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This research comprises of a comparative case study of two public revenue organisations in the post-conflict state building context of Kosovo. The key aim is to understand effectiveness and efficiency of public institutions in transforming countries. It relies mainly on the theory of prismatic society proposed by Riggs, which states that institutions in transforming societies are ineffective and inefficient due to multiplicity of norms leading to corruption. It holds that bureaucracies interfere in the political decision-making due to the weakness of political institutions. I found that the context of Kosovo could be described as neo-prismatic due to prior societal diffraction. As a consequence political institutions are relatively developed compared to bureaucracy and political interference in public institutions is widespread. Yet, effective institutions can be built if there is insulation from political interference. While there are views that political influence has negative consequences for institutions, an opposing view suggests that bureaucratic autonomy would lead to corruption. I found the ways in which political interference takes place through various forms of prismatic behaviour affecting the institutions I studied. My findings help inform future organisational design efforts.

This study examines the implementation of performance management (PM) in the Brunei public sector within the context of debates about new public management, bureaucracy and post-bureaucracy. Although Brunei opted for such reform to modernise and improve its public-sector performance, in the literature there appear to be differences between the rhetoric and realities of adopting PM and this brings into question the extent to which the sector is moving towards post-bureaucracy. This study draws on institutional theory as its theoretical lens. In order to address questions intended to explain the ways in which PM has been used as part of Brunei public sector reform, a qualitative approach was adopted. Five government ministries and departments where PM tools, such as strategic plans, balanced scorecards and performance indicators, had been implemented since the government introduced the National Strategic Alignment Programme in 2003 were selected as case organisations. Eighty interviews and informal observations were conducted and then analysed using a thematic approach to provide insights into how the implementation of PM was experienced and perceived by participants involved in the process. Through cross-case analysis, this study evaluated the responses to PM that are specific to the Brunei context, showing the influence of institutional factors such as national culture or existing institutions. As an outcome of the empirical analysis, a theoretical framework emerged which explains the difference between the rhetoric and reality of the post-bureaucratic context of reform and illuminates the intertwining of change and stability. In particular, concepts of institutional entrepreneurship/work, path dependency and translation from institutional theory that take into account the role of human agency in change processes, or the paradox of embedded agency, were drawn on in the development of the framework. This study thus makes a contribution to institutional theory. The findings show that, despite there being strategic acquiescence to PM in the case organisations, they were not deeply affected by the practice which led to PM appearing rhetorical, mainly in order to gain legitimacy. Instead, the findings show evidence of decoupling of PM from existing institutions and practices and also a translation of the PM practice which led to strategic resistance to PM and institutional maintenance of bureaucracy. PM in the Brunei public sector was mainly influenced by path-dependency factors and this in turn influenced the translation of PM by embedded actors resulting in PM being shaped according to existing cultural norms. For instance, there was a persistence of bureaucratic culture that caused interviewees to frame PM in terms of compliance to hierarchical authority rather than as a means of improving performance, in contrast to the ideas of post-bureaucracy. This shows that the influence of existing practice was stronger than the influence of the principles of PM. Therefore, this study provides insights into the roles of change and stability in the PM implementation process leading to institutional maintenance in Brunei, as well as insights into the existence of the contradictions between the rhetoric and realities of post-bureaucratic reform.

Public service operates in an accountability environment, characterised by complex relationships among auditors, auditees, and stakeholders. Public sector audit provides important information to stakeholders, but it is not always so effective in transforming and improving management. This research explores audit's potential to become an instrument for positive change, by addressing a knowledge-gap about intrapersonal, interpersonal, and interorganisational characteristics that would inhibit or facilitate such a paradigm shift. It found that audit has the capacity and potential to move beyond a purely deficit-based role, to positively promote improvements and collaborative learning between institutions and stakeholders. The studies obtained data from semi-structured interviews, survey questionnaires, and documents from 13 Supreme Audit Institutions in the period 2015-2017. The first study presents a unique competency model for performance auditors, identifying citizenship, creativity, and the love of learning, as distinctive competencies, congruent with a positive audit approach. The second study explores the auditor's view of the auditor-auditee relationship using role theory and identifies distinct psychological assets used by auditors: independence, competence, positive personal attributes, collaboration, fairness, and positive change; the latter two forming scale constructs to measure adaptive relational attitudes. The third study evaluates the effectiveness of cognitive-based training in influencing auditors' attitudes to audit relationships. The final study identifies three critical factors influencing interorganisational learning in an accountability context: organisations' absorptive and teaching capacity; dynamic interorganisational processes, and the commitment, knowledge, and ability of staff. This thesis provides new insights into applying psychological theories on relationships in a public sector audit setting. It addresses practical issues affecting the recruitment and selection of staff and the design of better audit processes. It concludes that public sector audit already possesses the theoretical and practical attributes to become a proactive, collaborative, participatory activity. Thus, by expanding its role, it can be a dynamic, transformative instrument for positive change.

Der sächsische Doppelhaushalt legt immer für zwei Jahre fest, wie viele Mittel dem Freistaat zur Verfügung stehen. Der Finanzfuchs zeigt den Weg von der Planung zum fertigen Gesetz. Redaktionsschluss: Dezember 2016

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