Accounting for unstable environments in the public sector: managing post-COVID-19 times

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Bastida ◽  
Enrico Bracci ◽  
Zahirul Hoque
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
New Normal ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Sector Organizations ◽  
New Research

PurposeThis paper aims at reflecting on the role of accounting and accountability mechanisms in pre-COVID-19 conditions and how it may evolve in “new normal”, post-COVID-19 conditions.Design/methodology/approachMoving from the papers in this special issue, the authors draw on the literature on the social construction and reflective approaches to understand pre- and post-COVID-19 events and the role of accounting therein.FindingsThe “new normal” may exacerbated the difficulty of public sector organizations to manage the uncertainties and risks associated to the new context. While “old” wicked issues remain, such as social inclusion, poverty and corruption, new ones come. The authors speculate on the “new” and “old” roles accounting and accountability can play to support governments.Originality/valueThe paper contributes by setting new research avenues for future studies in a post-COVID-19 era.

Lean Six Sigma for public sector organizations: is it a myth or reality?

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 1402-1411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiju Antony ◽  
Bryan Rodgers ◽  
Elizabeth A. Cudney
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Six Sigma ◽  
Lean Six Sigma ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Improvement Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Organizations ◽  
Potential Applications

Purpose Lean Six Sigma (LSS) as a process excellence has been widely adopted in both manufacturing and service organizations; however, its application in the public sector has not been widely explored. Is LSS still a myth or reality in our public sector organizations? The purpose of this paper is to make an attempt to debate about the use of LSS and its potential applications in the public sector context. Design/methodology/approach The initial approach is to critically evaluate the role of LSS in various public sector contexts, followed by showcasing four case studies from four different public sector settings: higher education, police service, public hospital and local government. Findings LSS methodology can be embraced by all public sector organizations to create efficient and effective processes to provide enhanced customer experience and value at reduced operational costs. Research limitations/implications This paper seeks to contribute to and broaden the limited body of evidence of the applicability of LSS to public sector organizations and identifies areas for further research and review. Practical implications LSS will continue to grow across many public sector organizations in Europe and other parts of the world over the forthcoming years. However, what will eventually determine if LSS is viewed by public sector organizations as just a passing management fad or not largely depends on the leadership and success of its execution. If LSS is deployed in its true sense across the public sector organizations at a global level, the hard cash savings generated can reach several billions. Originality/value The paper yields an immense value to both research scholars and practitioners who are engaged in the introduction of LSS as a business process improvement strategy to achieve and sustain competitive advantage. Moreover, this paper makes an attempt to dispel the myth of LSS which have been quite prevalent in many public sector organizations around us today.

The 2016 Police and Crime Commissioner elections

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Joyce
Keyword(s):  
Public Awareness ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Source Material ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Government

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the 2016 elections for Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) and to compare them with those that took place in 2012. It seeks to evaluate the background of the candidates who stood for office in 2016, the policies that they put forward, the results of the contests and the implications of the 2016 experience for future PCC elections. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based around several key themes – the profile of candidates who stood for election, preparations conducted prior to the contests taking place, the election campaign and issues raised during the contests, the results and the profile of elected candidates. The paper is based upon documentary research, making particular use of primary source material. Findings The research establishes that affiliation to a political party became the main route for successful candidates in 2016 and that local issues related to low-level criminality will dominate the future policing agenda. It establishes that although turnout was higher than in 2012, it remains low and that further consideration needs to be devoted to initiatives to address this for future PCC election contests. Research limitations/implications The research focusses on the 2016 elections and identifies a number of key issues that emerged during the campaign affecting the conduct of the contests which have a bearing on future PCC elections. It treats these elections as a bespoke topic and does not seek to place them within the broader context of the development of the office of PCC. Practical implications The research suggests that in order to boost voter participation in future PCC election contests, PCCs need to consider further means to advertise the importance of the role they perform and that the government should play a larger financial role in funding publicity for these elections and consider changing the method of election. Social implications The rationale for introducing PCCs was to empower the public in each police force area. However, issues that include the enhanced importance of political affiliation as a criteria for election in 2016 and the social unrepresentative nature of those who stood for election and those who secured election to this office in these contests coupled with shortcomings related to public awareness of both the role of PCCs and the timing of election contests threaten to undermine this objective. Originality/value The extensive use of primary source material ensures that the subject matter is original and its interpretation is informed by an academic perspective.

Leveraging business intelligence systems to enhance management control and business process performance in the public sector

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Z. Elbashir ◽  
Steve G. Sutton ◽  
Vicky Arnold ◽  
Philip A. Collier
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Performance Measurement ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Top Management ◽  
Process Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Organizations

Purpose Recent research and policy reports indicate public sector organizations struggle to leverage information technology-based performance measurement systems and fail to effectively evaluate performance beyond financial metrics. This study aims to focus on organizational factors that influence the assimilation of business intelligence (BI) systems into integrated management control systems and the corollary impact on improving business process performance within public sector organizations. Design/methodology/approach The complete Australian client list was acquired from a leading BI vendor; and the authors surveyed all public sector organizations, receiving 226 individual responses representing 160 public sector organizations in Australia. Using latent construct measurement, structural equation modeling (SEM)-partial least squares is used to test the theoretical model. Findings When top management promotes knowledge creation among the organization’s operational level employees and support their activities with strong BI infrastructure, the same knowledge and infrastructure capabilities that are critical to assimilation in private sector hold in the public sector. However, public sector organizations generally have difficulty retaining staff with expertise in new technologies and attracting new innovative staff that can leverage smart systems to effect major change in performance measurement. When top management effectively manages knowledge importation from external entities to counteract deficiencies, public sector organizations effectively assimilate BI knowledge into performance measurement yielding strong process performance. Research limitations/implications When top management promotes knowledge creation among the organization’s operational level employees and support their activities with strong BI infrastructure, the same knowledge and infrastructure capabilities critical to assimilation in the private sector hold in the public sector. However, public sector organizations generally have difficulty retaining staff with expertise in new technologies and attracting new innovative staff that can leverage smart systems to effect major change in performance measurement. The research extends the theory behind organizational absorptive capacity by highlighting how knowledge importation can be used as an external source facilitating internal knowledge creation. This collaborative knowledge creation leads to affective assimilation of BI technologies and associated performance gains. Practical implications The results provide guidance to public sector organizations that struggle to measure and validate service outcomes under New Public Management regulations and mandates. Originality/value The results reveal that consistent with the philosophies behind New Public Management strategies, private sector measures for increasing organizational absorptive capacity can be applied in the public sector. However, knowledge importation appears to be a major catalyst in the public sector where the resources to retain skilled professionals with an ability to leverage contemporary technologies into service performance are often very limited. Top management team knowledge and skills are critical to effectively leveraging these internal and external knowledge creation mechanisms.

Social Inclusion and OmbudsOffice Websites in Canada

2014 ◽  
pp. 199-214
Author(s):  
Stewart Hyson
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Online Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Sector Organizations ◽  
Independent Mechanism

The Internet and digital technology provide great potential for public sector organizations to broaden their scope of social inclusion and thereby better serve the populace. This is especially the case of the Ombudsman institution that exists to provide the public with an independent mechanism through which members of the public may seek redress of grievances of alleged administrative wrongdoings. However has the potential of what has been a reality in Canada been realized? This chapter takes a user's approach to depict what users find when they go online to lodge complaints with OmbudsOffices, both federally and provincially in Canada. For the most part, Canadian OmbudsOffices have been relatively conservative by placing online information that is also found in printed format.

scholarly journals Validation of Arnaud’s ethical climate index by public sector auditors in Malaysia

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-358
Author(s):  
Chew Har Loke ◽  
Suhaiza Ismail ◽  
A.H. Fatima
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Ethical Climate ◽  
Climate Index ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ethical Work Climate ◽  
Main Components

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically test Arnaud’s (2010) ethical climate index (ECI) of measuring ethical work climate (EWC) in the context of Malaysian public sector auditors (PSAs). Design/methodology/approach EWC is conceptualized as four main components with two sub-components. Questionnaires were distributed to the population of PSAs in the Malaysian National Audit Department (NAD). Factor analysis (principal component analysis [PCA]) was used to verify the components of EWC. Findings Results from PCA revealed that EWC, indeed, has four main components. Therefore, the findings of this study provide empirical evidence that validates Arnaud’s (2010) EWC model, although tested on PSAs in Malaysia. Research limitations/implications This paper has a limited purpose, which is to test whether the ECI could be applied to PSAs in Malaysia to derive the original four main components of Arnaud’s EWC. Thus, this study does not evaluate the EWC of PSAs or determine causal relationships between EWC and other variables; these are left to future studies. Practical implications The findings of this study confirm that Arnaud’s (2010) ECI is sufficiently resilient to be applied to the context of PSAs in Malaysia. Hence, future studies could use this index to measure EWC not only in the public sector but also in the private sector. Future research could also further test this index in different contexts. Originality/value Arnaud’s (2010) ECI was originally applied in the context of the private sector in a developed country. Hence, this study adds value by extending the ECI to the public sector in a developing country, Malaysia.

Social participation in the definition of budgetary instruments

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 737-755
Author(s):  
Luiz Antonio Felix Júnior ◽  
Wênyka Preston Leite Batista da Costa ◽  
Luciana Gondim de Almeida Guimarães ◽  
Glauber Ruan Barbosa Pereira ◽  
Walid Abbas El-Aouar
Keyword(s):  
Social Participation ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Popular Participation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Public Resources ◽  
Definition Of

Purpose The participation of society is a valuable aspect of the governability of cities, for it strengthens the citizens’ collaborative component. Such participation, which is seen as social, is considered an essential element for the design of a smart city. This study aims to identify the factors that contribute to social participation in the definition of budgetary instruments’ planning. Design/methodology/approach Concerning the methodological instruments, this study is characterised by a quantitative and descriptive approach and uses a multivariate data analysis with a sample of 235 respondents. Findings The study’s findings identified a framework that portrays elements that collaborate with the social participation in the definition of the public administration’s budgetary instruments, which are considered as elements that are able to develop the role of the popular participation and are characterised by the definition of a smart city by enabling more assertiveness in society’s needs. Practical implications Identification of a framework that brings out elements that are able to develop the popular participation in the definition of budgetary instruments. Then, one scale of elements that contribute to social participation in the definition of the public administration’s budgetary instruments theoretically represented and statistically validated, thus contributing to the continuity of studies on social participation. Social implications Through studies on social participation in budgetary planning, it is possible to guarantee a better allocation of public resources through intelligent governability. Originality/value The research can bring theoretical elements about social participation in the definition of budget instruments for a statistical convergence through the perception of the sample.

Corporate portfolio management in the public sector

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 333-340
Author(s):  
Saša Baškarada ◽  
Brian Hanlon
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Portfolio Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Government Organizations ◽  
Business Units ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Public Sector Organizations ◽  
The Impact

PurposeAlthough corporate portfolio management (CPM) has been a popular tool for strategic management of multi-business portfolios in the private sector since the late 1960s, it has received limited attention in the public sector. Accordingly, empirical research on the use of CMP in government organizations is virtually non-existent. The purpose of this paper is to partially fill that gap in the literature by highlighting and discussing some of the key points that public sector organizations may need to consider when adopting CPM.Design/methodology/approachRather than deductively proposing and testing narrowly specified hypotheses, this study aims to answer a broad research question, namely: What are the key points that public sector organizations may need to consider when adopting CMP? Hence, the study adopts the qualitative interpretive research paradigm. The findings are based on empirical research conducted in a large Australian publicly funded research organization. Potential application of CPM was iteratively and incrementally explored with a reference group comprising 15 middle management representatives and several members of the senior leadership group over the course of one year.FindingsAssessment criteria traditionally used in CPM (e.g. growth potential and market share) are generally not applicable in public sector organizations. This paper suggests that government organizations should instead consider past performance and future potential of individual business units, which may be operationalized via capability (a function of human capital and associated resources/infrastructure) and delivery (a function of the demand for, and the impact of, relevant business units). The paper also highlights the importance of organization-wide consultation, evidence-based decision making, and contestability.Originality/valueFrom a practical perspective, the paper may assist public sector organizations with adapting and applying CPM. From a theoretical perspective, the paper highlights an important and relatively neglected research problem, and suggests several avenues for future research.

Empirical analysis of HPO framework in public sector organizations of Pakistan

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalimullah Kalimullah ◽  
Mohd Anuar Arshad ◽  
Qaiser Khan ◽  
Shahid Khan
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Public Organizations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Managers ◽  
Continuous Improvement Process ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Public Sector Organizations

Purpose Building on high-performance organizations (HPO) framework, the purpose of this paper is to hypothesize the direct impact of five factors of HPO framework on public organizations’ performance in Pakistan. This is first research to employ the partial least squares (PLS) method to provide empirical evidence of the predictive power of the framework in public organizations. Design/methodology/approach This is a cross-sectional study conducted in non-contrived settings thereby keeping researcher interference to a minimum. Data collection was carried out by distributing online questionnaires to 513 employees from three different service-based public organizations in Pakistan. PLS is used to examine the statistical and substantive significance of five factors by employing SmartPLS 3.2.6. Findings This study concludes that the HPO framework has predictive relevance for public organizations’ performance surveyed in this study. Furthermore, three out of the five factors of HPO framework, namely, management quality, workforce quality and long-term orientation have positive relationships, while openness and action orientation (OAO), and continuous improvement process and renewal have a negative relationship with the performance of public sector organizations (PSOs) surveyed in Pakistan. Research limitations/implications The study’s small sample size limits this research, and only quantitative methodology is applied. A significant limitation of this research is that this study relied on a subset of respondents of surveyed organizations and may not representative of the population. Therefore, result should be carefully interpreted as some degree of biasness may be present. Furthermore, findings of the study cannot be generalized to all PSOs of Pakistan. Practical implications The implication for public managers is that the HPO framework has predictive relevance and substantive significance. However, the ideal value of HPO framework will occur when leadership considers HPO factors and struggles persistently to improve performance. The useful implication is that public managers should focus on continuous improvement process and renewal and OAO to meet stakeholders’ satisfaction. Originality/value This study answer two questions, first “is there any significant relationship of five factors of HPO framework with public organizations’ Performance in Pakistan?” and second “what is the predictive relevance level of HPO framework in the Public organizations in Pakistan?” The answers to these research questions will fill the gaps in the literature by providing empirical evidence to the existing knowledge on improvement methods, especially the public sector (PS), and contributing insights on the real world working of the five factors of HPO framework in a PS.

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