The Relevance of Energy Service Contracts in the Budget Sphere

2018 ◽  
pp. 64-68
Author(s):  
George V. Boos ◽  
Elena Yu. Matveeva

The problematic aspects related to the implementation of energy saving policy in the budget sphere are examined in the article. The factors hindering the mass and effective implementation of energysaving measures are highlighted in the article. Among these factors, there is the technical complexity of energysaving projects, the presence of innovative and investment risks, problems with the financial provision of costs in the face of increasing debt burden in most public budgets. The article concludes that in these circumstances only the energy service contract is a tool that allows implementing energy­saving measures without the first participation of budgetary funds in financing and allows transferring the risks of making technically inefficient decisions directly to the investor. In the article, the authors substantiate the importance of the institutional development of energy services directly in the public sector and analyze the measures of the comprehensive plan to improve the energy efficiency of the economy of the Russian Federation aimed at expanding the scope of energy service contracts in the public sector.

Significance The negotiations follow the government’s refusal last year to pay the final annual tranche of a previous three-year deal. Containing the public-sector wage bill is seen as key for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration to rein in a spiralling debt burden. Impacts The three main rating agencies may postpone their next assessments until the wage talks gain greater clarity. Government firmness in the face of union demands could undermine Ramaphosa’s hold on the ruling ANC. With unions in a weak political position, they may have to stomach government intransigence due to lack of alternatives to Ramaphosa. Substantial concessions to unions would be divisive amid difficult budgetary choices such as below-inflation increases on social grants.


2021 ◽  
pp. 9-19
Author(s):  
Gea Ducci ◽  
Alessandro Lovari

The pandemic crisis has led to a renew centrality of public sector communica-tion in a hybrid and convergent media ecosystems aiming at (re)building relation-ships based on trust between institutions and citizens. This contribution reflects on the strengths and fragility of the Italian public communication in the face of the pandemic, considering regulatory processes and paths of professionalization. It focuses also on the challenges of social media use in public sector, suggesting a critical approach towards the platformization of the public sector communication activities. The last part of this manuscript presents the different articles that com-pose the special issue.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 196-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nirmala Dorasamy ◽  
Soma Pillay

This purpose of this article is to explore impediments to effective whistleblowing as a strategy for promoting anti-corruption practices within the South African public sector. Corruption, which violates the public service code of conduct; deters foreign investment, increases the cost of public service delivery, undermines the fight against poverty and unnecessarily burdens the criminal justice system. The article addresses the question on whether legislation on whistleblowing is adequate to encourage whistleblowing in the public sector. A review of literature determines that the effective implementation of whistleblowing legislation is largely dependent on addressing the challenges identified in the article. The quantitative research method was employed in the study to ascertain the views of employees in the public sector on whistleblowing. Empirical findings confirm the hypothesis that the protection of whistleblowers through legislation is inadequate to encourage whistleblowing. The article provides a conceptual framework for the effective achievement of the intended outcomes of whistleblowing in the public sector.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Merlin Stone ◽  
Eleni Aravopoulou ◽  
Yuksel Ekinci ◽  
Geraint Evans ◽  
Matt Hobbs ◽  
...  

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review literature about the applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in strategic situations and identify the research that is needed in the area of applying AI to strategic marketing decisions. Design/methodology/approach The approach was to carry out a literature review and to consult with marketing experts who were invited to contribute to the paper. Findings There is little research into applying AI to strategic marketing decision-making. This research is needed, as the frontier of AI application to decision-making is moving in many management areas from operational to strategic. Given the competitive nature of such decisions and the insights from applying AI to defence and similar areas, it is time to focus on applying AI to strategic marketing decisions. Research limitations/implications The application of AI to strategic marketing decision-making is known to be taking place, but as it is commercially sensitive, data is not available to the authors. Practical implications There are strong implications for all businesses, particularly large businesses in competitive industries, where failure to deploy AI in the face of competition from firms, who have deployed AI to improve their decision-making could be dangerous. Social implications The public sector is a very important marketing decision maker. Although in most cases it does not operate competitively, it must make decisions about making different services available to different citizens and identify the risks of not providing services to certain citizens; so, this paper is relevant to the public sector. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first papers to probe deployment of AI in strategic marketing decision-making.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-87
Author(s):  
Albert Sanchez-Graells

This piece reflects on the role of public procurement regulation in the face of a situation, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, generating an extremely urgent need for the public sector to buy additional supplies and equipment. Counterintuitively, at a time of heightened public expenditure, public procurement rules are ‘deactivated’. That does not mean that unusual procurement mechanisms are not ‘activated’, though, as the example of the EU’s Joint Procurement Agreement shows. It also does not mean that ‘reactivating’ public procurement regulation will not present challenges, some of which deserve careful consideration.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Esmé Franken

<p>This mixed method research, in the area of HR and leadership, explores leadership behaviours that foster employee resilience. Resilience is a key capacity in contexts where job demands and challenges are often dynamic and complex, such as in the public sector. This research uses a contemporary definition of resilience, one that views employee resilience as a set of behaviours that help people grow and develop in their jobs, even in the face of challenges. Two questions guide this research: 1. What leadership behaviours enable employee resilience in the public sector?, and 2. How do these behaviours enable employee resilience? This study is situated in the public sector context.  The research consists of five phases. The first phase was a cross-sectional survey of public servants’ views on whether paradoxical leadership behaviours, mediated by perceptions of organisational support, might foster resilience. These connections reflect the correspondence between paradoxical leadership and the dilemmas and paradoxes that arise in public sector work. Phases two and three concerned a series of qualitative studies which identified further leadership behaviours, as well as possible mechanisms and outcomes, and generated an explanatory framework to illustrate how managers can enable employee resilience. This led to the development of the construct resilience-enabling leadership. Phase four gathered feedback on the construct’s validity so that it could be tested quantitatively in a scale. The fifth and final phase tested the resilience-enabling leadership scale (RELS) as a predictor of resilience. It also tested psychometric properties of the scale, including factor structure, and discriminant and convergent validity.  Findings show that a unique combination of leadership behaviours that foster growth, trust and collaboration in employees, is likely to play a pivotal role in developing employee resilience. The RELS is an innovative contribution to organisational scholarship. It represents a leadership model that recognises the changing nature of leadership and responds to the development needs of employees.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Taofik Idowu ◽  
Chigozie Anekwe ◽  
Aminat Balogun

Strike has become one of the most effective tools used by workers to drive home their demands and the intensity of this varies from one sector to another. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate strike proneness and why public sector industries are more strike prone in Nigeria. The study takes an exploratory approach by reviewing extant literatures as a focal point of analysis to determine the extent of strike intensity among industries in the public sectors with a view towards drawing up relevant justifications. The findings of the study shows that in comparison with other sectors, education as sub sector of public sector are more strike prone  and the reason generally for public sector strike proneness is because  government is the highest employer of labour as well as the umpire ensuing the behaviour of an employer  and at  the same time involve in the regulatory framework that guides the employment relations between the employer and employees in the private and public sector which often leads to unilateral decisions in the face of collective bargaining ; unfair treatment of employees and anti-union activities appears to be factors responsible for more industrial strike in the public sector among others. Therefore, the study recommend that government should practice unbiased democracy that is just, fair and deal equitably with the respective organized union so as to prevent conflict and not control conflict because of the after math consequences.


Author(s):  
María Concepción Peñate-Valentín ◽  
Ángeles Pereira ◽  
María del Carmen Sánchez-Carreira

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document