In many public sector organisations, the use of Information Technology (IT) has become important for sustaining and extending public service delivery. This has caused there to be a critical dependency on IT, which calls for a specific focus on effective IT governance. Accordingly, the success factors for effective IT governance must be determined and adhered to if an organisation wishes to increase the contribution of IT towards achieving its objectives. Much research has been carried out on IT governance effectiveness and the necessary success factors, but not with a focus on organisations from a developing country such as Tanzania. The context in these organisations is characterised by IT resources, knowledge and culture constraints as well as by an increasing level of IT investment and applications. In this research, we analyse how IT governance practices are implemented in Tanzanian public sector organisations (TaPSOs) and benchmark their levels of maturity. Furthermore, we analyse and identify the critical success factors (CSFs) that contribute to effective IT governance in TaPSOs. Subsequently, we analyse the effects of these CSFs on IT governance performance and develop and evaluate a CSFs framework for implementing effective IT governance in TaPSOs. We find weak IT governance practices, especially in terms of processes. This was also pointed out by the lower level of IT governance maturity in TaPSOs in contrast to public sector organisations in developed countries. Furthermore, we find that the identified CSFs have a significant effect on IT governance performance in TaPSOs. In addition, the designed CSFs framework is found to be important for providing guidelines to be used by IT and business management personnel for implementing effective IT governance. This CSFs framework for implementing effective IT governance in TaPSOs consists of the IT governance focus areas, CSFs, activities, roles, IT resources and environment in which it should be implemented. In contrast to existing frameworks from the research literature, the designed CSFs framework offers a holistic view by focusing on the five IT governance focus areas.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the Portuguese public sector organizations' familiarity with, and willingness to utilize, project management tools, as these organizations attempt to enhance their operational performance through carefully crafted organizational change. Design/methodology/approach – Using a sample of 102 public officials, 30 project managers' characteristics, 23 project management variables, and information availability on these variables are studied and classified. Findings – In general, the results clearly showed the familiarity of the participants with the important characteristics and variables of effective project management practices. Some exceptions were attributed to the specific nature of public sector operational systems. Research limitations/implications – The sample used in this study is specific in nature. It consisted of Portuguese public sector officials at the middle-level rank in the managerial hierarchy. Thus, the results should be interpreted accordingly. Practical implications – Based on the results of this study, some important organizational implications regarding training and systems development were advanced. Originality/value – This study empirically examines the public sector officials' knowledge and attitude regarding project management practices. It offers significant implications to public sector organizations, as they pursue a more open system operational orientation to meet growing environmental pressures and citizens' demands.

Introduction: New Zealand (NZ) ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2002, committing to prudent greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. In an effort to promote public sector carbon management, in 2004, Clark’s Labour-led Government funded local government membership in ICLEI’s Communities for Climate Protection - NZ (CCP-NZ) programme. In 2007, the same Government, in tandem with efforts to price carbon and develop an Emissions Trading Scheme, through the Carbon Neutral Public Service (CNPS) programme, sought to move the core public sector towards carbon neutrality (Clark, 2007c). In 2008, the NZ government changed from a Labour-led to a National-led Government, and this resulted in a shift in its carbon emission mitigation strategy, including the termination of the CNPS and the CCP-NZ programmes. Purpose: The research has two central objectives: First, to determine why NZ’s newly elected National -led Government cancelled the CNPS and the CCP-NZ programmes; and, second, to determine whether despite the discontinuation of these two programmes and in the absence of Government support, will NZ government organizations continue to strive for carbon emission reductions and neutrality. Approach: This empirical research is investigative and probing, and comprises a series of semi-structured interviews with senior managers responsible for the delivery of the CNPS and the CCP-NZ programmes within their respective organization. The architects of each programme (e.g. the NZ Prime Minister and CEO of ICLEI/ Director of ICLEI Oceania) are also investigated in order to glean insight into the rationale for the ultimate termination of these two programmes. Fieldwork is informed by publicly available information that provides insight into Government’s rationale for creating and discontinuing the CNPS and the CCP-NZ programmes. Narrative analysis and termination theory serve as the primary methodological tools for this study, providing insight into meaning, interpretation and individual experience as it relates to the dismantling of the CNPS and the CCP-NZ programmes. Findings: This study finds that though economic constraints and programmatic inefficiencies may have played a contributing role, political ideology is the primary rationale for the termination of the CNPS and the CCP-NZ programmes. With the ideological shift towards strong neoliberal market environmentalism, Government support for initiatives like the CNPS and the CCP-NZ programmes has declined markedly, with the desire to demonstrate leadership in this area in complete retreat. Ultimately, notwithstanding the desire of some government organizations to continue with programme objectives, albeit with less priority, NZ public sector organizational resolve towards these goals has weakened.

Sustainability has been considered a novel research field emerging from the desire to protect the environment, and equally emerging in transition discourses. This research explores the construction of sustainability transition processes and pathways in a public sector organization implementing a sustainability oriented program. The study takes on an explorative, qualitative longitudinal approach. Through antenarrative inquiry, analysis is made on the stories and discussions as a reflexive way in expressing experiences and by giving meaning to these experiences. Assessed within sustainability transition theories, processes and pathways emerge from socio-technical transitions and its micro-foundations. Results indicate that pathways of transition exist in socio-technical systems, socio-political systems, socio-institutional systems and in socio-ecological systems as achored in public sector processes. The narrative character and sustainability formations potray inclusivity of actors, continuity and gradual transition processes. It is therefore opined that  sustainability oriented programs and projects implemented in developing nations by the public sector have the ability to enable niche level changes by creating necessary momentum at the micro-foundations required to distabilize dominant regimes. Methodoligally, antenarratives provide an avenue for prospective sensemaking necessary in prospected and wholistic sustainability transitions.

Lean Management and Lean Six Sigma (LM/LSS) are improvement methodologies that have been utilized to achieve better performance outcomes at organizational and operational levels. Although there has been evidence of breakthrough improvement across diverse organizational settings, LM/LSS remains an early-stage improvement methodology in public sector organizations, specifically within local government organizations (LGOs). Some LGOs have benefited from LM/LSS and reported significant improvements, such as reducing process time by up to 90% and increasing financial savings by up to 57%. While the success of LM/LSS can lead to satisfactory outcomes, the risk of failure can also result in a tremendous waste of financial and non-financial resources. Evidence from the literature indicates that the failure to achieve the expected outcomes is likely due to the lack of attention paid to critical success factors (CSFs) that are crucial for LM/LSS success. Furthermore, research in this research area regarding characterizing and statistically examining the CSFs associated with LM/LSS in such organizational settings has been limited. Hence, the aim of this research is to provide a comprehensive investigation of the success factors for LM/LSS in LGOs. The initial stage of this dissertation involved analyzing the scientific literature to identify and characterize the CSFs associated with LM/LSS in LGOs through a systematic literature review (SLR). This effort identified a total of 47 unique factors, which were grouped into 5 categories, including organization, process, workforce knowledge, communications, task design, and team design. The next stage of this investigation focused on identifying a more focused set of CSFs. This involved evaluating the strength of the effect (or importance) of the factors using two integrated approaches: meta-synthesis and expert assessment. This process concluded with a total of 29 factors being selected for the empirical field study. The final stage included designing and implementing an online survey questionnaire to solicit LGOs' experience on the presence of factors during the development and/or implementation of LM/LSS and their impact on social-technical system outcomes. Once the survey was concluded, an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted to identify the underlying latent variables, followed by using a partial least square-structural equation model (PLS-SEM) to determine the significance of the factors on outcomes. The EFA identified three endogenous and five exogenous latent variables. The results of the PLS-SEM model identified four significant positive relationships. Based on the results from the structural paths, the antecedent Improvement Readiness (IR) and Change Awareness (CA) were significant and had a positive influence on Transformation Success (TS). For the outcome Deployment Success (DS), Sustainable Improvement Infrastructure (SII) was the only significant exogenous variable and had the highest positive impact among all significant predictor constructs. Furthermore, Measurement-Based Improvement (MBI) was significant and positively influenced Improvement Project Success (IPS). Findings from this dissertation could serve as a foundation for researchers looking to further advance the maturity of this research area based on the evidence presented in this work. Additionally, this work could be used as guidelines for practitioners in developing implementation processes by considering the essential factors to maximize the success of LM/LSS implementation. Given the diversity of functional areas and processes within LGO contexts, it is also possible that other public sector organizations could benefit from these findings. / Doctor of Philosophy / Lean Management and Lean Six Sigma (LM/LSS) is an improvement methodology that is used by businesses and organizations to improve how they work and achieve better results. LM/LSS has been especially helpful in various organizations; however, the implementation of this improvement methodology has been limited by many challenges for public sector organizations, especially local government organizations (LGOs). The overall aim of this dissertation is to improve the success of LM/LSS implementation within the context of LGOs. More specifically, this dissertation systematically studied the critical success factors associated with LM/LSS success. Different research approaches, including research formulation, development, and testing techniques, were conducted to achieve the aim of this dissertation. Publications related to LM/LSS in LGOs have been rigorously analyzed to identify a comprehensive list of CSFs. To identify the most important factors, a meta-synthesis evaluation and expert survey assessment have been conducted. Following the refinement of the factors, a large-scale field study using a survey questionnaire has been designed and distributed to LGOs. Once the survey concluded, statistical methods that included Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) were conducted. The former was used to identify the underlying latent variables, while the latter was conducted to examine the influence of the factors on social and technical outcomes. This dissertation could be used as a reference guideline helping practitioners to increase the success of LM/LSS implementation in LGOs. This dissertation can also guide scholars to potential research avenues that could advance this research area.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:14:59Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 5286.pdf: 3256641 bytes, checksum: 88d4ee063c3cee0b690793c6d732f554 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-02-08 / The recent social development policies are marked by great challenges and have strained the state structure to respond according to new arrangements, requiring, among many institutional experimentations, new forms of coordination between government sectors. In this context, the social development policies come from the crossing of economic development strategies with the strategies of social policies. This is the same movement that has led to the emergence of intersectoriality as a principle key of the recent social programs, especially the efforts aimed at combating poverty. Intersectoriality has been disseminated as a task to be shared federally. We study the Bolsa Família Program PBF as case, demonstrating the main features of the construction of it intersectoriality. As a object, it was decided that the center of the analysis would be the Federal Government, understanding that this assumes a fundamental role in the structure and forms of intersectoriality that characterize the PBF, and noted that his performance in this subject has been poorly studied by Brazilian literature (which, in general, to analyze from the local implementation of PBF). The research findings point to the presence of a favorable environment for intersectoral work at the federal level, leading to complex arrangements of articulation and coordination. Intersectoriality is here analyzed from the roles: 1) the unified registry, 2) the supplementary programs to PBF, 3) the management activities of the conditionalities of the program, 4) the collegiate agencies and multilateral coordination environments, 5) of the politicization of public administration and central delegation; 6) of bureaucracies and their networks; 7) the creation of intermediary agency intragovernmental coordination; 8) and the profile presidential and the coalitional presidentialism consequences on government activities. / As recentes políticas de desenvolvimento social são marcadas por grandes desafios e têm tensionado a estrutura estatal a responder segundo novos arranjos, exigindo, entre tantas experimentações institucionais, novas formas de coordenação entre os setores governamentais. Neste contexto, as políticas de desenvolvimento social advêm do encontro das estratégias de desenvolvimento econômico com as estratégias de políticas sociais. Este movimento é o mesmo que tem levado à emergência da intersetorialidade como princípio chave dos recentes programas sociais, principalmente os esforços voltados para o combate à pobreza. A intersetorialidade tem sido, pois, disseminada como uma tarefa a ser compartilhada federativamente. Tomamos como estudo de caso o Programa Bolsa Família - PBF, demonstrando as principais características da construção de intersetorialidade em seu interior. Como recorte, definiu-se que o centro da análise seria o governo federal, por entender que este assume papel fundamental na estruturação e nas formas de intersetorialidade que caracterizarão o PBF, além de constatar-se que sua atuação nesta temática ainda é pouco estudada pelos trabalhos da área (que, em geral, a analisam desde a implementação local do PBF). Os resultados de pesquisa apontam para a presença de um ambiente favorável ao trabalho intersetorial em nível federal, levando a arranjos complexos de articulação e coordenação. A intersetorialidade é, aqui, analisada a partir dos papéis: 1) do cadastro unificado; 2) dos programas complementares ao PBF; 3) das atividades de gestão das condicionalidades do programa; 4) dos órgãos colegiados e dos ambientes de coordenação multilateral; 5) dos processos de politização da administração pública e da delegação central; 6) das burocracias e suas redes; 7) da criação de órgãos intermediários de coordenação intragovernamental; 8) e do perfil presidencial e das consequências do presidencialismo de coalizão sobre as atividades governamentais.

Jordan has strived to manage a large-scale anti-corruption initiative for the public sector since 2006. Despite the implementation of laws and bodies mandated to address corruption, public trust of government remains low and the country’s position on international corruption rankings has not improved. This study seeks to investigate how the implementation of a large-scale anti-corruption initiative impacts the organizational culture of the country’s public sector. It proposes that wasta, a unique Arab phenomenon that promotes the values of loyalty, represents the most significant barrier to penetrating what is essentially a normalized culture of corruption in the Government of Jordan. The organizational culture theory model was adopted as the theoretical framework because of its ability to account for differences in culture where promoted values do not necessarily correspond with employee actions. Because literature in this area is rare, a qualitative exploratory methodology was chosen. Based on data saturation, a total of 19 semi-structured interviews were conducted on-site in Jordan with mid-level managers identified using snowball sampling. The results prove the theoretical proposal to be accurate and show that wasta has evolved to the deepest level of organizational culture. The results are sub-divided into two major themes: culture and leadership. The results show that wasta is a deeply held and engrained part of organizational culture and that it is difficult for anti-corruption efforts to change this culture in the Jordanian public sector. The thesis also demonstrate how leadership can be both something negative or something positive in the fight against wasta depending on how it is used.. The findings carry implications for public administration, foreign policy, and society as a whole especially with regard to the development of more effective anti-corruption strategies in Jordan and abroad. The specific contribution to knowledge of this thesis is the examination of how organizational cultural reforms impact public-sector organizations in the Middle Eastern context given the influence of wasta, which is not discussed in the literature but remains important for the field. Future research should consider the views of a wider variety of stakeholders, as well as the impact of wasta on organizational characteristics including performance and delivery of public services.