International Journal of Public Sector Management最新文献

Purpose

This study explores the relationship between Tourism Systems and Smart Cities, aiming to identify what prevents public managers from including these systems in Smart City strategies. This separation neglects that increasing tourism attractiveness may also impact city resources, infrastructures and inhabitants.

Design/methodology/approach

To this end, we developed a critical literature review consulting three databases: Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCOhost. A total of 73 articles were selected and analyzed through thematic analysis.

Findings

Through this critical review, we develop a framework of barriers to integrating a tourism system in Smart City strategies composed of four main barrier themes and 11 barrier factors. Findings show the need for innovative research and public managers to go beyond considerations related to technological challenges and instead focus on other barriers hindering integration, such as the lack of participatory governance and knowledge of tourism systems' current and future impact.

Originality/value

This study offers a critical identification of barriers impeding the inclusion of tourism systems in Smart City strategies, providing a useful guideline for public managers aiming to follow an innovative approach to smart development where tourism can still be a tool to enhance the attractiveness of the territory while considering its current and future impact on the city.

Purpose

The objective of this article is to analyze the relationship between absorptive capacity, entrepreneurial orientation, and performance within Brazilian federal state-owned companies.

Design/methodology/approach

Primary data were obtained using survey research. Secondary data were obtained using the Federal State-owned Companies Bulletin and the website State-owned Companies Overview. Tested and validated scales were selected to reflect Absorptive Capacity (ACAP), Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO), and Organizational Performance (OP) variables applied to a sample of 119 managers and advisors of federal state-owned companies. Structural Equation Modeling techniques were applied to identify the statistical significance of the direct, indirect, and total effects. The final measurement and structural model presented convergent and discriminant validity with acceptable adjustment indexes.

Findings

ACAP was found to be directly related to the ability to identify, recognize, transform, and especially implement new knowledge. EO is related to the institution’s ability to take risks, be proactive, and innovate. Those are fundamental processes for fulfilling the mission of state-owned companies, for their survival, and for improving the quality of public services provided to society. These findings differ from studies carried out in private companies since the ACAP-exploration dimension in private businesses displays a relevant relationship between the factors composing EO, a feature not observed here.

Originality/value

The paper’s main contribution is to confirm the influence of ACAP on EO and EO on OP, considering the environment of Brazilian federal state-owned companies. Such results expand the scarce academic studies on absorptive capacity, entrepreneurial orientation, and performance in the public area, in addition to offering perspectives of specific training direction to expand the competencies of public managers.

Purpose

This article conceptualizes and constructs a comprehensive framework that can better help to answer that question – Who is accountable for social and public problems? – theoretically and practically.

Design/methodology/approach

Tracing the drivers behind two phenomena “accountability hole” and “accountability black hole”, stemming from “pushing power game” and “pulling power game”, respectively, this study considers (1) the three actors of society: citizens (civil society), corporations (market) and civil servants (government), and (2) the principal-agent relationship between the three actors in the face of social and public problems. As a result, the 4CAs framework that contains the three actors’ collaborative accountabilities to one another is presented.

Findings

The 4CAs model emphasizes (1) all three actors function as agents that are accountable to one another, (2) collaborative accountability beyond collaborative governance and (3) repowering citizens and corporations beyond just empowering them, i.e. returning their inherent rights and obligations to serve one another.

Originality/value

The 4CAs model may function as a descriptive and prescriptive lens through which the trilemma between market failure, government failure and citizen failure can be re-assessed and balanced. The model can also be used as a set of indicators for assessing and helping a society to better resolve the social and public problems collectively.

Purpose

This article investigates the practical implementation of the ecosystem approach in different branches of public management within an urban context. It explores how ecosystem thinking is introduced, disseminated and applied in a local government organization.

Design/methodology/approach

We utilize a qualitative case study methodology, relying on official documents and expert interviews. Our study focuses on the city of Espoo, Finland, which has actively embraced ecosystem thinking as a fundamental framework for its organizational development for almost a decade.

Findings

The case of Espoo highlights elements that have not been commonly attributed to the ecosystem approach in the public sector. These elements include (1) the significance of complementary services, (2) the existence of both collaborative and competitive relationships among actors in public service ecosystems and (3) the utilization of digital platforms for resource orchestration. Our study also emphasizes the need for an incremental adoption of ecosystem thinking in organizational contexts to enable its successful implementation.

Originality/value

The study provides valuable insights into the introduction and dissemination of ecosystem thinking in public management. It also further develops previously developed hypotheses regarding public service ecosystems.

Purpose

This paper analyzes how a national social enterprise policy encourages the social missions of social enterprises and uncovers the relationships between social enterprise governance and labor equity, an area that has been rarely studied in nonprofit governance studies.

Design/methodology/approach

The study analyzes the effects of four legal requirements for work-integrated social enterprises (WISEs) codified by the Social Enterprises Promotion Act (SEPA, 2007) in South Korea. Then, it relies on panel regression analysis (2020–2022) to examine how the compositions of the governance of WISEs are related to their hiring and wage equity.

Findings

The institutional arrangements required by SEPA have resulted in positive social impacts for most WISEs. However, the results of regression models show that individual participant groups in the WISE governance achieved mixed results depending on the labor issue.

Research limitations/implications

Generally, this research explores the concept of diversity and its utility in nonprofit governance, with a particular focus on targeted diversity policies, demonstrating that governance arrangements influence the success of these policies.

Practical implications

The findings bring new insights for policymakers about “altruistic economic entities.” For practitioners in social enterprises, the results of the regression models underscore the importance of understanding the participant composition of decision-making meetings.

Originality/value

This study sheds light on labor equity, which government-certified social enterprises should achieve from the perspective of nonprofit governance.

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to provide insights and knowledge about the motivations and implications for social enterprises' participation in SIBs, particularly in terms of collaboration and partnership with the public sector, as well as the different positions on this issue. The overall aim, therefore, is to show how social enterprises and public organisations have interacted in the context of SIBs and what has been achieved by participating.

Design/methodology/approach

This multiple case study approach applies qualitative methods like observations and semi-structured and unstructured interviews.

Findings

The study shows that SIBs can be an option for financing social enterprises within a strategy of income diversification and resource dependency. Despite tensions and complexities, SIBs can renew the traditional funding relationship by adding innovation, strengthening the co-creation process and creating a stable relationship.

Research limitations/implications

Research findings may lack generalisability due to the specific context in which the case study is rooted.

Practical implications

The paper offers practical implications in terms of insights and suggestions for social enterprises and the public sector interested in developing the scheme.

Originality/value

This paper adds the voice and perspective of social enterprises on the relationship with the public sector within the framework of SIBs initiatives.

Purpose

This paper develops and tests a theoretical model that draws on the Diffusion Contingency Model and the Theory of Human Behavior to explain the factors influencing users’ acceptance of accrual accounting in terms of two distinct dimensions: behavioral intention and usage behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on surveyed data from financial departments and directorates of different Greek general government entities, the paper uses factor analysis to build a theoretical model that assesses the factors influencing behavioral intention to adopt and usage behavior of accrual accounting. Then, it tests the relationship between behavioral intention and usage behavior through structural equation modeling.

Findings

The theoretical model suggests that the expected improvement of the quality of financial information and political and financial support are the most important determinants of behavioral intention. Usage behavior is mainly influenced by the compatibility between the existing legal framework and the new accounting system. The structural equation modeling identifies a statistically significant positive influence of behavioral intention on usage behavior.

Practical implications

The study provides valuable insights regarding the timing and focus of the actions taken by policymakers when designing accounting reforms. Special attention is drawn to the factors influencing behavioral intentions, as these are found to influence usage behavior significantly.

Originality/value

The study extends prior research on the diffusion of accounting innovations by breaking down the diffusion process into intentions-oriented actions aiming to promote accrual accounting and increase acceptance and implementation-oriented actions aiming to facilitate successful implementation.

Purpose

Municipalities seek new opportunities for co-producing services in rural areas. One potential partner is community-based social enterprises (CBSEs). However, whilst service co-production through CBSEs obscures the traditional roles of actors, it may lead to a legitimation crisis in local service provision. In this paper, the ways CBSEs are legitimised as service providers in rural areas are addressed from the CBSE and municipality perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data combine interviews with CBSE representatives and open-ended national survey responses from municipality decision-makers. The data analysis is based on a qualitative content analysis to examine legitimation arguments.

Findings

Results show that unestablished legitimacy and un-institutionalised support structures for co-production models build mistrust between CBSEs and municipalities, which prevents the parties from seeing the benefits of cooperation in service production.

Research limitations/implications

The research focusses on the legitimation of CBSEs in service co-production in rural areas. As legitimation seems to be a context-specific process, future research is needed regarding other contexts.

Practical implications

Municipalities interested in the co-production of services might benefit from establishing a collaborative and responsive (rural) service policy forum that would institutionalise new models of co-production and enable better design and governance of service provision.

Originality/value

Results will give new theoretical and practical insights into the importance of legitimacy in the development of service co-production relationships.

Purpose

The public sector (PS) has extensively utilized information technology (IT); however, research reveals that the failure rate remains high, particularly for national and sectoral IT (NaSIT) applications. To this end, numerous studies have been conducted to gauge the success of IT applications, where a significant number have demonstrated the importance of planning in this regard. Consequently, the current study aims to investigate the factors that influence the success of NaSIT planning and implementation within this sector.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative methodology and a systematic literature review encompassing papers indexed in seven databases until November 2022 were utilized.

Findings

The review of 92 selected papers revealed that the success of NaSIT planning and implementation is influenced by a number of factors divided into nine main categories. These include vision, goals and objectives; alignment; interoperability; infrastructure; involvement; equity and digital divide; privacy, security and trust; administration; and culture. Human, social, economic and organizational factors comprise the vast majority of these factors. By addressing these factors, the failure rate of IT plans can be reduced. Governments will be able to effectively employ this technology to accomplish their missions if these factors are considered in order to decrease the failure rate of IT plans.

Originality/value

By examining the factors that influence the success of NaSIT planning and implementation in the PS, this study attempts to provide a comprehensive view of various types of research. Furthermore, policymakers can employ this perspective to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the PS.

Purpose

In public management research, the focus in the public value debate has been on public administration organizations’ broader societal outcomes. Public value describes how public administrations form a vital part of the social context in which people develop and grow. However, there has not yet been an analysis of how public administration contributes to happiness in society.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, we empirically analyze the relationship between people’s happiness and the public value of public administration. Our approach is based on a unique Swiss survey dataset comprising 870 individuals.

Findings

We find a positive relationship between public administration’s public value and happiness. We also find preliminary evidence with a moderation analysis that the relationship between a value-creating public administration sector and self-reported happiness is stronger for public administration employees.

Research limitations/implications

While correlation studies cannot claim causal explanations and common method bias may additionally limit any research in social science, we took a number of measures to mitigate related problem. We tested our model in two samples and took both several procedural techniques and a survey design minimizing common method bias.

Practical implications

The paper discusses implications for public sector performance measurement for public management and practitioners.

Social implications

This study calls for a more positive view on the multiple functions public administration performs for society. After an era of critical voices, our study helps reclaim public administration as a positive force for society at large in times of grand challenges, such as climate crisis, demographics and digitization.

Originality/value

This study has highlighted the importance between public administration’s public value and happiness in Swiss public service organizations. The study also showed that an employment in the public administration contributes to the happiness of individuals and beyond to society.