Peter Leisink, Lotte B. Andersen, Gene A. Brewer, Christian B. Jacobsen, Eva Knies, and Wouter Vandenabeele (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- March 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780192893420
- eISBN:
- 9780191914683
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780192893420.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Organization Studies, Public Management
How does management make a meaningful contribution to public service performance? This is the overall question of this volume. The sixteen chapters aim to clarify conceptual issues; critically ...
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How does management make a meaningful contribution to public service performance? This is the overall question of this volume. The sixteen chapters aim to clarify conceptual issues; critically reflect on assumptions underlying public management and public service performance understandings; theoretically explain direct and indirect relationships between management and performance; and outline a research agenda based on a review of the extant literature. In order to achieve these aims, this volume takes a multidisciplinary, critical, rigorous, and context-sensitive approach. The disciplines of public management, leadership, human resource management, and work and organization psychology are combined because they focus differently on aspects of management, public service performance, employee outcomes, and linking mechanisms such as employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Multidisciplinarity is illustrated by the variety of management aspects examined: different types of leadership behaviors, people management, performance management, human resource management systems, diversity management, and change management. Stakeholders often emphasize different public values that influence what they hold desirable in public service provision. The authors critically reflect on which stakeholder interests are included and excluded in empirical studies. The institutional perspective informs critical reflection on public sector context factors that affect the management–performance relationship in democratic societies. By paying attention to distinctive features of the public sector context, the volume contributes to both knowledge growth and the improvement of public services in practice.Less
How does management make a meaningful contribution to public service performance? This is the overall question of this volume. The sixteen chapters aim to clarify conceptual issues; critically reflect on assumptions underlying public management and public service performance understandings; theoretically explain direct and indirect relationships between management and performance; and outline a research agenda based on a review of the extant literature. In order to achieve these aims, this volume takes a multidisciplinary, critical, rigorous, and context-sensitive approach. The disciplines of public management, leadership, human resource management, and work and organization psychology are combined because they focus differently on aspects of management, public service performance, employee outcomes, and linking mechanisms such as employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Multidisciplinarity is illustrated by the variety of management aspects examined: different types of leadership behaviors, people management, performance management, human resource management systems, diversity management, and change management. Stakeholders often emphasize different public values that influence what they hold desirable in public service provision. The authors critically reflect on which stakeholder interests are included and excluded in empirical studies. The institutional perspective informs critical reflection on public sector context factors that affect the management–performance relationship in democratic societies. By paying attention to distinctive features of the public sector context, the volume contributes to both knowledge growth and the improvement of public services in practice.
Graham Bullock
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780262036429
- eISBN:
- 9780262340984
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262036429.003.0006
- Subject:
- Environmental Science, Environmental Studies
Chapter 6’s discussion of the outcomes of information-based governance strategies begins with a comparison of three initiatives that evaluate electronics products – ENERGY STAR, EPEAT, and TCO. It ...
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Chapter 6’s discussion of the outcomes of information-based governance strategies begins with a comparison of three initiatives that evaluate electronics products – ENERGY STAR, EPEAT, and TCO. It introduces different conceptions of effectiveness, and emphasizes that different actors may have different definitions and perceptions of effectiveness. The chapter discusses a range of hypotheses and evidence related to the effects of information on consumers, businesses, government agencies, advocacy organizations, and researchers. While some evidence shows that a few existing programs have indeed created tangible social and environmental benefits, the database of 245 cases reveals that the vast majority of information-based governance strategies have failed to provide such information about their effectiveness to the public. The chapter ends with a discussion of promising and problematic practices for tracking the environmental outcomes and benefits of information-based governance strategies.Less
Chapter 6’s discussion of the outcomes of information-based governance strategies begins with a comparison of three initiatives that evaluate electronics products – ENERGY STAR, EPEAT, and TCO. It introduces different conceptions of effectiveness, and emphasizes that different actors may have different definitions and perceptions of effectiveness. The chapter discusses a range of hypotheses and evidence related to the effects of information on consumers, businesses, government agencies, advocacy organizations, and researchers. While some evidence shows that a few existing programs have indeed created tangible social and environmental benefits, the database of 245 cases reveals that the vast majority of information-based governance strategies have failed to provide such information about their effectiveness to the public. The chapter ends with a discussion of promising and problematic practices for tracking the environmental outcomes and benefits of information-based governance strategies.
Julee T. Flood and Terry L. Leap
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781501728952
- eISBN:
- 9781501728969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501728952.003.0007
- Subject:
- Education, Higher and Further Education
Institutions are often viewed as moving targets for the media and other critics. This chapter summarizes some of the controversies surrounding U.S. institutions of higher learning. Future ...
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Institutions are often viewed as moving targets for the media and other critics. This chapter summarizes some of the controversies surrounding U.S. institutions of higher learning. Future considerations are also examined along with a discussion of how risk management can help to deal with problems facing U.S. institutions of higher education.Less
Institutions are often viewed as moving targets for the media and other critics. This chapter summarizes some of the controversies surrounding U.S. institutions of higher learning. Future considerations are also examined along with a discussion of how risk management can help to deal with problems facing U.S. institutions of higher education.
Ibo van de Poel
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035668
- eISBN:
- 9780262337991
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035668.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Ibo van de Poel claims that there is substantial disagreement about the exact conception of sustainability even if there is general agreement on its desirability. We should see sustainability as a ...
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Ibo van de Poel claims that there is substantial disagreement about the exact conception of sustainability even if there is general agreement on its desirability. We should see sustainability as a “compounded” value (not a mere technical issue) that consists of intergenerational justice, intragenerational justice, and care for nature. These values often conflict. The three most common ways of dealing with value conflicts are through life cycle analysis (which compares and aggregates multiple environmental impacts into one measure), respecification (which identifies higher-order and less controversial values to be specified into a design), or innovation (which develops new options that meet all design requirements). Usually value conflicts are can be handled by specifications of shared values or by new innovations. Van de Poel recommends a “values hierarchy” that organizes conflicting interpretations of a specific project in order to determine the available design options. He proposes “value dams” and “value flows” to manage conflicts among stakeholders, who might have different conceptions of sustainability. A value dam would prevent those design features that are strongly opposed by at least one or more stakeholders, and a value flow would promote design requirements that fit a number of different conceptions of sustainability.Less
Ibo van de Poel claims that there is substantial disagreement about the exact conception of sustainability even if there is general agreement on its desirability. We should see sustainability as a “compounded” value (not a mere technical issue) that consists of intergenerational justice, intragenerational justice, and care for nature. These values often conflict. The three most common ways of dealing with value conflicts are through life cycle analysis (which compares and aggregates multiple environmental impacts into one measure), respecification (which identifies higher-order and less controversial values to be specified into a design), or innovation (which develops new options that meet all design requirements). Usually value conflicts are can be handled by specifications of shared values or by new innovations. Van de Poel recommends a “values hierarchy” that organizes conflicting interpretations of a specific project in order to determine the available design options. He proposes “value dams” and “value flows” to manage conflicts among stakeholders, who might have different conceptions of sustainability. A value dam would prevent those design features that are strongly opposed by at least one or more stakeholders, and a value flow would promote design requirements that fit a number of different conceptions of sustainability.
Brian O'Neill and Elisabeth Staksrud
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781847428837
- eISBN:
- 9781447307723
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847428837.003.0026
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families
In this chapter, the background to the EU Kids Online project's policy objectives is reviewed and the principal recommendations that emerged from the findings highlighted. The focus is primarily on ...
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In this chapter, the background to the EU Kids Online project's policy objectives is reviewed and the principal recommendations that emerged from the findings highlighted. The focus is primarily on Europe and policy actions framed at a European level and/or implemented within member states of the European Union. Against a background of intense debate regarding the effectiveness of self-regulatory regimes as mechanisms for online child protection, the chapter examines gaps in policy formulations for internet safety, asking whether current policy is effective and how policymakers can address future challenges in an area that continues to evolve and become more complex.Less
In this chapter, the background to the EU Kids Online project's policy objectives is reviewed and the principal recommendations that emerged from the findings highlighted. The focus is primarily on Europe and policy actions framed at a European level and/or implemented within member states of the European Union. Against a background of intense debate regarding the effectiveness of self-regulatory regimes as mechanisms for online child protection, the chapter examines gaps in policy formulations for internet safety, asking whether current policy is effective and how policymakers can address future challenges in an area that continues to evolve and become more complex.
Peter C. Little
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814760697
- eISBN:
- 9780814764510
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814760697.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
This chapter looks at the advocacy groups that emerged as a result of IBM's contamination in Endicott. It specifically highlights three groups: the Citizens Acting to Restore Endicott's Environment ...
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This chapter looks at the advocacy groups that emerged as a result of IBM's contamination in Endicott. It specifically highlights three groups: the Citizens Acting to Restore Endicott's Environment (CARE), the Residents Action Group of Endicott (RAGE), and the Western Broome Environmental Stakeholders Coalition (WBESC), the only remaining group active today. The founders of these groups were severely affected by the TCE contamination as their relatives suffered from illnesses caused by it. While public health has always been a concern, the WBESC has focused much of its recent efforts on the occupational health of former employees of IBM who worked at the Endicott plant, the place with the most concentration of TCE. The chapter also looks at local activism in relation to and in tension with the environmental justice frame and movement as the advocacy groups remain devoid of any environmental justice discourse or intentionality.Less
This chapter looks at the advocacy groups that emerged as a result of IBM's contamination in Endicott. It specifically highlights three groups: the Citizens Acting to Restore Endicott's Environment (CARE), the Residents Action Group of Endicott (RAGE), and the Western Broome Environmental Stakeholders Coalition (WBESC), the only remaining group active today. The founders of these groups were severely affected by the TCE contamination as their relatives suffered from illnesses caused by it. While public health has always been a concern, the WBESC has focused much of its recent efforts on the occupational health of former employees of IBM who worked at the Endicott plant, the place with the most concentration of TCE. The chapter also looks at local activism in relation to and in tension with the environmental justice frame and movement as the advocacy groups remain devoid of any environmental justice discourse or intentionality.
