Improving systems of public education through the development and implementation of innovative reforms is a socially and politically complex process, particularly when systems of public education merge with external agencies that enter the process with unique resources and with perspectives and intents derived from experiences unlike those found in traditional public school cultures. Pursuing a better understanding of this process, this qualitative case study examines the interorganizational partnership that developed Metro High School, an innovative, STEM high school program in Columbus, Ohio. With this single, public/private partnership as a case, this study examined the school reform context within which the partners worked and from which they derived influential perspectives and resources. The objective was to better understand the interaction and manifestation of perspectives, resources, and intentions, as the now influential school was being developed and implemented. Data gathered through interviews, documents, and observations have been analyzed and synthesized into conclusions about the interactive effects of the partners on the development of the school and its subsequent policy influence. Factors found to have affected the effort include favorable reform policy conditions and experienced school designers, commitment to well-defined STEM and Coalition of Essential Schools principles, ample resources from skilled, high capacity partners with political and intellectual influence, conceptual alignment across the partnership, a commitment to equity, and effective community-based negotiations. Negotiations were facilitated by strong leadership working from the base of a multi-district foundation that provided the administrative space for the school’s largely autonomous development. This study, utilizing sociopolitical theories of educational change and implementation that recognize the influence and value of multiple perspectives and constructive variability, suggests implications for interorganizational partnership work that is undertaken for developing and negotiating the terms of new systems of public school organization and new learning environment designs. In regard to the research literature on implementation, school change, and reform, this study—though not generalizable and limited in scope to a single site—sheds light on the complexity of implementing collaborative educational change in urban environments.

The constraints experienced by water utilities in developing countries, with regard to the universal provision of access to water and improved water services, have been defined by international policymakers as "a crisis of governance". This study departs from the theoretical perspectives on governance and aspires to accumulate knowledge and advance understanding on how the performance of water utilities can be enhanced. The thesis comprises five papers and the cover essay. Four of the papers address case studies and one is a theoretically based paper, while all five papers are supported by reviews from the literature relevant to the topic of each paper. The thesis uses insights from literature reviews mapping relevant scientific theories and concepts in the areas of mainly governance, deliberative policymaking and communicative planning, social capital, civil society and institutional theoretical perspectives. The study integrates different research methods and explores theoretical perspectives on governance to examine the governance aspects of water utilities in the transition phase from public to private management and operation. The study investigates whether the  governance structure that involves the private sector in the form of Public Private Partnership (PPP) of water utility has produced "good governance" and enhanced water governance in two cases, the Lema Water Company in Amman, Jordan and the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) in Accra, Ghana. The analysis highlights evidence of governance deficiency. Accordingly, the thesis argues against the policy design that assumes that simply transferring the management and operation of water utility to private operators would resolve the problems of water utilities and enhance water governance. The analyses and the conclusions reached in the papers, together with a review of the literature on New Institutional Economics theory that knits together all the theories that are utilised in the papers, offer insights in the understanding of aspects of water governance. The insights suggest that policymakers need to better understand how institutions at different levels impact the overall performance of a water utility. The performance of the water utility cannot be detached from the wider institutional setting or reduced to simply changing the operator.  What has been disregarded from the calculus of international policymakers, the thesis mainly argues, is the institutional perspective. The study concludes that actors’ performances are affected primarily by their institutional settings. The constraints of water utilities to provide a better performance and good governance processes reside in different kinds of institutional settings To address this, the thesis develops a generic institutional framework within which water governance aspects can be assessed at different institutional levels, from the higher level of politics to that of the individual level. According to this perspective, the study views governance process as "the interaction between actors from the spheres of a society within specific sets of formal and informal institutions in a social setting that produces certain political, economic and social outcomes".  It defines good governance as "the legitimacy given by the wider public to institutions in a social setting and the coherency of formal and informal institutions to produce socially effective outcomes for the collective public". The developed generic institutional framework is used to more thoroughly analyse the two cases integrated in the study. This approach to assessment of water governance provides an explanation for why the water utilities were not able to meet their performance goals and enriches our understanding of water governance processes. It also modestly maps the main problematic institutional areas that in each case constrained aspects of good water governance. In practical terms, this thesis emphasises that policymakers have to map and identify the institutional factors constraining the overall performance of a water utility, at all levels. The thesis also urges policymakers to be cautious regarding which formulated policies are seen as solutions. Policymakers should restrain themselves from experimenting with policy when they are not sure that certain outcomes are likely to be produced by adopting a particular policy. In the long run, inappropriate policies may negatively affect local institutional settings and are likely to undermine the capacity of local governance. / QC20100628

The purpose of this study was to describe the reasons of Peng-hu medical team participation in infectious disease prevention program. The study discussed the awareness of importance for medical team engaged in disease prevention of community, and obstacles and intervention faced by medical team self-participation in community infectious disease prevention programs. At the end, it discussed cooperated relationships and the essential factors of public-private partnership and also provided conclusion and suggestion to perfect the abilities for medical team self-participation in community infectious disease prevention programs and to have positive functions. The purposes of this study are as follows: (1)to discuss the awareness of importance and advantages and disadvantages of medical team self-participation in community infectious disease prevention programs (2)to know the obstacles of Peng-hu medical team participation in community infectious disease prevention programs. (3)to study the cooperative relationship and essential factors of public-private partnership participation in community infectious disease prevention programs. (4)to conclude the related factors of medical team participation in community infectious disease prevention programs and to compare with the strategies for motivating community infectious disease prevention programs. This study adopted a quality perspective and in-depth interviews. In the research we use the purposive sampling which aims at medical clinic, institute of pharmacy, leaders of medical team member, directors of public healthy center and the head nurses. Besides, we also visited and asked delegates, town or city mayors, principals of school, director generals of community development association and chiefs of village for their advises on medial team who participated in community infectious disease prevention programs in Peng-hu. The conclusions are as follows: (1) it is important for medical team member to participate in community infectious disease prevention programs, because they have professional knowledge and they are at the cutting edge of disease prevention; public healthy center also has to take the responsibility for such program. However, the medical team is usually more utilitarian, so it is necessary to focus on their medical ethic program. (2) The largest benefit for the participation process is that medical team can learn from each other. (3) The obstacles for medical team to participate in infectious disease prevention programs are insufficient manpower, lack of protective equipment, and insufficient finances; therefore, they need help for these three aspects as well. (4) When medical team member promote community infectious disease prevention programs, patients who refuse to go to hospital and cover their condition will be the big obstruction for the program. (5) The understanding of infectious disease and the threat to health are both main factors to affect clinic in participating disease prevention. For public healthy center, the problems are unclear guidelines and political interventions for entire disease prevention. (6) The cross-professional corporation team has to be established and be conducted and integrated by public sector before reaching the goal of disease prevention program. According to the results given above, we suggest that supervisor of healthy care needs to direct and integrate all medical team member and other relevant sectors to organize a corporative team for disease prevention. The information of infectious disease should be announced widely and update frequently. Disease prevention program should be made compulsory in education and medical ethics should be emphasized. Moreover, Organizations without real functioning should be considered abolished for releasing more manpower in the programs.

<p>The global diffusion of neoliberal economic policies is one of the most significant events in modern history. This research applies current knowledge on policy diffusion to the analysis of the diffusion of two major neoliberal urban policies among Chinese cities, namely land banking and privatization of urban infrastructures. Both policies are believed to have contributed greatly to the rapid growth of China's urban economy, and reflect the idea of capitalizing a city's tangible assets and utilizing market institutions to manage them so as to achieve economic gains. </p><p>Borrowing insights from existing diffusion theories developed by scholars from different background, this research explores the determinants of the policy innovation decisions by utilizing three theoretical models: (1) The internal determinants model, which presumes that the factors causing a local state to adopt a new policy are political, economic, and social characteristics of the local state. (2) The regional diffusion model, which posits that the geographical proximity affects diffusion by encouraging emulation and competition among neighboring states. (3) Institutional diffusion model, which proposes that a new policy may be adopted to prove the legitimacy of the organization, to cope with environment uncertainties by modeling others, to conform to the will of other organizations on which the adopters depend. </p><p>This study emphasizes the role of the Chinese states, both at the central and local levels, in building neoliberal market institutions. It pays particular attention to the effects of provincial governments' pressure, and shows that local states' dependency on higher level authorities has limited the effectiveness of such interventions. Moreover, I highlight the influence of horizontal intergovernmental relations, such as competition and emulation, on the diffusion processes, and argue that it is an important factor that has promoted the national-wide expansion of neoliberal policies. The results of this study enrich our understanding on how local policy makings are influenced by complex intergovernmental relations, and how do local states balance between local economic interests and political loyalty to higher levels when they formulate local development agenda.</p> / Dissertation

Zugl.: Berlin, Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2009.

Univ., Magisterarb.--Düsseldorf, 2006.

Zugl.: Regensburg, Univ., Diss., 2007

The Swedish public bus transport sector is showing a negative development as costs are escalating and the number of passengers is stagnating. Based on theories in Public-Private Partnerships and inter-organizational cooperation, this paper presents an exploratory study how the cooperation between public and private actors affects the quality of public bus transport. Evidence shows that the negative development in the sector is mainly due to the nature of the contracts between public and private actors. Despite the contracts, two of four cases have increased their quality and public welfare through cooperation between the actors.The results highlight the importance of customizing the cooperation based on each actors´ driving force in the contract. Additionally are detailed goal setting and a clear inter-organizational structure strongly correlating with increased quality, finally is trust identified as a corner stone for the construction of a successful cooperation.

Lietuvai, kaip daugeliui pasaulio valstybių, vis aktualesnė tampa viešosios infrastruktūros plėtros, įvairių viešųjų paslaugų teikimo ir jų kokybės poreikių užtikrinimo problema. Ši problema kyla dėl ribotų viešojo sektoriaus finansinių galimybių. Vienas iš galimų esamos problemos spredimų būdų – viešojo ir privataus sektorių partnerystės projektai, kuriuos įgyvendinat viešojo sektoriaus poreikiams užtikrinti pritraukiamos privataus sektoriaus investicijos. Lietuvoje populiariausia viešojo ir privataus sektorių partnerystės forma – koncesijos. Pagal Lietuvos teisę koncesija paprastai suprantama kaip valstybės ar savivaldybės institucijos privačiam subjektui suteiktiamas leidimas infrastruktūros sukūrimui arba viešųjų paslaugų teikimui, о atlyginimas yra teisė eksploatuoti sukurtus infrastruktūros objektus arba tokia teisė su atlyginimu. Darbo tikslas – koncesijos projektų įgyvendinimo metu kylančių teisinio reglamentavimo problemų nustatymas ir pasiūlymų jų sprendimui pateikimas. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Atskleisti koncesijos, kaip viešojo ir privataus sektorių partnerystės formos, sampratą bei apibendrinti šiai partnerystės formai būdingus požymius; 2. Atlikti teisinio reglamentavimo bazės analizę, apžvelgiant ir apibendrinant tam tikriems teisinės bazės raidos etapams būdingas iš teisinio reglamentavimo kylančias koncesijos projektų įgyvendinimo problemas; 3. Remiantis įvairių šaltinių duomenimis identifikuoti kitas, galimai iš pirmo žvilgsnio tiesiogiai iš teisinio... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The expansion of the public infrastructure, the rendering of various public services and the needs in its quality assurance have become a more relevant problem in Lithuania and in many other world countries. This problem arises due to the limited financial capacity of the public sector. One of the possible solutions to the problem could be a public-private partnership projects, where the private sector investments are enlisted to meet public sector needs. Concessions are particularly the most popular forms of public-private partnerships in Lithuania. Under the Lithuanian laws, concession generally means the authorisation granted by the state or municipal authority to the private entity to build/develop the infrastructure or provide public services. The remunaration for that is the right to use the objects buil. The aim of the present thesis is to define the actual legal regulation problems arising in implementation process of concession projects and submit proposals of how they can be solved; The tasks of thesis are the following: 1. Examine a concept of concession as a form of public-private partnership and to identify its characteristic features; 2. Make an analysis of the legal regulation, review and to make an overview of the concession projects implementation process, identify characteristic problems which are relevant to the different stages of the legal regulation development; 3. On the basis of various sources, identify problems which can be solved by using legal... [to full text]

Magistro baigiamajame darbe tiriamos ir vertinamos viešojo ir privataus sektorių partnerystės(VPSP) inovacijų įgyvendinimo valdyme plėtros prielaidos Šiaulių regiono kaimiškosiose vietovėse. Siekiant atskleisti viešojo ir privataus sektorių partnerystės plėtros teorinius aspektus atlikta mokslinės literatūros, dokumentų ir kitų šaltinių analizė. Atliekant VPSP inovacijų įgyvendinimo valdyme plėtros prioritetų analizę teoriniame kontekste buvo nagrinėjama viešojo ir privataus sektorių partnerystės koncepcija. Darbe nagrinėjant VPSP plėtros prioritetus inovacijų įgyvendinimo valdyme, atlikta inovacijų sampratos analizė, atskleistas inovacijų ir pokyčių santykis. Vykdant VPSP plėtrą inovacijų įgyvendinimo valdymo procese ypač svarbus valdančiųjų institucijų požiūris, kuriuo remiantis yra formuoja inovacijų plėtros aplinka. Šiuo pagrindu atlikta inovacijų politikos reikšmės analizė VPSP inovacijų įgyvendinimo valdymo proceso kaimo vietovėse aspektu. Siekiant identifikuoti pagrindines VPSP inovacijų įgyvendinimo valdyme plėtros prielaidas Šiaulių regiono kaimiškosiose vietovėse buvo atliekama ekspertinė apklausa, kurioje dalyvavo keturi viešojo ir keturi privataus sektorių ekspertai. Tyrimo metu atlikta JAV VPSP inovacijų įgyvendinimo valdyme plėtros kaimo vietovėse patirties analizė, o taip pat pateikiama statistinių duomenų analizė, kurių kitimo tendencijos buvo nagrinėjamos kartu su ekspertais. Nagrinėti statistiniai duomenys, kurie yra susiję su inovacijų plėtra ir kaimo... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / In the Master's undergraduate thesis are investigated and evaluated the development presumptions of PPP in the process of innovations implementation management in Šiauliai region’s rural areas. In order to reveal the PPP development of the theoretical aspects the analysis of scientific literature, documents and other sources have been made. On this basis paper work represents the concept of the PPP. Also concept of innovations was analyzed and revealed the relation between innovations and changes in certain organizations. In order to identify the main PPP development presumptions in the process of innovations implementation management both public and private sector experts were interviewed to point out the main position of the sectors. One of the public sector’s experts was the regional development professor of the Salisbury University in the USA who suggested the model of how PPP in the process of innovations implementation management in rural areas can be developed. On purpose to analyze the major aspects of the innovations implementation management of PPP in the Siauliai region’s rural areas there have been selected four innovation projects and their leaders have been interviewed. It showed that innovation projects do benefit to the Siauliai region’s rural areas: increased export, expenditure of the energy have been reduced, modernization of the economic activity in rural areas. Moreover in the process of research there was used PEST and SWOT analysis to show the main... [to full text]