Team Work in Context: Institutional Mediation in the Public-service Professional Bureaucracy

2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 1069-1097 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachael Finn ◽  
Graeme Currie ◽  
Graham Martin
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Team Work ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Professional Relationships ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Service Professional ◽  
Context Shapes ◽  
Professional Bureaucracy

This paper examines how context shapes team work within the public-service professional bureaucracy. We examine the effects of an interaction between both macro-institutional and local-organizational context upon the micro-negotiation of team work. Specifically, we consider how features of local context mediate professional-institutional effects. Drawing upon neo-institutionalism (Lawrence and Suddaby 2006; Powell and DiMaggio 1991), we view team members as ‘institutional agents’ (Scott 2008), shaping team work in ways that either reproduce or transform professional structures within particular local conditions. Exemplary of international government transformative efforts for public-service enhancement (Newman 2001; Osborne and Gaebler 1992), we focus upon a UK government initiative to reconfigure professional relationships through introducing team work in National Health Service genetic care. Findings from two qualitative, comparative case studies reveal contrasting outcomes: reproduction or transformation of the professional institution, respectively. Specific local conditions — organizational, and human and social in particular — combine to produce these divergent mediating effects towards inertia or change. This highlights the importance of antecedents to team work and taking a historical perspective to understand the influence of context. While the challenges of reconfiguring professional structures through team work are shown, our analysis also suggests optimism regarding possibilities for change, albeit within certain local conditions. The challenge for management and policy-makers becomes the extent to which — and indeed, if at all — such facilitative local environments might be supported.

scholarly journals Minister-Permanent Secretary Relationships: Lessons from Zimbabwe’s Government of national Unity

2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Tawanda Zinyama ◽  
Joseph Tinarwo
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
The State ◽  
Team Work ◽  
The Political ◽  
National Unity ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Government

Public administration is carried out through the public service. Public administration is an instrument of the State which is expected to implement the policy decisions made from the political and legislative processes. The rationale of this article is to assess the working relationships between ministers and permanent secretaries in the Government of National Unity in Zimbabwe. The success of the Minister depends to a large degree on the ability and goodwill of a permanent secretary who often has a very different personal or professional background and whom the minster did not appoint. Here lies the vitality of the permanent secretary institution. If a Minister decides to ignore the advice of the permanent secretary, he/she may risk of making serious errors. The permanent secretary is the key link between the democratic process and the public service. This article observed that the mere fact that the permanent secretary carries out the political, economic and social interests and functions of the state from which he/she derives his/her authority and power; and to which he/she is accountable,  no permanent secretary is apolitical and neutral to the ideological predisposition of the elected Ministers. The interaction between the two is a political process. Contemporary administrator requires complex team-work and the synthesis of diverse contributions and view-points.

scholarly journals Why do Third Sector Employees Intend to Remain or Leave their Workplace?

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Kirsikka Selander ◽  
Petri Ruuskanen
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Job Quality ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Third ◽  
Strong Motivation

Third sector employees have claimed to enjoy high job satisfaction and low turnover intentions because their work is considered intrinsically rewarding. Employees have strong motivation for public service and they consider the organization’s goals as their own. This makes work meaningful and thus reduces turnover intentions. Changes in the third sector institutional environment, however, have intensified the working environment. This probably undermines job quality and thus increases turnover intentions. The analysis conducted among Finnish third sector employees showed that third sector employees report more turnover intentions than their counterparts in the public or private sector. This is mostly because of low job quality. Motivation for public service was not enough to retain employees in the organization if their values were not congruent with those of the employer organization. Thus, connection between public service motivation and turnover intentions is dependent on the organizational context. More important than employees’ desire to help others is their sharing of the employer organization’s values and that the organization provides high job quality.

A model of decision making and the public service professional

1988 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Frendreis ◽  
Laura L. Vertz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Service ◽  
The Public ◽  
Service Professional

How Context Shapes the Experience of Staff and Residents in Residential Long-Term Care Settings

2019 ◽  
pp. 232-249
Author(s):  
Carole A. Estabrooks ◽  
Stephanie A. Chamberlain
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Organizational Context ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Context Shapes ◽  
Study Context ◽  
Residential Long Term Care

This chapter describes 10 years of research into organizational context in residential long-term care (LTC) settings. It focuses on this book’s first and third questions: What constitutes context for an event, situation, or phenomenon? And how do contexts change, and what is the role of actors in such processes? Although with respect to change, it does not focus as much on secular trends as it does on strategies to improve local context. We explore how context influences use of research by staff, quality-of-life indicators for staff, and ability to improve quality of care and quality of life for LTC residents. First, it describes the development and ongoing use of the Alberta Context Tool. Second, it describes the Translating Research in Elder Care (TREC) program of research, and the LTC setting in which the authors study context to bring about quality improvements. Third, it presents selected empirical findings as evidence that context matters in LTC. Finally, it proposes future directions to understand and modify context for improved quality in LTC.

Public value co-creation: A pedagogical approach to preparing future public administrators for collaboration

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra R Henson
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Public Service ◽  
General Social Survey ◽  
Public Administrators ◽  
Pedagogical Approach ◽  
Public Value ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
The Public ◽  
Professional Needs ◽  
Service Professional

As the realm of public service and its relative partnerships (both social and economic) continues to change, so must the leadership charged with managing it. Gone are the days when a single government purview was sufficient for managing public service delivery, focused on preconceived notions of what citizens supposedly want. Public value and the lens of the public service professional must be wide enough to encompass the public–private sector partnerships that foster routine service delivery as well as concepts that help move it forward. A well-rounded public service professional needs a well-rounded educational foundation, creating the ability to operate in any economic sector. In this article, we discuss public value co-creation in the context of public trust, the value-based agenda and participatory governance. We then present findings from the General Social Survey and suggest a pedagogical approach to preparing future public administrators for the public value co-creation process.

scholarly journals Protracted Public Service Improvement at the Local Level

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-71
Author(s):  
Defny Holidin
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Service Improvement ◽  
Improvement Strategy ◽  
Policy Document ◽  
The Public

Artikel ini bertujuan pada eksaminasi kesesuaian agenda kebijakan sertifikasi pelayanan publik dengan mempertimbangkan kinerja pemerintahan daerah saat ini. Studi dilakukan dengan pendekatan kualitatif dengan pengumpulan data secara intensif yang menimbang spesifikasi konteks lokal menurut kebijakan desentralisasi yang menjadi arus utama reformasi struktural tata kelola pemerintahan di Indonesia. Meski standar pelayanan publik diberlakukan berdasarkan peraturan-peraturan turunan Undang-Undang Pelayanan Publik No. 25 Tahun 2009, upaya lebih lanjut oleh pemerintahan daerah tak pelak diperlukan. Studi ini dijalankan secara kualitatif di Surabaya, memperhitungkan posisinya pada papan atas pemerintahan daerah yang reformis dan inovatif. Studi ini terdiri atas analisis dokumen kebijakan dan wawancara mendalam untuk pengumpulan datanya. Hasil studi menunjukkan bahwa implementasi sertifikasi pelayanan publik sekiranya bisa mengarah pada penyesuaian struktural. Terlepas dari kategorisasi layanan pemerintah menurut karakternya masing-masing, berbagai penyesuaian struktural diperlukan menurut konteks masing-masing daerah. Pelibatan berbagai komunitas lokal perlu pengembangan lebih lanjut sebagai cara standar memastikan bahwa sertifikasi tidak hanya relevan tapi juga menjadi bagian integral dari strategi peningkatan pembangunan daerah. The article aims at examining the suitability of the policy agenda of public service certification for the prevalence of local governments' performance. I conduct qualitative approach with intensive data collection, considering of local context specificities upon which decentralization has been mainstreaming in the state structural reform in Indonesia. Although the public service standard takes into effects based on certain regulations derived from the Public Service Act 25/2009, efforts made by local government is deemed necessary. To make the study manageable, I conduct a case study qualitatively in Surabaya considering its prominence in local bureaucracy reform and innovation. I conduct a series of policy document analysis and in-depth interviews for data enquiry. I suggest that the implementation of public service certification is likely to lead to various adjustments towards strengthening the standards to be applied. Apart from categorizing the government services according to the different characteristics of each type of service, various structural adjustments are necessary according to the local context of each region. The local community involvement mechanism still needs improvements as standard enforcement in all regions so that public service certification is not only relevant but also an integral part of the local development improvement strategy.

scholarly journals The Dangers of Fiscal Decentralization and Public Service Delivery: a Review of Arguments

2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 599-622 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helge Arends
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Fiscal Decentralization ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Local Context ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Service Provision

Abstract The prevailing belief is that local governments, which are closer to their citizens, can deliver public goods much more efficiently than a central government can. Yet skeptics argue that fiscal decentralization can be dangerous. The underlying motivation of this article is to review the basic rationale behind decentralizing public services from the perspective of three main controversies emerging from the literature on decentralization: (in)efficient, (un)equal, and (un)accountable service provision at the local level. For illustrative purposes, this review focuses on two complex and socially important sectors, health and education. The overall conclusion is that the dangers of decentralization are highly relevant to local public service provision, although there is evidence supporting both the decentralization-enthusiastic and the decentralization-skeptical views. When decentralizing public services, reformers should know the specificities of the public service, the local context, and the effects of the design of fiscal relations like the backs of their hands. If things go wrong, recentralization should be an option.

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