The emergence of new public management has been implicated in the changes that have occurred in the public sectors of western democracies. One outcome of these changes is that the public sector is expected to operate in a more commercial manner and that it be accountable not only for the money that it spends but also for the effectiveness with which it spends those funds. In response to these expectations, changes have occurred in both the accounting technologies and reporting mechanisms for the public sector. The Treasuries and Departments of Finance for each jurisdiction in Australia set accounting and financial reporting policy for the public sector. However, since the establishment of the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board in 1983, the commonwealth and state governments have shown a willingness to adopt standards issued by the accounting profession. The adoption of three specific public sector accounting standards developed by the accounting profession in accordance with the conceptual framework, mean that a financial reporting model, based on the private sector 'decision-useful model', has been adopted in the Australian public sector. The 'decision-useful model' incorporates dependent users who are reliant on general purpose financial reports to make economic decisions. The decision to adopt this model for all public sector reporting entities, did not receive unanimous support. The complexities of the public sector formed the foundation for critics to question the applicability of this model to the public sector. In addition, critics argued that the model lacked empirical substantiation. The purpose of this research is to determine the applicability of the 'decision-useful model' to the public sector by empirically identifying users of public sector general purpose financial reports and their information requirements. Prior empirical research has been piecemeal in terms of both scope and research method. As a result, it has not been cumulative. This research will refine and extend the work of previous studies in two ways. First, in terms of scope, it will encompass all public sector entity types and will address all three elements of the 'decision-useful model' - the identity of users, what information they use and their purposes for requiring information. Second, this research will adopt a method which directly accesses users across public sector entity types. As a consequence, an assessment is able to be made of the applicability of the 'decision-useful model' in general and its application to specific public sector entity types. The findings of this research indicate that the 'decision-useful model' is misspecified in the public sector and that there are significant differences among public sector entity types in terms of users and their information requirements. First, the classification of users as normatively determined is not exhaustive and includes a large representation of non-dependant users. Second, all users preferred performance information and narrative information was preferred over general purpose financial reports. Further, users considered that general purpose financial information was more useful for accountability purposes than for decision making. These results should be useful to policymakers and accounting standard setters in the future prescription of the contents of financial reports for public sector entities.

The objective of this research is to investigate the way strategies are formed in a public sector organization and to assess the role of the Board-members in shaping and developing strategies. The project consisted of the following distinct steps: (1) The collection and processing of background information concerning the enterprise under study. (2) The collection and analysis of the Board's past decisions over a period of nine years. (3) The interview accounts of the members of the Board (4) The analysis of the interviews at the individual level and the construction of cognitive maps. (5) The testing of the validity of the cognitive maps of the previous stage by employing a quantitative technique in which the interviewees scored on matrices and identified the influence between elements of the strategy, the external, and the organizational environment. (6) The identification of patterns in the cognitive structure of each individual, resulting from both the qualitative (interviewing) and quantitative (matrix scoring) approaches. (7) The attempt to build theory by integrating the different sources of data and generating propositions grounded on data by relating the findings of this study to the existing literature. The major findings concerned the notion of strategy according to the Board-members' accounts. Thus, the majority of Board-members perceived strategy as something that occured outside them, something over which they had little control. The Board-members' role, as revealed in the strategy-areas studied, was a legalistic role concerning mostly ratification of proposals without active contribution to initiating and developing new strategies. It is also argued that this Board's composition, structure and processes exhibited deficiencies. The real strategist of the organization was the new General Manager who succeeded not only in creating an integrated strategy but also in getting it institutionalized (that is in establishing commitment among the people of the organization).

The literature related to benchmarking since the year 1986 is examined, classified, and analyzed. A total of 415 articles, abstracts, and books are considered for this investigation. The status of benchmarking processes, activities, practices, and developments is examined for the manufacturing, service, and public sectors, while conclusions related to the state of benchmarking are drawn, gaps are identified, and recommendations are made. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of benchmarking in the public sector, with both an example that illustrates the utility of applying benchmarking to the public sector and a set of conceptual frameworks provided.

This dissertation proposes that Dr. Mary C. Gentilel's (1998) descriptive Reframing Diversity model provides for the development of a public sector diversity program. The Reframing Diversity model does not suggest that diversity programs conform to a "one-size-fits all" design. The dissertation applied the lenses (motivation, mindset, method, and measure) of Gentile's Reframing Diversity model to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) diversity program. The lenses of Gentile's model offer questions that are straightforward, easy to understand, and organizationally specific. Additionally, the project utilized the generally accepted approach for qualitative inquiry supported by Rubin and Rubin (1995) to develop an interview protocol for selected FDIC employees. The most salient characteristic of Gentile's model, the lenses, apply to any program regardless of the target audience. The lenses of Gentile's model are the architecture upon which a public sector organization could build a successful diversity program. The model's descriptive nature allows public organizations to develop diversity programs that are voluntary in nature; inclusive of its total employee population; and incorporated into its day-to-day activities. / Ph. D.

Work-related stress among employees in Sweden is reported to increase, women areexperiencing higher levels of stress than their male colleagues. Organizational Role Stress is a denomination for all stress related to an individuals role in an organizationand the annual cost for Organizational Role Stress in the European Union exceeds € 20 billion. Managers in Lycksele municipality emphasized a troublesome working situation where time is not enough to balance administrative responsibilities and operative leadership. Hence, the aim to investigate: “How does Organizational Role Stress affect the balance between administrative responsibilities and operative leadership among managers in Lycksele municipality?” Four key words were deduced from the research question: Organizational Role Stress, Administrative Management, Public Sector Leadership and Public Sector, which guided the search for existing theories to help substantiate and answer the research question. The study introduced the Organizational Role Stress Framework developed by Udai Pareek into a Swedish pubic organization with the aim to measure the impact of Organizational Role Stress. The Organizational Role Stress Framework contributed to a quantitative study amongmanagers in Lycksele municipality to measure the impact of Organizational Role Stress. The sample population consisted of 60 managers who were given an equal opportunityto participate in the study. In total, 49 out of 60 managers participated in the study, which corresponds to a satisfying response rate of 82 %. The main conclusion of the study is that Organizational Role Stress has a negativeimpact on managers’ ability to balance administrative responsibilities and operativeleadership. The Organizational Role Stress Framework can explain 50 % of the variancein managers’ problems with balancing the responsibilities in their roles. Furthermore, the findings also imply that two stressors from the Organizational Role Stress Framework namely: Inter-Role Distance and Role Overload are a better model to describe the problem among managers. These two stressors as a model can explain 52% of the variance among managers ability to balance administrative responsibilities andoperative leadership.

No description available.

The thesis is an attempt at a comprehensive discussion of the legal and constitutional rules that apply to civil servants considering the current changes experienced in the UK Home Civil Service. The research focuses on three main areas, namely; the legal aspects of the relationship between civil servants and the Crown as employer, secondly, the rights of civil servants to associate and the right to freedom of expression, and thirdly, the constitutional aspects of the minister-civil servant relationship. Changes in the Civil Service manifested by Next Step Agencies, market testing and contracting out public services has resulted in the fragmentation of the uniform structure of the Civil Service. Question is raised, for instance, whether a more coherent legal definition of a civil servant is needed, whether these changes are affecting the security of tenure of civil servants, and whether the quest for job security should turn to, for example, judicial review. The introduction of contracts of service for civil servants is applauded but insufficient consideration has been given to its compatibility with the Crown's power to dismiss at pleasure. In the sphere of the right to associate and trade unionism generally, the advent of Whitleyism in the early 20s was the main reason for the development of trade unions in the civil service. Since 1979, the government's interventionist policy resulted in more restrictions for trade unions in pursuance of their activities. The GCHQ affair was a classic situation when the policy of restriction was at its extreme. Nonetheless, trade unions continue to exist and industrial actions are cautiously tolerated by the government. Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights lay down a standard of proportionality as to any restriction imposed on the freedom of association. Yet the failures of the GCHQ unions appeal in Strasbourg indicates a strong acceptance of the need for restrictions in freedom of association in the civil service. The unions' success at ILO appeared ephemeral. Despite the concern that civil servant's neutrality will be affected if they are allowed to engage in political activities, the Masterman and the Armitage Committee viewed that certain amount of freedom should be given to civil servants in this area. So far political activities of civil servants have not caused substantial controversy. The formation of Next Steps Agencies should provide more rooms for flexibility in giving permission for civil servants to participate. Civil servants are also subject to the duty of confidentiality in civil law as well as in criminal law under the Official Secrets Acts. The amendment to section 2 of the 1911 Act have removed the draconian effect of unauthorised disclosure by civil servant. Yet the 1989 Act has left out the need to protect civil servants who disclose in the public interest. In their interpretation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the European Court and Commission were also not in favour of protecting whistleblower or would-be whistleblower in the public service. The first report by the Nolan Committee inquiring the standards in public life recommended a form of whistleblower's charter. This is a welcome change and the government should adopt the committee's proposal. Ministerial accountability to Parliament is the corollary to civil service anonymity. It has been accepted that civil service anonymity has not been properly protected. There were occasions when civil servants are being asked to do unethical, unconstitutional and sometime illegal acts. The Armstrong Memorandum was an attempt to provide an independent line of appeal but its failure was clearly illustrated when there was only one appeal brought by a civil servant for the last eight years. The new Civil Service Code includes a new line of appeal to the Civil Service Commissioners but only after the internal appeal procedure has been exhausted. It is only hoped that the failure of the Armstrong Memorandum is not repeated. The fact that senior civil servants are playing a more prominent role vis-a-vis Parliament, a rethinking of the present arrangement of accountability should be made. Such a rethinking need not lead to giving a constitutional personality to civil servants. It must however be an acceptance that they are carrying heavier responsibilities and therefore they should be given a proper recognition of their role in Parliament.

M.Comm. (Economics) / The purpose of this study is to examine the pattern of gross domestic saving in South Africa. This study looks at gross domestic saving in South Africa in general and the trends of its components in particular. It addresses the impacts of internal and external policies on the disaggregated domestic saving in South Africa. This is done with the aim of establishing the channels through which these policies influence the components of South Africa’s domestic saving. This study focuses on current economic literature while examining gross domestic saving and its attributes. A brief discussion of gross domestic saving on emerging market region puts sub-Saharan Africa’s gross domestic saving, particularly that of South Africa, into perspective. Hence, the developments in South Africa’s domestic saving are compared with those of some selected countries. An analysis of gross domestic saving in South Africa for the period 1970 to 2004 indicates a long-run downward pattern. The disaggregated domestic saving in South Africa shows that although three components contributed to the decline in South Africa’s domestic saving, the public sector appeared to be the main culprit in the decline. Thus, the net saving by the government had been negative since early 1980. The study observes that the patterns of saving of the three components are influenced by both internal and external factors. iv These internal and external factors are made up of fiscal and monetary policies, and the balance of payments. Without over-emphasising the importance of gross domestic saving in any economy, it is crucial for South Africa to encourage a positive saving culture for improvement in meaningful domestic investment for long-term economic growth. This study, therefore, suggests that in a developing economy like the South African economy, a positive saving attitude could be encouraged through the use of internal and external policies. Hence, the positive impact of internal and external factors could motivate all stakeholders in gross domestic saving to seize any available opportunity to boost their savings, thereby raising South Africa’s gross domestic saving.

This thesis considers the problems associated with the Australian Public Sector moving sometimes erratically towards strategic public management following substantial and wide ranging reforms over the last 20 years. In particular, this study examines public organizational planning and evaluates the extent to which private sector planning philosophies and methodologies have already and could be applied more relevantly to the public sector. The major proposition is that commercial planning methods and techniques can be used selectively to enhance agency planning and management effectiveness and efficiency. A specific application at Centrelink is considered for public service providers delivering high quality government services as part of a purchaser/provider relationship. Strategic planning and management theory and models are reviewed and a progressivestages model is developed for the APS. A range of private sector planning techniques and tools is evaluated and brief but classified case studies on major APS organizations are also presented. The thesis concludes that a dynamics capabilities approach would enable public organizations to maximize strategic management and operational effectiveness.

Partnering is a tool used in the construction industry to reduce claims and litigations and also to deliver a quality product in a cost efficient and timely manner. This research analyzes the impact of the partnering process on the outcome of construction projects in Texas’ public universities. For this study project specific data were obtained from 218 buildings built between 1996 and 2006. Parametric and non-parametric statistical tests were used to measure and explain the project performances of partnered and nonpartnered projects on four different building types in terms of cost overrun, schedule change, change orders and claims. One of the variables that had a significant effect on the outcome of the project performance parameters was the initial cost of the project. It was found that projects that utilized partnering were less likely to have claims that non-partnered projects. Partnered projects also had fewer change orders than non-partnered projects for two of the four building types that were analyzed. The results of this study can be used in the successful planning and execution of construction projects by organizations involved in the construction procurement processes for Texas’ public universities.