Ethiopia's conflict faces a critical juncture

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Services ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Critical Juncture ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
Full Control

Significance The claims were made during a 30-minute televised broadcast apparently from the frontlines of the war; Abiy on November 22 promised to lead the fighting in person. Authorities say they have since recaptured multiple towns. Tigrayan officials have dismissed this as propaganda, saying that their forces have made “adjustments” but remain in full control of the wider situation. Impacts Abiy’s absence may create a political vacuum in Addis Ababa, potentially blocking further peace efforts for now. Disruptions to provision of public services will likely worsen, particularly in Addis Ababa and across Amhara. Hard-nosed Tigrayan preconditions for talks could win Abiy some sympathy from Western countries. Eritrea will be watching developments closely and may intensify its involvement again, especially if it fears a Tigrayan victory.

scholarly journals Evaluating digital public services

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1021-1043 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rana Tassabehji ◽  
Ray Hackney ◽  
Takao Maruyama
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Total Sample ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Online Services ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider recent field evidence to analyse what online public services citizens need, explores potential citizen subsidy of these specific services and investigates where resources should be invested in terms of media accessibility. The authors explore these from a citizen-centric affordability perspective within three exemplar developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank and United Nations in particular promote initiatives under the “Information and Communication Technologies for Development” (ICT4D) to stress the relevance of e-Government as a way to ensure development and reduce poverty. The authors adopt a contingency value approach to determine directly reported citizens willingness to pay for digital public services. Hence, our focus is mainly upon an empirical investigation through extensive fieldwork in the context of sub-Sahara Africa. A substantive survey was conducted in the respective cities of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Lagos (Nigeria) and Johannesburg (South Africa). The sample of citizens was drawn from each respective Chamber of Commerce database for Ethiopia and South Africa, and for Nigeria a purchased database of businesses, based on stratified random sampling. These were randomly identified from both sectors ensuring all locations were covered with a total sample size of 1,297 respondents. It was found, in particular, that citizens were willing to pay to be able to access digital public services and that amounts of fees they were willing to pay varied depending on what services they wish to access and what devices they use (PCs or mobile phones). Design/methodology/approach The authors adopt a contingency value approach to determine directly reported citizens willingness to pay for digital public services. A survey was conducted in the respective cities of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Lagos (Nigeria) and Johannesburg (South Africa). The sample of citizens was drawn from each respective Chamber of Commerce database for Ethiopia and South Africa, and for Nigeria a purchased database of businesses, based on stratified random sampling. These were randomly identified from both sectors ensuring all locations were covered with a total sample size of 1,297 respondents. Findings The findings suggest that by understanding citizen needs, demands and how they can benefit from online public services could drive decisions related to what public services need to be prioritised for economically active citizens, potentially explore citizen subsidy of these specific public services which will have a trickle-down benefit to poorer citizens by reducing the pressures on traditional channels of public service delivery and investigate where resources should be invested in terms of media to access online services. Willingness to pay between the top online public services showed no statistically significant difference among all respondents. Research limitations/implications The research focused on economically active digitally savvy citizens in the major capital cities in each of our selected countries. While these are not representative of the population at large, our intention was to understand what citizen-led government services would look like from the perspective of this group, with an insight into the value they place on these online services and their ability to access them. Technology diffusion starts with the early adopters (Rogers, 2010), and here the authors have focused on those that are likely to be early adopters. Practical implications Poor fiscal capacity, namely, the amount and type of resources a state has at its disposal, not only has an impact on economic wellbeing, but particularly relevant in this case, also has an impact on the quality of government (Baskaran and Bigsten, 2013). Thus, e-government is one way in which developing countries can focus on developing good governance and strengthening civil society to improve the quality of government and motivate citizens to participate in the political process. Social implications The economic performance of African countries has been viewed with pessimism, consistently considered to be the poorest continent (Harrison et al., 2014). Recent studies have empirically shown that new information technologies have contributed to longer term economic growth in African countries and stress the need for government to further invest in developing telecommunications infrastructures and internet access (Donou-Adonsou et al., 2016). However one of the major constraints and challenges for developing countries is the limited fiscal capacity and ability to mobilise fiscal resources to finance the provision of public services, which is essential for economic development (Ali et al., 2015). Originality/value The authors contribute to the World Bank and United Nations initiatives to promote ICT for Development’ (ICT4D) the relevance of e-government as a way to ensure development and reduce poverty. If online services are of no benefit, even if they are more convenient and lower cost, they are unlikely to be used. Accessing digital public services directly addresses the needs of economically active citizens and can also facilitate the steps towards an improved quality of government and interaction with civil society. The study has contributed to an insightful understanding of the value, cost and benefits of citizen-led e-Government in this respect.

Construction time prediction model for public building projects

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shambel Kifle Alemu
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Time Cost ◽  
Construction Time ◽  
Time Model ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
Public Building ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe aim of the study was to develop a practical construction time model for public building projects in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Design/methodology/approachThis research work used regression analysis and also exploratory scatter and residual plot techniques. Simple and multiple regressions were used for the investigation of the best fit time model. The analyses were carried out using IBM SPSS statistical software, version 20.FindingsThe result revealed that the Bromilow time-cost principle was moderately applicable. However, the cubic regression model (CUB) was found a better time-cost relationship. On the contrary, the study has shown a poor relationship between actual time and gross floor area. Furthermore, multiple linear regression analysis (MLR) consists of three statistically significant variables were found a better fit time model.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited to only six project scope factors. Further research is recommended to include more building projects of similar type and implications of other factors to improve the reliability of the models.Practical implicationsThe developed model was not intended as a replacement for detailed construction scheduling techniques. The resulting model is applicable for front-end predictions of construction duration.Originality/valueThe main parties involved in the building projects should apply the model for benchmarking a precise construction time during the early planning phase.

ISO 9001 and the public service: an investigation of the effect of the QMS on the quality of public service organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Armando López-Lemus
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Services ◽  
The State ◽  
Iso 9001 ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence exerted by a quality management system (QMS) under ISO 9001: 2015 on the quality of public services organizations in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach The methodological design was quantitative, explanatory, observational and transversal, for which a sample of 461 public servants from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico was obtained. To test the hypotheses, a structural equation model (SEM) was developed through the statistical software Amos v.21. For the analysis of the data, software SPSS v.21 was used. Regarding the goodness and adjustment indices of the SEM (χ2 = 720.09, df = 320, CFI = 0.933, TLI = 0.926 and RMSEA = 0.05) which, therefore, proved to be acceptable. Findings According to the results obtained through the SEM model, the QMS under ISO 9001: 2015 is positively and significantly influenced tangible aspects (β1 = 0.79, p < 0.01), reliability (β2 = 0.90, p < 0.01), related to response quality (β3 = 0.93, p < 0.01), guarantees (β4 = 0.91, p < 0.01) and empathy (β5 = 0.88, p < 0.01) of the quality related to public services in Mexico. The study’s key contribution is that it discovered that implementing a QMS in accordance with the ISO 9001: 2015 standard has an impact on the quality of public services, with the most influential quality of response. Similarly, the assurance and dependability of service quality turned out to be important in providing public service quality. Research limitations/implications In this paper, the QMS was only evaluated as a variable that intervenes in the process of obtaining quality in public service under the ISO 9001 standard in its 2015 version. In this regard, the results’ trustworthiness is limited to the extent that the findings may be generalized in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico’s public service. As a result, the scientific community is left primarily focused on service quality to promote new future research. Practical implications The ISO 9001: 2015 standard’s QMS is one of the tools for success in both the commercial and government sectors. However, there are practical limitations, which focus on the time during which managers exercise their vision in the public sector: first, the dynamics that managers play in public policy; second, the length of time they have served in public office; and third, the interest of directors of public institutions to improve the quality of service provided by the government. Other practical consequences concern organizational culture and identity, public servant commitment, senior management or secretaries of government, as well as work and training. Originality/value The findings of this paper are important and valuable because they foster knowledge generation in the public sector through the ISO 9000 quality area. A model that permits the adoption and implementation of a QMS based on the ISO 9001: 2015 standard in public organizations that seek to provide quality in their services offered to the user is also presented to the literature. Similarly, the paper is important because there is currently insufficient research focusing on the variables examined in the context of public service in Mexico.

US move against Israeli firm will not slow spyware use

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Regulatory Reform ◽  
Democratic Accountability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Western Countries ◽  
Autocratic Regimes

Significance Reports about this spyware’s widespread use to target activists and critics have tarnished the company, which on November 3 was blacklisted by US President Joe Biden’s administration. This prohibits US entities from purchasing NSO Group products. Impacts Calls for regulatory reform to limit the development, use and export of spyware capabilities will increase in Western countries The private sector in Israel and elsewhere will continue to play a major role in the development of the lucrative global spyware market. Autocratic regimes and states with weak democratic accountability will actively use spyware as more business shifts online.

COVID-19, migration and inclusive cities through e-governance: strategies to manage asylum seekers in Durban, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Kariuki ◽  
Maria Lauda Goyayi ◽  
Lizzy Oluwatoyin Ofusori
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Public Services ◽  
City Government ◽  
Information Communication ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Governance Strategies ◽  
The Government ◽  
The City

Purpose This paper aims to examine the role of electronic governance (e-governance) in enabling asylum seekers’ access to public services in the city of Durban, South Africa. Because of COVID-19, the government scaled down its operations, limiting access to public services, including among migrants. Design/methodology/approach Because of COVID-19-related restrictions, a systematic review was conducted of the relevant academic literature as well as the information portals of relevant government departments, municipalities and research reports on migration and refugees in South Africa. A total of 320 peer-reviewed research articles were identified. These were filtered and 68 relevant articles were selected. Findings The study found that asylum seekers have limited access to public services via information communication technology-enabled mechanisms. Whilst the city government has embraced e-governance, it is still in its nascent stages. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to a desktop one because of COVID-19 restrictions and it focused exclusively on asylum seekers. Therefore, its findings can only be generalised to this category of people. Practical implications Future studies on this subject should gather data from all categories of migrants to gain in-depth perspectives. Social implications All spheres of governance in South Africa should recognise asylum seekers as a constituency that deserves access to public services. E-governance can facilitate easier access to these services, and policies need to be aligned with this reality. Originality/value This study examined the efficacy of e-governance in enabling access to government services by asylum seekers during COVID-19. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study on this subject was conducted during this period.

Public services: a standard process model following a structured process redesign

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamal K. Mukherjee ◽  
Laura Reka ◽  
Rudina Mullahi ◽  
Keldi Jani ◽  
Jonida Taraj
Keyword(s):  
Business Process ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Case Study Research ◽  
Standard Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Process Redesign ◽  
Resource Reuse ◽  
The Government

PurposeDespite widespread adoption of business process reengineering (BPR) for better delivery efficiency of public services, a structured approach continues to elude the most value-adding phase of BPR: business process redesign. From another viewpoint, the rising currency of Whole-of-Government (WoG) and “shared services” initiatives signal an unmissable trend toward resource reuse across public service agencies (PSAs) through business process standardization (BPS). This research invokes BPS into process redesign to produce a process redesign framework (PRF) and deploys the same to build a standard process model (SPM) for services of the government of Albania (GoA).Design/methodology/approachThe methodology follows the design science research (DSR) paradigm, wherein best practices extracted from literature are synthesized with stakeholder inputs to design the PRF and SPM, both of which are then evaluated with case study research.FindingsAdoption of PRF/SPM on a WoG basis will not only reduce service lead time but also enable a variety of public services to share the same process, thereby further saving costs for GoA. The research outputs will accelerate reengineering and subsequent digitalization of public service operations.Research limitations/implicationsImplementing SPM will maximize resource reuse and help offer uniform and integrated public services to GoA's customers. It will also enable demand-driven staff mobilization across GoA agencies. The proposed PRF/SPM have limitations in that they consider only flow aspects of service processes with aspects of conversion being ignored.Originality/valueThis research fulfills the need for a systematic approach to process redesign and prepares GoA for a WoG treatment to its BPR efforts.

scholarly journals Toward a public service management: past, present, and future directions

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 998-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian R. Hodgkinson ◽  
Claire Hannibal ◽  
Byron W. Keating ◽  
Rosamund Chester Buxton ◽  
Nicola Bateman
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Service Management ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Service Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
Management Research ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public

Purpose In providing a fine-grained analysis of public service management, the purpose of this paper is to make an important contribution to furthering research in service management, a body of literature that has tended to regard public services as homogenous or to neglect the context altogether. Design/methodology/approach Integrating public management and service management literatures, the past and present of public service management are discussed. Future directions for the field are outlined drawing on a service-dominant approach that has the potential to transform public services. Invited commentaries augment the review. Findings The review presents the Public Service Network Framework to capture the public value network in its abstraction and conceptualizes how value is created in public services. The study identifies current shortcomings in the field and offers a series of directions for future research where service management theory can contribute greatly. Research limitations/implications The review encourages service management research to examine the dynamic, diverse, and complex nature of public services and to recognize the importance of this context. The review calls for an interdisciplinary public service management community to develop, and to assist public managers in leveraging service logic. Originality/value The review positions service research in the public sector, makes explicit the role of complex networks in value creation, argues for wider engagement with public service management, and offers future research directions to advance public service management research.

Perceptions and pathways of resilience in Addis Ababa

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-352
Author(s):  
Nicole Baron ◽  
Zegeye Cherenet
Keyword(s):  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Change Resistance ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Expert Interviews ◽  
Urban Resilience ◽  
Initial Attempt ◽  
Content Type ◽  
African Perspective ◽  
New Research

Purpose Resilience has recently attracted widespread interest in the field of urban planning and theory. However, the research that has been conducted on urban resilience in Africa has major theoretical and methodological gaps. This can lead to problems when designing and implementing resilience strategies there. Understanding African perspectives can be a way of tackling these. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Using the example of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this paper analyses expert interviews based on a grounded theory approach. The goal is to explore locally specific perceptions of and pathways to urban resilience. By comparing these findings to those reported in the existing literature, differences and overlaps are identified. Findings This study provides evidence for the existence of locally specific perceptions of and pathways to urban resilience. Furthermore, it identifies urban development pathways such as complete urban makeover (tabula rasa) and complete negation of change (resistance). Research limitations/implications Because this study uses Addis Ababa as a singular case and expert interviews as method, it rather represents an initial attempt at exploring a new research field than claiming generalisability. Its quality and significance lie in its discursive approach and theory formation. Practical implications This exemplary study from Ethiopia demonstrates that a regionally specific understanding of urban resilience is valuable for the design and implementation of urban resilience strategies. Originality/value This study offers unique insights into urban resilience from an African perspective and into the manifestation of urban resilience in Addis Ababa.

Property rights and investment: the mediating effect of contract enforcement

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-34
Author(s):  
Ziade Hailu ◽  
Isaac N. Nkote ◽  
John C. Munene
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Contract Enforcement ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically test whether enforceability mediates the relationship between property rights and investment in housing, using data from land formalization project in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Design/methodology/approach The study was cross-sectional in design; data were collected from a sample of 210 households that benefited from the recent Addis Ababa city land and buildings formalization project. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to assess the goodness-of-fit of the latent structures underlying the constructs. Mediation was tested using the Baron and Kenny steps, combined with bootstrapping technique. Robustness of results was checked. Findings The results indicate statistically significant mediation effect of contract enforcement. However, the mediation is partial, there is still a substantial direct effect of security of property rights on investment. Practical implications Any initiative to land formalization projects needs to consider contract enforcement environment, as presence and size of property rights effects largely depend on whether those rights are properly enforced. Originality/value This is the first study that conceptualizes the mediating effect of contract enforcement on the relationship between property rights and investment from an African country perspective.

EU’s Eritrea sanctions take aim at Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Addis Ababa ◽  
Content Type

Headline ETHIOPIA/ERITREA: EU sanctions take aim at Addis Ababa

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