scholarly journals Challenges for Managing Complex Application Portfolios: A Case Study of South Australian Public Sector Agency

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (03) ◽  
pp. 01-08
Author(s):  
Yaser Mirza

This research explores the challenges in management and the root cause for complex application portfolios in the public sector. It takes Australian public sector organisations with the case of South Australia Police (SAPOL) for evaluation it being one of the significant and mission critical state government agencies. The exploratory research surfaces some of the key challenges using interview as primary data collection source, along with archive records, documentation, and direct observation as secondary sources. This paper reports on the information analysed surfacing eight key issues. It highlights that the organic growth of the technology portfolios, with mission criticality has resulted in many quick fixes which are not aligned with long term enterprise architectural stability. Integration of different mismatched technologies, along with the pressure from the business to always keep the lights on, does not provide the opportunity for the portfolios to be rationalised in an ongoing way. Other issues and the areas for further study are explored at the end.

Author(s):  
Yaser Mirza

This research explores critical aspects of procurement of ICT cloud services for South Australian public sector organisations with the case of South Australia Police (SAPOL) for evaluation. SAPOL as one of the state government agencies at the time is initiating this transition to the cloud environment. This exploratory research takes place when this public sector agency is doing its due diligence to ensure a successful implementation. In this study the researcher started off with surfacing the challenges in this journey for a public sector organisation before the actual journey commenced. SAPOL being a public sector organisation operates differently from private enterprises and has certain constraints and limitations that pose additional challenges for the organisation to transition towards the cloud. Interview with the CIO of the organisation responsible for the cloud migration initiative was organised. After detailed literature review, an interview questionnaire was prepared in accordance with the subject of interest. The information gathered in the interviews was recorded for detailed analysis. This paper contains a detailed report on the information analysed highlighting fourteen important challenges faced by the organisation in this cloud migration journey.


Author(s):  
John Nkeobuna Nnah Ugoani

Poor public management defined by corruption and lack of prudence in public life continues to hold Nigeria hostage and makes good governance difficult. Since the 1980s government has been using many methods including the processes of privatization and commercialization as means of re-engineering the public sector for total quality management, and to increase the share of the public sector’s contribution to the gross domestic product. The experiment never achieved the desired level of success partly due to lack of political will on the part of government to wedge a total war against corruption, and also partly because the public sector is a large scale administration that has many entry and revolving doors which government finds difficult to close. These limitations provide the incentives for widespread public corruption that is recognized as one of the greatest challenges of government in carrying out its mandate. 110 respondents participated in this study conducted through the exploratory research design. The participants provided useful data that were triangulated with data from secondary sources for the purpose of the study. To achieve the objective of the investigation, data were analyzed through statistical techniques and the result showed significant positive correlation between good governance and good management. It was recommended that appointments in the public sector should feature a combination of people from private and public sectors of the economy to enhance competence with the aim of reducing public sector corruption. Further study should examine the reasons behind rising budget deficits as a way of reducing cost of governance in Nigeria.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
K B Ravindra

The importance of Labour Welfare in Industrialisation and Economic Development has been recognized globally. It is an important dimension in Industrial Relations, which includes overall welfare facilities designed to take care of well being of Employees and Workers. During the 1990s, the measures of economic reforms introduced in the country have given rise to a wave of rapid and radical changes in the structure and working of our economy. Globalization, Liberalisation, Privatisation, etc. have completely changed the functioning of the Indian Economy and forced the employees, workers, and their organizations to adapt and adjust by reorienting their ways to survive and thrive amidst the forces of change and competition. The aspect of Labour Welfare and Social Security has tremendous significance in the Public Sector, Private Sector and Multinational Organisations. It is firmly believed that money and environment given to employees is a long term investment and will never go waste. Against this backdrop, a detailed study has been conducted at Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd, Bengaluru, a Public Sector Organisation. Primary data collected through a Structured Questionnaire from 100 respondents covering all levels and departments has revealed that most of the Labour Welfare and Social Security provisions are being satisfactorily provided by the company to its employees and workers. It is suggested that the company carefully look into those areas where employees/workers have expressed dissatisfaction. The article concludes by stating that if an organisation provides good welfare and social security benefits, then it will be able to procure and develop a unique pool of people who can continuously take the organization to new levels of growth and sustainability.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maizatul Akmar Khalid ◽  
Md. Mahmudul Alam ◽  
Jamaliah Said

To improve the trust of citizens and delivery of services, employing good governance principles in the public sector is very crucial. Despite efforts to improve service delivery, criticisms and complains toward public services remain evident. This study aims to assess the status of good governance practices in the public sector of Malaysia. Primary data were collected from the responses of 109 department heads under 24 federal ministries to a survey questionnaire. Respondent perception of good governance practices was measured using a seven-point Likert scale and analyzed by descriptive statistics and path measurement modeling. Standard diagnostic tests were also conducted to check the reliability of the data and model. Results indicated that nine factors were significant in the measurement of good governance practices. However, very few people in the public sector of Malaysia practice fraud control, which is at the lowest intensity. Among the service groups, the engineer group practiced good governance at the highest level, whereas the health service group practiced good governance at the lowest level. Therefore, still there are scopes available to improve good governance systems to become more reliable and efficient public sector in Malaysia. Findings of the study will help policy makers improve the efficiency of the public sector of Malaysia and other countries.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamaliah Said ◽  
Md. Mahmudul Alam ◽  
Mohamad Azizal bin Abd Aziz

As the recent Auditor General‟s report discovered some corruptions, weakness, and lack of control in asset management in the public sector of Malaysia, this study is an attempt to assess the status of current practices of accountability in public sector of Malaysia. This study collected primary data based on a set of questionnaire survey that was distributed by email using the Google Doc application among the head of department of 682 departments and agencies under 24 federal ministries including the Prime Minister Department in Malaysia. Finally, based on the email responses, the final sample of the study is 109 respondents. The data were collected based on the opinion about ten factors of accountability practices in the department or agency by using seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The data are analysed under descriptive statistics and factor analysis. Further, the reliability of the data is tested by using Cronbach alpha test, and the validity of data is tested by checking the normality of data through Shapiro Wilk test and graphically. Overall, 87.3% of the respondents mentioned that overall they practice accountability in their department. However, the priority of these ten factors of accountability differs among the services schemes. The accountability in the administrative & diplomatic, education, and medical & health is below the overall average accountability. The accountability in the financial and information system schemes is also not strong enough. Therefore the public sector in Malaysia needs to be transformed into becoming a reliable and efficient sector by ensuring proper accountability and its proper assessment system.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamaliah Said ◽  
Md. Mahmudul Alam ◽  
Razana Juhaida Johari

Ensuring accountability in the public sector is a very crucial issue as it could lead to failures in governance, fraud, inefficacy, corruption as well as weak financial management. This study evaluated the state of present accountability practices among public sector employees from various Malaysian service schemes. Primary data were collected, using a questionnaire survey approach with 194 heads of departments in the Malaysian federal ministries. Data was collected in accordance with the perspective of 12 factors in accountability practices, using a five-point Likert scale. Factor analysis and descriptive statistics were utilized for data analysis. In addition, data reliability was checked by Cronbach’s alpha test; data normality was examined by Skewness and Kurtosis tests, and data validity was tested by using Kaiser-Meyer Olkin test and Barlett’s test. The findings show that 94.9% of the participants reported that they practised accountability within their departments. Nevertheless, the priority for these accountability factors varied according to the service schemes. In general, the perceived accountability practice was the highest within the group of the administrative scheme and the lowest among the employees under the accounting scheme. Moreover, the perceived accountability practice of the audit scheme was below the general average level. This findings of the study would help policy makers to take necessary steps to improve the practices of accountability in the public sector for creating a more dependable and efficient public sector in Malaysia.


Author(s):  
Jude Mugurura ◽  
Zwelinzima Ndevu

Background: This article is based on a multidimensional empirical research study investigating aspects of the suitability of the public–private partnership environment of Uganda for road infrastructure development. The foundation of the article is the implementation of the relationship between existing legal and regulatory frameworks on the ground in Uganda.Aim: Key aspects and realities of the legal and policy frameworks that support public–private partnership, road investment projects and programmes in Uganda are examined from the perspective of a transparent, effective and efficient service delivery.Setting: A brief exposition of Uganda’s historical realities and present challenges, especially in terms of road infrastructure, an introduction of key aspects of the legal and regulatory frameworks is presented.Methods: The research is based on an exploratory research design methodology founded on a thorough literature review, exhaustive documentary analysis of primary and secondary sources and 30 interviews with senior and middle managers in the public and private sectors in Uganda. A semi-structured questionnaire was utilised.Results: The analysis of data was based on a dissection of the policies and systems as foundations of solid implementation, existing legal violations, the local private sector’s present conundrum and capacity gaps, the realities of integrity and corruption and the existing approach of citizens towards the problems and challenges.Conclusion: The lack of integrity in both the private and public sector has serious negative effects on the processes, functions, planning, designing, outputs and outcomes of infrastructure initiatives undertaken.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-109
Author(s):  
Anna Karpych ◽  
Nataliia Miedviedkova

The purpose of this article is to identify the obstacles which emerge on the way of the implementation of a gender-oriented approach to budgeting in Ukraine and hinder the promotion of this approach within the public financial system as well as to give recommendations on the possible ways to eliminate them from Ukrainian public financial management. Methodology. The article is based on a review of existing academic literature and on the analysis of secondary sources (mainly, government and non-government reports and publications). The results of the research show that the main barriers for the application of a gender-oriented approach to budgeting in Ukraine are, among others, dominance of gender stereotypes, the lack of funds for gender initiatives, insufficient understanding of the relationship between gender equality and public policy, the low level of awareness of civil servants and officials regarding the policy of gender equality. The overview of the best international practices in the integration of gender aspects in budgeting helped authors identify prior tasks for ensuring effectiveness of a gender-oriented approach to budgeting in modern conditions. Based on the obtained findings, the recommendations were provided; they include the measures to reduce gender gaps and suggested methods for modification of a gender-oriented approach to budgeting. Research limitations/implications. The authors did not study the underlying reasons for the emerging problems for the application of a gender-oriented approach to budgeting. Also, the research was based only on the review and analysis of secondary sources, thus, primary data collection techniques were omitted. Practical implications. The findings are likely to be useful for researchers and public sector practitioners both in Ukraine and abroad to gain knowledge on the implementation of a gender-oriented approach to budgeting. The developing countries may investigate the case of Ukraine and prepare for the similar challenges and problems adjusting the practice of implementation of a gender-oriented approach to budgeting according to their conditions and model of public management system. Value/originality. The article contributes to the discussion about the challenges for the effective implementation of a gender-oriented approach to budgeting in order to strengthen the public financial management in modern Ukraine.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 500-512
Author(s):  
Boris Urban ◽  
Mmapoulo Lindah Nkhumishe

Purpose Many unanswered questions remain regarding the authors’ understanding of how entrepreneurship can be fostered in the public sector. To fill this knowledge gap, the purpose of this paper is to conduct an empirical investigation to determine the relationship between different organisational factors and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) in the South African public sector. Design/methodology/approach Primary data are sourced from middle-level managers at municipalities in the three largest provinces across South Africa. Hypotheses are statistically tested using regression analyses. Findings Results reveal that the organisational antecedents of structure and culture explain a significant amount of variation in the EO dimensions of innovativeness, risk taking and proactiveness. Additionally, the findings on organisational rewards converge with an emerging stream of research which highlights that while rewards works well to motivate individuals in the private sector, they are negatively correlated with entrepreneurship in the public sector. Research limitations/implications The study implications relate to the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery of municipalities in South Africa. Due to increases in community protest actions, it is necessary not only to maximise efficiency in the provision of services, but also to innovate and be proactive in order to achieve more with less resources. Originality/value By investigating previously unrelated factors in the public sector, the authors create closer conceptual and empirical links between the role of organisational factors and each of the EO dimensions. Furthermore, the study takes place in a relatively under-researched entrepreneurship and public sector context.


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