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The importance of NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) m development to most 'aid' agencies is said to have been generated by the failure of the state in reaching and providing certain basic services to the poor and the disadvantaged Although many NGOs in Bangladesh have shown some success in reaching the poor, organising them to raise awareness of education and providing microcredit, the vast majority of the poorest in Bangladesh have remamed beyond their reach The dependency of the NGOs on donors, lack of accountability and loss of quality in service provision during scaling up are the major problems for the NGOs in Bangladesh Except for missionary NGOs like MCC most NGOs m Bangladesh are preoccupied with microcredit which is mainly driven by NGOs search for self-reliance and for good performance indicators Field workers could be the movers and shakers of NGOs They implement the policies of NGOs but unfortunately they are rarely consulted during the making of these policies Above all their problems and opinions remain unheard and unaccounted for Very little research has been conducted on them in both North and South and even less m Bangladesh The research has a multiple methodology which includes questionnaire survey semi structured interviews, securing life histories in order to address the interfaces between the field worker with his/her clients and superiors Most field workers come from the rural middle or lower middle class Most wanted government jobs and fell back on NGO work when they failed to obtain them Most of those who by the time they reach the age of 40 have failed to get promoted either leave voluntarily or are made redundant Field workers of small NGOs try to switch over to large and international NGOs in search of higher job security and salary and benefits Due to high unemployment in the country instead of creating a stable and more skilled workforce NGOs often abandon then: long service field workers in order to recruit cheaper younger field workers The personal problems of field workers include job insecurity financial difficulties and risks associated with accommodation, child-care and children s education These problems are more severe for women field workers and are associated with issues related to their gender The professional problems of these field workers include poor or incorrect training heavy workloads, corrupt and limited promotion opportunities, irregular and undesirable transfers, low status at work, difficult external relationships, etc Again there are gender differences in these problems Yet with all these personal and professional problems, field workers are central to NGO performance It is the strengths of the field workers which make this possible This study calls for better utilisation of these strengths by the NGOs The poor relationship between field workers and their superiors can be tackled by better management in the NGOs A major challenge for the NGOs in Bangladesh is to become less bureaucratic, this supposed to be one of their comparative advantages over the state I also found that there is a big gap between what NGOs do and what then- field workers think ought to be done This underscores the necessity of more discussion with fieldworkers in policy making implementation and evaluation of the activities of NGOs

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This work constitutes a study of the operations of local authority building direct labour organisations (DLOs) during the 1980s, An overt aim of Part III of the 1980 Local Government, Planning and Land Act was to improve efficiency in the operations of local authority building direct labour organisations (DLOs). Whilst the Act did not specify how DLOs should be organised, the legislation on accounting and accountability clearly had Important organisational implications. Even prior to 1981, some DLOs already obtained the majority of work via competitive tender, had control over their functions and had systems for demonstrating their efficiency. Others were not operated in such ways and fundamental changes were needed to successfully meet the challenge of the new legislation. By 1988, the Audit Commission admitted that DLO5 had very largely been successful in meeting the competitive requirements of the 1980 Act, but expressed concern over the varying levels of effectiveness and efficiency of operation that existed amongst organisations. An objective of the study is to look at the problems associated with efficiency and productivity measurement in the context of DLO performance. The Conservative government of this period had a strong conniitment to the improvement of efficiency of the public sector. In other areas of public services, various forms of performance Indicator were being employed to monitor performance, but for a DLO the sole measure of efficiency was the ability to meet the 5a target rate of return. The concern with efficiency produced new interest in the application of quantitative techniques to provide methods of efficiency measurement. This work undertakes a study of the problems associated with efficiency and performance measurement In this sector of the U.K. construction Industry. The availability of appropriate data at the Individual organisation level from 1981 onwards, enabled, for the first time, viable lnter-DLO comparisons to be undertaken at the micro-level and sectoral comparisons to be made at the macro-level. The data used In the study were obtained over a five year period from a variety of sources of published and unpublished sources. A unique database of expenditure and revenue Information from over 150 DLOs has been developed, which in many ways is even more comprehensive than the 'official' statistics collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. Methods used for efficiency measurement With the great emphasis placed on ensuring that the public sector of the construction industry acts in an efficient manner, the data are employed In various methods for the measurement of efficiency. 1. At the sector level, total factor productivity neasurement is used to gauge the rate of growth of the DLO sector of the industry. 2. At the organisation level, 'Farrell' measures of efficiency are used. A model for measuring the efficiency of Individual organisations is presented. Data Envelopment Analysis I used to consider inefficiency that raises Costs above their feasible minimum.

Previous, mainly quantitative, research has indicated that information security threats and incidents are having a significant impact on the conduct of electronic business - and office automation in general - both nationally and internationally. However, as revealed by this study's extensive review of the relevant literature, our understanding of the information security situation in Australian organisations has been quite limited. There has been very little detailed research into security threats and incidents and, equally importantly, the strategies the Australian IT industry is using to deal with them.In addressing that deficiency, this study used a qualitative, case-based research methodology involving a variety of Australian organisations. The case based approach, using in-depth interviews, facilitated a thorough examination of the information security risks (threats and incidents) and enabled assessment and analysis of management actions (countermeasures) to mitigate the identified risks.The major findings with regard to this study's research issues are: The case-study organisations are generally highly reliant on IT for the conduct of their business and therefore would be heavily impacted if it was unavailable They face a variety of information security threats with viruses being the most prevalent threat. The hacking threat was not as evident as reported in the literature There are some differences between the Australian information security experience and that reported in the literature for international organisations in particular many of the very large business overseas operate on a much larger scale than those in Australia The organisations do not believe that they are specific targets for security attacks; rather they believe that are 'targets of opportunity' A wide range of countermeasures are employed; generally, the larger the organisation the greater the diversity and complexity of countermeasures. However, the majority do not have a clear link between risks and countermeasures The majority of the organisations do not have a specific security budget.Whilst Australian organisations were generally well prepared and versed on security issues, the findings indicate the need for the application of best practice across the industry as a whole. A degree of cynicism regarding the nature of the hacking threat was evident – with many participants believing that the threat is overstated. Indeed this study uncovered little direct evidence of the organisations involved being subjected to actual hacker attacks.The framework developed for this study and its findings are readily adaptable for use by industry. By following the process specified in the framework, organisations will be better able to identify both likely and unlikely threats and incidents and deploy appropriate countermeasures.