Marleen Brans and Annie Hondeghem
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294467
- eISBN:
- 9780191600067
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294468.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The Belgian senior civil service is in transition, with external pressures clearly pushing the government firmly towards a reform agenda and improving public confidence in the administrative system, ...
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The Belgian senior civil service is in transition, with external pressures clearly pushing the government firmly towards a reform agenda and improving public confidence in the administrative system, in terms of democracy and accountability and of economy and efficiency. In addition, budgetary pressures have combined with political will to ensure that the operation of the administration complies with the new managerialist paradigm. This chapter gives an overview of the position of senior civil servants in the Belgian federal ministries (the federal civil service). It consists of three main sections: the first describes the coexistence of two opposing civil service models, a formal bureaucratic one and an informal politicized one, and assesses the implications of the clash between these models for the position (job definition, classification, and security; the career ladder; salaries; political appointments; and ministerial cabinets) and role conceptions of top civil servants; the second addresses the issue of representativeness of the senior civil service in terms of education, language, and gender; the third deals with the two major challenges to the Belgian senior civil service (external pressure and internal constraints) and the resulting structural reform agenda.Less
The Belgian senior civil service is in transition, with external pressures clearly pushing the government firmly towards a reform agenda and improving public confidence in the administrative system, in terms of democracy and accountability and of economy and efficiency. In addition, budgetary pressures have combined with political will to ensure that the operation of the administration complies with the new managerialist paradigm. This chapter gives an overview of the position of senior civil servants in the Belgian federal ministries (the federal civil service). It consists of three main sections: the first describes the coexistence of two opposing civil service models, a formal bureaucratic one and an informal politicized one, and assesses the implications of the clash between these models for the position (job definition, classification, and security; the career ladder; salaries; political appointments; and ministerial cabinets) and role conceptions of top civil servants; the second addresses the issue of representativeness of the senior civil service in terms of education, language, and gender; the third deals with the two major challenges to the Belgian senior civil service (external pressure and internal constraints) and the resulting structural reform agenda.
Grahame R. Dowling
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199269617
- eISBN:
- 9780191699429
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199269617.003.0010
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Marketing
This chapter focuses on programmes to increase the likelihood that a customer will continue to buy the organization's products and services, to develop customer loyalty, or reduce customer churn. The ...
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This chapter focuses on programmes to increase the likelihood that a customer will continue to buy the organization's products and services, to develop customer loyalty, or reduce customer churn. The motivations for developing loyalty/ reducing churn are threefold. One is the notion of amortizing the costs of acquiring customers. A second motivation is to reduce the volatility of cash flows. A third motivation is to provide a solid foundation for growth. Part A of the chapter looks at which types of customers to retain. The key issue here is that some customers are likely to be unprofitable. For non-profitable customers to be retained, they must make a contribution to the organization's business performance in another way. Part B then examines how to retain the chosen customers. It outlines three strategies: customer value, customer satisfaction, and service quality.Less
This chapter focuses on programmes to increase the likelihood that a customer will continue to buy the organization's products and services, to develop customer loyalty, or reduce customer churn. The motivations for developing loyalty/ reducing churn are threefold. One is the notion of amortizing the costs of acquiring customers. A second motivation is to reduce the volatility of cash flows. A third motivation is to provide a solid foundation for growth. Part A of the chapter looks at which types of customers to retain. The key issue here is that some customers are likely to be unprofitable. For non-profitable customers to be retained, they must make a contribution to the organization's business performance in another way. Part B then examines how to retain the chosen customers. It outlines three strategies: customer value, customer satisfaction, and service quality.
Nayan B. Ruparelia
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262529099
- eISBN:
- 9780262334129
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262529099.003.0004
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Programming
Just as every undertaking has a cost and a benefit associated with it, so does a cloud service. The cost of a cloud service and the price you pay for it are assessed using various pricing schemes, ...
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Just as every undertaking has a cost and a benefit associated with it, so does a cloud service. The cost of a cloud service and the price you pay for it are assessed using various pricing schemes, known as price models. Price models categorized as utility, service, performance and marketing oriented models are discussed.To offset the price you pay for the cloud service, you need to realize a commensurate benefit. That benefit is assessed by considering value models related to cloud computing. Seven value models are considered: (1) operating expense, (2) user demand flexibility, (3) price flexibility, (4) agility for time to market, (5) location flexibility, (6) asset optimization, and (7) profit margin.A more objective approach to assessing the value of cloud computing using financial metrics is considered. Four common financial metrics for evaluating investment in a cloud service are assessed: payback method, net present value (NPV), return on investment (ROI), and time to market (TTM).Less
Just as every undertaking has a cost and a benefit associated with it, so does a cloud service. The cost of a cloud service and the price you pay for it are assessed using various pricing schemes, known as price models. Price models categorized as utility, service, performance and marketing oriented models are discussed.To offset the price you pay for the cloud service, you need to realize a commensurate benefit. That benefit is assessed by considering value models related to cloud computing. Seven value models are considered: (1) operating expense, (2) user demand flexibility, (3) price flexibility, (4) agility for time to market, (5) location flexibility, (6) asset optimization, and (7) profit margin.A more objective approach to assessing the value of cloud computing using financial metrics is considered. Four common financial metrics for evaluating investment in a cloud service are assessed: payback method, net present value (NPV), return on investment (ROI), and time to market (TTM).
Nayan B. Ruparelia
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780262529099
- eISBN:
- 9780262334129
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262529099.003.0001
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Programming
What is the optimum investment required to provide computational resources? Since demand for computing varies, businesses face a dilemma: if they under-invest, then business suffers; if they ...
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What is the optimum investment required to provide computational resources? Since demand for computing varies, businesses face a dilemma: if they under-invest, then business suffers; if they over-invest, then they are utilizing their money inefficiently. Cloud computing resolves this dilemma by allowing businesses to invest in computing resources on an as needed basis. Thus, capital expenditure for computing is minimized since cloud computing provides a route to utilizing computational resources as operational expenditures.The NIST (National Institute of Science and Technology) defines clould computing as a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction. This model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.The definition is extended by including Business-Process-as-a-Service (BpaaS) and Information-as-a-Service (INaaS) as cloud service models in addition to the Infrastructure-, Platform-and Software-as-a-Service models of NIST. In addition, the four deployment models of cloud computing (public, private, community and hybrid) are discussed in terms of their scope and capabilities.Finally, the roles and responsibilities of cloud computing actors are outlined as creators, producers, brokers and consumers.Less
What is the optimum investment required to provide computational resources? Since demand for computing varies, businesses face a dilemma: if they under-invest, then business suffers; if they over-invest, then they are utilizing their money inefficiently. Cloud computing resolves this dilemma by allowing businesses to invest in computing resources on an as needed basis. Thus, capital expenditure for computing is minimized since cloud computing provides a route to utilizing computational resources as operational expenditures.The NIST (National Institute of Science and Technology) defines clould computing as a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction. This model promotes availability and is composed of five essential characteristics, three service models, and four deployment models.The definition is extended by including Business-Process-as-a-Service (BpaaS) and Information-as-a-Service (INaaS) as cloud service models in addition to the Infrastructure-, Platform-and Software-as-a-Service models of NIST. In addition, the four deployment models of cloud computing (public, private, community and hybrid) are discussed in terms of their scope and capabilities.Finally, the roles and responsibilities of cloud computing actors are outlined as creators, producers, brokers and consumers.
Naomi Eisenstadt
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847427304
- eISBN:
- 9781447303107
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847427304.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
This chapter implies that by 2005, there were significant changes to the original concept of Sure Start, so the question of whether it had worked or not was confounded by the question of what it now ...
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This chapter implies that by 2005, there were significant changes to the original concept of Sure Start, so the question of whether it had worked or not was confounded by the question of what it now was. From an area-based initiative of 250 local programmes, they were now tasked with delivering the commitments in Choice for Parents, the Best Start for Children: a Ten Year Strategy for Childcare. No longer an area-based policy for poor children, there would now be a Sure Start Children's Centre in every community, 3,500 in all. While the funding was to be more flexible, the service model requirements were significantly tightened up. Many of the changes to the service model were a response to the evaluation results produced by the National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS) team. Ministers took some disappointing results very seriously and used them to reshape the programme.Less
This chapter implies that by 2005, there were significant changes to the original concept of Sure Start, so the question of whether it had worked or not was confounded by the question of what it now was. From an area-based initiative of 250 local programmes, they were now tasked with delivering the commitments in Choice for Parents, the Best Start for Children: a Ten Year Strategy for Childcare. No longer an area-based policy for poor children, there would now be a Sure Start Children's Centre in every community, 3,500 in all. While the funding was to be more flexible, the service model requirements were significantly tightened up. Many of the changes to the service model were a response to the evaluation results produced by the National Evaluation of Sure Start (NESS) team. Ministers took some disappointing results very seriously and used them to reshape the programme.
Lis de Vries, Mohita Roman, and Linda Briskman
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781447333746
- eISBN:
- 9781447333791
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447333746.003.0015
- Subject:
- Social Work, Communities and Organizations
For many years, the Australian Red Cross (Red Cross) has delivered high-quality, strengths-based individualised casework services. In the last few years, on-going consultation with asylum seekers and ...
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For many years, the Australian Red Cross (Red Cross) has delivered high-quality, strengths-based individualised casework services. In the last few years, on-going consultation with asylum seekers and a rapidly growing number of clients drove Red Cross to consider a broader, more adaptive, and more inclusive community development model. Such a model would encourage resilience and self-reliance; would recognise the role of the community in supporting dignity, health, well-being, and social inclusion; and would bring clients in as their own experts. However, in determining this change, Red Cross was faced with the challenge of implementing a community development model in a large, formal organisation with a group often considered by the broader Australian community as ‘outsiders’, and without access to many mainstream services and opportunities. This chapter discusses how Red Cross adapted and changed the service delivery model from individual casework to a community development approach.Less
For many years, the Australian Red Cross (Red Cross) has delivered high-quality, strengths-based individualised casework services. In the last few years, on-going consultation with asylum seekers and a rapidly growing number of clients drove Red Cross to consider a broader, more adaptive, and more inclusive community development model. Such a model would encourage resilience and self-reliance; would recognise the role of the community in supporting dignity, health, well-being, and social inclusion; and would bring clients in as their own experts. However, in determining this change, Red Cross was faced with the challenge of implementing a community development model in a large, formal organisation with a group often considered by the broader Australian community as ‘outsiders’, and without access to many mainstream services and opportunities. This chapter discusses how Red Cross adapted and changed the service delivery model from individual casework to a community development approach.
