This research examines the impact of inter-organisational relationships of public sector events agencies on events tourism strategy making within Australian state/territories. The global expansion of events tourism and sustained interest in networks and relationships as conduits to strategy underpin this topic. Although public sector institutional arrangements exist in many countries including Australia to develop events tourism, there is no known empirical research of inter-organisational relationships for strategy making in this domain. Against this background, the research problem of the thesis is: How and why do inter-organisational relationships of public sector events agencies impact upon events tourism strategy making within Australian states and territories? Based on a review of themes and issues within the two parent theories of tourism strategy and inter-organisational relationships, a theoretical framework and four research issues are developed. These issues are: RI 1: How does the public sector institutional environment impact upon events tourism strategies and the inter-organisational relationships that shape them, and why? RI 2: How do events tourism strategy forms and processes reflect and influence events agencies' inter-organisational relationships, and why? RI 3: What are the forms and characteristics of events agencies' inter- organisational relationships for shaping events tourism strategies, and why? RI 4: What are the incentives and disincentives for events agencies to engage in inter-organisational relationships for events tourism strategy making, and why? Because this research explores a new field within events tourism, it adopts a realism paradigm to uncover the 'realities' of events agencies' inter-organisational relationships and strategies. Two qualitative methodologies are adopted: the convergent interview technique (Carson, Gilmore, Perry, and Gronhaug 2001b; Dick 1990) and multiple case research (Perry 1998, 2001; Yin 1994). The convergent interviews serve to explore and refine the theoretical framework and the four research issues investigated in the multiple case research. These cases are represented by the inter-organisational relationships of events agencies in six Australian states/territories. Findings about the public sector institutional environment (research issue 1) show that events tourism strategies are influenced by different public sector policies and influences, the organisational arrangements for events tourism, the roles of events agencies and the lifecycle phase of events tourism in each state/territory. In relation to events tourism strategy forms (research issue 2), reactive/proactive strategies that respond to or address arising events or opportunities are common with a limited application of formal planning strategies. However, events agencies' strategy processes do reflect a range of strategic activities of importance. Inter-organisational relationships of events agencies (research issue 3) are typified by informal, government-led networks that influence, rather than develop, events tourism strategies. Finally, the importance of a number of incentives and disincentives for agencies to engage in inter-organisational relationships for events tourism strategy making is established. The final conceptual model depicts the themes within all four research issues and links between them to address the research problem. The conclusions of this research make a major contribution to events tourism theory and build upon theories in tourism strategy and inter-organisational relationships. Further research opportunities are presented by these conclusions and the conceptual model which may be explored using other methodologies or alternative research contexts. Practical implications of the research for policy makers and agency executives relate to policy-strategy linkages, public sector organisational arrangements for events tourism, strategy forms and processes and frameworks to engage stakeholders in inter-organisational relationships for strategy making. Knowledge of incentives and disincentives for these inter-organisational relationships also provides a platform for events agencies to reflect upon and revise their modes of governance for events tourism strategy making.

This thesis is a study of why and how an authority model of managing state-owned enterprises has remained popular in Taiwan through the past two decades. The subject was chosen because it has to date, been a neglected subject in the literature on Taiwan, even though it is significant to any serious examination of Taiwan's continuing political development and the government's approach to governance. Taiwan has experienced three major milestones of political democratisation over the period, each greatly enhancing the democratic characteristics of the state and also reflecting a degree of absorption of global political and economic pressures. Taiwan's political democratisation has been widely discussed in recent years, but not much attention has been paid to the effect of the political changes on its public sector management. The discussions have simply speculated that the Taiwanese government no longer uses the authoritarian way of governing the country, in keeping with its promotion of democratic development. However, this research clearly indicates that the change of political regime from the previous Kuomintang (KMT) to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has not meant any significant change in the way state-owned enterprises are managed. The approach of the DPP government resembles that of the KMT government in that it continues with an authoritarian way of managing state-owned enterprises, despite the party's long established commitment to a democratic way. In other words, this huge change has not meant state-owned enterprises are any better placed than they were previously in terms of having a greater degree of enterprise management autonomy. This research also shows that Taiwanese governments, regardless of which of the two parties is in power, manipulate state-owned enterprise management using the enterprises as a major means of achieving multiple political objectives. In particular, it has become almost endemic in Taiwan's politics that the ruling party manipulates state-owned enterprise management in order to win political elections and protect its political position. In this sense, it has become evident that the democratic way of governance has still not been used within this part of the government yet.

This thesis is about the capacity of local government agencies in Makassar (Indonesia) to provide services to the public. Besides aiming to understand the institutional capacity of local government agencies, the research also examines the role internal and external factors play in determining the service delivery capacity of public organisations. Internal factors refer to the organisational structure, managerial practices and the management of human resources in public organisations. External factors refer to the degree of bureaucratic and political accountability as well as the level of competition experienced by government agencies. ¶ This research will enrich the existing development literature by strengthening our understanding of the ways in which internal and external factors strengthen or weaken the capacity of public sector institutions. ¶ Institutional capacity is measured by the quality of services provided by the local government agencies as assessed by their clients through both questionnaires and interviews, whereas the data regarding the role internal and external factors play in determining the institutional capacity of local government agencies were collected by in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with the management and staff in a number of agencies, with high-level bureaucrats, with non-government organisations and business associations, and members of the Makassar parliament. ¶ This study concludes that the institutional capacity of local government agencies in the case studies varies, although overall institutional capacity is relatively low or unsatisfactory. Of the four agencies in the case studies, only one agency was able to deliver quality services higher than the level expected by its clients. ¶ In general, this research reveals that the degree of accountability of the local government agencies in the case studies is relatively weak. The study infers that the degree of accountability does not have a significant impact on the agencies' performance. ¶ It was found that the competitive or monopolistic environment in which the local government agencies operate does affect the capacity of the agencies to serve their clients. This capacity is also affected by a number of aspects within the organisation and human resource dimensions of the agencies. ¶ This study shows that, in the case of Indonesia, attempts to improve the capacity of government agencies to deliver quality public services by improving the capacity of parliament to politically oversee the executive, as recommended by a number of international agencies and commentators, may not be the best and most effective alternative. Rather than focusing the resources to improve the degree of political accountability, the study suggests that a more effective strategy to develop the capacity of government agencies is to enhance the organisational structure, managerial practices and the management of human resources in the public organizations, and to introduce competition into the delivery of public services.

This thesis explores the chaotic, dynamic, ambiguous, complex and confusing world of the insider researcher. The proliferating species of insider researcher is common in public sector organisations and is particularly prevalent among post-graduate students who have combined study with work. Insider researchers range from the in-house researcher employed to conduct research to those who are conducting research in addition to their normal duties. This thesis, through five illustrative case-studies, discusses, reflects upon, explains, and clarifies the possibilities, limitations and the issues arising from a consideration of the practice of professionals conducting research in the large government education system in Victoria. The central focus of this thesis, that of exploring issues arising from professionals conducting research in their own working environments, has an importance that hitherto has had little direct recognition in the qualitative education research literature. And yet the practice of insider research is common and has a potentially large impact on the nature of the decision making process in public sector organisations. This relative invisibility in the social research literature of a discussion of issues relating to insider research demands to be made more visible. It is both useful and necessary to explore the particular possibilities, conditions and challenges of insiders conducting research in public organisations as the practice of insider research contines to grow. This thesis adds to the literature by locating insider research in a discussion of the wider soial context of ideology, culture, relationships, politics, language and meaning, and the decision-making process.

公債發行與預算赤字通常被視為一種「罪惡」，且為大眾所探討與關心的課題。但是預算赤字（總支出減總收入）此一簡單的數字，並未能真實表達政府的財務狀況。傳統的赤字衡量方式，因為未考慮：通貨膨脹的效果、景氣循環的因素、經常支出與資本支出之區分、有形資產之計入與隱含性負債的考慮等等，故並非一合適的衡量指標。鑑於此種種問題，最近已產生對傳統赤字衡量有揭露不充分的感覺，故有必要嘗試以另一種方法，來洞悉政府債務與赤字的「迷思」(Myth)與實際(Realities)。 　　英美兩國已針對赤字問題，發展出「資產負債表法」，試圖將所有可能改變政府部門淨值（總資產減總負債）變化的因素皆予以考慮，認為除了觀察赤字變化之外，政府部門的資產負債表方能提供政府財務狀況之全貌。單一預算的預算赤字，袛表示「現金流量不足」，為防止數字之誤導，應將目前的資本支出與費用予以釐清，而編製公共部門的資產負債表。所以本文乃在探討此法的理論背景與衡量方法，並企圖建立中央政府的資產負債表，概略估計其淨值變化之趨勢，藉以澄清赤字問題或許並非如斯可怕，而期以較正確的角度來觀察政府的財務狀況。

自1995年聯合國世界婦女大會提倡性別主流化行動綱領開始，多元性別意識逐漸為各國所意識，這股潮流隨著同志運動的興起，也將同性戀權益透過民間或政府的力量納入到法律或政策當中。而許多針對同性戀者職場處境的文獻也反映出，多數職場仍充斥著異性戀霸權的規範，因此，對同性戀者工作權的保障成為多元性別議題中重要的一環。和多數針對私人企業員工的研究調查相較，本文的研究對象係服務於公部門中的公務人員。透過對同性戀公務人員、和職場相關異性戀公務人員的深度訪談，本研究發現，由於不同的影響因素，同性戀公務人員之間存在性傾向處理策略的差異，且除了自身的影響因素外，公部門亦存在若干特質讓同性戀公務人員難以改變目前的處理策略。最後本文根據訪談結果提出建立友善同志職場的幾點建議。

The public sector in Australia, as in other western countries, has been accused in recent times of being too costly, too rigid, inefficient and ineffective. What is apparently needed is a public sector that is smaller, less costly, more efficient and more effective. The search for alternative and better ways to organise and undertake work to meet these reform objectives is at the heart of the rapid expansion of Competitive Tendering and Contracting (CTC) within the public sector in the last two decades. But increased reliance on government contracting does not always lead to outsourcing. Some government agencies allow, indeed encourage, their current employees to also bid for the work on offer by including an In-House Option (IHO) within their CTC processes. In a number of cases these IHOs have been selected ahead of their commercial competitors. IHOs are effectively internal tenders that, if selected, must be implemented by work areas within the confines of the policies and practices of their parent organisation. The reasons commonly expressed in support of IHOs are to do with addressing the potentially problematic aspects of organisational review and possible outsourcing, and to assist the parent organisation achieve its reform intentions in the most effective and least disruptive manner possible. This research examined the achievements of six IHOs within the Australian Defence Organisation. It also asked what can be learned from their experiences? The findings show that IHOs can contribute to reform and enhance the effectiveness of CTC processes but that these achievements come at a price�borne primarily by the staff who work within selected IHOs. IHOs add to the competition of CTC exercises. They also act as an insurance policy against being caught with no reasonable bids and offer a benchmark against which to assess unknown bids. But competition can also focus bidders on doing what is necessary to win rather than what is best for an organisation or its staff. Having IHOs increases the uncertainty for staff about their future employment while at the same times raising expectations that if they can be successful they will be able to make changes and improve their work areas. This research has shown that this does not always occur and staff can find the whole experience frustrating and demoralising. Organisations that include IHOs within their CTC methodologies need to assist them if they are to have the best opportunity to propose new and innovative ways of working. And they must be prepared for the possibility that their IHOs could win. Selected IHOs need support to successfully implement changes, and as the IHOs examined here have shown, they can make significant improvements in work practices and more efficient use of resources if given the chance.

<p>The main aim of this thesis has been to compare psychosocial working conditions in workplaces with different forms of ownership, i.e. public, private and cooperative. A second aim has been to study how organisational characteristics of relevance for psychosocial working conditions (in terms of management control strategies and prerequisites for management) are manifested in these ownership forms. The empirical data is based on structured interviews with managers at 60 workplaces within the service sector and on a questionnaire to all employees working in the participating workplaces, resulting in a set of 1384 individuals. An additional seven interviews with first-line managers within geriatric care were also conducted for the last study. The results show that employees in cooperatives perceived that they had better opportunities to influence decisions concerning the workplace as a whole, although there were also results showing advantages for public and private employees. Regarding opportunities for employees to influence their own work situation, there were no differences between the ownership forms. Differences were found in the prerequisites for first-line geriatric care managers. As a result of an earlier organisational change, the public managers were now further away from the strategic level and had to focus on daily, operative work tasks, while simultaneously also being responsible for keeping within the budget. The private managers, on the other hand, having group leaders to deal with the daily work concerning personnel and operations, could focus more on strategic work related to financial results in terms of planning and follow-up of the budget. One conclusion is that there are certain differences in both psychosocial working conditions and organisational characteristics between the ownership forms, but when the comparisons were restricted to only one type of service, in this case the provision of care, it is rather the similarities within the care organisations, regardless of ownership form, that are most pronounced.</p>

<p>Offentliga sektorn i Sverige skulle, enligt en rapport från Europeiska centralbankssystemet (ECBS) 2003, kunna hålla samma kvalitet med bara hälften av resurserna. Det behövs därför nya sätt som kan öka värdet och minska kostnaderna i offentliga verksamheter i Sverige. Innovativa processerföreslås vara en möjlighet till att hitta nya arbetssätt för en effektivare offentlig sektor. I studien undersöks innovationsprocessen i ett offentligt bolag i syfte att ge förslag på arbetssätt som kan effektivisera bolagets innovationsprocesser. Följande frågeställningar vägledde studien: Vad kännetecknar effektiva innovationsprocesser? Hur kan effektiva innovationsprocesser tillföra värde för ett offentligt bolag? Hur kan Bolaget AB arbeta för effektivare innovationsprocesser i sin verksamhet?</p><p>Syftet med studien är att ta fram förslag på arbetssätt för effektivare innovationsprocesser i Bolaget AB: s verksamhet.</p><p>I studien används en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med totalt fyra personer. Det vill säga två medarbetare, en chef och en VD i ett offentligt bolag i Sverige. Intervjuerna syftade till att ge en nulägesbeskrivning av bolagets innovationsprocesser. Utifrån studiens teoretiska referensram analyserades empirin och förslag på arbetssätt för en effektivare innovationsprocess gavs.Effektiva innovationsprocesser ser olika ut i olika organisationer. Det finns ingen allmängiltig process som är mer effektiv än andra utan den skall anpassas till den organisation där den verkar. En effektiv innovationsprocess i det offentliga bolaget som undersöks här kan innebära möjlighet att skapa ettkonkurrenskraftigt näringsliv som ger fler arbetstillfällen för stadens invånare och ökar tillväxten i regionen. Det offentliga bolag som undersökts i studien har brister i den idégenererande verksamheten och i den kontinuerliga utvärderingen. Det är främst kulturella hinder som i dagsläget påverkar innovationsprocessen negativt. Bolaget behöver även rutiner för bland annatomvärldsbevakning och informationshantering.</p> / <p>The public sector in Sweden should, according to a rapport from the European central bank system (ECBS) in 2003, be able to keep the same quality with only half the economic resources. New ways that could raise value and reducing expenses in the Swedish public sector are therefore much needed. Innovative processes are suggested to be important for the public sector to find new andmore efficient methods of work. In this research the innovation process in a public corporation is reviewed with an intention to give suggestions of work methods that could improve the corporation’s efficiency. The following questions have guided the research: What characterize efficient innovation processes? How can efficient innovations processes help value to a publiccorporation? How can the public corporation work for more efficient innovation processes in their business?The purpose of this research is to develop suggestions for work methods that will help to improve the efficiency of the public corporation´s innovation processes.In this research a qualitative method is used in form of semi structured interviews with four employees in a public corporation in Sweden, two co‐workers, one executive and one CEO. The interviews were aimed to give a description of the present innovation processes in the corporation. The empiric data was analyzed from a theoretic point of view and set out to give suggestions for work methods that will help to improve the efficiency of the corporation´s innovation processes.Efficient innovation processes can vary from one organization to another. There is not one process that is more efficient than other processes and the innovation process have to be suited for the specific organization. A more efficient innovation process in the public corporation in this study can mean possibilities for a competitive business environment which gives job opportunities and an economic growth in the region. The public corporation in this study has flaws in their idea generating activities and in their continuous evaluation. It is primarily cultural obstacles that affect the innovation processes negative. The public corporation also needs routines for external and internalenvironment monitoring and for managing information.</p>

<p><strong>Problem.</strong> With the Swedish public sectors problem with efficiency in mind, several reforms have beeninitiated during the last decades. These reforms go, in academic contexts, under the name“New public management”. The reforms have resulted in, among other things, an increasedcompetition, privatization and goal-orientation in the public sector. These new conditionshave changed the public leadership challenge and demand an increased focus on innovation todecrease costs and increase value as a central aspect of the Swedish public leadership.</p><p><strong>Purpose.</strong> The purpose for this research has been to examine the conditions for innovation in a publicorganization and how the leadership can improve the organizational innovativeness.</p><p><strong>Method</strong>. This research does not aim to measure the innovativeness in a public organization, instead itfocuses on understanding the condition for innovation and how the leadership can affect theorganizational innovativeness. Hence, it is motivated that I use a qualitative approach in theresearch process. Semi structured interviews and precedent research are being used as afoundation for the results and recommendations given.</p><p><strong>Conclusion.</strong> The leadership’s opportunities to improve the organizational innovativeness depend on anumber of independent organizational variables and the adaption of the variables to oneanother and the system as a whole. Leadership includes both the formal boss and the coworkerin a relationship that ought to be characterizing by reciprocity and cooperation. Bothmanagement and leadership are vital competences for the formal boss as both structure andculture must support each other. The conditions for organizational innovativeness improve ifthe organization has a structure and a culture that enhances: transboundary cooperation, spaceand energy for creative activities, a common context that contributes to an organizationalidentity and motivation and competence and organizational learning. The examinedorganization needs to decentralize the right to make decisions, improve the openness of theculture, and strengthen the organizational identity and audit structures in purpose to facilitatetransboundary cooperation.</p>