Challenges for Public Sector Organisations in Cloud Adoption: A Case Study of South Australian Public Sector Agency

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.

Reporting practices in situations of conflicting institutional logics: the case of a German federal authority

Purpose This study aims to understand how reporting practices act as drivers of change in situations of conflicting institutional logics in a public sector organisation. Design/methodology/approach The findings are based on a case study of a German federal authority, where management accounting reports were introduced as part of a “new” managerial logic of control. Findings In the case organisation, management accounting reports were intended to change the behaviour of executives but were still guided by an “old” logic of justification. Nevertheless, over time, the addressees of the reports used the reports and reconciled different logics. This documents a process from decoupling to compromising and, finally, reconciling different institutional logics. Originality/value By examining the practices of management accounting reporting, this study elaborates the tensions placed on individuals by conflicting institutional logics and provides insights into how organisational practices are used to handle and reconcile conflicting logics in a public sector organisation. Therefore, this paper contributes to the discussion on how organisational practices act as drivers of organisational change.

Lessons from a voluntary sector organisation working to address loneliness and isolation among older people during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing policies have created a range of challenges for voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations addressing isolation and loneliness among older people. This paper explores four learning points from one VCS organisation, Time to Shine, which is working to reduce loneliness among older people in a COVID-19 world, using technology, finding the ‘hard to reach’, tackling ageism and managing anxiety following isolation.

Families experiencing homelessness: Concerns and solutions

This article explains how a clinician-led third sector organisation in Greater Manchester has issued a call to action requiring healthcare providers and service commissioners to adapt to improve health outcomes

Post-sentence supervision: A case study of the extension of community resettlement support for short sentence prisoners

Introduced under the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 created a period of post-sentence supervision (PSS) after licence for individuals serving short custodial sentences. This empirical study features on the ground views and perspectives of practitioners and service users of PSS in one case-study area. Findings from this research suggest a number of issues and ambiguities with the enactment of the sentence. These include ambiguities regarding the correct use of enforcement procedures; the antagonistic relationship between third sector and Community Rehabilitation Company staff, primarily centred around transferring cases and concerns over the use of ‘light touch’ supervision and uncertainties over what the rehabilitative aims of this sentence mean in practice. These issues led to practitioners questioning the legitimacy of the third sector organisation involved in the management of PSS, while service users experienced PSS as a frustrating ‘pass-the-parcel’ experience, where resettlement support was constantly stalled and restarted at each juncture of the sentence. Before briefly discussing the potential future of PSS under the next iteration of probation policy, this article concludes by arguing that there is emerging evidence of a commonality of failures occurring at every juncture of the short sentence, undermining resettlement prospects for the long-neglected short sentence population.