Public management innovations in the United Arab Emirates: rationales, trends and outcomes

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-415
Author(s):  
Saba Khalid ◽  
Abu Elias Sarker

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the rationales for, the trends and the impacts of innovations in the public management system of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach This study has adopted an interpretative and exploratory approach. To this end, extensive reviews have been made of government documents, reports of international organizations and relevant academic research articles. Findings The findings show that the UAE Government has embarked on a massive innovation program to bring dynamism and to feed the requirements of the UAE Vision 2021. As pressured by both external and internal forces, the directions of innovations in the UAE public management system correspond to the global trends. The results of innovations are positive in terms of the enhancement of efficiency, effectiveness, citizens’ satisfaction and citizens’ trust in public services. Originality/value This paper links theoretical insights from different sources to analyze the dynamics of public management innovations in the UAE which will be helpful for further comprehensive empirical research in the future.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgia Mattei ◽  
Giuseppe Grossi ◽  
James Guthrie A.M.

Purpose Public sector auditing research has changed rapidly over the past four decades. This paper aims to reveal how the field has developed and identify avenues for future research. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a structured literature review following Massaro et al. The sample comprises papers on public sector auditing published in accounting and public sector management journals between 1991 and 2020. Findings The present analysis highlights that academic research interest in public sector auditing has grown and become more diverse. The authors argue this may reflect a transformation of the public sector in recent decades, owing to the developing institutional logics of public sector reforms, from traditional public administration to new public management and now new public governance. Originality value This paper offers a comprehensive review of the public sector auditing literature, discussing different perspectives over time. It also outlines the various public sector reforms introduced over the period of the study. In reviewing the existing literature, the authors highlight the themes for future research and policy settings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abu Elias Sarker ◽  
Mohammad Habibur Rahman

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the rationale for using social engineering as a tool to impact the nationalization of workforce in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Design/methodology/approachInterpretative and exploratory approaches have been employed for this research. Accordingly, the study has extensively reviewed government documents, reports of international organizations and relevant academic literature, including journal articles, conference papers and unpublished dissertations.FindingsThe findings show that the UAE Government has initiated multiple policies and programs to enhance participation of indigenous Emiratis in the burgeoning labor market which has been hitherto dominated by the expatriates. However, while the Emiratization programs are on the verge of fulfilling the targets in the public sector job market, significant gaps exist between the targets and accomplishments in the private sector, causing policy concern.Originality/valueThis paper links theoretical insights from the social engineering model used in the social sciences research to analyze the dynamics of workforce nationalization. The study will be helpful to inform further empirical research in this area.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 202-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Hartley

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of some pressing but under-researched aspects of public leadership. Ten propositions about public leadership are set out and these are intended to be thought-provoking and even controversial in order to stimulate researchers to design research which addresses key theoretical and practical questions about leadership in the public sphere. They will also help practitioners navigate an increasingly complex leadership context.Design/methodology/approachThis invited essay uses ten propositions about public leadership, selected from three sources: the leadership literature, the author’s own research and from collaborative research discussions with academics, policy makers and practitioners.FindingsThe first proposition argues for distinguishing public leadership from public service leadership given that the former is about leadership of the public sphere. Other propositions concern context; purpose; conflict and contest at the heart of public leadership; leadership with political astuteness; dual leadership; leadership projections; fostering resilience; leadership, authority and legitimacy; and the challenge to researchers to use research designs which reflect the complexity and dynamism of public leadership.Practical implicationsWhile this essay is primarily addressed to researchers, there are many ideas and concepts which practising leaders will find insightful and useful in their work.Originality/valueThis essay draws on deep experience in undertaking high-quality academic research about public leadership which draws from and feeds into policy and practice. It utilises organisational psychology, public management and political science to create synergies in order to enhance the understanding of public leadership.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arber Balani ◽  
Olga Vladimirovna Glushakova ◽  
Yaroslava Vaysberg ◽  
Natalia Vasilievna Fadeikina ◽  
Vladimir Vasilevich Mikhailov ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrizia Garengo ◽  
Alberto Sardi

PurposeSince the 1980s, performance measurement and management (PMM) has been described as an essential element of new public management (NPM) reforms. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of the art and future research opportunities for PMM in public sector management.Design/methodology/approachThe paper carried out a bibliometric literature review using two main techniques named (1) performance analysis and (2) science mapping techniques. It investigated the academic research area describing the main publications' trend, the conceptual structure and its evolution from 1996 to 2019.FindingsThe results highlighted the growing relevance of PMM research in public organisations and confirmed a great interest of the business, management and accounting literature on PMM in public sector management. Furthermore, the results also described a conceptual structure of the public PMM literature analysed and its evolution being too generic to answer public organisations' needs. The results identified five main research gaps and research opportunities.Originality/valueAlthough the adoption of rigorous bibliometric techniques was recognised as being useful for assessing the academic research study, the paper describes the business, management and accounting literature contributing to new theoretical and practical future opportunities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ileana Steccolini

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect various pathways for public sector accounting and accountability research in a post-new public management (NPM) context. Design/methodology/approach The paper first discusses the relationship between NPM and public sector accounting research. It then explores the possible stimuli that inter-disciplinary accounting scholars may derive from recent public administration studies, public policy and societal trends, highlighting possible ways to extend public sector accounting research and strengthen dialogue with other disciplines. Findings NPM may have represented a golden age, but also a “golden cage,” for the development of public sector accounting research. The paper reflects possible ways out of this golden cage, discussing future avenues for public sector accounting research. In doing so, it highlights the opportunities offered by re-considering the “public” side of accounting research and shifting the attention from the public sector, seen as a context for public sector accounting research, to publicness, as a concept central to such research. Originality/value The paper calls for stronger engagement with contemporary developments in public administration and policy. This could be achieved by looking at how public sector accounting accounts for, but also impacts on, issues of wider societal relevance, such as co-production and hybridization of public services, austerity, crises and wicked problems, the creation and maintenance of public value and democratic participation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 737-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherine Farouk ◽  
Fauzia Jabeen

PurposeResearch about ethical governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the United Arab Emirates is still in its infancy. This study aims to explore the public sector employee’s perception toward ethical climate, codes of ethics and CSR and its impact on organizational performance. This research sheds light on the link between formalized ethical procedures and employee responses including CSR, organizational engagement and organizational performance.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 426 middle-level public sector employees in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, using structural equation modeling to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe findings of this study suggest that an ethical climate is an important organizational component, and that the incorporation of effective codes of ethics and CSR initiatives is desired. Perceptions of public sector employees are positively influenced by the organization’s ethical climate and CSR activities, which in turn affect organizational performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe study provides managerial insights for improving the ethical climate and CSR within the public sector context in the United Arab Emirates.Practical implicationsThe study offers implications for public sector employers and points out that public sector employers should formulate policies to boost the ethics and CSR environment at workplace to attain competitive advantage.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the literature by being one of the first to study organizational ethical climate and CSR within a Middle Eastern public sector context and offers implications for theory and practice.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 280-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee D. Parker ◽  
Kerry Jacobs ◽  
Jana Schmitz

Purpose In the context of global new public management reform trends and the associated phenomenon of performance auditing (PA), the purpose of this paper is to explore the rise of performance audit in Australia and examines its focus across audit jurisdictions and the role key stakeholders play in driving its practice. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a multi-jurisdictional analysis of PA in Australia to explore its scale and focus, drawing on the theoretical tools of Goffman. Documentary analysis and interview methods are employed. Findings Performance audit growth has continued but not always consistently over time and across audit jurisdictions. Despite auditor discourse concerning backstage performance audit intentions being strongly focussed on evaluating programme outcomes, published front stage reports retain a strong control focus. While this appears to reflect Auditors-General (AGs) reluctance to critique government policy, nonetheless there are signs of direct and indirectly recursive relationships emerging between AGs and parliamentarians, the media and the public. Research limitations/implications PA merits renewed researcher attention as it is now an established process but with ongoing variability in focus and stakeholder influence. Social implications As an audit technology now well-embedded in the public sector accountability setting, it offers potential insights into matters of local, state and national importance for parliament and the public, but exhibits variable underlying drivers, agendas and styles of presentation that have the capacity to enhance or detract from the public interest. Originality/value Performance audit emerges as a complex practice deployed as a mask by auditors in managing their relationship with key stakeholders.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 286-298
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Ewa Sienkiewicz-Małyjurek ◽  
Barbara Kożuch ◽  
Jeremi Szczygłowski

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to recognition and understanding of the inter-organisational learning processes in the public safety management system. Design/methodology/approach The findings presented in this paper are based on empirical data including: first, desk research in the scope of inter-organisational learning; second, participant observation conducted in the Provincial Headquarters of the State Fire Service in the Silesia Province in the years 2013–2014; third, hermeneutic process within a focus group of scholars conducted in December 2014 within a four-person group of researchers. The carried out studies have shown the usefulness of the three-loop learning model appliance. Findings The paper analyses the course of inter-organisational learning in dynamic and uncertain operating conditions. As a result, the main methods and effects of inter-organisational learning in the public safety management system are identified. Originality/value The paper adds a new value to understanding of inter-organisational learning in the framework of public safety management by driving attention to the importance of inter-organisational learning and its practical use. It also provides a useful research model for investigating inter-organisational learning and effective public safety management.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 268-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen ◽  
Shayegheh Ashourizadeh ◽  
Kent Wickstrøm Jensen ◽  
Thomas Schøtt ◽  
Yuan Cheng

Purpose Entrepreneurs are networking with others to get advice for their businesses. The networking differs between men and women; notably, men are more often networking for advice in the public sphere and women are more often networking for advice in the private sphere. The purpose of this study is to account for how such gendering of entrepreneurs’ networks of advisors differs between societies and cultures. Design/methodology/approach Based on survey data from the Global Entrepreneurships Monitor, a sample of 16,365 entrepreneurs is used to compare the gendering of entrepreneurs’ networks in China and five countries largely located around the Persian Gulf, namely Yemen, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Findings Analyses show that female entrepreneurs tend to have slightly larger private sphere networks than male entrepreneurs. The differences between male and female entrepreneurs’ networking in the public sphere are considerably larger. Societal differences in the relative prominence of networking in the public and private spheres, and the gendering hereof, correspond well to cultural and socio-economic societal differences. In particular, the authors found marked differences among the religiously conservative and politically autocratic Gulf states. Research limitations/implications As a main limitation to this study, the data disclose only the gender of the entrepreneur, but not the gender of each advisor in the network around the entrepreneur. Thus, the authors cannot tell the extent to which men and women interact with each other. This limitation along with the findings of this study point to a need for further research on the extent to which genders are structurally mixed or separated as entrepreneurs network for advice in the public sphere. In addition, the large migrant populations in some Arab states raise questions of the ethnicity of entrepreneurs and advisors. Originality/value Results from this study create novel and nuanced understandings about the differences in the gendering of entrepreneurs’ networking in China and countries around Persian Gulf. Such understandings provide valuable input to the knowledge of how to better use the entrepreneurial potential from both men and women in different cultures. The sample is fairly representative of entrepreneur populations, and the results can be generalized to these countries.


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