management. The data set collected over three years includes case study analyses, two national surveys and a staff survey. Through a framework of performance measurement and management, the article illustrates how there is little direct connection made between the award scheme and performance measurement and management, although recognition is made that they do support each other in driving and supporting improvement and performance. The article highlights the complexities of the current improvement landscape for many public services but supports the finding that many of the organizations in the sample are taking a corporate approach to the engagement with improvement activities and initiatives in order to support performance.

Points for practitioners

This article illustrates that award schemes can support performance, maybe not always directly with performance measures but in recognizing good ideas and practice for service improvement. Applying for an award, disseminating good practice or taking time to understand awarded practice from another organization all appear to have a positive impact on performance. It is also important to take a corporate approach to improvement. For many public service organizations, the number of initiatives focused on performance, improvement and service delivery is vast, from award schemes to audit and inspection regimes. Organizations need to decide which, what and when to engage with in order to support focused improvement and performance.

Impact of administrative reform of the European Commission: results from a survey of heads of unit in policy-making directorates

Bauer, M. W. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

The Kinnock reform has changed the European Commission. This article discusses the link between reform effects and policy output. A survey of more than 100 heads of unit (HoU) of policy-making Directorates-General serves as the empirical basis. It is concluded that the recent reform of the Commission does indeed comprehensively redefine the role of the HoU. Their resource base to focus on policy drafting has been hugely reduced. Negative consequences for the organization’s potential to deliver policy draft of high quality are therefore very likely.

Points for practitioners

This article deals with the following areas:

• Middle management as organizational backbone

• The perils of decentralizing management functions

• The impact of administrative reform on policy output.

Contextualizing the Dutch drop in political trust: connecting underlying factors

Hendriks, F. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

How can it be that a country — one that was envied until the very end of the twentieth century for its enduring high level of trust in the political system — could have suffered so much damage in just a few years at the beginning of the new century when it comes to reported rates of trust in political institutions? This article maps the loss of political trust in the Netherlands and sets out to explain the developments that the statistics describe. A thought-provoking article that Bovens and Wille published in this journal names a number of temporary factors (fluctuations in the national economy and incumbent national governments) to explain the Dutch drop. This article points to the influence of more structural, systematic factors or underlying ‘currents’ that are concealed behind the factors that Bovens and Wille address: the persistence of consensus democracy on the one hand and the surge of the emotional culture and the risk society on the other. The accumulation and interaction of these three currents form the basis for the explication of the declining levels of trust in politics.

Points for practitioners

This article maps the loss of political trust in the Netherlands at the beginning of the new millennieum, and sets out to explain this phenomenon. The analysis points to the influence of more structural and systematic factors — the persistence of consensus democracy on the one hand and the surge of the emotional culture and the risk society on the other — concealed behind the more temporal and transitory factors that Bovens and Wille have highlighted in an earlier issue of this journal. Restoring trust is contingent on the accumulation and interaction of these three currents.

Careers in the Dutch civil service: a gender perspective

Groeneveld, S. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

This article focuses upon gender differences in the satisfaction with career opportunities of civil servants in the Netherlands. Women have become better represented at all levels in the Dutch civil service in recent years, but they are still underrepresented in the higher level positions. Nevertheless, women are slightly more satisfied with their career opportunities than men are and they seem to be increasingly so. Their relatively positive evaluation of extrinsic aspects of their work situation is one of the explanations of this finding, as is their higher intrinsic work motivation compared to that of men. It is suggested that the career orientations and aspirations of women better fit the changing context of career formation in the Dutch civil service and the accompanying new psychological contract.

Points for practitioners

The Dutch civil service has set ambitious targets with respect to the representation of women at all levels in the service, but insight into the determinants of women’s careers in the public sector is still very scarce. The findings in this article show that there are gender differences in the weighting of intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the work in evaluating one’s career opportunities. Besides, the article may assist human resource management practitioners in anticipating the impact of changing career trajectories on the career satisfaction of male and female civil servants.

Varieties of legacies: a critical review of legacy explanations of public administration reform in East Central Europe

Meyer-Sahling, J.-H. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

This article examines the status of historical legacies in debates on the reform of public administration in East Central Europe. It identifies limitations of existing accounts and derives three dimensions for the further development of legacy explanations of administrative reform in East Central Europe. First, legacy arguments tend to zoom in on the negative effects of the communist past. Yet there is not one but many legacies that matter for post-communist reforms and these many legacies have to be carefully distinguished and conceptualized. Second, legacy explanations tend to search for broad similarities between the administrative past and the present set-up of East Central European administrations in order to demonstrate the importance of the legacy. The identification of similarities is, however, not sufficient for the identification of legacy effects. Instead, the article argues in favour of the identification of causal mechanisms of legacification to explain recent administrative developments in East Central Europe. Finally, the article draws attention to the interaction of legacy effects with other determinants of administrative reform such as European integration and political parties.

Points for practitioners

This article addresses primarily policy-makers who deal with the reform of public administration in Central and Eastern Europe. It addresses the issue of how administrative traditions and, generally, historical legacies affect the design of administrative reforms and the successful implementation of reforms. Conventional wisdom concentrates on the negative effects of the communist-type administration on contemporary reform in Central and Eastern Europe. This article advances a more differentiated perspective on the impact of historical legacies. It argues that communist administrations evolved over time and differed considerably across countries. The administrative experience of other historical periods further interacts with the communist legacy of the past. The article also identifies various mechanisms that help to ‘transport’ the legacy of the past into the contemporary administrative reform context. For administrative policy-makers this approach implies that they cannot take for granted that the effect of the communist legacy is identical across countries and they cannot even assume that the communist administration will be long-lasting after transition. Instead, it is recommended that the specifics of local administrative traditions and the kind of mechanisms that produce legacy effects in the context of contemporary reform efforts be examined more closely.

Business views of the quality of tax, environment and employment regulation and institutions: the Slovenian case

Klun, M., Slabe-Erker, R. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

Eliminating administrative burdens or ‘cutting red tape’ is becoming a political priority in most developed countries. The main problem faced by business and individuals is that, over the past two decades, the regulations they deal with have become more complex, and the related procedures place a financial burden on both business and individuals. This article presents the results of the first comprehensive quality assessment of public institutions and regulations in the fields of tax, environment and employment in Slovenia. Business managers assessed the quality of institutions and regulations in all three areas and their impact on their operations. The research indicates that Slovenian businesses gave the lowest score to environment protection institutions, with environmental protection regulations also scoring poorly. The scores were also low compared to most OECD countries.

Points for practitioners

The transition process in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in Slovenia, is coming to an end. In spite of several efforts to adapt regulations and competent institutions to the higher EU standards, they still remain rigid. In this article, the results of the lastest survey of administrative quality of regulations and institutions in Slovenia with international comparison are presented. As for instructions for improvements in practice, they should above all focus on simplifying the regulations and making them more transparent.

Chronicle of the Institute -- IIAS, its sections and members

Loretan, R. — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:01:15 PDT

Comparing local governments' performance internationally: a mission impossible?

Padovani, E., Scorsone, E. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:14:19 PDT

While some attempt has been made to address cross-national trends in performance measurement systems (PMSs) in local governments, very few systemic efforts have been attempted to uncover similarities and differences. This article seeks to advance the understanding of the variables researchers should consider when comparing the adoption characteristics and process of PMSs across countries at the local level. Specifically, a framework is constructed to argue that the intersection of the level of performance regime, the types of intergovernmental relationships and the focus of PMS in use on the different types of measure, shape a specific `performance measurement context' that affects comparability. The framework is then empirically motivated by a comparison between Italy and Michigan, USA. For practitioners and analysts, the framework is a tool to guide effective comparisons across service areas for applied research and organizational learning purposes.

Points for practitioners While benchmarking has become an increasingly used practice by local governments for various purposes — e.g. disclosure to citizens, definition of targets in budgeting processes, personnel evaluation — its domain is usually limited to comparisons within the same country. This article seeks to advance the understanding of the variables practitioners should consider when comparing local governments across countries at the local level. They are: the level of performance regime, the types of intergovernmental relationships and the focus of performance measurement systems in use including the different types of measures. These are discussed in the article and are the basis of a conceptual framework that will assist practitioners in understanding the comparability of local governments' performance systems across countries.

Moving towards integrated public governance: improving service delivery through community engagement

Kernaghan, K. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:14:19 PDT

Community engagement for improved citizen-centred service is an important dimension of Integrated Service Delivery (ISD), which is in turn a central component of the movement towards Integrated Public Governance. The experience of such organizations as Centrelink and Service Canada can inform thinking and action on the community engagement activities of ISD organizations in general. Most of these organizations are at an early stage in the use of innovative approaches to community engagement, but many of them are well positioned to use their physical presence in local offices across their jurisdiction to enhance service delivery. This article examines eight ISD organizations in four countries as a basis for discussing such matters as the benefits and challenges of community engagement, the nature of the engagement, and the means by which these organizations have fostered it. For ISD organizations to leverage their community presence, they must collaborate with a wide variety of community stakeholders.

Points for practitioners

Integrated Service Delivery (ISD) organizations can leverage their physical presence in local communities to improve service for individual citizens. This community engagement activity can take the form of partnerships, consultations and contracts. The corporate level can support community engagement through administrative structures and processes and through training opportunities and learning tools. Each local office needs an appropriate measure of discretion and flexibility to adapt its engagement activities to the community's particular challenges and resources. The movement in public management towards Integrated Public Governance and the anticipated increase in the delivery of government services by private and third sector organizations point to the need for collaborative community engagement. There are significant barriers as well as benefits associated with the community engagement activities of ISD organizations.

Understanding modern transparency

Meijer, A. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:14:19 PDT

Proponents and opponents fiercely debate whether computer-mediated transparency has a positive effect on trust in the public sector. This article enhances our understanding of transparency by presenting three perspectives: a premodern, modern and post-modern perspective, and analyzing the basic assumptions of these perspectives about transparency. The analysis shows that the proponents of computer-mediated transparency have a modern perspective on societal change: computer-mediated transparency gives people better information and thus contributes to the rationalization of society. Opponents argue from a premodern perspective that unidirectional, structured and decontextualized forms of transparency will result in a loss of societal trust. Postmodernists focus on the esthetics of transparency and argue for varied and diverse forms of computer-mediated transparency. The value of these three perspectives is illustrated by using them to analyze debates about the need for making school performance in the Netherlands transparent. On the basis of this analysis, the author argues for diversity in systems of transparency to maximize effects on societal trust.

Points for practitioners

This article evaluates transparency through the Internet from different perspectives. Premodernists see computer-mediated transparency as a threat to traditional mechanisms of trust such as face-to-face contacts, modernists praise computer-mediated transparency for its contribution to trust by providing objective information to the general public and postmodernists value the esthetic value of computer-mediated transparency. The ambivalent relation between trust and openness is at the heart of debates about the new transparency. This article argues that it is imperative that we understand these controversies, and debate which forms of computer-mediated transparency we want in the public sector.

Good moves, mistakes and unexpected events in an initiative to improve public management in the ICT service provision at a university

Melian-Gonzalez, S., Bulchand-Gidumal, J. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:14:19 PDT

New public management aims to improve the efficacy and other performance criteria of public organizations. To that end, it is based on principles like specialization and public organization desegregation, and on practices such as outsourcing and the development of internal markets. This article presents a public university management action comprising the creation of an information and communications technology service enterprise. The bases for this initiative include theoretical approaches as well as practical issues. The value of this work is that it studies the referred initiative implantation process and its subsequent effects. The case method is used to analyse some theoretical proposals of new public management. The result is that good moves, mistakes and unforeseen consequences have been found, making it a source of learning for academics and professionals in this field.

Points for practitioners

Internal markets constitute an appropriate mechanism to achieve the benefits of new public management. However, when implementing it, care has to be taken in several aspects: (1) the use of private sector initiatives in the public sector is complex and many different aspects have to be considered; (2) the human resources of the contracting company have to be involved in the process from the very beginning and; (3) measures of performance of the process must be developed and put into practice. That said, internal markets allow an increase in the number of services delivered without increasing the number of work posts, providing the parent firm with the advantages of both outsourcing and insourcing.

An empirical analysis of innovativeness in government: findings and implications

Seok Eun Kim, , Gee Weon Chang, — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:14:19 PDT

The purpose of the study is to identify the main determinants of innovation capacity in government using a large N dataset. Three different groups — agency employees, auditing agency employees, and executive officers of non-governmental organizations — evaluated the capacity for innovation of the 46 departments in the Korean central government. The results found that leadership style, performance-based reward, information and knowledge sharing, and learning culture appear to increase innovation capacity in government. Unexpectedly, goal clarity and network relationship moderates the capacity for innovation in government significantly. These counterintuitive findings challenge the conventional wisdom of bureaucratic inertia and call for a distinctive approach for research in government innovativeness.

Points for practitioners

As innovation has become a major tool of organizational survival, government managers must learn how to build capacity for innovation. They must not only have a strong will for exploring innovative ideas, but also act as a problem solver to implement innovative tasks effectively. Offering appropriate rewards for employees' creativity, encouraging information and knowledge sharing, and building a learning culture could also increase the capacity for government innovation. However, inappropriate goal clarification and consensus-building among network participants may impede innovation. Understanding the impact of innovation capacity would help government managers design strategic actions to make the government more receptive to innovation.

Financial autonomy and consistency of central government policy towards local governments

Oulasvirta, L., Turala, M. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:14:19 PDT

Traditionally, empirical assessment of local government financial autonomy has concentrated on the different income sources available to local governments. In this article we extend such evaluation to the expenditure autonomy side and combine these two dimensions of autonomy into a comprehensive evaluation of local government financial autonomy. The operationalization of financial autonomy offers a basis for an evaluation of the consistency of central government policy towards local governments. Our approach is then used for a comparison of two countries — Finland and Poland.

Points for practitioners

Key implications in our approach are the systematic evaluation of both income and expenditure autonomy of local governments, and combining these two dimensions of autonomy into a comprehensive evaluation of local government financial autonomy. The measurement of financial autonomy which is developed can be used as a management tool in central government policy towards local governments.

How to raise commitment in public university lecturers

Bayona-Saez, C., Goni-Legaz, S., Madorran-Garcia, C. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:14:19 PDT

The purpose of this article is to qualify the hypothesis that states that the presence of committed workers contributes to organizational success. So, it is necessary to clarify first of all what type of commitment and what kind of success is meant. The article then examines which variables the organization needs to act upon in order to influence it. A survey questionnaire was developed and distributed to academic staff at a public university in Spain. Data were analyzed using two ordered logit models, one for each type of commitment analyzed: affective commitment and continuance commitment. Analysis of the data shows that personal variables have a positive impact on affective commitment, and, while job-related characteristics do not appear to be significant, group variables such as working atmosphere have a positive impact. With respect to continuance commitment, age proved to be negatively significant and possession of a doctorate has a positive influence. The variables used to capture available opportunities to leave the organization are negatively significant.

Points for practitioners

The results that emerge can help educational managers to understand the predictors of the different types of commitment and design effective human resource policies. The empirical application is carried out in an organization within the services sector, specifically, a public university in Spain. A further contribution is the incorporation of variables from all categories or groups of antecedents, which permits a thorough diagnosis.

Evidence of public service motivation of social workers in China

Liu Bangcheng, — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:14:19 PDT

To investigate how generalizable public service motivation (PSM) observed in Western society is to China and examine the instrumentality of public service motivation, two studies were conducted independently. In Study 1, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) is implemented to test the existence of PSM based on 99 social workers in Region A of one city located in Eastern China. In Study 2, another CFA process is implemented to confirm the construct validity of PSM, based on 474 social workers in Region B of the same city. In Study 2, we evaluated the instrumentality of PSM. These studies not only provide evidence for the construct validity of PSM, but also produce interesting results that relate to the history and institutional background of Chinese social work.

Points for practitioners

Results of the study have confirmed the generalizability of public service motivation (PSM) observed in Western society in China and examined the instrumentality of the construct in China. The results identify several key implications for professionals working in social work management and administration: (1) PSM can be used as an additional tool to recruit and select individuals who are best suited for social work; (2) For management in social work or other public sectors, PSM could be as a direction in training and development; (3) More importantly, PSM could provide additional view of incentives in social work or other public sectors.

Critical Book Review: Perry, James L. and Hondeghem, Annie (eds), Motivation in Public Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. 334 pp.; Guy, Mary E., Newman, Meredith A., and Mastracci, Sharon H., Emotional Labor: Putting the Service in Public Service. New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2008. 238 pp.; Emery, Yves and Giauque, David (eds), Dilemmes de la GRH publique. Lausanne: LEP, 2007. 304 pp. 368

Jeannot, G. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:14:19 PDT

Chronicle of the Institute -- IIAS, its sections and members

Loretan, R. — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:14:19 PDT

EGPA symposium on public service motivation and performance: Introduction

Hondeghem, A., Perry, J. L. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

The mediating effect of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on self-reported performance: more robust evidence of the PSM--performance relationship

Vandenabeele, W. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

Public service motivation (PSM) has been linked to various outcome variables, but as more and more public administration research is devoted to improving performance, the possible link between PSM and performance is increasingly of interest. The current study contributes to this literature by investigating whether this relationship is present in a dataset of Belgian civil servants. The results corroborate the general thesis and demonstrate a mediation effect (to some extent) of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on this relationship. By doing so, the present study partly unveils the mechanisms upon which the PSM—performance relationship is based.

Points for practitioners The findings of this study should urge public managers and decision-makers to value the effect of PSM in a public sector environment. First, as individual PSM apparently correlates with performance, this might provide some ideas about how to manage human resources in an effectiveness and efficiency driven public sector. Considering PSM in recruitment, retention and training may engender better individual performance. Next to this, the mediating role of job satisfaction and organizational commitment should enable public managers to find more openings to harness PSM effectively. After all, it embeds PSM better into vested theory and practices, with which practitioners may be more familiar.

Public service motivation and job performance of public sector employees in the Netherlands

Leisink, P., Steijn, B. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

This article contributes in three ways to our understanding of public service motivation (PSM) and its effects. In the first place, it applies an abridged version of Perry's measurement scale in the Dutch public sector. Although the results of the analysis show that PSM is a valid concept in this context, doubts arise as to whether one should use the same four dimensions as in the USA. Second, the analysis shows that — contrary to expectations — PSM is of equal importance in the segments of the Dutch public sector that were investigated. Third, the effect of PSM on three performance-related behavioural outcome variables (commitment, willingness to exert effort and perceived job performance) is analysed. In addition to PSM, a measurement of PSM fit is included. The hypothesis that PSM fit mediates the relationship between PSM and the outcome variables is rejected. In practice, it appears that both PSM and PSM fit have independent effects on these outcome variables.

Points for practitioners Public organizations have to attract people who are motivated to work for the sector. In the Netherlands, the Ministry of the Interior is running a recruitment campaign to achieve this. This article shows the value of this strategy as workers with such a motivation (`public service motivation' or PSM) are more committed to the organization, more willing to exert effort and have a higher perception of their performance. Probably this will reflect in better public service delivery. However, the article also shows that recruiting PSM-oriented workers is not enough. It is also important that workers will be able to really `use' their PSM in their work. If not, they will become frustrated, which in the end will have adverse effects for the quality of public service delivery.

Public service motivation and organizational performance in Swiss federal government

Ritz, A. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

During the last 20 years public sector reforms focused on the increase of organizational performance mainly by implementing managerial tools and methods. The one-sided, output-oriented reforms meet with criticism. In our study we focus on the links between employee attitudes, managerial measures, institutional factors and organizational performance. Therefore, three attitudinal constructs, public service motivation, organizational commitment and job satisfaction, are analysed. The study empirically tests the effects of these dimensions on perceived performance in the federal administration of Switzerland. The analysed data of 13,532 federal employees give insight into the importance of employee commitment to the public interest and the need for goal-oriented management techniques. The results are discussed in light of previous studies.

Points for practitioners Public administration research raises more and more criticism against New Public Management reforms. This study, however, shows that there is an important link between managerial techniques and the individual perception of organizational performance in administrative practice. There are a range of private management tools immigrating into the public sector. But for the tools to be effective, practitioners need to integrate them with consideration of the specific requirements of the employee's commitment to the public interest.

What determines the behaviour and performance of health professionals? Public service motivation, professional norms and/or economic incentives

Andersen, L. B. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

Theories about professions, public service motivation (PSM) and economic incentives provide different explanations for the behaviour and performance of the producers of public services. PSM theory expects higher performance in the public sector due to the higher levels of public service motivation among public employees, whereas the economic incentive perspective expects performance and behaviour to depend on economic incentives, and the sociology of professions stresses the importance of the employees' occupation. Few have attempted to integrate these three theories, and little is known about the relative strength of the motives. This article aims to analyse the effects of PSM, professional norms and economic incentives on the behaviour and performance of health professionals. Interviews, surveys and register data are used to investigate how professional norms, public service motivation and economic incentives affect the behaviour and performance of Danish dentists, GPs and orthopaedic surgeons. The results indicate that when strong professional norms exist, economic incentives are unimportant. As this is not always the case, however, the perspectives ought to be combined.

Points for practitioners The article will be of interest to practitioners working with professionals, not only healthcare professionals, but all kinds of occupations with specialized, theoretical knowledge and occupational norms. Practitioners, especially those who design incentive systems for professionals, will find the article helpful, as it shows how both economic incentives and professional norms should be taken into consideration when such systems are designed. The key finding is that the performance and behaviour of professionals with different incentives is almost similar for services governed by firm norms within the profession, whereas performance and behaviour depend on the economic incentives in the absence of professional norms. This implies that while we may depend on the professional norms to constrain some behaviour, even highly professionalized employees can be moved by selfish motives.

Anticorruption effects of information communication and technology (ICT) and social capital

Dong Chul Shim, , Tae Ho Eom, — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

This article examines the argument that Information Communication and Technology (ICT) and social capital serve as major factors to reduce corruption. ICT has the potential to reduce unnecessary human intervention in government work processes, thus reducing the need to monitor corrupt behavior. Furthermore, citizens living in a society with a high level of social capital are more likely to become actively involved in the political decision-making process, increasing the likelihood that public employees' corrupt behaviors will be exposed to the densely connected public. We also examined the relationship between social capital and ICT. Our statistical analysis, which used panels of datasets obtained from various sources, revealed that (1) ICT is an effective tool for reducing corruption; (2) social capital also has positive effects on anti-corruption, but various dimensions of social capital may have different impacts; and (3) the relationship between social capital and ICT is inconclusive.

Points for practitioners The theoretical model and empirical results of this article shed light on the potential impacts of ICT on corruption, thereby providing practitioners with the opportunity to consider ICT as a useful and practical policy tool for reducing corruption in addition to traditional methods, i.e. administrative reform and law enforcement. Further, although our research findings on the relationship between ICT and social capital were inconclusive, social capital was found to have anticorruption effects independent of ICT, which implies that policies designed to foster trust networks in a society can contribute to the reduction of corruption.

How to fully exploit the results of e-government user surveys: the case of Slovenia

Kunstelj, M., Jukic, T., Vintar, M. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

The article presents users' views on the development of e-government, addressing two interrelated questions that have not been sufficiently answered thus far: (1) How to increase the current low level of e-government use, and (2) How to advance the current practice of analyzing data from e-government satisfaction surveys in order to arrive at guidelines for decision-makers when shaping future actions of e-government development. For this purpose, a cause-and-effect model was developed and operationalized by a set of indicators observed by a citizen satisfaction survey carried out in Slovenia between 2005 and 2006. The model was then estimated using the PLS (Partial Least Squares) regression method. Finally, an improvement-priority matrix was applied to prioritize significant factors. The proposed manner of analyzing data from user surveys offers a universal tool for analyzing drivers and consequences of user satisfaction and the use of e-government, and prioritizing them in order to assist decision-makers in preparing future strategies, action plans, or guidelines for further developments.

Points for practitioners

1. Methodological implications:

^• guidelines on how to conduct e-government user satisfaction surveys;

^• guidelines on how to analyze user survey data in order to formulate guidelines for future development of e-government.

2. Empirical implications:

^•results of e-government user satisfaction survey in Slovenia and other countries;

^• guidelines for future development of e-government services in Slovenia and beyond.

Evaluating financial performance in local government: maximizing the benchmarking value

Zafra-Gomez, J. L., Lopez-Hernandez, A. M., Hernandez-Bastida, A. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

One of the main problems in evaluating financial performance arises in carrying out comparisons between municipalities, as no account is taken of the impact of certain factors of the social and economic environment on the indicators in question. In this study, the concept of financial condition is applied, revealing the influence of such factors, and a methodology is proposed to minimize their effects on the results of the evaluation. The results of applying these to a sample of municipalities in Spain reveal that the model is useful for reinforcing the value of benchmarking between municipalities with similar characteristics.

Points for practitioners The use of indicators for evaluating financial performance has advanced considerably in recent years. However, many criticisms have been made by public sector managers concerning the application of such indicators. One of these is that, in many cases, the values measured by different authorities are not comparable, as the services they provide differ significantly. If local authorities were grouped according to the social and economic factors influencing their provision of public services, the evaluations made would be much more effective, facilitating decision-making by supervisory bodies and by municipal managers.

Governmental financial transparency in MERCOSUR member countries

Caba Perez, C., Lopez-Hernandez, A. M. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

In the last century, the MERCOSUR member countries have carried out reforms aimed at achieving better public financial information for governmental decision-taking. Important changes are currently taking place on the international public accounting scene, and the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has published International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), by which it seeks to ensure that governmental financial reports include financial information of sufficient quality to support decision-making by different users, and at the same time to improve the comparability of the financial information presented by public sector bodies throughout the world. In this article, we examine the consistency of the information included by MERCOSUR member countries in their current year-end governmental public financial reports with the public financial reporting practices recommended by IFAC, in order to determine whether further efforts are needed to improve transparency and comparability.

Points for practitioners The article may help government practitioners in MERCOSUR countries to become aware of the divergences which exist regarding the governmental financial information offered by each of the countries in MERCOSUR. Moreover, it could help to set up a common project of account reform which would take IPSAS as its model. This unified framework for accounting policies would increase the coherence of financial information and would establish a common measurement basis to assess the financial results of all of the MERCOSUR countries.

Late 19th century administrative reform in America: re-articulating Hamiltonian thought

O'Hara, J. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

In this article, the intellectual thought of a group of key late 19th century national administrative reformers is isolated and analyzed. These reformers were interested in reforming the civil, military and business administrative functions of the executive branch to provide for greater elite administrative supervision over and intervention in the national society and economy. The reformers often articulated their reform purposes, motives and goals in the Hamiltonian language of administrative authority and popular deference to executive administrative counsels. An important key to understanding this article is recognizing that while environmental social and economic conditions had changed significantly for the Gilded Age reformers since the American constitutional founding, many elements of the Hamiltonian tradition still resonated with the reformers a full century later. In this way, the historically transmitted ideology and rhetoric of Hamiltonian thought can be seen as having an independent, causative impact on the administrative reformers' purposes, motives and goals related to executive administrative reform.

Points for practitioners This article explores an era of American administrative reform that should be of interest to practitioners of administration in other countries. The article's narrative displays a route to reform that is distinct from the more conventionally studied pathways of bureaucratic efficiency and administrative legal mechanisms applied to administrative organizations. The particular American ideas and thinkers examined in this article give a glimpse of a pathway to reform that is absent in many other societies.

Performance, performance, everywhere . . . Critical Books review: Geert Bouckaert and John Halligan (2008), Managing Performance. International Comparisons, London: Routledge. Donald P. Moynihan (2008), The Dynamics of Performance Management. Constructing Information and Reform, Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press. Wouter van Dooren and Steven van de Walle (eds) (2008), Performance Information in the Public Sector. How it is Used, London: Palgrave Macmillan

de Bruijn, H. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

Chronicle of the Institute

Loretan, R. — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:57:04 PDT

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a persistent one: introduction to the performance measurement symposium

Van Dooren, W., Van de Walle, S. — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST

Measuring and monitoring outputs in social care: the problem of measuring quality

Malley, J., Netten, A. — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST

The focus of this article is the measurement of quality within the context of a new approach to measuring government-funded social care services. The approach builds on principles set out in a UK review led by Professor Sir Tony Atkinson. At its heart are the concepts of capacity for benefit, describing the potential benefit to users from services, and quality, reflecting the extent to which the benefit is realized. We report on a study designed to explore the suitability of a weighted user satisfaction measure to measure quality, examining in particular its sensitivity to changes in the quality of social care over time. The study finds some problems with using weighted user satisfaction. We discuss potential reasons for these problems, including the possibility of gaming and the specification of the measure, and discuss a way forward in the context of the requirement to draw upon routine sources of data.

Points for practitioners The article describes a practical approach to measuring and monitoring outcomes and productivity in social care. Routine measures are used as far as possible, weighted to reflect outcomes for services users. The concepts of Capacity for Benefit and quality in this context potentially allow commissioners and managers to distinguish the impact on productivity of: the potential of services as they are currently configured, the dependency of service users, and the quality of delivery. The article identifies key issues and problems in using measures of satisfaction both as performance indicators and monitoring quality of services in the proposed approach.

Perceived efficacy and citizens' attitudes toward welfare state reform

Calzada, I., del Pino, E. — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST

Perceived efficacy of welfare services has never been studied among the variables that determine attitudes toward welfare state reform. Are citizens more prone to accept social expenditure cuts, tax cuts or privatization reforms in welfare programmes when they perceive those programmes as ineffective? With the aim of answering this question, the Spanish case is explored using a 2005 survey carried out by the Spanish Centre for Sociological Research (CIS) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The article analyses citizen attitudes toward four welfare policy areas: health, education, pensions and unemployment protection, and toward the reforms that could be made in them. The results question the usual contention of politicians and practitioners who often suggest that citizens who perceive public services as ineffective would prefer lower public expenditure and taxes to purchase some welfare services in a more effective private sector.

Points for practitioners The findings of the article have implications for decision-makers committed to public service reforms. Our results contradict the contention that in recent years western citizens' attitudes in support of a powerful welfare state are less enthusiastic than they were in the past. At least in some countries, it can be said that the poor performance of welfare programmes perceived by citizens does not necessarily lead them to espouse privatization. Most citizens think that the inefficacy of welfare services is due to their lack of resources and they seem to be inclined to support the improvement and increase of investment in the public services instead of other existing alternatives. Public managers may utilize these findings as a basis for demanding additional resources, but this strategy should not lead them to neglect their striving for more efficient provision of services, since citizens' attitudes may change if inefficacy is prolonged.

Citizen perceptions of road smoothness: evidence from New York with implications for comparative performance measurement

Van Ryzin, G. G. — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST

Citizen surveys have many advantages for comparative performance measurement, particularly across cities, regions or countries that often employ quite different performance indicators and reporting systems. But much debate and skepticism exists about the validity and therefore meaning of subjective ratings of government performance. A recent study of street cleanliness in New York, however, found that citizen perceptions do strongly correlate with objective ratings by trained observers. The present study uses the same New York survey data and analytical approach to test the validity of citizen perceptions of another basic city service, the condition of road surfaces, in comparison to a sophisticated, objective measure of road smoothness conducted by the Fund for the City of New York. In contrast to the street cleanliness findings, the present study finds almost no correlation at all between objective and subjective measures of road smoothness. These results suggest that the validity of citizen surveys depends a great deal on the service or condition being measured. More empirical research on the specific aspects of government performance that citizens can, or cannot, judge well is needed.

Points for practitioners Practitioners often rely on citizen surveys to measure service quality, but they remain uncertain if survey results tell them much about actual government performance. Do citizens perceive government performance as it really is? Or do they view it through a largely subjective lens? Interestingly, it may be a bit of both. This article builds on a prior study that showed how citizens of New York can be quite good judges of the cleanliness of city streets. But using the same data and method, this new study finds that citizens do a decidedly worse job at judging the smoothness of road surfaces. Some guidance is offered about which kinds of services citizens can judge best and how to interpret various service quality ratings captured in a citizen survey.

Convergence without diffusion? A comparative analysis of the choice of performance indicators in tax administration and social security

van Stolk, C., Wegrich, K. — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST

This article cross-nationally compares the choice of performance indicators in two core fields of state activity, tax administration and social security. Exploring the selection of performance indicators in six countries (Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and the US), the article analyses the driving forces for the choice of particular indicators in the context of national administrative traditions and more recent reform agendas on the one hand and the trend towards international exchange and `benchmarking' on the other hand. The article explores the relative significance and interaction of different driving forces of choice and how this shapes the development and application of performance indicators. To that end, it combines instutionalist approaches with the literature on the mechanisms and effects of international exchange and policy diffusion. Our analysis suggests that existing broad similarities are linked to similarities in core activities and values underlying contemporary public service reforms. Variation in the choice of performance indicators (PIs) reflects domestic factors such as governance arrangements through which broad reform trends are filtered. These arrangements also mediate any direct international learning.

Points for practitioners This article aims to contribute to the debate around how organizations could learn from the experience of others in designing performance indicators and management systems. Potential for cross-national and cross-sectional learning is particularly high in categories where a particular organization has not yet developed performance indicators but others have done so already. But any cross-reading from other countries' choices should take into account that the definition and use of performance indicators is to a substantial extent driven by domestic institutional traditions, governance arrangements and wider national approaches to performance management. The design of performance indicators should in particular take into account the accountability relations in which agencies are embedded.

The intricate implementation of performance measurement systems: exploring developments in professional-service organizations in the Dutch non-profit sector

Teelken, C. — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST

Institutional and organizational theory supports the argument that current features of performance measurement systems (PMS) in public organizations are generally unsuitable for the actual nature of these professional organizations. Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies in the health care and higher education sectors in the Netherlands have shown that, despite external pressures, the implementation of such systems is slower than intended and seems to occur outside the primary process of the organization. Two rounds of interviews with quality coordinators in 2003 and 2006 showed that the gap between performance measurement systems and the operational process continued to exist, although its nature had changed. In general, quality coordinators responded pragmatically to the changes imposed upon them, as peer review and collegial trust played a vital part. The empirical findings illustrate that institutional and professional theories supplement each other in a fruitful way.

Points for practitioners Policy-makers in the public sector involved with quality care and assurance should be aware that a well-structured performance measurement system (PMS) is no guarantee of smooth implementation. On the contrary, the implementation deserves attention in its own right. The more sophisticated and demanding the design of PMS, the more likely it is that employees find ways to work round such a system and only use it in a superficial or compliant manner. If implementation is not taken seriously into account, this will only lead to a greater gap between reality and rhetoric.

How to attract and retain the best in government

Pan Suk Kim, — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST

The purpose of this article is to discuss challenges and strategies of attracting and retaining the best in government, particularly from the perspective of government in developing countries or transitional economies. This article will first touch briefly on the technical and practical issues of how to attract and retain the best, followed by an elaboration of current trends in human resource management (HRM). It will also look at a case of the Korean experience on HRM, followed by discussion of the theoretical and policy implications on HRM. Various kinds of best practices and new ideas are available through diverse venues around the world, but it is difficult to determine what really works for whom and how. It is not feasible to apply the same reform strategy to all countries. The challenge is, therefore, to find out what is applicable to the specific country; and how things can be applied while minimizing negative consequences.

Points for the practitioners Under rapidly changing circumstances around the world with increasing pressure on performance and innovation in government, old-fashioned personnel management must be significantly transformed, in order to attract and retain the best in government as well as to win the war for talent. Thus HR managers should initiate far-reaching, much needed change in talent management in terms of how they source, attract, select, train, develop, retain, promote, and move employees through the organization. In order to make government the model employer of choice, HR managers need to make a new Copernican transition in finding a new way of human resource management.

The training of civil servants in the Slovene state administration: issues in introducing training evaluation

Vukovic, G., Zavrsnik, B., Rodic, B., Miglic, G. — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST

The state administration in Slovenia is undergoing its biggest reform since the country's secession from Yugoslavia in 1991. The civil servants need to adjust to a large number of changes in a very short time. They face a continually changing regulatory framework that they need to implement and enforce, as well as new demands from the growing private sector and citizens at large. These challenges can only be met by highly qualified civil servants who are constantly updating their qualifications. Therefore systematic in-service training is crucial to keep the civil servants competent in a rapidly changing environment.

This article examines the practices of training evaluation in a branch of Slovene state administration. The article compares the attitudes of employees towards evaluation with the assumption that significant differences may exist among the attitudes of employees of different demographic characteristics.

After having identified a conceptual framework that examines the notion of training evaluation among civil servants, the research questions related to determinants and consequences of evaluation were explored. Research assessing the influence of respondents' demographic characteristics was conducted among a population of civil servants, and 414 responses were gathered. The results obtained indicate that the influence of hierarchical position prevailed, although the managers (leading civil servants) are less involved in evaluation than expected. Empirical data also demonstrate that the majority of employees are willing to participate in permanent and transparent training evaluation.

Points for practitioners This article may be of interest to researchers and managers involved in the planning and evaluation of civil servant training. Evaluation of the results of training presents feedback information to the training managers and is a key component in the systematic approach to training. The article sheds light on the relationship between demographic characteristics of training participants and their attitude towards training evaluation, and may help managers develop a systematic training model that will be better tailored to the demographic characteristics of their target group.

Tsunami engulfs Sri Lankan governance

Samaratunge, R., Coghill, K., Herath, H.M.A. — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST

The features of governance during the provision of relief immediately following the 2004 tsunami, the restoration of key services and facilities, and the longer term rebuilding of damaged/destroyed infrastructure, in the Galle District of Sri Lanka, are investigated in this case study. Interview data revealed that recovery attempts were significantly weakened by the lack of collaboration among key players at the central and the district level. In particular, at the district level, interactions among key stakeholders have lacked focus and were ad hoc. We argue that despite the growing recognition of the advantages of the integration of the actions of various state and non-state actors in such governance, government appears to be reluctant to move away from the existing `command and control mode' of governance. As a result, transaction costs of governance were excessive, and the resources allocated for reconstruction were either misused or left underutilized.

Points for practitioners Following a major disaster there is enormous goodwill, with willingness to overlook previous divisions and partisan interests. However, this is fragile and easily dissipated. It must be deliberately preserved and built on. Practitioners should seize the opportunity to build collaborative relationships and to reform administrative processes to facilitate the delivery of supplies and services, giving priority according to need. Advice to the political executive must emphasize the urgency and public interest in drawing on all available human, financial and physical resources through collaborative arrangements involving all sources, including the public service at each level of government, business and non-government organizations.

Critical Book Review: Christopher Pollitt, Time, Policy, Management: Governing with the Past Reviewed by Fabio Rugge

Rugge, F. — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST

Chronicle of the Institute

Loretan, R. — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 06:38:24 PST