This four-volume set looks at the evolution of ideas around that critical government and business strategic interface, Public Affairs, and how our understanding and conceptualisation of the discipline and topic area has changed as the subject has become rapidly grown and become more important over the past decade with globalisation. Through thematic exploration of the key conceptual and empirical articles to have come out of the field, public affairs is here understood as a discipline and professional practice, taking in: the organisation and structuring of the public affairs function; the characteristics and factors influencing the effectiveness of public affairs; the profile, characteristics and competencies of public affairs practitioners; the value of public affairs; what is understood about 'best practice' in the public affairs context, and its limitations; and the international perspective of public affairs. Skilfully edited and introduced by a leading voice in the field, this major work shines a spotlight on a subject which is increasingly gaining strategic significance across disciplines on the global stage. Volume One: Introduction and definition Volume Two: Strategy Volume Three: Globalization Volume Four: Critical Issues in Public Affairs
The study of public financial management is essential to improving the practice of public management and to our understanding of the politics and organization of public institutions. As a study of the practice of public management, the literature of public financial management closely scrutinizes developing trends and standards in various areas of expertise, such as budgeting, accounting, and taxation. As a study of politics and organization of public institutions, the literature of public financial management examines the salience of financial resources and their management in the allocation and use of political authority. This four-volume set aims to address the sophistication and breadth of issues in this fast-developing area of study, bringing together seminal works on both practice-centric research and research that speaks to broader public management concerns. Above all this major work represents an invaluable resource which can be used to educate readers toward the practice and institutional affects of public financial management.
Human Resource Management (HRM) is of central significance to every nation as they strive to govern well and deliver services effectively. The evolution of HRM in the public sector from personnel administration to more strategic management has transformed mechanistic views of the enterprise to ones that are more organic, interactive and collaborative. This collection provides articles and chapters that address the evolution, current state and potential future of HRM, both in terms of traditional origins and development in public administration and the more contemporary metamorphosis in public management and public policy. The articles are broadly comparative in perspective and include consideration of increasing globalization and inter-dependency among nations and their policies.
Is the public getting a good deal when the government contracts out the delivery of goods and services? Phillip Cooper attempts to get at the heart of this question by exploring what happens when public sector organizations-at the federal, state and local levels-form working relationships with other agencies, communities, non-profit organizations and private firms through contracts. Rather than focus on the ongoing debate over privatization, the book emphasizes the tools managers need to form, operate, terminate or transform these contracts amidst a complex web of intergovernmental relations. Cooper frames the issues of public contract management by showing how managers are caught in between governance by authority and government by contract. By looking at cases ranging from the management of Baltimore schools to the contracting of senior citizen programs in Kansas, he offers practical information to students and practitioners and a theoretical context for their work. At every turn, the author avoids bogging readers down in technical jargon. Instead the book sheds light on a crucial part of any public manager's job with lively case material and no-nonsense guidance for making the most of taxpayer dollars.
Whether it's the Internal Revenue Service or the local police department, every person's life is affected by how public organizations handle information. New technologies are inundating us with data-agencies collect, store, analyze and disseminate information. How organizations manage this information is crucial to their effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability. It is becoming more difficult for public organizations to formulate clear messages. Political pressure from elected officials and public scrutiny make the task of managing communication even more daunting. By helping students see how communication networks must be treated within larger psychological, cultural, and mechanical contexts, Graber presents ways to construct effective channels so information is transmitted to the appropriate audiences, linking policy decisions and feedback from citizens. Blending the best of theory and practice, The Power of Communication helps both students and practitioners turn a flood tide of information into an asset, rather than a menace, to good government.
Corruption always grabs the headlines and the processes of political contention that created the modern state have done much to shape our notions of corruption and good government; yet very old ideas show surprising vitality as we examine the ways citizens understand and react to corruption issues. Corruption issues appeared as a major international policy concern around 1990, after a generation during which they received relatively little emphasis, and since that time the research literature has had unprecedented growth in quantity and quality. This major reference collection collates the best of the research for scholars, policymakers, students, reformers, journalists, and interested citizens, showing us where we have been and where we need to go as the work continues. Further, the collection develops a much-needed comprehensive record of what we have learned from political scientists, economists, and historical and cultural analysts; while all borrow selectively and creatively from each other, they are still engaged in largely separate conversations. Finally, this collection focuses on the whole issue of reform. The past generation's research has both led to new ideas about how to attack corruption, measure its seriousness, and assess the effects of corruption control efforts. The collection is a particularly important toolkit to bring the best of our knowledge to bear upon efforts at control-in effect, to integrate theory and practice-for as in many other policy areas it is entirely possible to do the wrong things for the right reasons.
Comprising theoretical and empirical perspectives and drawn from international journals with a global focus, this four-volume set presents the key papers in macro-organizational and micro-organizational studies and their implications on public administration. Divided into two sections, the first part of this collection adopts a sector-wide focus, concentrating on the issues of governance, politics, markets and competition, regulation and inter-organizational relations. The second section concentrates on management issues in an organizational context, addressing leadership, strategy and change management. Drawing on experience of both academic and professional spheres, the editors incorporate a range of theoretical and disciplinary perspectives spanning organizational behaviour, organizational theory, human resource management and strategy, forming a resource that will be invaluable to all students of management in the public sector.
Management and Measurement of Social Enterprise examines the question of what happens when performance improvement techniques originating in the private sector are applied to public and nonprofit organizations. Management and Measurement of Social Enterprise looks critically at a range of performance measurements and improvement methods, including: - outcome measurement - using financial ratios for performance comparison - social audit - process benchmarking - externally accredited standards (like 'Investors in People' and ISO 9000) - diagnostic models and other tools from the quality movements - 'balanced scorecards' Rob Paton offers a measured critique of the naive realism and rhetorical excesses of the performance management movement but also shows why many of its critics are unduly pessimistic. Through a combination of theory and research, it provides practical solutions to the problem of performance management outside of the private sector. This is an essential text for those interested in public and social enterprises, particularly MBA and Masters students in public administration/public management and non-profit management.
With Unmasking Administrative Evil, Guy Adam s and Danny Balfour maintain that administrative evil, or de structiveness, is inherent in modern public administration. '
