Innovation, Collaboration and New Zealand Public Sector ICT Middle Managers

<p>The case study explores the relationship New Zealand public sector information and communication technology (ICT) middle managers have with innovation and collaboration in relation to an all-of-government ICT strategy. Middle managers are key to implementing ICT strategy, innovation is a stated expectation and collaboration is a critical enabler. The study identified that awareness of the ICT strategy amongst middle managers was lower than desirable, although slightly higher from core public sector managers mandated to follow the strategy. There was not a consistent sense of what innovation is, although managers indicate they are engaging in innovations to quite a high degree. There is a very limited range of stakeholders collaborated with; primarily other agencies, consultants and vendors. This may inhibit potential for innovation that could come from wider engagement. Agencies are exhibiting a narrow view of collaboration and appear reluctant to share resources. Middle managers engage in collaboration and networking within their sector, and appreciate assistance provided by the Government Chief Information Officer, however they also note there is little support provided to collaborate. They would like more forums, facilitators, tools, and policies that support collaboration and systems thinking. The most significant factor empowering middle managers to innovate was the support of their senior manager; however lack of senior manager support was also noted as a significant issue. Primary barriers to innovation were workload and budget, leadership thinking, internal governance mechanisms and risk aversion.</p>

Innovation, Collaboration and New Zealand Public Sector ICT Middle Managers

<p>The case study explores the relationship New Zealand public sector information and communication technology (ICT) middle managers have with innovation and collaboration in relation to an all-of-government ICT strategy. Middle managers are key to implementing ICT strategy, innovation is a stated expectation and collaboration is a critical enabler. The study identified that awareness of the ICT strategy amongst middle managers was lower than desirable, although slightly higher from core public sector managers mandated to follow the strategy. There was not a consistent sense of what innovation is, although managers indicate they are engaging in innovations to quite a high degree. There is a very limited range of stakeholders collaborated with; primarily other agencies, consultants and vendors. This may inhibit potential for innovation that could come from wider engagement. Agencies are exhibiting a narrow view of collaboration and appear reluctant to share resources. Middle managers engage in collaboration and networking within their sector, and appreciate assistance provided by the Government Chief Information Officer, however they also note there is little support provided to collaborate. They would like more forums, facilitators, tools, and policies that support collaboration and systems thinking. The most significant factor empowering middle managers to innovate was the support of their senior manager; however lack of senior manager support was also noted as a significant issue. Primary barriers to innovation were workload and budget, leadership thinking, internal governance mechanisms and risk aversion.</p>

Perspectives of Evaluation of Training (EoT) for Enhancing Professional Competence of the Hydrogeologists and Strengthening Participation of the Stakeholders – A Case Study

The paper is the outcome of one week training programme on Evaluation of Training (EoT) organised by the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Kolkata, West Bengal from 05.09.2016 to 09.09.2016. The paper deals with a case study associated with the Induction Level Training Course (ILTC) for the newly recruited Hydrogeologists of Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). An EoT report can strengthen the professional competence of officials working with various Regional and State Unit offices of CGWB and also can ensure the stakeholders participation to achieve the desired objectives of the CGWB. The CGWB is the National Apex body entrusted with the responsibilities of providing scientific inputs for management, exploration, monitoring, assessment, augmentation and regulation of ground water resources of the country consisting of Hydrogeologists, Geophysicists, Chemists, Hydrologists, Hydrometeorologists and Engineers and has its headquarters at Faridabad, Haryana state. Major activities being taken up by CGWB include various R&D studies, exploratory drilling programme, monitoring of ground water and its management. The Rajiv Gandhi National Ground Water Training and Research Institute, Central Ground Water Board (RGNGWTRI) is the only training and research institute of CGWB and is envisaged to function as a `Centre of Excellence’ in training ground water resources personnel and objective of these trainings is to develop a pool of trained resource persons, who would be working towards sustainability of ground water resources. The paper includes detailed account of material and methods like primary and secondary data collection, SWOT, EMB factors, Interaction with faculty and trainees, Interview and observation, Feedback, Course Director’s Report (CD Report) and various EoT tool kits, Training plan design and the EOT report (withdrawal Phase). The aims and objectives, performance problems, various environmental, motivational and behavioural problems have also been incorporated in the paper. Training and Non-training recommendations, Training Plan, Priority List and Design brief are the other highlights of the paper. The EoT analysis recommends the training and non-training implications, training design, new EoT Systems with various types of activity during the ILTC. Further, the paper includes the Flip chart preparation, Recap, Presentation and Exercises involving all the trainees with an aim to fully engage and involve the trainees. In addition, the remaining highlighted features of the paper are the motivational factors to the trainee officials like various types of incentive, good entry certificate, appreciation letter from Line Managers or Senior Manager for their outstanding performance, proper transparent promotion and transfer policies and the post training external validation are to be carried out by obtaining report on the performance of the trainees from Line Managers or Senior Manager.

Investigating the effect of participatory ergonomics implementation on job satisfaction in the staff of Shahid Rajaei Faridan Hospital

Introduction: Participatory ergonomics means the participation of all components of an organization in the development and implementation of ergonomic knowledge, to optimize the working environment with the full support of the senior manager of the organization. Use it to solve problems in your work environment. This study aimed to investigate the effect of participatory ergonomics implementation on job satisfaction in the staff of Shahid Rajaei Hospital in Frieden. Materials and Methods: The present study was performed as an intervention, before and after, and in Shahid Rajaei Frieden Hospital. The data collection method was through a job spectrum questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using SPSS25 software and paired t-test. Results: The results showed, the highest job satisfaction is related to rewards and the lowest is related to ancillary benefits. The average scores obtained from the completed questionnaire before and after the intervention were 123 and 135, respectively and a significant relationship between participatory ergonomics implementation and job satisfaction was seen (P <0.03). Conclusion: In this study, participatory ergonomics was used to improve the ergonomic aspects. The results of this study showed that participatory ergonomics can increase job satisfaction among employees So that there was a significant relationship between the implementation of participatory ergonomics and job satisfaction.

Portrait of a native senior manager of foreign enterprise from the perspective of employees

Foreign direct investment (FDI) is expected not only to bring capital, technology, know-how and management skills but also to contribute to GDP and create jobs for host countries. In this study, the jobs mentioned are not general positions in a company, but positions that are counted on the fingers – top executive. This study aims to provide the image of a native senior manager based on the expectations of subordinates. This research approaches quantitative methods through survey questionnaires for managers and employees at 25 foreign enterprises in the South of Vietnam. The results of the regression analysis from 135 responses indicate that work experience and leadership are qualities for local staff to become senior managers. This study contributes to the FDI theory. This result inspires native staff to strive to become managers. At the same time, employers need to build job requirements of the top executive positions close to the aspirations of employees.

An Oil and Fats Manufacturing Company: Assessing Human Resource Needs for Corporate Success

Nikolai Asia Pacific in Johor Bahru Malaysia is a leading manufacturer of vegetable oils and fats. The Senior Manager of Human Resource and Organization Development (HROD) had concerns about employees at managerial levels. He felt that they were not playing their role in championing organizational changes being made for improvement in performance. He expected the managers should be able to foresee the struggles the organization will face in the coming years and initiate changes even when everything seemed to be going well. This case presents an opportunity for first-year undergraduate students to understand needs assessment for training and non-training interventions for managers of an organization. The case discusses issues of performance discrepancies among managers despite the various initiatives taken by the HROD department. In order to emulate reality, the event that led the HROD to take action has been recorded in the case study. The identified gaps will prompt learners to identify tools and approaches necessary in such a situation.

Women’s Transition to Entrepreneurs from Professional and Managerial Careers in Organizations

Careers have different dimensions, they can be developed in an organization and in individual way. Organizations no longer have a role in creating careers, but individuals develop careers using the organization as a tool or medium. Changes in the external and internal environment in the organization are the basic conditions why individual career dares to change. The research aimed to explore senior female managers' phenomenon that left professional and managerial careers in organizations to be entrepreneurs. Structured and in-depth interviews were conducted with 25 female entrepreneurs who had left senior manager positions at the companies. Qualitative research approaches were carried out to explore what motivated female entrepreneurs to make a career transition and how the career transition process was done. Then, the Critical Incident Technique was used to analyze the data to get responses regarding female entrepreneurs' perceptions of career transitions. From the results, there are four main categories: personal, organizational life, value and integrity, and capital. Then, there are also nine subcategories: independence and individualism, strong encouragement and family support, professional and personal life balance, organizational life, values, integrity, partner ties, mentor ties, and human capital. The personal category causes more women to make a career transition, followed by capital, value and integrity, and organizational life categories.

Transforming UNICEF’s approach to health system strengthening: what place can a blended learning course play?

Background The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) published their Health Systems Strengthening (HSS) approach to meet its strategic goals of ending preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths and promoting the health and development of all children and reducing inequities in health in 2016. UNICEF commissioned the University of Melbourne’s Nossal Institute for Global Health to develop and deliver a pilot blended HSS program, involving 60 hours of online learning and 2 weeks of face-to-face teaching over a 6-month period. To assess the extent to which the HSS program had built the first 83 UNICEF 2017 graduates’ capabilities to apply HSS actions by 2017, UNICEF funded an independent evaluator from the University of Melbourne. Methods A mixed-methods assessment was conducted using: online surveys of graduates at: enrolment, completion, 6 months post-HSS program; nine focus groups with graduates at face-to-face workshops; and interviews with purposive samples of UNICEF graduates and graduate Senior Managers 12 months post-HSS program. Results The HSS program content, structure and mode of delivery was positively received. Graduates reported increased confidence taking HSS actions and multiple changes in work practices (e.g., increased systems thinking and using of health system-based approaches). Graduates’ Senior Manager interviews revealed mixed impressions of graduates applying HSS actions, partly explained by the fit between the HSS program learnings and UNICEF’s workplace environment. Key contextual factors influencing graduates applying HSS actions included: workload; limited opportunities to apply HSS actions; limited HSS examples; and variable support to apply HSS actions. Graduate and Senior Manager suggestions to optimise applying HSS actions included: linking HSS program content with UNICEF priorities; increasing opportunities for graduates to apply HSS actions; increasing access to HSS support. Conclusions The paper concludes by presenting HSS program and assessment suggestions from the 2017 UNICEF Pilot HSS program assessment and actions taken for the 2018 UNICEF staff cohorts by HSS program developers, funders and beneficiaries.