Toward a Framework for the Sustainable Management of Social （Public） Housing Estates in Nigeria

Housing is a centre for many socio-economic activities and often provides a mark of prosperity, social acceptance, and an element of urban development and growth in a country. However, it is suspected that the significance of housing to people in the Niger Delta of Nigeria is lacking because of poor post-construction management practice that is currently in place. At the same time, there are housing shortages, uncompleted, vandalized and abandoned social housing stock in the Nigeria Delta. This has been a continuing challenge facing people in this region as reported in previous studies. Therefore, the overall aim of the study is to develop a framework for the sustainable management of social （public） housing estates in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. This paper aims to set out the context for the research, identify its overall aim and objectives and thereafter considers issues related to the determination of an appropriate scope for the study. It argues that the management of social housing estates in a sustainable manner needs to adopt the principles of sustainability in combination with effective people-centred management and building maintenance practices. It further asserts that the development of such a framework would be a panacea approach in meeting the social housing challenges faced in the Niger Delta and in Nigeria at large.     

Agencification of Public Service Delivery in Nigeria： An Empirical Study of Selected Public Agencies in Lagos State

There have been efforts to establish agencies as part of a strategy to improve service delivery world-wide. In Nigeria, agencies have also been established at both the national and state levels. The Lagos State Government has also established various agencies to fulfill different government functions in the state. After many years, the activities of these agencies have improved the delivery of services to the people in Lagos State, but there is still much to be done. This is why this study examines agencification of public service delivery in Nigeria with reference to Lagos State. The study uses mixed methods and triangulated data to achieve the research objectives. Questionnaire was used to collect data from service users and departmental officials. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with key officials of the selected agencies. Key documents were also reviewed. The findings reveal： lack of human resources capacity, inadequate financial management skills, and poor management of service providers, and the environment of the people of Lagos State are not considered in the conception and the implementation of the service-delivery-driven agencies. The study therefore recommends that agencification of public service in Lagos State as conceived if properly implemented can contribute to effective public service delivery.     

Investigating the Implementation of New Public Management in Lebanon Ideas and Realities

This paper is an exploratory study that investigates the status of new public management （NPM） and the obstacles to its implementation within the Republic of Lebanon. The study employs a qualitative approach that examines two complementary data sources. The first data source is obtained from an extensive review of documents related to NPM that are available in the public domain such as policy initiatives and governmental projects. The second data source is obtained from in-depth semi-structured interviews with 40 stakeholders. Data is analyzed, using an iterative thematic content analysis. The findings suggest that the main obstacles that have inhibited the implementation of NPM in most public agencies in Lebanon include： the politicization of administration in the public sector, the lack of stability in the country, the non-targeted inconsistent and insufficient training, several institutional dysfunctions and organizational challenges, the absence of a country-specific applicable model of public management and the unsystematic and non-institutionalized link between concerned international organizations and the Lebanese public agencies. This research is significant as it provides a foundation for institutional practices to improve the design and implementation of NPM in the country. It also contributes to the relevant academic literature and fills a gap in the research on NPM in Lebanon. The paper provides policy recommendations needed to respond to the recurrent calls for administrative reforms in the Arab world especially in the aftermath of the popular uprisings in many of its countries.     

Organizational morality： The ecosystem of public utilities

The tensions which underlie the decision-making process in public organizations are not a new phenomenon. The strategic area of public decisions is characterized by the following concepts of performance, results and profits, and even competencies of managers. The evolution of public management research leads us to present a new approach of this context. We argue in this paper that the systems and institutions that promote good governance and organizational integrity are directly linked with the competencies of managers and the morality and fairness of the organization. In this context, the question is the following： How can this complexity and integrity be managed in public organizations？     

Using Qualitative Research in Accounting and Management Studies： Not a New Agenda

Today, many researchers publish their qualitative works in top accounting and management journals. The contribution of this approach in accounting and management studies continues to gather momentum. Policymakers in both public and private sectors have been increasingly recognizing the importance and value of this method, since it offers detail and rich analysis of accounting and management practices in an organization. Various current literatures indicate that the interest in qualitative approach in the field of accounting and management seems to grow. However, there are still many researchers in these fields reluctant or even reject to implement this method arguing that qualitative approach is not scientific and the results are also not scientific. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to discuss the issue of using qualitative method in accounting and management studies. The paper is started by looking at the conceptualization of qualitative research. After that, a paradoxical view of qualitative and quantitative methods is discussed. This is followed by discussions of using qualitative research method in accounting and management studies, particularly the use of interpretive case study and grounded theory will be reviewed and discussed in this paper.     

Electronic government interoperability framework in Greece： Project management approach and lessons learned in public administration

The implementation of e-government is a burgeoning phenomenon across the globe. However, a review of the IS literature reveals the inability of public administration organizations to complete information technology projects successfully. Unless governments learn to manage the government transformation projects, these e-dreams will turn into global nightmares. The shortage of studies on e-government implementation presents a knowledge gap that needs to be plugged. This paper describes and analyzes the implementation and the project management approach of the electronic government interoperability framework （EGIF） in Greece. Our intent is to present an application of a goal-driven project management methodology named EGTPM （electronic government transformation project management） in order to use it as a methodological reference when navigating in the open sea of information technology project implementations in the area of public administration. The successful implementation of the specific project indicates that the application of EGTPM approach could provide a solution to achieve government transformation objectives more effectively and efficiently.     

Intellectual Capital and Public Management： A Bibliometric Analysis

Starting from the premise that public management, in the context from the emergent knowledge society, needs new forms to act and new tools to reach its objectives, this paper aims to find evidence of the adoption of the principles of intellectual capital under the public management, by raising scientific articles about the subjects, and aims to select theoretical referential about intellectual capital and public management, by bibliometric analysis. The processes presented 100 constant articles in the final portfolio, available in the data base Web of Science, Science Direct and Scopus. The bibliometric indicators show that the studies were published as from 1969, released by 15 international periodicals, written by 164 authors, used 241 key words related to the constructs of this study. It is believed that the identification of the main references helps the understanding of the foundations of this research field. Additionally, this paper provides many inputs that contribute to the comprehension of the subject at an international level, and that can be utilised in the development of future works.     

The mediating effect of good governance on the relationship between managerial roles and personal development： A structural equation modeling （SEM） approach

One of the challenges faced by public sector managers particularly is the problem of identifying and determining their roles, their personal development and how to effectively implement the concept of good governance in their organizations. Given a dynamic changing and continuing insight into public organizational effectiveness, public sector managers are rethinking how best they could accomplish their roles in order to attain their organization roles and objectives. This study examines the mediating roles of good governance in the relationship between managerial roles, development roles, strategic roles and personal development. In determining this relationship, a hypothetical model of the relationship among roles of public sector managers, good governance and personal development is developed. The results suggest that the managerial roles has more positive and significant influence on personal development than the development roles and strategic roles. Empirical study supports the institutional theory （Scott, 2001） in the hypothesized model. The empirical findings confirm that good governance has a significant and positive impact on the relationship between managerial roles and development roles to the personal development of public sector managers. This proves that the management system theory （Katz ＆ Kahn, 1966） is supported whereby public sector manager roles served as an input, while good governance as a process and personal development as an output. Based on empirical findings, it is suggested that personal development should be referred as an ideal social behavior of public sector managers. Overall, the study supports the hypotheses that good governance plays a mediating role in the relationship between public sector manager roles and personal development. This is consistent with governance theory （Lynn, 2001）. One particular contribution of this study is the development of structural equation model to determine the relationships between managerial roles, good governance and the personal dev     

Searching for sustainable competitive advantage --From tangibles to intangibles

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize on the growing importance of the intangible assets for a firm＇s sustainable competitive advantage--by considering both the features that a strategic asset must meet and the high potential of the intangible assets to fulfill those features. First, we outline the changing environment finns are operating in--at global and industry＇s level as well; second, we emphasize on the evolving theory of the resource-based view of the firm--as the main framework integrating all the assets of a firm and its relationships with the environment; third, we underline the need for organizational and managerial change and development by making the shift from tangibles to intangibles. We find that the theory in the field evolved within last years, but the conceptual framework is far from being exhaustive and unitary. The paper may be continued with the developing of a conceptual framework which is able to identify the specific intangible assets that may become strategic, their determinants, the interconnections between them, and their integration into successful competitive strategies. The practical implications of the paper consist in offering some guidelines for firms in the search of global competitiveness through the valorization of there intangible assets. The paper emphasizes that, in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, strategic management must develop a comprehensive, dynamic and innovative resource-based model--unique for each firm.     

Bourgeoisies Against Peasants： An Empirical Study of Evwerem and Otu-Jeremi Conflicts in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

The Niger Delta region constitutes a number of ethnic nationalities which are rich in natural resources mainly in oil and gas reserves. However, the region has suffered extreme marginalization and neglect over the years despite its major contribution to the nation economy leading to agitations for better living standards by the people. The agitations have transformed from peaceful talks and dialogue to violence, unrest and chaos resulting to huge losses to the region and affecting the development process of the nation at large. This study examined the effect of the Niger Delta crisis on Evwreni and Otu-jeremi communities in Delta State. Data was collected through the administration of questionnaires, conduct of interviews, and consultation of books and relevant documents. The data analysed revealed that the Niger Delta crisis has affected job creation, infrastructure provision and maintenance as well as increased criminal activities in the areas. Finally, the researchers recommended diversification of the economy, job creation and training programmes, strengthening of security measures, provision of basic amenities amongst others as a solution to the crisis in the region.     

A Correspondence analysis of lifestyle health risk behavior of public service employees

The study analyses the health risks to which individual employees of public institutions in Nigeria, particularly tertiary institutions, are exposed as a result of their individual lifestyles. It makes use of the special features of correspondence analysis to examine, comprehensively, the health lifestyle behaviours of the three categories of staff in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The study finds that academic members of staff are more exposed to risk than the other categories of staff as a result of their lifestyle. It recommends that a special counselling programme be drawn up for this category of staff to sensitise them about the risks associated with particular lifestyle behaviours. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in this respect. It is expected that with proper counselling directed at the group that is most at risk, the incidence of sudden deaths can he reduced. In turn, this will help the institutions to work out a smoother succession plan.     

Social development,community development and participation

Unlike social development, community development could not be achieved without participation. Participation is participating in decision making, to choose a community project, plan it, implement it, manage it, monitor it and control it. People can make a contribution to the planning process at the implementation stage, only if they are presented with a well articulated and feasible framework of approaches, objectives, alternative, etc. The paper focuses on the definition of social development, community development and participation in order to elaborate them. Main question of this article is： Participation is a vehicle to achieve development that community members can be involved directly in development process. This is theoretical research that method of data collection is document method.     

Public Administration Curricula and the One-Sided Attitudes of University Students and Practitioners in Chinese PA

This paper addresses the issue in the teaching of public administration （PA） in China. It provides students with the needed knowledge and skills, but fails to provide them with the broad perspectives needed in government. This is based on the internationally recognized and widely adopted psychological typing tool Myers-Briggs Type Indicator （MBTI）. Previous research showed that one can distinguish four dimensions in psychological typing of public administrators. The paper finds that Chinese students in PA develop especially as introverted, sensing, thinking, and perceiving practitioners. This can be concluded that from an analysis of the Psychological Quality of University students who want to be administrators and practitioners in Chinese PA. More attention in PA curricula for the non-rational aspects, as well as for the broad understanding of the public sector, and practice in the form of internships, might result in balancing the attitudes of students and future administrators. At the end, some recommendations are given.     

Reviewing, Reflecting and Constructing Research on Grassroots Social Organizations in Rural China

The purpose of this paper is to review previous studies on grassroots social organizations （GSOs） in rural China and provide a new framework for future research. This article uses the method of comparative analysis to review relevant research from the perspective of different disciplines and different theories, and adopts the method of inductive reasoning to analyze and draw conclusions. Previous researches can be divided into four categories according to their disciplines, and there are three theories frequently used to explain the development of rural GSOs in China. Obviously, plenty of valuable researches have been done, but examining a certain kind of GSOs in a single discipline and analyzing the cause of the development of GSOs with an isolated theory are two issues impeding further study on rural GSOs in China. By integrating three theories, a new and comprehensive research framework of ＂interest-identity-institution＂ is presented for future research on all kinds of GSOs. To improve and enrich this frame, a lot of empirical and specific researches need to be done in the future.     

Normative Stakeholder Theory in Local Public Services in Italy： Ethical Profiles and Effectiveness Management

It is well-known that stakeholder theory plays a unique role among management theories due to its focus on the moral foundations of business. Under this theory, managers should always act in the interests of the stakeholders, and their actions should reflect the liberal notions of autonomy, solidarity and fairness. Normative stakeholder theory is usually linked to philosophical ethics. Whereas some authors see stakeholder theory as applicable to the private sector alone, normative stakeholder theory has found its way into debate on the public administration, because a number of studies affirm that it can contribute to the effectiveness of public organization. On this basis, this work analyses local utilities that are now one of the areas where citizens can better assess government policy in terms of quality of life and the satisfaction of their basic needs by evaluating their ethical behaviour. Thus, it may well be interesting to analyse some of the behaviour patterns of local utility entities to verify the link between ethics and the efficient use of resources that assumes special significance in this context because the two elements have to coincide in order to obtain true fairness. Therefore, using a deductive-inductive methodological approach, the study begins by analysing the different normative concepts of stakeholder theory, to find the possible normative core best suited to this context. In the second part, it examines the ethical behavior of local utility entities to make a comparison with the previous normative stakeholder theory. This study will also be a useful starting point for future empirical research.     

The urban remains an important duty for the environment in Elbasan

The aim of this paper is to represent the concrete situation of urban remains regarding existing level of recycle rate, with managerial and runner＇s skills in this operation, funds and projects that are educe to this part and what is the perspective for the future. The methodology is based on surveys, data from the environment office and other sources. The augmentation of recycle rate is considered as an important and difficult part with a cost that exceeds the main cost of public health, which we pay today or will pay in the future. The conclusion is that this situation in Elbasan city is going to be worse.     

Social Policy and Social Control： Case of San Joso del Rincon in the State of Mexico

This study sets out to analyze and evaluate the implementation of a system for the regulation and control of social policies （＂Social Comptrollership＂） involving civil society so as to reinforce the mechanisms for ensuring transparency and responsibility in the government＇s operation of social programs and the execution of public works Here is presented the analysis of the Federal Rural Housing Program （in Spanish： ＂Programa de Vivienda RuraF＇） that is aimed at providing accommodation to families in situations of severe poverty living in communities described as suffering from ＂high or very high levels of marginalization＂. The main conclusion of this research, which is based on a series of interviews with aid recipients, the officials and the social organizations involved, is that the regulatory aspects of this system for controlling social policies are not effective, since they lack mechanisms for enforcing the sanctions set down for participants who do not respect the agreements they have entered into.     

Productivity Improvement and Public Personnel Management： An Analysis of Presidents Reagan and Obama Administration

Considering the financial crises, all the recent presidents have emphasized the importance of productivity improvement in government, especially in public personnel management. Though there is a general agreement on the concept of productivity, the means to achieve productivity vary with president＇s ideology. President Reagan championed the cause of conservatism. On one hand, despite Obama＇s attempt to diffuse ideological question, his actions can be regarded as liberal. This study seeks to make a comparison between Presidents Reagan and Obama on their efforts in productivity improvement in public personnel management, based on their ideological preferences. President Reagan campaigned on an anti-Washington agenda. He promoted the idea that the government is the problem rather than the solution. He popularized the idea that the people are burdened with heavy taxation as a result of the big government. Therefore, the solution to heavy taxation was to cut big government, which can be accomplished by reducing unnecessary and expensive regulations. On the other hand, when President Obama came to office, the country was faced not only with a deep recession, but two difficult wars, the collapse of the banking and the auto industries, the housing crisis, and overall capacity crisis in the government. Obama resisted ideological level in his campaign speeches to diffuse the criticisms of the conservatives.     

Human Resources in Public Administration in the Czech Republic

This paper informs about results of a research taking place within an internal grant of College of Polytechnics Jihlava, which is aimed at examining the efficiency in public administration from the point of view of the office workers. The research is divided into three stages which were proceeding gradually in large organisations of public administration carrying out self-government as well as state government in figurative effect. The research took place in the form of questionnaires, which were given to randomly chosen workers of the offices, and these anonymously answered 60 questions were divided into six topics： human resources, organizational capital, information capital, customer capital, performance measuring, and innovation capital. The respondents assessed the situation in the office using their own judgement. The aim of this paper is to inform about the results of this research especially from the point of view of human capital, organizational capital, and social capital in organisations of public administration.     

Children and boxing in Thailand： Preserving national heritage vs. exploiting national future

Children involving in boxing were highlighted as a problem in the country report of Thailand to the UN committee on the rights of the child. At present, there are approximately more than 20,000 children under 15 years old practicing Thai boxing. This thesis is designed to test the hypothesis that it is essential to bring human rights-based approach into the notion of children boxing in Thailand in order to find the possible solutions over the child protection in boxing areas, and that banning is not the absolute solution to solve the child boxing problem but should be done by applying children rights and ＂the best interest of the child＂ to the amendment of the laws and its enforcement. The research methodology of this study is mixed of qualitative and quantitative. The samples survey comprised 400 Thai people randomly on the subject of public awareness of this issue. The observation part was conducted on the random method by visiting 6 boxing camps; 3 in Bangkok and the other 3 in Kalasin province （northeastern area） and 3 children boxing matches; 2 local boxing stadiums and 1 national boxing stadium. Based on data gathering, although it was found that children practicing boxing are proved as dangerous and considered as child labor, they can hardly be banned because people in the boxing business, including children themselves, sees it as a necessity to practice at the young age and as a mean to escape poverty. In addition, a number of public opinion saw this as a benefit to preserve national cultural heritage. Therefore, allowing children to continue professional boxing, the government and sport authorities must implementing child rights in the professional boxing context based on law enforcement. The principle of the best interest of the child, based on the Article 3 in the Convention of Children Rights, has to be applied. This study recommended for the emendation of the National Boxing Act 1999 to provide specific chapter concerning children＇s engagement in boxing as a separate section from adult boxers.