Search

The article reflects, from the current context of Cuba, on the relevance of recognizing municipal development strategies as a decisive instrument to manage cultural heritage at the local level. This vision of the problem could encourage development from a multidimensional approach, reduce unfavorable impacts, as well as, create and share public policies, commitments and responsibilities of local actors and communities with cultural heritage. To achieve the above, it is proposed to formulate and implement the strategies from an integrated local management system approach, which stimulates the complementarity of local processes and allows the valuation and enhancement of cultural heritage as an endogenous resource that contributes to the sustainable development of the territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demarcation of municipal boundaries in post-apartheid South Africa is characterised by objections from affected communities. Beyond polarising-affected communities, proposed redeterminations regularly elicit destruction of public infrastructure and even loss of life. Hostilities over municipal boundaries which were drawn in the rural areas for the first time. This article is drawn from the highly publicised demarcation unrests experienced in the Vuwani area as a result of the newly established Collins Chabane Local Municipality in the Limpopo province. Findings reflected in this article emanated from data collected through the questionnaire, interviews and secondary data sources. Empirical evidence uncovers low levels of public participation in demarcation process by the residents. Actually, more people in Vuwani participated in the anti-demarcation protests in objection to the new municipality. The fact that violent protests regularly accompany municipal demarcation objections in South Africa could reflect an urgent need to improve the facilitation of meaningful public participation in the municipal demarcation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sponge City (SC) projects offer an effective measure for coping with frequent occurrence of urban flooding as well as water shortage. In China, enormous demand for urban regeneration and short of capital has precipitated the growth of public–private capitalhip (PPP) mode for achieving urban sustainability. Generally, risk identification is perceived as a crucial step as to ensure the success of PPP mode. However, little attention has been paid to identify critical risks in Sponge City PPP projects for emerging countries, for example China. This paper aims to investigate the critical risk factors of Sponge City PPP projects in the context of China. The list of risk factors used for analysis are gathered from literature review, research group brainstorming, and expert interview. Decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method is employed in the study to prioritize the risks and then analyze interdependence between them as to recognize critical risks. The research results show that inadequate supervision system (C 1), government intervention (C 2), immature law and regulations (C 5), project fragmentation (C 13), and unclear boundary of catchment area (C 14) are the critical risk factors. The findings in this study can provide helpful references not only for the local government to adopt management measures for promoting sustainable SC projects, but also for private capital to effectively mitigate risks in future SC projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Presents a typology of emergent risk that highlights the iterative and inter-related nature of climate change risk, and propensity for impacts, such as legal action and reduced debt access, to emerge subsequent to, yet far removed from, initial physical impacts. • Highlights current practice and gaps in local government risk management concerning emergent risk. • Highlights the potential and need for local government to consider, the application of risk transfer mechanisms such as catastrophe bonds in the face of historical and conceivable climate change-perpetuated reduced access to, and increased cost of, traditional mechanisms such as insurance. • Provides insight into barriers and enablers to local government agencies gaining an appreciation of the potential application of alternative risk transfer mechanisms. Insurance represents an integral part of local government risk management strategy. As climate change progresses, increased loss and risk related to extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones, could motivate insurers to withdraw from certain markets. In some regions, such a withdrawal represents an emergent risk that, when coupled with increasing populations and other climate change impacts, could leave local governments and ratepayers particularly vulnerable. This paper investigates such a scenario and its ramifications in the context of a region particularly vulnerable to climate change, through an exploration of the degree that consideration of emergent risks, such as loss of insurance, and the potential application of insurance alternatives influence Queensland local government risk management. The study finds little appreciation amongst government officials of emergent risk implicit in extreme weather events such as cyclones, little understanding of the nuances of risk transfer mechanisms beyond familiar traditional insurance and disaster funding mechanisms, and by default, a lack of appreciation of the relationship between the two. A lack of resource and leadership with respect to emergent risk, and an absence of dialogue between insurance brokers and local government concerning climate change risk arise as the main reasons for this result. This research is significant because it challenges current local government risk management practice through an exploration of the risks inherent in the process itself. This has potential social, economic and ecological ramifications in drawing attention to aspects of possible "uninsurability" and prospects of alleviation thereto. Further research is recommended to consider the insurance industry's part in this study's findings in order to inform current industry practice and thinking and further enlighten the causes of local government disengagement in this critical area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is entering the discussion concerning the sources of competitive advantage in project management in basic local government units in Poland. The focus of the paper is placed on the selected elements of the sources of competitive advantage in basic local government units in Poland, namely tasks implemented in projects. The paper consists of two main parts. In the first part of the paper, a starting point was the presentation of the essence of competitiveness and competitive advantage in the process of project management from the perspective of local government units in Poland. In the second one, the results of the research proceedings concerning the importance of tasks implemented in projects in projects in basic local government units in Poland were discussed. The considerations presented in the paper refer to the results of the research proceedings, which took place in two stages. The first stage of the studies was conducted in 2013 and it concerned the years 2010-2012, the second stage – in 2018, and it concerned the years 2016-2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study pertaining to managerial strategies in municipal government organizations. The findings indicate that there are multiple internal and external strategy approaches used by managers. The study results suggest that the internal and external actions of public managers are interrelated. Experts say public managers are influenced by multiple parties including federal and state governments, constituents, and clients. The overall strategy of public managers is comprised of contingency elements. The management patterns appear to be based on a risk-averse approach.

Property tax administration can be viewed as a political process controlled in varying degrees by state statutes regulating administrative procedures. These statutes form a complex body of property tax law subject to the interpretations of: (1) the numerous state and local tax officials, (2) the courts, and (3) the taxpayers. The interactions of these participants in tax decision making determines the amount of the tax for a particular local governmental unit. In this article, the process is seen as a game where the participants have goals and adopt strategies that affect the outcome of the process. Several illustrative case studies are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper looks into the issues related to the monitoring of land use change by voivodeship marshals in Poland. The author intended to provoke the academic circles to devote more attention to this matter as well. The analysis involved the publicly available materials and the information from websites of 16 marshal offices and Polish acts of law made available in the Online Database of Legal Acts. The paper includes an analysis of the changes in land use monitoring legislation in Poland and when the obligation was first introduced. It was further verified whether all the offices publish the documents relevant to the monitoring. It was found out that half of the voivodeships failed to publish the materials related to the performance of this statutory task. This results in a varied availability of the documents and prevents potentially interested parties from familiarising themselves with the land use change monitoring issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Socialiniai Tyrimai is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Accounting Analysis Journal (AAJ) is the property of Jurusan Akuntansi, Fakultas Ekonomi, Universitas Negeri Semarang and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The technical performance requirements of projects posed a challenge to the sustainable development of small size local government projects particularly in developing countries. Studies in the past focused mainly on the performance of major foreign construction firms mostly owned and operated by expatriates. Very few researches however, have been conducted to assess the relationship between major cost factors affecting technical performance of small size local government projects. This study is aimed at assessing the relationship between major cost factors that affect technical performance of small size local government projects in Nigeria. Survey instruments were administered to major stakeholders in the construction industry comprising of project clients, contractors and consultants using proportionate stratified random sampling method. A Warp partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) software algorithm was used for the analysis of collected data. The software is one of the powerful software for data analysis and has an advantage of providing p values based on the structure of the research model. The study concluded that cash flow problem, fraudulent practice and nature of construction environment are the major factors affecting technical performance of local government projects in Nigeria and further recommended the use of mediator variables like pay for performance and advance payment policy to minimise such negative effects. Governments in developing countries should devise a good cash flow policy and impose stringent penalties against any party involved in fraudulent activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Component without which the function of local public administration management would be compromised, administrative autonomy manifests under the action of various factors. From such an angle, the space of this article is dedicated to identifying the factors affecting the autonomy in management of local public administration in order to show their actions on its manifestation. By developing the present approach, beyond the incompleteness of the existing explanations relative to this sphere of interest, we have identified and highlighted the action of two sets of factors - institutional and conjunctural. Ensign turned out to be the action that institutional factors exert on autonomy, the latter being the greater, as the local administrative structure is higher, as the number of local public services is higher, when there are legal regulations that warrant it, and vice versa. Then analyzing conjunctural factors, we found that the influence of the economic crisis is, as expected, adverse to autonomy manifestation. Regarding the local development factor, we showed that a local community with a high degree of development functions without the intervention of center, a situation that favors autonomy, as opposed to a less developed community that requires the support of the center, intervention which mitigates the autonomy. By examining the action of political factor, we noticed that, although politicians define public strategies and policies that will be implemented, which gives it a positive connotation, most often autonomy suffers under the politics influence. Finally, the social organization in local collectivities provides favorable ground to the manifestation and functioning of autonomy in the management of local public administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One powerful expression of the neoliberal orthodoxy within economic development practice in the United States has been local governments' use of economic-development-driven eminent domain. However, the presumed benefits but not the actual harm of the eminent domain actions typically eludes the working-class and low-income segments of the community that often shoulder the greatest consequences of the action. Municipal governments must be much more exacting, deliberative, and strategic in ensuring there is an obvious and direct connection between the potential economic development opportunities leveraged by eminent domain practices and the benefits, opportunities, and resources that the community derives from those transactions of local government. Thoughtfully and strategically designed and executed Community Benefit Agreements have tremendous potential to afford working-class and low-income residents, as well other city residents, a chance for more equitable and democratic results than they frequently experience under existing economic-development-driven eminent domain practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Failed states" are considered a national security challenge by many countries including the United States, leading to a global effort to find ways of detecting and fixing them. The approach chosen for the last two decades is misleading as state failure is actually a long-term process affecting states, which were not necessarily functional in the first place. Supporting local governance schemes is in some cases preferable to reinstating central states at any cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research assesses how state and local factors combine to influence the adoption of performance measurement for local service contracting nested in state contexts over time. Using a multilevel linear growth model to analyze local survey and official data, the findings demonstrate that local adoption of performance measurements nested in state contexts changed significantly; local contract management capability are significantly linked to the adoption of performance measurement. State contexts have a large impact on that adoption as well. The findings, which may have been unobserved by previous studies, suggest that local practices are indeed embedded in state governance across time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Sociologia, Problemas e Práticas is the property of Centro de Investigacao e Estudos de Sociologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The research conducted on published works and documents has revealed that famous international institutions, as well as scientists have deemed, both in the twentieth century and the beginning of XXI century, that the development of human society must be based on continuity and sustainability . At this phase, we can say that Romania has a concept of sustainable development which is reflected in policies and specific indicators, yet it should be noted that this mechanism has not been implemented effectively at the level of the local administration authorities. In this respect, we believe there is a need of mechanisms that can be implemented at local administration level, where sustainable development principles with precise targets and deadlines can be promoted, with secured financial resources that can ultimately help in raising the people's quality of life and level of civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which explored the ability of network accounting tools in supporting local public groups' control systems, considering the local governments in Italy. Analysis of the relationship between local public group governance and the external and internal information needs of the units constituting the public group was carried out. Results suggested that accountability flow could be a starting point for the redefinition and monitoring of governance's mechanisms.

In the 90s, in the Province of Mendoza, Argentina, three public-private organizations were designed to implement local productive development policies: Fondo Vitivinícola Mendoza (Vinification-controlling and Wine consumption-promoting Agency), Pro- Mendoza (Export-promoting Agency) and Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (Rural information and planning Agency). The article focuses on analyzing and explaining the emergence and permanence of the Agencies, on the roles assumed by the Provincial Government, on the characteristics of the private sector involvement and on the structuring of the public-private partnership. The paper shows that internal and external factors explain the emergence of the Agencies and that their permanence through several Provincial Administrations is due to organizational design and practice traits, to preexisting political and entrepreneurial links, and to a priori positive results. The article offers evidence about the Government's active presence and concludes with remarks about the eventual significance of these new public governance modalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El artículo presenta un análisis de la influencia de la calidad de vida laboral en la gestión municipal a partir de un estudio de campo realizado en la provincia de Santa Fe, Argentina. A través de entrevistas a trabajadores de la administración pública, el autor revisa el grado de satisfacción con el trabajo y su impacto en el desempeño laboral.

This article examines three roles that local governments play: convening community, providing service, and creating and enforcing regulation. The author uses the concept of polarity management to explore how local governments can strike a balance among these roles, and explores how individual employees and organizations can disrupt that balance by favoring individual roles. Particular focus is placed on local government deficiency in employing the community convener or community engagement role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Samoa is one of the many small developing countries that are now joining the international call to strengthen local government in a global effort to advance this institution as a recognized force for positive development, especially with respect to the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Part of the process includes the introduction of good governance practices through capacity building in order for local government to become proficient in managing resources and to be efficient and effective in service delivery. Accountability and transparency are central to the capacity building process. This paper finds that these central principles of good governance are neither novel nor foreign to the cultural and social practices of local government in Samoa. Hence, it is argued that any attempt to build the capacity of local government in Samoa should involve enhancing and embracing those established cultural measures that underpin accountability and transparency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local rules have been unfairly cast as procedural villains. Their qualifications for the role are purportedly numerous, but chief among them is that they violate a fundamental principle embedded in our post-1938 procedural regime: procedural rules applied in a federal case should not be sensitive to location. It must, of course, be conceded that local rules do produce territorial variations in procedure. But in practice, the principle of trans-territoriality is aspirational, and is undermined by an array of factors—ranging from competing interpretations of written rules to the supplementation of those rules through exercises of inherent power—that inevitably contribute to location-based variations in the actual procedural requirements imposed in federal cases. Properly situated, local rules are not an outlier, but are merely one form of territorial variation among many. To assess local rules, therefore, we should not ask whether they produce territorial variation, but whether a procedural regime that permits them produces a better mix of territorial variation than one that does not. When viewed this way, local rules emerge as attractive—if not quite heroic—because they are transparent, they reflect participation by nonjudicial actors, and they promote intradistrict equality in the treatment of cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the perceptions of performance between local government and Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). It explores the relationship of GDOT to general public, in which it aims to improve working relationship with its partners, suppliers and stakeholders. It presents a research of Daley , which finds that performance assessment between collaborative participants can enhance the performance of the agency. It states that local officials of the state as well as transportation administrators see themselves as principals, customers, and partners of the GDOT. It notes that the perception of being treated like a customer is dependent on the communication quality of GDOT. It adds that agencies must look at their partners who function in mulltiple roles.

Copyright of Politica y Sociedad is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Politica y Sociedad is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Politica y Sociedad is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Politica y Sociedad is the property of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

How local government managers acquire skills and knowledge of policy approaches applicable to multijurisdictional problems is the primary focus of this paper. Managers work in an environment where cities and their infrastructures are getting older and more expensive; economic and social disparities are increasing; and the cost of local services is rising faster than elected officials are willing to raise revenues (Miller, 2002). Municipal managers face these concerns on a daily basis, and they are the officials most likely to realize the inadequacy and ineffectiveness of acting alone when trying to solve problems that have metropolitan origins and effects. Solving these problems requires engaging in intergovernmental and inter-local activities in new and innovative ways. For that reason it is important that managers be prepared with a range of skills that facilitate regional solutions. To address this concern, we review the Model City Charter as well as training materials and guidelines from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) to determine whether the current emphases in local government management training prepare local managers to handle multijurisdictional or regional problems. Our conclusion is that there is a serious mismatch between the traditional skill set and what is now required for multijurisdictional problem solving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there are some general resources for citizens who are appointed or elected to local government boards, there is a clear need to develop comprehensive and context-specific training material to better prepare citizens for public service and board governance. This study details the development, delivery, and impact of a structured curriculum developed by the authors and used for citizen board training in Montana. The curriculum covers four key areas: (1) Foundations of governance (such as relevant statutes, including state constitutional provisions on the right to participate and right to know, and good governance principles); (2) effective meeting techniques, with a focus on procedural methods such as Robert's Rules of Order; (3) conflict management; and (4) leadership and team-building skills. Curricular materials include a detailed handbook, case study exercises, relevant handouts and worksheets, and Web-based resources such as podcasts. At the end of the training, we asked participants to self-evaluate their level of change in terms of knowledge and behavior, using both print and online surveys with Likert-scale items and open-ended questions. We used the responses to measure the impact of the educational program; analysis showed a positive change in participants' knowledge and behavior as a result of the training. Strengths, challenges, and implications of the current training curriculum, as well as further program refinement and its delivery in various contexts, are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses concerns expressed by members of the International City/ County Management Association (ICMA) regarding whether the supply of qualified local government managers will keep pace with the future demand for this occupation. The authors developed several important observations, which are based on decades of experience with a Master of Public Administration (MPA) program focused on local government management, plus strategic planning experience in over 100 local governments. First, it is likely that the impending retirement of the Baby Boom generation of city managers will cause some supply shortages of professional managers in specific geographical regions of the country. Second, increases in the number of professionally managed cities creates the probability that some municipalities, due to their lack of associational attractiveness, may experience difficulty in generating sufficient pools of quality applicants. We suggest that MPA programs continue to nurture communication and relationships with local governments that will lead to specific mutual benefits. For instance, MPA programs benefit from the availability of practitioner speakers and student internships and, in turn, local governments benefit from the creation of a pipeline that provides a continual stream of quality applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generational change in government employment presents numerical, attitudinal, and organizational challenges. There are more impending retirements in government than in the economy generally, and the number of young professionals available to fill vacancies is relatively small. A survey of Masters of Public Administration students at five universities and other research show the strong public service values among the younger generation, as well as document an interest within this cohort in working across sectors and levels of government. Professional associations and local governments will have to do more to make work inviting and engaging. They can also expect to make efforts to reenlist persons who either start work in government and go elsewhere or enter work in government later in their careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What impact do interventions by central/federal or local levels of government in local emergency preparedness training have on the focus of training, comprehensiveness, and quality control? An analysis of two cases of intervention by central/federal levels of government reveals that training is likely to be (a) skill oriented and competence framed, (b) comprehensive, and (c) quality controlled in a relatively rigorous manner. An analysis of two additional cases of intervention by local levels of government reveals that training is likely to be (a) skill oriented and competence framed with a focus on people and emergency-related organizational issues, (b) noncomprehensive, and (c) weakly controlled for quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local governments play a key role in emergency management by developing the necessary policies and concrete procedures for responding effectively to community emergencies and their aftermath. However, because emergency measures in most jurisdictions are rarely, if ever, activated, public managers find it difficult to evaluate and assess the quality of existing emergency management programs. Drawing on expert literature to identify 30 elements of a high-quality local emergency management program, key elements are refined and synthesized into a single framework that provides clear-cut best practices for emergency program evaluation and performance measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes emergency financial responses and consequences during and after Hurricane Katrina. It uses the case study analysis method and focuses on Hurricane Katrina and the city of New Orleans in addition to giving some comparative views of some neighboring communities and the state of Mississippi. The study uses contemporary media reports, official documents from federal, state, and local governments, independent groups, and financial analysis methods to analyze the impact of a disaster on the fiscal affairs of a community. The study uses fiscal equilibrium analysis as a framework for addressing fiscal policy issues in the aftermath of a catastrophic disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study is to empirically examine the inter relationship between Quality Management (QM), Strategic Control Systems (SCS) and financial performance (FP). The framework of the study was developed in line with the premise of contingency theory. According to the contingency theory, the fit between organizational strategy and organizational control systems is a must in order to gain good performance. Data of this study was collected from 205 departments attached to Malaysia local government. Hypotheses of the study were tested using a structural equation modeling. This study contributes to the literature by investigating the strategic control systems variable in explaining the relationship between QM and performance variable. As reported in this study, the QM mediated by the SCS had a stronger relationship with FP, as compared to the direct relationship between QM and FP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a "partnership-research" study of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour within the "local government" setting of the Wolverhampton City Council Social Care Department, and to describe how the research supports and challenges the organisation's existing "leadership and management behavioural competency framework". Additionally, it reveals and discusses the extent to which the results are consistent with equivalent and comparable findings from an equivalent study within a "central government" department. Design/methodology/approach - Concrete examples of effective and ineffective managerial behaviour were collected using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) of Flanagan, and the obtained data were analysed using content and thematic analytic methods. Findings - The paper finds that from a total of 218 usable critical incidents 50 discrete behavioural items were identified, of which 25 were examples of "effective" and 25 of "ineffective" behaviour. A comparison against equivalent findings from the "central government" study revealed high degrees of overlap with 92 per cent of the "effective" and 96 per cent of the "ineffective" behavioural items being the same as, similar to, or containing some congruence of meaning. Research limitations/implications - Although the number of CIT informants (n = 40) falls at the top end of the typical sample range for qualitative research, it is possible that data collection "saturation" has not been reached. Whereas the subject of the present "local government" study was first line and middle managers, the focus of the compared "central government" study also included senior managers. Originality/value - The results of this replica research lend additional empirical support to those who believe in "generic" and "universalistic " explanations of managerial and leadership effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many local governments measure and report their performance, but the record of these governments in actually using performance measures to improve services is more modest. The authors of this study examine patterns of performance measurement use among a set of North Carolina cities and conclude that the types of measures on which officials rely, the willingness of officials to embrace comparison, and the degree to which measures are incorporated into key management systems distinguish cities that are more likely to use performance measures for service improvement from those less likely to do so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the implementation of Best Value—an audit tool of the U.K. government's modernization policy—in local government, specifically in Scotland. This is a study of the impact of this key concept, primarily on the management of these public services. The aim of Best Value Audit is to enhance transparency and accountability of management actions in local government. The article draws on Power's (1997 ) Audit Society thesis to inform this research. The Best Value approach has been heavily influenced by audit processes and oversight bodies both in its design and implementation. This article supports the Power thesis of the Audit Society: It reveals the manner in which audit practices are deployed by agencies of central government with the intent to shape the management of local government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Public sector reforms and external performance review has meant that the HR function in UK local government is not only expected to continuously review working practices but is also facing major changes in its role and its own service delivery. This paper explores how changes driven by the pursuit of efficiency and cost cutting may impact on the function's ability to fulfil the employee champion role that Ulrich identifies as essential to it making a valuable strategic contribution. Design/methodology/approach - The findings are drawn from interviews, focus groups and desk research conducted in three large local authorities Findings - The emergent concerns, tensions and dilemmas across the case study organisations suggest that changes, both planned and actual, to HR's role and services will impact on the function's ability to act as an "employee champion" due to reduced employee contact and more fragmented HR roles. Research limitations/implications - The findings are based on three case studies, so there is an issue of their wider application - and they provided rather more insights into the views of HR staff and line managers than of other employee groups. Practical implications - The devolved, decentralised, outsourced and self service models of HR service provision require careful internal evaluation as this study's findings indicate they may well have hidden costs in terms of promoting employee commitment in large public sector organisations. Originality/value - A qualitative study of how changes to the HR function's role and service delivery can impact on the HR's responsibilities for employee relations rather than the more usual considerations of cost effectiveness and efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether particular attributes of innovative administrative practices associated with the new public management/reinventing government reform movement affect their adoption. The study uses three commonly cited attributes of innovation—cost, complexity, and relative advantage—and introduces a new one: ideological alignment. Using expert-panel and International City/County Management Association survey data, the role of the four attributes for 25 administrative innovations is analyzed across 725 U.S. local governments. Regression analysis suggests that ideological alignment (i.e., the innovation's embodiment of the new public management/reinventing government movement's ideals) and relative advantage (i.e., the innovation's beneficial impact on local government) are positively associated with the adoption of administrative innovations. The implications of findings are discussed for the process of innovation adoption and the roles of public administrators in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers practical insights for public managers as they work within interorganizational networks. It is based on the author’s empirical study of 14 networks involving federal, state, and local government managers working with nongovernmental organizations. The findings suggest that networks are hardly crowding out the role of public agencies; though they are limited in their decision scope, they can add collaborative public value when approaching nettlesome policy and program problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an exploration into the evolution of municipal governance in the United States throughout the 20th century and the development of the Model City Charter, a model published by the National Civic League (NCL) for its development. Three major styles of municipal governance are outlined, including the mayor-council system, the council-manager form, and the commission government. The development and popularity of each of these systems is described throughout the 20th-century, citing their promotion in seven charters released by the NCL during the period.

Discusses local governments' need for assistance to develop management information systems and how adoption might affect local governments' capacity. Constraints to adoption of a management information system; Role of management information systems in capacity building; Information on Kansas local government information system; Role of the economists in system design.

This paper examines the influence that intergovernmental support has on the adoption of new technologies within and among four areas of local government--fire protection, traffic control, solid waste management, and air pollution control. Interviews were conducted with more than 80 program managers in 20 cities throughout the United States. The interviews focused on the respondents' perceptions of the influences that funds, rules, technical assistance, and attitudes held by higher level officials have on local decisions to adopt new technical innovations. Two findings emerged: (1) intergovernmental influences do not impact in a uniform fashion on local decisions to innovate, and (2) such influences are often attenuated or minimized by local circumstances. Finally, the paper explores the policy implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]