Managerial performance of Palestinian local authorities

2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 350-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nidal Rashid Sabri ◽  
Rania Yaser Jaber
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Public Official ◽  
Job Descriptions ◽  
Internal Auditor ◽  
Managerial Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Municipal Employees ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis study aims to analyze major concerns facing the Palestinian local governments in order to increase efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency in managing local governments.Design/methodology/approachA special questionnaire was developed to collect the perception of the municipalities' officials; thus qualitative data analysis has been done to analyze the answers.FindingsThe study found that the efficiency of local government is still limited in the Palestinian municipalities, including the absence of an internal auditor, the absence of written job descriptions for municipality functions, the weakness participation of the public. The study pointed out that the major‐managerial problems are similar to other experiences of emerging countries such as the undefined local‐central relation, the low participation and involvement of citizens in municipalities' activities and plans, and the lack of existing transparency aspects.Practical implicationsThere is a need for open public‐official sessions of municipal councils and the need for periodical meetings for senior officials with the Mayer of the municipality; in addition, there is a need to conduct annual periodical evaluation for measuring the performance of municipal employees.Originality/valueThis paper presented the features of the local‐government performance in Palestine in order to enhance the management efficiency of local governments and enhance the contribution of the related groups of communities.

scholarly journals Financial statements disclosure on Indonesian local government websites

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-128
Author(s):  
Wahyudin Nor ◽  
Muhammad Hudaya ◽  
Rifqi Novriyandana
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Audit Opinion ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
The Public ◽  
Government Websites

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which audit opinion, audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local governments’ commitment influence the disclosure of financial statements on the official website of local government. Design/methodology/approach The data of this research comprise 68 financial statements during the period 2015–2016 collected from 34 local governments across Indonesia by employing the census method. The data then are analyzed using logistic regression. Findings The results of this study show that audit opinion has a positive significant influence on the disclosure of financial statements on local government websites in Indonesia, while the audit findings, follow-up audit recommendations, level of education, level of welfare and heads of local governments’ commitment have no significant influences on the disclosure of financial statements local governments’ websites across Indonesia. Originality/value The study contributes to the public sector accounting research by enhancing our understanding to the disclosure of financial statements on local government websites.

A decision model for municipal resources management

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 3015-3034 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley Suellen Thesari ◽  
Flavio Trojan ◽  
Dayse Regina Batistus
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Life Quality ◽  
Public Budget ◽  
City Development ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Government Management ◽  
The Government ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a model to support governmental local managers in public budget optimization, based on an integration of methods. It was constructed to fill the gap related to weights definition in problematic, commonly performed subjective assessments. This model supports the decision making in budget distribution identifying the importance of sectors in local governments, captured by historical data. Design/methodology/approach The model was developed following three steps: the first step included the exploitation of the characteristics of local sectors represented by city departments and the data collection procedure using time series (TS). In the second one, the weights regarding the importance of each city department were calculated by the UTASTAR method and based on historical data from the first step. Finally, an objective function was formulated using linear programming and constraints based on law specifications, and as a result, an optimized projection for public budget distribution was performed. Findings The results demonstrated that the model can be more efficient to weights definition, considering the behavior of preferences by historical data and supporting local public resources optimization, also to comply with the legislation, being able to predict or project future values available on the budget. Research limitations/implications The theoretical and practical implications are related with a novelty in recognizing the weights for criteria by a historical behavior of preferences. It can be bringing important directions for budget distribution. The main limitation detected in this study was the difficulty to formulate an assessment involving an integrated opinion from local managers and the population. Practical implications First of all, with the correct allocation of resources, the government has a greater advantage to capture investments from the negotiation with development entities and banks. Second, an efficient local government management can promote compliance with legislation and more transparent public policies. Social implications The correct distribution of resources affects the life quality for citizens, since the government acts as a provider of essential services for the population like education, safety, health, particularly for citizens who depend exclusively on the services offered by the local government. Moreover, it can also affect the environment as resources for garbage collection, disposal services and sanitation and, finally, affect the city development such as infrastructure, taxes, etc. Originality/value It might be considered an original contribution mainly by the development of a procedure to capture values for weights by TS and meeting the manager’s requirements, based on analytical, statistical and mathematical tools integrated.

Capability versus efficiency: contracting out park and road services in Norway

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 474-487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merethe Dotterud Leiren ◽  
Andrej Christian Lindholst ◽  
Ingjerd Solfjeld ◽  
Thomas Barfoed Randrup
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Road Maintenance ◽  
Contracting Out ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Service Production ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Local Road

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the extent of, rationales for and outcomes of contracting out in the local road and park sectors in Norway. For understanding the use of contracting out in local governments, it highlights the relevance of the capability perspective in organisational literature as an alternative to the standard efficiency perspective. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on four expert interviews and survey data gathered from park and road managers in Norwegian municipalities in 2015. Findings – The study suggests that Norwegian municipalities primarily contract out park and road maintenance services when they do not have the capability to perform these services themselves. Cost concerns are also highlighted but of less importance. Moreover, lack of competition renders the use of contracting out as a potentially costly and less satisfying arrangement for organising service delivery. Research limitations/implications – While the scope is limited to one country, Norway, future research may benefit from the theoretical perspectives, which have been used. Practical implications – Policy guidelines should support a flexible use of various arrangements for service provision. Originality/value – The dominating view among proponents of marketisation in the public sector suggests that contracting out to private contractors is undertaken to enhance economic efficiency compared to keeping service production in-house. This study suggests that this is not always the case – even in “most likely” sectors such as park and road maintenance.

Psychological factors: self- and circumstances-caused fraud triggers

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dian Anita Nuswantara ◽  
Ach Maulidi
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Fraud Triangle ◽  
Theoretical Discussion ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Self And Other ◽  
The Public ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Executive Managers

Purpose This paper aims to provide new understanding of fraudulent behaviour by offering different theoretical discussion on the fraud causation. Design/methodology/approach The authors interviewed 15 executive managers in one of Indonesia local governments, by using semi-structured questions. Findings The authors explored the dynamics of both self- and other-directed factors in the spread of fraudulent behaviours, by focusing on the public-sector fraud landscape in local government. As a basis of analysis, the authors applied the theory of planned behaviours. In this study, “a concept of fraud triangle” substantially provides little help in elucidating the causation of fraudulent behaviours in local government. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. Originality/value This study offers new direction on broadening and deepening fraud literature and theories about the root causes of fraudulent behaviours.

The sticky cost phenomenon at the local government level: empirical evidence from Greece

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Cohen ◽  
Sotirios Karatzimas ◽  
Vassilios-Christos Naoum
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cost Behaviour ◽  
Asymmetric Cost ◽  
Cost Stickiness

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the asymmetric cost behaviour in Greek local governments. More precisely, it investigates whether municipality costs show stickiness or anti-stickiness behaviour after increases or decreases in the stream of their revenues. Design/methodology/approach The Anderson et al.’s (2003) approach is adapted to the public sector environment by using types of expenses and revenues typical to the local government setting. The data sample consists of 1,852 observations of Greek municipalities for the period 2002-2008. Findings The empirical evidence suggests that local government managers adjust resources related to administrative services faster when revenues decrease than when they rise (anti-stickiness cost behaviour). On the contrary, they adjust costs of service provision which are associated with core activities asymmetrically; more quickly for upward than for downward activity changes (cost stickiness behaviour). Research limitations/implications While prior studies examine the sticky cost phenomenon in the private sector, this study explores this phenomenon in the public sector through a data sample of municipalities. Local governments constitute an appealing and unique setting for the examination of asymmetric cost behaviour due to the existence of a strong political influence, which appears to affect rational economic decision making, and their non-profit character, which prevents them from acting in a business-like manner. Practical implications Understanding how cost stickiness works inside local understanding how cost stickiness works inside local governments, could lead to an understanding of its implications in periods of cutback measures. Decreases in municipalities’ subsidies and grants as a result of cutbacks in central government expenditures should not be expected to automatically result in symmetric savings in expenditures as corresponding increases in expenditures when revenues used to grow. At the same time, it might be difficult to achieve balanced budgets in municipalities when there is a considerable decrease in revenues, without having to make considerable adjustments to the input values, the output and the mix of services offered by them. Originality/value This study contributes to the accounting literature by expanding the understanding of how deliberate decisions influence the asymmetric cost behaviour in local governments, to different cost categories (administrative expenses and cost of service provision) and different revenue categories (grants, tax revenues and revenues from sales of goods and services).

HRM practices and post-promotion managerial performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vathsala Wickramasinghe ◽  
Melanie Samaratunga
Keyword(s):  
Selection Criteria ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Survey Methodology ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Job Descriptions ◽  
Managerial Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Hrm Practices ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and post-promotion performance of managers from subordinates’ perspective. Design/methodology/approach – For the study, survey methodology was used and 391 respondents who fulfilled selection criteria set for the study responded. The hypothesised relationships were examined by regression analysis. Findings – It was found that the job description and promotion practices have significant relationship with post-promotion performance. Practical implications – The findings imply the importance of promotion practices and the need of maintaining and using job descriptions in facilitating post-promotion performance. Originality/value – Several previous studies investigated the post-promotion managerial performance based on mathematical modelling and single firm case studies. However, it is very rare to find academic research that investigated the relationship between HRM practices and post-promotion performance of managers.

Public interest and accrual accounting: are they aligned?

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia ◽  
Eko Ganis Sukoharsono ◽  
Yeney Widya Prihatiningtias ◽  
Roekhuddin
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Government Accountability ◽  
Accrual Accounting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the merits of accrual-based accounting for the public in an Indonesian local government. It gives insights into the connection between the new practices and responses from government apparatus. Design/methodology/approach The paper applies genetic structuralism from Pierre Bourdieu to study the interrelation of habitus, field and capital in the accrual accounting implementation. Findings The result indicates a symbolic dominance of central government in the implementation of accrual-based accounting in the local government. Accrual accounting is considered to be a technique of government accountability which is independent from political and social situation. Practical implications The accrual accounting implementation preoccupies the government officials in their study of the preparation of financial statements while its utilization to increase the public welfare is still ignored. Social implications The government still prioritizes accountability and transparency for managerial and political purposes. Hence, the public interest is less superior compared with the formalities established between governments – the central government and local governments – and the regional legislator. Originality/value This paper contributes to the evaluation of the alignment of government policy with the public interest.

The future of e-government

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
High Profile ◽  
Success Stories ◽  
The Media ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds his/her own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings For many, the term “e-government” has become a contradiction in terms, such are the number of high-profile cases of technology solutions failing to be delivered by national and local governments alike. Whether it is problems with electronic voting, failure to implement a national identity database or simply running over budget due to increasing IT costs, the media seems to delight in reporting such issues. It has to be said that “IT system implemented on budget and on time” is hardly the most engaging headline, so many success stories are probably simply ignored or go unreported, but there is nevertheless a feeling that the public sector has real problems when it comes to IT delivery. Practical implications This paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The change in environmental perception in strategic plans: the case of local governments in Turkey

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahmut Hiziroglu
Keyword(s):  
Local Governments ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Strategic Plans ◽  
Metropolitan Municipalities ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Insight Into

PurposeThis study aims to find out whether strategic plans contribute to change by exploring to what extent environmental (external and internal) perceptions of the public institutions changed in consecutive plans.Design/methodology/approachThe research is an explorative case study of three metropolitan municipalities in Turkey: Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, which represent about one-third of population of the country. In this context, three consecutive strategic plans of metropolitan municipalities in question were examined based on a content analysis using a guideline developed by the author.FindingsThe findings reveal that the use of strategic plans as a guide is indispensable. The study argues that consecutive strategic plans of metropolitan municipalities are both conducive to change and are useful tools for the effectiveness of the strategy.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this study analyses the strategic plans regardless of considering the extent to which the institutions have achieved their desired goals, it recommends that the “strategic plans” should not only be used as rituals but also as a guide to change.Practical implicationsThe study emphasizes the fact that strategic plans provide managers with the necessary tools to perform an analysis that gives insight into the extent to which they are able to manage the change when they compare their strategic plans and put them into practice in the consecutive periods.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the field by questioning the basis of criticisms of strategic planning in the context of public sector and shows how strategic plans play a role in tracing the change in institutions.

Shapeholders: managing them as allies, partners and significant constituents

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleksiy Osiyevskyy ◽  
Vladyslav Biloshapka
Keyword(s):  
Business Models ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Business Success ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
The Public ◽  
Short Run ◽  
Common Interests ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The authors review the concept of building relationships with Shapeholders,: a broad group of players that have no financial stake in the company yet can substantively influence it. The process for doing this is the subject of a new book by Mark Kennedy, Shapeholders: Business success in the age of social activism. Design/methodology/approach The authors examine Mark Kennedy’s framework for managing the firm’s shapeholders, a model composed of seven basic steps (7A’s): Align with a purpose, Anticipate, Assess, Avert, Acquiesce, Advance common interests, and Assemble to win. Findings Managing corporate reputation in alliance with enlightened shapeholders is a potential defense against self-aggrandizing schemes to wantonly maximize shareholder value in the short run. Practical implications Managing shapeholders is part of the messy democratic process that works when power is apportioned fairly among those affected by a firm’s decisions, and this process underpins the winning business models of true market leaders. Social implications Stakeholders previously discredited as mere “mosquitos” have gained new power, particularly when their legitimate concerns and unfair treatment resonate with the interests of a significant segment of the public and influential shapeholders. Originality/value Shapeholders can create enormous opportunities for smart managers capable of effectively engaging with them.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document