MANAGING WITH LESS: DIMENSIONS AND ISSUES

Thank you for inviting me to open the Institute's National Conference this year. Your program looks most interesting and relevant to modern public sector administration. I accepted your invitation on the basis that I would make personal observations – comments of a manager turned Minister. Nothing that I say should necessarily be identified with my Department or fellow Ministers. Rather, I speak as a person in government who is interested in and concerned with change, increased efficiency and improved national productivity.     

MANAGING IN NETWORK SETTINGS

The focus of this article is on managing networks. A network knowledge base is developed from the authors' studies of city government involvement in economic development, management within rural enterprises and the evaluation of a rural strategic planning project. Other public management network analyses are also incorporated. Management in network settings is not based on central authority and cannot be guided by a single organizational goal as is the case in the classical management approach. Management involves managing flexible structures toward collective efficiency. The ability to manage is related to the internal condition of the manager's primary organization. It involves technical, legal, political and cost dimensions. It requires different capacities, skills and knowledge from that of single organization management. The next steps in the research would include the development of the skills needed, an analysis of the role of organizational power and the operational variables of networks, the issue of network cohesion, and the question of loss of control or difficulty in assessing network accountability.     

MANAGING TRANSPORT INTEGRATION IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Abstract: By 1970 the transport portfolio in South Australia consisted of over a dozen government departments and statutory authorities of differing sizes and varying degrees of independence from the State Government. Each organization, by inclination or statutory requirement, tended to carry out its modal responsibilities without reference to the others, with the result that matters which did not fall clearly into the jurisdiction of one or another remained undone and transport problems remained unresolved. The development of area-wide land use planning in the 1960s and integrated economic planning in recent years were hindered by the inability of the transport portfolio to respond to such plans, or to enunciate a single transport policy for a given planning or developmental scenario. Since 1970 successive South Australian governments have pursued a policy of gradual integration of the transport portfolio. This paper reports on the progress achieved after ten years, problems confronted during this period, and prospects for further integration. Comparisons are made with other Australian States and the Commonwealth Government's transport administration.     

MANAGING MUNICIPAL SERVICES IN AN ERA OF DECUNING FEDERAL ASSISTANCE

Federal aid to local governments was cutback throughout the Reagan administration. In dealing with these revenue cutbacks, ex-recipients have a variety of options, to find new sources of revenue or reduce expenditures. Based on the perspectives of local government budget officials and environmental data, this study attempts to determine which governments will be most successful in minimizing service cutbacks in this environment. Using a cross-sectional analysis and data concerning federal revenue sharing, we find both support and differences for many predictors found in previous case-studies of fiscal stress. The differences likely stem from the new cutback environment. This study illustrates that management strategies under fiscal decentralization are strategic and not haphazard.     

AN ASBESTOS HAZARD INDEX FOR MANAGING FRIABLE ASBESTOS INSULATING MATERIAL1

This paper describes the development of an index to evaluate the potential hazard associated with the presence of asbestos in friable insulating material in a building and to recommend the appropriate action to take based on this assessment. The hazard index is determined by the number of persons exposed to asbestos fibers and by the level of their exposure. The level of the exposure is estimated from subjective assessments of several characteristics of the facility and its operations. The logic of this approach and several illustrations of its use are provided.     

MANAGING AUSTRALIA'S POLICE: THE CHALLENGE TO IDENTIFY WHO SHOULD BE IN CHARGE—POLITICIANS OR POLICE?

Abstract: The management of police by government in Australia is a controversial but neglected topic, with little research or theoretical work having been undertaken. What is clear from the limited information available is that governments tend to adopt an arms-length policy and allow police to act with a greater degree of independence than they do with many other government agencies. What underpins this approach is the traditional British model for managing police. This model is considered in this paper, along with other matters such as local police statutes, discretion, statutory authority status and accountability. These aspects of the arms-length approach are discussed in the light of current policy-making and accountability systems. Consideration is also given to the question of whether this approach by government is still appropriate.