Thesis (M.S. in Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): Marshall Engelbeck, Ron Tudor. Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-55). Also available online.

Thesis (doctoral)--Handelshögskolan i Stockholm, 1983. / Summary in English. Includes index. Bibliography: p. 420-436.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) overhauled the reimbursement system for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) with the intent to improve payments by ensuring therapy services were focused on meeting the needs and preferences for beneficiaries, rather than the volume of services provided. The Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) went into effect on 10/1/19. Because the payment model employs a new methodology for reimbursement, there are multiple concerns that some SNFs may inappropriately manipulate therapy services to increase profits, such as by mandating therapists to maximize the use of group and concurrent therapy regardless of the resident’s needs. The doctoral program addresses PDPM from a regulatory oversight perspective. Surveyors will receive updated investigatory pathways and training regarding how to investigate therapy services to address the impact PDPM may be having on the provision of therapy, functional performance, and falls. Surveyors will have the knowledge and skills to ensure SNF beneficiaries across the nation receive quality, individualized rehabilitation services to satisfy the intent behind PDPM.

Audit committees are an integral part of good corporate governance and their establishment strengthens the credibility of governments. As a foundation of good governance, audit committees are positioned to provide an objective assessment of whether or not public resources are responsibly and effectively managed. They also promote accountability and integrity, as well as improvement in the operations of governments and municipalities. The establishment of audit committees in the local sphere of government came with the advent of modernisation in terms of the budget and financial management, which was intended to strengthen accountability. The requirement for effective utilisation of resources by local government is critical for the support and empowerment of local communities and delivery of effective services. The audit committee framework for local government, which is provided by the Municipal Finance Management Act (56 of 2003), is underpinned by principles of good governance and accountability, which promote the effective functioning of audit committees. However, there are perceptions and arguments advanced in the literature regarding the effectiveness of audit committees as an accountability structure. This was brought about by the recurring reported incidences of the failure of businesses, which took place despite the existence of rules and laws regulating the function. As a result, trends of leading best practices were established, which enhanced audit committees' performance and were adopted as a proxy for the measurement of audit committees’ effectiveness. The focus of the study is on validating the perception by management that the audit committee of the Westonaria Local Municipality (WLM) is effective in the execution of its oversight role. A literature study on the functioning of audit committees have been undertaken, official municipal documents were analysed and a questionnaire has been developed and utilised as a means for gathering data, in order to prove the hypothesis to be either true or false. The areas investigated in this study demonstrate that the audit committee of WLM is generally effective in the execution of its oversight function. The findings of the study also identified certain areas in the audit function which require the attention of both management and the audit committee of the municipality. More specifically, the observations made in the study include the following: (i) that audit committee members are not provided with the agendas and reports in sufficient time for them to adequately prepare for meetings; (ii) that a productive relationship between the audit committee and the management of the local government has to be maintained; (iii) that there is a lack of informal meetings between the audit committee and the external and internal auditors; (iv) that no appropriate training of the audit committee on existing and potential audit risks in local government is in place; (v) that there is an absence of continuous learning programmes for the members of the audit committee; and (vi) that audit committee members do not evaluate themselves in terms of their level of knowledge regarding the functioning and activities of their audit committee. Attending to these aspects, as identified through this study, will further improve the audit committee’s activities in the WLM. These aspects are therefore not viewed in a negative light, but are rather regarded as a positive venture to be addressed by municipal management and the audit committee, in order to improve the functioning of the audit committee. These aspects should therefore be added to the many positives aspects that are identified concerning the WLM audit committee, as discussed in this study. / M Public Administration (Development and Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Research on the oversight role of the National Department of Human Settlements on its public entities: The case of National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC). This study looked at the National Department of Human Settlement’s oversight role over its entities. It took place in the context of broad departmental public entity oversight management. However, the researcher’s focus was on the systems and mechanisms used by the department in its oversight function with a specific focus on the National Home Builders Registration Council as one of its entities and determined if there were any impede oversight challenges. The research explored through documentary analysis and investigative interviews with departmental officials who are charged with the responsibility of overseeing the governance of all entities reporting to the NDoH. Key accountability documentation, and commentary documents from oversight organs of state such the Auditor General and Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements were also reviewed and analysed. 5 The research discovered that the department’s oversight over the NHBRC, is mainly focusing on compliance enforcement. The mechanisms and systems used are somewhat biased towards compliance monitoring. As a result of the skewed focus, there is an imbalance between legislative enforcement and service delivery on the part of NHBRC. Although the research could not make inferences to other public entities, the study helped in developing an understanding of challenges associated with oversight (generally) and the strength and weaknesses of the department’s oversight systems and mechanisms (in particular). The research unveiled a need for an improvement in regard to the oversight systems and approach, and concludes by recommending that it would be necessary that government should introduce a holistic oversight framework that would guide and promote efficiency and effectiveness in all “public entities oversight initiatives”.

The study explores the contribution made by study tours on oversight in the Limpopo Legislature during the period 2004-2009. Oversight and its impact on service delivery is described and examined. Key to the study is how the contribution of study tours on oversight has been construed by staff and committee members in the Limpopo Legislature. The study was conducted from a qualitative perspective through interviews, focus group discussion and documentary analysis. The results of the study show that lack of common understanding on oversight rendered the lessons drawn from study tours meaningless. Capacities to discharge the oversight function and leadership have been identified by the study as essential to committees and the legislature respectively. The findings show that this is most likely the first study on the contribution of study tours to oversight function within the legislative environment in the country. It is therefore significant because it sets out the background for future academic research on the topic.

The work to keep a nation safe from threats or potential threats has become very difficult in the 21st century. The advent of globalisation and the advances in technology resulted in borderless societies and a complex world of changing global threats. It is inconceivable that there would be a government worth its salt that would not create and sustain security institutions to safeguard its people, installations and critical infrastructure that form the bedrock of the economy and government operations in terms of services. Post 1994, South Africa developed an oversight model for the country’s intelligence services, in an effort to ensure that abuses associated with the apartheid era of intelligence remain a thing of the past. Noting that a number of design, functional and implementation changes have occurred in the past 18 years within the accountability and oversight model, this study sought to establish the extent to which the current accountability and oversight model is effective and still relevant in dealing with the 21st century challenges of intelligence. This was the main research question. The study was grounded in the institutional theory in its different variants. This study argued that the South African accountability and oversight model needs to be reviewed and aligned with the latest international developments which bring an institutionalised civilian oversight as part of the central pillars of the model. Through a combination of documentation analysis and interviews of a targeted sample of experts, the study found that while a sound legislative framework is in place within an appropriately designed model, there are inadequate skills at the parliamentary level for oversight. Policy gaps in respect of the control of intelligence at the ministerial level have also been found to be a serious limitation of the current accountability model. The study also found that civilian oversight suffers from a lack of an institutionalised framework. The study concluded with a number of recommendations pertaining to amendments of legislation to provide for an institutionalised framework for civilian oversight, introduction of mandatory training programmes for members of the parliamentary committee on oversight, as well the need to close prevailing policy gaps.

Thesis advisor: Jonathan Reuter / This dissertation is comprised of three essays that focus on the role of overseeing entities in retirement plans. In the first essay, I study the role of trustee and non-trustee service providers as well as the composition of a firm's board of directors in overseeing 401(k) plans. I ask whether differences in the number and type of these 401(k) plan overseeing entities can explain differences in 401(k) plan performance and structural characteristics. Using a proprietary dataset of 401(k) plans, I find that having more trustee and non-trustee service providers results in better menu performance. However, these findings are not robust when benchmark adjusting performance. Second, I find that having more non-trustee service providers leads to less menu diversification and higher fund level expenses, but lower total plan expense. Last, having more trustee service providers and a greater percentage of insiders on a firm's board of directors results in a more generous company match. My results suggest that 401(k) plans are significantly impacted by oversight decisions, and that improving oversight quality may be a more effective way to mitigate 401(k) plan losses than focusing on increasing financial literacy of plan participants. In the second essay, I examine the nature of compensation for 401(k) plan consultants and ask whether variations in the form of compensation explain variations in 401(k) plan costs and menu performance. Using a proprietary dataset of 401(k) plans, I find that 401(k) plans which hire a consultant experience lower fund level fees and higher after-fee returns if the consultant does not participate in revenue sharing arrangements. In exchange for their services to improve plans, consultants without revenue sharing arrangements charge higher fees to offset their revenue losses from not having opaque arrangements. This results in higher administrative expenses for plans. The net effect is a 9.6 basis point annual gain for the average plan participant or a 24.7 basis point annual gain for a plan participant invested in the default menu choice, assuming that employees pay the higher administrative expense. My findings are robust to a narrower definition of a consultant, additional controls for investment expertise, retirement expertise and bargaining power, falsification tests, and propensity score matching. Overall, my findings suggest that 401(k) plan menu design may be improved through the use of a consultant if the consultant does not suffer from conflicts of interest. In the third essay, I empirically test whether governance mitigates underfunding in US public pension plans. Traditional governance proxies in public sector defined benefit plans focus on plan board of directors. However, plan responsibilities extend beyond the board and are addressed by state or plan policies and by other entities involved in pension oversight. Using unique governance survey data for US public pension plans, I measure governance in an agency theory framework and in a theoretical best practices framework. In the first framework, governance proxies include state and plan policies while in the second, governance proxies include the distribution of oversight responsibilities. I find that the most important governance policies are those that encourage sponsor commitment to paying required annual contributions. I also find that theoretical best practices do not mitigate plan underfunding. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management. / Discipline: Finance.

The ultimate goal of modern constitutionalism is to protect the human rights, and its realization is the establishment of a "limited government." To maintain national security, protect our society and people from all hazard, is the obligation of the government which owning the national executive power. In order to secure the national security, national defense, diplomacy and intelligence become the most important affairs of the government, and also with less oversight from the legislative power. The national intelligence services will influence the success or failure of national defense and diplomacy. To acquiring more early warning time, intelligence services are the indispensable work to secure the national security. Depending on the principle of Rule of Law of modern constitutionalism, the intelligence organizations shall follow the principle of rule by law. Also, the positive rule by law must abide by the ¡§Vorbehalt des Gesetzes.¡¨ Basing on the check and balance, intelligence services should be over-sighted by the legislative branch. However, because of the nature of secrecy, intelligence services should be only over-sighted in essential and limited sphere to avoid endangering agents¡¦ security and operations. This paper analyzes laws, histories and practices of the intelligence organizations in the United States, Germany and ROC, as well as intelligence-and-administration-in-one or separation. We also compare the tasks, missions and laws of intelligence operations of the United States, Germany and ROC. This paper also studies on how intelligence agencies are supervised by Congress in the principle of balance and check. This paper finds that the Intelligence Service Law of ROC is equivocalness between information and intelligence. Information collection through secret way is adopted by indefinite law concept, therefore, people lack the right of information self-determination and post-relief system. Legislative oversight lacks the substantial meaning, and merely has the work of administrative oversight by law. To establish the Intelligence Oversight Board seems to be not necessary.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2002. / Title from title screen (viewed Nov. 18, 2003). "December 2002." Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-55). Also issued in paper format.