Context of this research: The construction industry has a history of client dissatisfaction in the UK. In response, framework agreements have been developed to create relationships between suppliers and clients in order to improve project performance. This research aims to assess whether use of framework agreements can result in significant improvement for performance outcomes without a significant increase in costs when compared with traditional discrete methods, and if so, develop a procurement performance model for realisation and continuous improvement in performance. Research methodology: A literal review of UK Government reports with economic and performance management theories precede a case study set within Hampshire County Council, a major public sector authority, allowing analysis of data from 164 highway maintenance projects by independent samples t-tests. Projects are divided into discrete and framework groups using critical success factors to measure performance differences. In addition to project outcomes, a review of economic performance was undertaken to advance a current ‘gap in professional knowledge’ concerning cost effectiveness of framework agreements. A performance management model is proposed representing impact of operational measures and sociological behaviour factors on suppliers’ performance, tested by qualitative views of experienced practitioners collected through a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews. Key findings: Independent-samples t-tests proved that there were significant improvements in performance with use of framework agreements, but that no significant additional costs were incurred. Factor analysis and central tendency statistics from questionnaires and node values from interview transcripts confirmed long-term relationships, financial and non–financial incentives and stronger communication were sociological behaviour factors driving performance for framework agreements. Conclusions from the evidence and findings: As framework agreements can achieve significant performance improvements without a significant increase in costs, this study supports use of framework agreements for Hampshire County Council and professional practice. Value of this research is recognised by both central government and case study organisation alike. In respect of the latter context, case study findings have been included within a regional framework for use by South East authorities until 2016. It is recommended further studies should be conducted on civil and building projects in wider public and private sectors so that construction clients can make informed decisions based upon generalised findings.

This study was exploratory in nature, with the purpose of examining the relationships between working Baby Boomers’ knowledge of retirement health benefits and health costs and actions they have taken to prepare for retirement. An online survey was completed by 209 Baby Boomers who are employed by three city governments in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The research showed that health benefits knowledge does not predict retirement preparation but that Baby Boomers who demonstrate higher levels of knowledge-seeking behavior are more likely to undertake retirement preparation, specifically by purchasing an annuity. Among public sector working Baby Boomers, retirement preparation activities are found to be minimal. Age was found to predict knowledge-seeking behavior, in that older vs. younger Baby Boomers are more likely to engage in knowledge-seeking behavior related to retirement preparation. Current knowledge about health benefits does not predict retirement preparation.

Email stress: what are its causes? how is it measured? can it be solved? The literature review revealed that, despite the term being well used and recognised, discussions surrounding the root cause of email stress had reached little consensus and the concept was not well understood. By its very nature, email stress theory had fallen victim to the academic debate between psychological vs. physiological interpretations of stress which, as a result of either choice, limited more progressive research. Likewise an array of email management strategies had been identified however, whilst some generated quick successes, they appeared to suffer longevity issues and were not maintained a few months after implementation in the workplace. The purpose of this research was to determine whether email communication causes employees psychological and physiological stress and investigate the impact of email management strategies in the workplace. A pragmatic philosophy placed the research problem as central and valued the differences between paradigms to promote a mixed-method approach to research. The decision to pair both case studies and action research methods ensured a framework for presenting results and an actionable solution was achieved. In direct response to the research aims an original email stress measuring methodology was devised that combined various data collection tools to measure and investigate email stress. This research design was applied and evaluated 'email free time' and email filing. Results of the study showed an increased stress response to occur during email use, i.e. caused employees' increased blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol and perceived stress, and a number of adverse effects such as managing staff via email, social detachment, blame and cover-your-back culture were identified. Findings revealed 'email free time' was not a desirable strategy to manage email stress and related stressors, whereas email filing was found more beneficial to workers well-being. Consolidation of the data gathered from the literature review and research findings were used to develop an initial conceptualisation of email stress in the form of two models, i.e. explanatory and action. A focus group was conducted to validate the proposed models and a further investigation at the ? was carried out to critique the use of an email training intervention. The results showed some improvements to employees' behaviour after the training, e.g. improved writing style, email checked on fewer occasions each day and fewer sufferers of email addiction. The initial models devised, alongside the latter findings, were synthesised to create a single integrative multidimensional model of email stress and management strategies. The model made an original contribution to knowledge in terms of theory, i.e. to conceptualise email stress, and practice, i.e. to offer practical solutions to the email worker.

The changing character of the economic environment in the last quarter of the twentieth century has resulted in a continuous process of restructuring in the economy of Spain, mediated through the structure and regulatory framework of the economy. Three specific themes contributing to restructuring are addressed: globalisation of the economy, European integration, and the role of the public sector. Globalisation ofthe economy is demonstrated through increased international flows of goods, capital, people and information, and by the incorporation of businesses in Spain within the corporate networks of foreign multinational companies. Spanish businesses too have been extending their global reach, especially into Latin America. European integration has been part of the globalisation process. A substantial proportion of international flows are now concentrated within the European Union and business networks have been adapting to the 'Single European Market'. European integration has dominated economic policy, first in measures to secure membership of the European Economic Community, then in measures to adjust to the regulatory environment of the European Community and finally in the race to achieve the Maastricht criteria. The role of the public sector in restructuring has been to 'manage' the market forces unleashed by the liberalisation ofthe economy. Market forces, embracing increased competition and technological change, have driven the restructuring process demanding responses from the government. These responses have increasingly been constrained by the shedding of responsibilities upwards to international organisations and downwards to lower tiers of administration. Isolation, protection and goverrunent intervention in the economy have given way to a more liberal, open and international environment. Transformation in the mode of regulation from state corporatism to neo-liberalism has been accompanied by globalisation of the economy, particularly integration into the European economy and the corporate space of multinational companies. Nevertheless, despite the growing emphasis on globalisation, public policy continues to play a crucial role influencing the pace, if not the direction, of restructuring.

Managementmodellen lean uppstod i bilindustrin men har applicerats på helt andra typer av branscher, varav offentlig sektor är en av dem. Tidigare forskning visar att lean applicerat på offentliga tjänster passar bättre när tjänsten är av mer homogen karaktär såsom sophantering och parkförvaltning. Ändå visar en kartläggning av lean i Sverige att flest kommuner har implementerat lean inom äldreomsorg - vilket är en heterogen tjänst med höga krav på individanpassning. Syftet med den här fallstudien är att undersöka om lean således är en passande managementmodell för kommunal äldreomsorg. Baserat på sju intervjuer i två svenska kommuner har studien utgått från vad som påverkar kommuners möjlighet att arbeta lean på en filosofisk nivå (lean thinking). Resultatet visar att lean thinking i sin helhet inte är passande för äldreomsorgen, vilket framför allt beror på att offentliga verksamheter utöver brukaren ser socialnämnden och skattebetalare som kunder, vilket försvårar arbetet med lean som utgår från värde enligt kundens perspektiv. Däremot visar verksamheterna att de genom att arbeta med lean framförallt förbättrar processer som inte involverar brukaren, exempelvis administration och förråds- och tvätthantering. Det frigör tid till värdeskapande aktiviteter för brukaren. Vi finner också att myndigheten som reglerar svensk äldreomsorg möjliggör för lean-inspirerat arbete inom äldreomsorg, framför allt på grund av arbetet med att utgå och anpassa tjänster till de faktiska behoven för brukaren istället för att begränsas till det redan befintliga tjänsteutbudet. / Lean was first seen in the automotive industry but has since then been applied to a number of different industries, whereof the public sector is one of them. Previous research has shown that lean has a better fit with services when applied to homogeneous services like waste disposal and maintaining parks. Yet an overview of lean in Swedish municipalities has shown that the most frequent use of the concept lean is in elderly care - which is categorized as a heterogeneous customized service. The aim of this case study is to examine the fit between lean and municipal elderly care. The study has investigated what determines the ability of adopting lean thinking based on seven interviews in two Swedish municipalities. The results show that the whole concept of lean thinking cannot be applied, primarily because of the complexity of the customer concept in the public sector. The interviewees identify several customers apart from the end-user of the service. The fact that tax payers and the social welfare board also are considered customers hinders the work with lean, since their interests may diverge from that of the end-user. However, by using lean tools, processes without involvement from the end-user have been improved, for instance services like administration, laundry and storage management. In turn, these improvements made time for value creating activities for the end-user. The results also show that the Social authority regulating the Swedish municipal elderly care, actually enables an approach inspired by lean. This is primarily due to the development towards a service production based on the actual needs of the end-user rather than being limited to the existing services.

Current studies illustrate that the development of the controller role has been where its focusis more about acting in the managements interest and to be a "business partner" which createsmore value for the company. Since most studies are completed in the private sector, we wanted to take the opportunity to examine the public sector to see whether the development has been carried out there. A development of the controller role means that the controller will have wider duties which could lead to an overload and non-controllable role. We have studied both new and old articles, collected and compared controller's duties towards our empiricism. We chose to limit ourselves to four municipalities in Skaraborg where we conducted a total of eight interviews to draw the fairest possible analysis. The purpose of the study was to see how controllers and even municipalities have been affected by this development, as recent studies present. After having compiled our empirical data collection, we could conclude that the majority feel that the tasks have become wider and where the skills are also becoming increasingly important. In the current situation, the basis of our empirical data says that controllers have not been particularly affected by the development. Respondents feel that the controller role isunder control and not overloaded, but at the same time that the development must be slowed down. Otherwise it will not be long before such a situation arises. For this, we have also linked how important Controller's skills is to be able to handle this now so broad professional role. / Nuvarande studier belyser att en utveckling av controllerrollen har skett där dennes fokus alltmer handlar om att agera i ledningens intresse och vara en ”business partner” för att på så vis skapa mer värde åt företaget. Eftersom de flesta av dessa studier är gjorda inom den privata sektorn ville vi passa på att undersöka den offentliga sektorn för att se om samma utveckling har genomförts där. En utveckling av yrkesrollen innebär att controllern får bredare arbetsuppgifter vilket skulle kunna leda till att rollen blir överbelastad och icke-kontrollerbar. Vi har med hjälp av äldre artiklar kombinerat med nyare artiklar ställt och jämfört controllerns arbetsuppgifter mot vår empiri. Vi valde att avgränsa oss till fyra kommuner inom Skaraborg där vi genomförde totalt åtta kvalitativa intervjuer för att kunna dra en så rättvis analys som möjligt. Syftet med studien var att kunna se hur controllers och även kommunerna har påverkats av denna utveckling som nyare studier tar upp. Efter att ha sammanställt vår empiriinsamling kunde vi dra slutsatsen att majoriteten upplever att arbetsuppgifterna har blivit bredare och därav har även kompetensen blivit allt viktigare. I dagsläget kan vi inte utifrån vår empiri säga att controllers har påverkats särskilt mycket av utvecklingen. Respondenterna upplever att yrkesrollen är under kontroll och inte överbelastad, men samtidigt att utvecklingen måste bromsas. Annars dröjer det inte länge förrän en sådan situation uppstår. Till detta har vi även kopplat hur pass viktig controllerns kompetens är för att kunna hantera denna nu så breda yrkesroll.

Syftet med denna kvalitativa fallstudie var att förstå vad som hindrar och/eller möjliggör för chefer i en kommunal förvaltning att bedriva ett systematiskt förbättringsarbete. Givet den omfattande ledarskapsforskningen avgränsades teoriavsnittet till litteratur och artiklar som ligger nära frågor om ledarskap med betoning på effektivitet och beteende; organisations-kultur, kvalitet, förändring etc. Sju chefer intervjuades om sin syn på ledarskap, sin arbetsdag och förbättringsarbete. En enklare analys gjordes därtill av chefernas kalendrar så de såg ut den vecka intervjun genomfördes. Struktureringen av intervjudata gjordes på hermeneutisk grund i en sexstegsprocess varigenom det initialt omfattande materialet kondenserades till studiens resultat. Utifrån detta genomfördes analysen med utgångspunkt från studiens frågeställningar och syfte. Författarens slutsats är att förutsättningarna för att bedriva ett systematiskt förbättringsarbete, i det aktuella fallet, tycks starkt begränsade. Resultatet indikerar att orsakerna står att finna på olika systemnivåer: det individuella planet (attityd, kunskap mm), på ledningsnivå (förvaltning och politik), på organisationsnivå (som klimat/kultur) och på den mer amorfa nivån ”omständigheterna”. Måhända uppfattar läsaren att rapportens senare delar, som resultat/analys, diskussion och slut-sats, är skriven i väl dystra toner. Författaren diskuterar detta kort i diskussionsavsnittet. / The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand what impedes and/or facilitates for some managers in a public administration body to deal with quality management. Given the extensive research on leadership, the chapter on theories was limited to literature and articles on leadership with a focus on i.a. effectiveness and behaviour; organizational culture, quality and change. Seven managers were interviewed about how they perceive leadership, their working day and quality management. A basic analysis was made of the managers’ calendars as they looked the week of the interview. The structuring of data was done on hermeneutical grounds in a six-step-process by which the initially voluminous material was condensed to the result of this study, from which the analysis was made with the questions and purpose of the study being the point of departure. The author concludes that the conditions for executing quality management, in this particular case, seems greatly confined. Data suggests that reasons for this are found on different system levels such as the individual level (attitudes, knowledge etc); the leadership level (administration and politics); the organizational level (climate/culture) and on the more amorphous level of “circum-stances”. It may be that the reader of this report perceives the conclusion to be rather “dark”. The author comments briefly on this in the discussion chapter

Effectuation is a theory about entrepreneurial problem-solving and management that was first identified by Sarasvathy (2001). Effectual logic has proven to be particularly useful when the company is functioning under the conditions of high uncertainty or goal ambiguity. It is an already widely-studied topic and it has been examined in various contexts, but one field that has completely lacked the attention of the researchers is the business to government context. Our study is focusing on effectuation in business to government context in specific and the aim of our study is to find out (1) how the business to government context influences the application of effectual logic, (2) and what the potential outcomes for innovation are. We used action research to build understanding through a deep involvement with a case organization. Through an experiment involving managers of our case organization, we could find which process is used, and how it relates to the context. Our conclusions show that business to government context sets some limitations to effectual approaches, and we present a framework which represents this effectual process observed in our case organization. In addition, grounded on our previous findings, we analyzed how this practiced process, and the context, set barriers to innovation as well: results such as difficulties to gain pre-commitments, inability to spread risk among stakeholders and difficulty to run pilot projects, are some of the observed findings. On the other hand, we argue that this brought to a focus on incremental innovations, which are new features added to pre-existing products sold to pre-existing clients. At the end of our study we come up with implications for researchers, which could be used to direct future contextual studies regarding effectuation and innovation. But also, some implications for policy makers and managers are presented, so to suggest ways to lower barriers for radical innovation in business to government, and create a more innovative friendly context.

The aim of the Thesis is to describe the environment of Public Sector Accounting in the Czech Republic, which is currently undergoing significant conceptual changes. The Thesis defines the "Accounting of the State Czech Republic" in terms of both the concept of public sector legislation and regulations, and also from the perspective of international context. An integral part is also survey, which aimed to identify public sector - accountants view of the ongoing reform.

This thesis deals with the current situation in the use of marketing communications activities in the realm of the public sector. After placing the issue of the work, followed by an explanation of the significance of marketing communication use in the state sector, the share of public sector to create the image of law, the importance of linking public sector - citizen in relation to the perception of non-commercial sector. The text outlines the methodology for the use of marketing communication strategies in public administration, and there are examples of communication techniques which public institutions in the Czech Republic use. The next chapter deals with similar situations in the Principality of Liechtenstein including a comparison with the Czech Republic. The practical part deals with the marketing research among Czech citizens and institutions of governance in the country related to the thesis topic.