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Jordanian policymakers rely on trained supervisors to lead organizational change in public administration. The impact of training, however, remains weak unless trainees apply what they have learned (training transfer). In order to assess training transfer, the present study validates a Classic Arabic version of the Learning Transfer System Inventory (CALTSI). The instrument was administered to a random sample of 500 supervisors. Exploratory factor analysis with oblique factor rotation validates 15 of the original 16 factors of the LTSI and explains about 65% of the common variance. These findings and their implications are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 1 figure.)

Two essential questions for those leading the field of public administration are: What do we teach our students, and how do we train them? As scholars, we pay significant attention to our research, often to the detriment of recognizing the potential for merging our research with teaching through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). However, given our students' leadership positions, SoTL-related work is vital to their success. In this article, we have come together to reflect on the state of SoTL's work in public administration. Through this reflection, we explore the windows of opportunity for research that we see emerging. Included among these opportunities is the need for research on how we can best serve students in and out of the classroom, as well as research the most effective way of managing our programs. We also see the need for research into faculty development, instructional design, and the return on investment for a public administration degree. Lastly, we argue for improved recognition of the value and contribution of SoTL-related work in tenure and promotion standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over a decade ago, Hays and Kearney published results from a survey of human resource managers who were members of the International Personnel Management Association and the Section on Personnel and Labor Relations of the American Society for Public Administration. This survey solicited members' opinions regarding the present and anticipated status of public personnel systems at that time. Our survey solicits the opinions of human resource management (HRM) professionals at the local government level a decade later to determine the importance of these same functions and activities to the practice of HRM today. Survey respondents are also requested to project the importance of these same concepts in 2019. This analysis shows that while the reinvention movement has generated several changes in the field of public HRM, many of the traditional functions and activities continue to remain as important at the local level of government. Keywords: Public Administration, Bureaucracy, Human Resource Management, Reinvention Movement, Local Government, Public Employee Staffing. Hace mas de una decada, Hays y Kearney publicaron los resultados de una encuesta de directores de recursos humanos que eran miembros del International Personnel Management Association y del Section on Personnel and Labor Relations of the American Society for Public Administration. Esta encuesta solicito la opinion de los miembros acerca del estado presente y previsto de los sistemas de personal publico de la epoca. Una decada mas tarde, nuestra encuesta pide la opinion de directores de recursos humanos profesionales a un nivel de gobierno local para determinar la importancia de esas mismas funciones y actividades de manejo de recursos humanos en la actualidad. Tambien se le pidio a los participantes proyectar la importancia de estos mismos conceptos para el ano 2019. Este analisis muestra que mientras que el movimiento de reinvencion ha generado una gran cantidad de cambios en area de la administracion publica de recursos humanos, muchas de las funciones y actividades tradicionales continuan siendo igual de importantes a un nivel de gobierno local., Public sector human resource management (HRM) has changed significantly over the past several decades as national reinvention initiatives and a host of other efforts at the state and local levels [...]

Recent reforms have sought to increase accountability and flexibility in the public sector’s personnel systems. One radical reform has witnessed a dismantling of civil service systems and replacing of them with employment at will (EAW) systems. Reforms of this kind have been more pronounced at the state and local government levels. Amid the reforms, scholars and public employees are skeptical of moving public employees to EAW systems, fearing the ethical status of EAW policies. This article moves beyond the basic question of whether the public sector should or should not adopt an EAW policy; instead, it focuses on analyzing primary ethical concerns associated with the implementation of EAW practices. Practical recommendations are presented to assist public at-will managers in meeting their ethical obligations toward their EAW employees. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article examines the attitudes of a key set of state government officials—state human resource (HR) professionals—toward employment at will (EAW) in state government. It presents original survey data obtained from HR professionals in four southern states: Georgia, Florida, Texas, and Mississippi. Drawing on these data, the article creates an index measuring respondents' commitment to EAW, as measured by their attitudes toward arguments used to advocate for EAW. The index is used as the dependent variable in an exploratory regression analysis indicating the importance of respondents' experiences with the exercise of EAW discretion, years of public sector service, educational background, and state context to explaining variation in commitment to EAW. The article concludes with a discussion of the findings' implications for the future of civil service reform in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catastrophic events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and terrorist attacks can cost millions if not billions of dollars in damages. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina decimated Mississippi's Gulf Coast and southeastern Louisiana. Many local governments lost facilities, equipment, vehicles, employees, and so on to the storm. In addition, many local government employees lost their homes, friends, coworkers, or family members, and they witnessed the evacuation of their families to other parts of the country. In this article, the authors use Phases 3 and 4 (response and recovery) of the Emergency Management Framework to analyze local governments' human resource management efforts following Hurricane Katrina. Under normal circumstances, human resource issues such as payroll recruitment, and retention can be mundane. Managing human resources following a catastrophic event, however, can present challenges for the most mundane tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]