At a time of reorganization for certain socio-economic paradigms within the Province of Quebec, the public-private duality is in need of a competitive and sustainable collaboration in order to promote and ameliorate public services, provide more controlled levels of risk and lower initial investment costs in such projects. The concept of a public-private partnership is born from a necessity to adapt the structure of the existing systems to better serve the modern demands of users, to replace old and inefficient infrastructures as well as to abet prohibitive financial considerations of the Province of Quebec. Under which circumstances and to which degrees would the private partner in a public-private partnership, having become the custodian of a project serving primarily private interests, be responsible to absorb the risks transferred by the Province of Quebec to the partnership? How can it be assured that the protection of the public interest and inextricable public values links of the public partner are preserved in a public-private partnership? / This thesis is structured into three sections. In the first chapter, we analyze the concept of public private partnerships and the parameters that circumscribe to it. This analysis deals with public services and the public interest. The second chapter defines the concept of accountability while outlining various traits of accountability which may be associated with each member of a public-private partnership as well as with the partnership itself. A more pointed examination then discusses the pitfalls of current systems of accountability within the public-private framework. / Finally, we examine the notional values that the current control mechanisms contribute to a public-private partnership. This analysis indicates that a series of new and renewed control and accountability mechanisms is needed to manage the various idiosyncrasies of a public-private partnership while congruently promoting a balance of interest and vision between the partners of a public private partnerships.

No description available.

Culture plays an integral role in shaping Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and policies within any organisation. This role is manifested through determining the norms and accepted behaviours in any given society. However, the extent of this societal cultural influence has been deemed to be greatly unexplored among researchers. Societal culture has been defined by Prasad and Babbar (2000) as the compilation of values and ideologies that are shared among an assembly of individuals in a certain country or region. Researchers have been concerned by the relationship between societal culture and HRM practices in developing countries; HRM practices are defined by Armstrong (2006) as all aspects associated with the management of people within the organisation. Therefore, this research represents an investigation of the link between Saudi Arabian societal culture and existing HRM practices within the public and private sectors. Taking into consideration elements affecting Saudi societal culture, such as changing economy and globalisation, these elements impact organisations in Saudi Arabia on two levels. First, the local level, where public organisations are gradually transforming into private organisations with a focus on profitability. Second, the global level, represented through multinational organisations adapting to societal culture elements in order to achieve success. As a result of both levels, HRM practices are changing in order to be effective. Therefore, the aim of this research is to explore this particular development and discover how Saudi societal culture impacts five specific HRM practices – highlighted following a comprehensive review of literature – and the role they play in shaping those practices. These practices are: job desirability, recruitment sources, performance appraisal, compensation and rewards, and training programmes. For the purposes of this research, a case study has been conducted in order to provide an in-depth examination. This benefits from a unique opportunity to investigate an ongoing privatisation process within a leading organisation in the Middle East. Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA) represents an ideal candidate for this study, as the technical services section of the company, SAEI, is going through a privatisation process; this started in 2009 with expected completion in 2015. As the research data collection took place over seven weeks in 2013, this timeline allowed the examination of the transition from public to private sector within one organisation with the same workplace environment. Furthermore, having both sectors within the same organisation creates the possibility of making comparisons between them, as it would have been impossible to find two organisations from each sector possessing the same organisational structure, financial level and operational levels. Moreover, this study involved adopting a mixed-methods approach to incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods. This approach included semi-structured type interviews with eight senior HR managers as well as non-HR managers, and disseminating questionnaires among 200 engineers within the SAEI department. The findings and results of this case study have shown the extent to which each HRM practice interacts with Saudi societal culture. There have been HRM themes greatly influenced by the societal element, while other themes remained neutral and did not reflect any cultural influence. Furthermore, the findings produced mixed results when compared to those in the existing literature. As for the HRM practices affected by societal culture, three were affected based on the collected data: compensation and rewards, job desirability, and training programmes. These practices show clear indication they were influenced by Saudi Arabian societal culture. As for the HRM practices that remained neutral – performance appraisal and recruitment sources – they remained independent of any societal influence. However, after concluding the study and its discussion, this research provides several contributions to the field of HRM practices in Saudi Arabia on two main levels. On the theoretical level, the outcomes confirm a link between Saudi Arabian societal culture and compensation and rewards, training programmes, and job desirability practices. On the other hand, recruitment sources and performance appraisal practices are not greatly influenced. A further contribution is the up-to-date investigation of the impact that Saudi Arabian societal culture has on HRM practices, which helps to address well-known and documented gaps in the literature. As for practical contributions, one contribution is providing a first-hand review of the ongoing transition using primary and secondary research methods for SAA. This is 00considered beneficial for practitioners and multi-national corporations, as this study provides an action guide and insight into preferred HRM practices in Saudi Arabia. Further practical contribution is associated with the developed framework utilised in this research, where this particular framework can be used in the future to accommodate similar privatisation processes or make comparisons with international organisations.

This study explores the relation between Scandinavian donor private sector development and collaboration (PSD/PSC) policies and recipients of the support in Mozambique. It seeks to understand how such relations function in the complex local political and business environment. The study departs in theory regarding hybrid regimes and private sector development, and an analytical framework is designed as a model for relations based on theories on state-business relations and aid effectiveness. The material was gathered during a two-months field study where interviews were carried out with key actors of development cooperation such as embassy staff, fund managers and local entrepreneurs. The study finds that several PSC tools are shaped according to a western point of view and not always well adjusted to the local Mozambican context. It also finds that the design of the policies in many cases produces a high entrance barrier to Mozambican entrepreneurs, why most recipients are essentially foreign business people.

Organisational effectiveness has always been researchers’ main concern and interest over a long period of the time. Also, organisational culture as the main contributor of organisational effectiveness and its impact has attracted many scholars in different disciplines including organisational studies. While there is an extensive body of literature on the relationship between organisational culture and organisational effectiveness, many of the previous studies in this field have explored the direct relationship between specific culture domains and specific effectiveness measures and researchers have paid inadequate attention to mediators and moderators of the link between organizational culture and effectiveness. In fact, there is an absence of a comprehensive conceptual model of the culture-effectiveness relationship in the literature that includes the impact of mediators such as leadership style or moderators such as national culture and organisational size. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the mediating influence of leadership style and the moderating impact of national culture and organisational size on the culture-effectiveness relationship in private sector organisations in Iran. In order to achieve the research aim and objectives this study is preceded by a systematic review of the relevant literature that leads to the development of a comprehensive conceptual model. Data collected from different management levels of 40 private sector organisations in Iran by using a survey questionnaire with a design based on previous studies, and analysed using the statistical package for social sciences, SPSS V.18. A convenience sample of 1,000 respondents from various management levels of the organisations was established, in which 353 were returned on time to the researcher that create the response rate of 35.3 percent. This research in nature is quantitative, positivist and deductive and uses survey method by self-administered questionnaire because of its obvious advantages when it comes to versatility and speed. The results of this study show that there is a strong relationship between organisational culture, leadership style and organisational effectiveness and, in fact, leadership style is a partial mediator between all four organisational culture types and organisational effectiveness apart from the adhocracy culture type. Moreover, the findings of this study confirm the importance and major impact of national culture and organisational size as moderators on the relationship between organisational culture, leadership style and organisational effectiveness. This study makes several contributions one of which is the presentation of a comprehensive framework that that explains the importance and impact of leadership style as a mediator and national culture and organisational size as moderators on the culture-effectiveness relationship. Moreover, this study provides a novel contribution to the growing literature on the culture-effectiveness relationship in private sector organisations, particularly for developing countries such as Iran. Furthermore, the result of this study provides meaningful managerial implications and can be used as a guide for implementing organisational change including cultural or managerial styles to improve organisational effectiveness.

This thesis provides an analysis of the co-production of the defense function as provided by the legislative branch, Department of Defense (DoD) and the defense industry at large. The aim of the study will be to examine the evolution of the procurement and contracting process since World War II with a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the increasingly symbiotic relationship between DoD and corporate America. This relationship has evolved significantly over the last halfcentury. It is no longer merely transactional as each side has leveraged the wartime and peacetime interaction to yield upgrades in weapon systems and capabilities that may have been otherwise unattainable in the same time frame. The benefits of this research include the identification and assessment of the intricacies of the DoD-defense industry relationship, particularly with regard to financial management, to elucidate significant trends, and characteristics that pose potential risk and warrant further study.

Master of science in building by advanced coursework and research : A research report submitted to the faculty of engineering and built environment, university of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the master degree od science in building. / In 1997, the South African government introduced Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) as an innovative procurement mechanism, in the form of a policy to regulate the delivery of public assets and services over a protracted period or concession. PPPs involve private sector entities in the form of a consortium or Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which signs a Project Agreement with Government and takes responsibility for delivering the infrastructure and long-term service though funding, designing, building, operating and maintaining the asset or service for the duration of the concession period. The benefits of this type of procurement arise from the transfer of risk to the private entity, incentivising the entity to deliver value for money (VFM) and creating value by delivering innovative and integrated project solutions, which aim to reduce the whole life cost and maximise functionality of an asset. The aim of this research is to examine the role of facilities management at the design stage in the delivery of office accommodation through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model and how this could reduce maintenance costs throughout the whole life of the asset. The research consists of one case study on a large and complex office accommodation-type service PPP project. It focuses on the three design defects identified, namely, the reinforced concrete floors, roof skylights and grey water tanks, and how these led to further maintenance costs that could have been avoided if proper facilities management was implemented in the design phase of the PPP. The data obtained is self-report interviews, peer review journals, public and private sector issues project documentation and expert opinions. The findings of the research indicate that the early involvement of facilities in the design phase can potentially mitigate the risk of design defects, reduce the cost of maintenance during the operational phase, improve communication with the professional team and increase the level of accountability. On the other hand, if these conditions are not met the design process suffers, as in this specific case of the headquarters of the accommodation serviced PPP project. 3 The research proved that these is limited literature on the collaboration of facilities management and design in the South African economy, as it is an emerging market which is constantly facing new developments and changes. However, the research proves due to the governance structures of PPPs, the organisation of the different private sector parties in the project development shows limited interaction. This research yielded a number of recommendations for further study of assessing the viability and feasibility of a fully integrated design solution and due to the limited literature in office accommodation service-type PPP projects other case studies of a similar nature must be analysed, in conjunction with further quantitative and qualitative research to confirm the validity of the findings. . / GR2017

A dissertation interim report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Building. / Public Private Partnerships (PPP) are a unique model for countries that wish to deliver infrastructure services to the communities they serve. This unique form of procurement combines the efforts of both the public and private sectors. PPP procurement allows governments with resource constraints to access private sector funds to implement their infrastructure and services delivery programmes. South Africa has taken a decision to adopt PPP’s as an alternative to the traditional form of infrastructure delivery. PPP’s are however a fairly new way of procurement for government departments. The delivery of PPP’s has therefore come with its own unique challenges that need to be addressed in order to make this type of procurement effective. South Africa has adopted world-class PPP procurement guidelines which are on par with those of established PPP markets. The PPP procurement process is outlined in the National Treasury’s PPP Manual and Standardised PPP Provisions. The PPP Manual provides guidelines for the implementation of the full project life-cycle of a PPP. PPP procurement forms an important part of the project lifecycle, and ensures that the outcomes of a PPP are met, being affordability, value for money, and equitable risk transfer for the contracting parties. The aim of this research was two-fold. Firstly, this research aims to investigate the time performance of the procurement process for PPP projects in South Africa. Secondly, the research aims to determine the factors that influence the time performance of the procurement process for these projects. The case study research strategy was identified as the most suitable method of addressing the research aims. The justification of the use of the case study strategy was based on the type of research questions posed, the extent of control the researcher had over behavioural events, and the ability of case studies to address the contemporary as opposed to historical events. In addition, the case study strategy was considered advantageous because it follows a rigorous methodical path that protects against threats of construct, internal and external validity. To this end, four cases were selected for the research. The cases selected were as follows:  Maropeng and Sterkfontein PPP Project;  Department of Statistics South Africa (DSSA) New Head Office Accommodation PPP Project;  Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) New Head Office Accommodation PPP Project; and  Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) New Head Office Accommodation PPP Project. The cases were initially analysed individually, and thereafter a cross-case analysis was conducted. The cross-case analysis was used to identify trends and associations across cases, together with any differences worth highlighting. Analytical procedures were used to analyse the time performance of the PPP procurement process from Request for Qualification (RFQ) to Financial Close. Planned and actual procurement timelines were collected from the PPP procurement documentation (i.e. RFQ and RFP documentation) and the interview respondents respectively. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative information on the factors that the respondents deemed to have influenced the time performance of the procurement process for the selected cases. The interview questions were based on insights gained from the literature review related to the factors that influence the time performance of the PPP procurement process. It is envisaged that the insights gained from the research will go a long way to improving the time performance of the procurement process for PPP projects in South Africa. An improved time performance of the procurement process can lead to quicker delivery of PPP projects to marginalised communities where the need for infrastructure services is the highest. Keywords: Construction, Procurement, Public Private Partnerships, Time Performance, South Africa.

This research report is an account of the results of investigations into the critical analysis of the private sector’s Financial Sector Charter (FSC) and the government’s Community Reinvestment Bill (CRB) in comparing their anticipated advantages towards housing and housing finance for the low income sector in South Africa. 2 stages of data gathering were adopted; namely interviews with 5 Banking Council officials and 5 Ministry of Housing officials and a questionnaire survey with representatives from SACC, NALEDI, SANGOCO, COSATU and SANCO which are independent organizations, which amongst other duties, generally assist in serving the social needs of disadvantaged individuals in the society. Multi-criteria analysis and SWOT analysis techniques were used to analyse the qualitative data. Results showed that the most critical aspect of the FSC is the establishment of risk sharing responsibilities between the government and the private sector, which still needs to be resolved. The private sector views the CRB as a forceful mechanism with strict requirements, which would result in the private sector’s participation in provision of housing finance to the low income sector to be ineffective as they would be acting unwillingly. Independent organizations view the CRB as being lenient on the private sector. Evaluation of the CRB and FSC showed that ultimate success lies in the combined efforts between the government and private sector, which in turn lies in the settling of the Memorandum of Understanding on-going negotiations. Key recommendations for addressing the low income sector housing and housing finance problems include; cultural adjustment of the banks towards low income sector individuals, formation of partnerships in dealing with housing and housing finance problems, establishment of efficient secondary property markets through amenities provision and infrastructure upgrading, identification of effective default management models, accommodation of new intellectual ideas and provision of different mortgage securities by banks and the government.

During the past two decades there have been significant changes in the landscape for higher education. Among these was a trend for universities and colleges to respond by adopting a more market-driven approach, leading to the introduction of new public management within universities and colleges, which led to the emergence of tensions between the academic and quasi business aims. In 2004 the UK government changed the criteria for the grant of degree-awarding powers and university title opening up the possibility for non-public organisations to apply. This thesis presents the case study of a private sector for-profit organisation as it introduced a more robust quality assurance infrastructure during the application process for taught degree-awarding powers. The analysis is undertaken within a conceptual framework developed from institutional and agency theory. The need to demonstrate legitimacy and the influence of key groups played a large part in the changes made. Using data collected via participant observation, key informant interviews and documentary evidence, the study examines the changes and management actions that took place during the period between June 2004 and July 2009 in order to identify the strategies that were adopted to manage the tensions between the academic standards and the commercial imperative of meeting shareholder expectations. The study contributes to the literature covering change in educational institutions and in particular that which reports on the introduction of a more business-oriented approach to the management of universities. The study is able to bring a new perspective to studying the management of tensions between academic and business aims by looking at the issues from an alternative angle. The key strategy developed was a gradual rationalisation of the academic aims within the business aims such that the duality of aims was diminished.