ORGANIZATIONAL STATUS AND PERFORMANCE: THE CASE OF THE SWEDISH PHARMACIES

In recent years, studies of the relationship between organizational status and success have focused largely on organizations transferring from the public to the private sectors: pharmacies in Sweden provide a case study of organizational status change in the reverse direction. Popular belief suggests progressive deterioration in the performance of an organization where ownership changes from owner-manager to public corporation, market conditions change from competition to monopoly, and internal management becomes increasingly command orientated. This article explores change in various performance and organizational variables in the National Corporation of Swedish Pharmacies, from its creation in 1971 until 1990. The corporation displays a high degree of stability amongst its senior management team, task specialization amongst employees is low, whilst standardization of working methods is high. Decentralization of authority has occurred over several years. A review of several measures of success, including productivity, financial ratios and innovation, demonstrates substantial progress over the period, comparing favourably with other Swedish public sector organizations. It is concluded that public sector ownership and monopoly supply need not result in deteriorating performance and lack of innovation, provided that criteria for success are clearly stated and properly monitored.     

ORGANIZATIONAL STATUS AND PERFORMANCE: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR TESTING PUBLIC CHOICE THEORIES

Popular belief is that ownership change (from public to private) brings about improved performance. But (i) ownership displays a spectrum, not an either/or; (ii) degree of competition is conceptually and often actually independent of ownership; and (iii) so is change-of-ownership's assumed instruments for improving performance, change in managerial incentive structures and reporting structures. The article surveys the relevant theories, popular and scholarly, and develops models for testing the relationships between status change (ownership) and performance (indices of productivity, profitability etc.), and between status change and internal organizational change (indices of reorganization and of linkage), in a small number of British organizations which underwent change in recent decades. Preliminary results of one or two analyses illustrate the methods and the possibilities.     

LIMITS ON INNOVATIVENESS IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT: EXAMINING CAPACITY,COMPLEXITY, AND DYNAMISM IN ORGANIZATIONAL TASK ENVIRONMENTS

Theory and evidence on the diffusion and antecedents of innovation in public organizations demonstrate that organizations respond to their environment and react by being more or less innovative. However, questions about the limits of responses to organizational task environments remain unexplored: in short, what is the appropriate level of environmental capacity and when does the environment become too complex or dynamic for innovation to occur? This study examines non‐linear capacity, complexity, and dynamic environments in an archival panel of 405 English local governments using primary and secondary data from a number of sources. Findings indicate that non‐linearities effect perceived innovativeness in relation to political and social capacity, and political dynamism in an inverted U shape, and in a U shape for community capacity. The implications of these findings for the study of public service innovation are considered.     

CONTRACTORS' EXPERIENCE OF COMPULSORY COMPETITIVE TENDERING: A CASE STUDY OF CONTRACT CLEANERS IN THE NHS

Compulsory competitive tendering (CCT) has been an important instrument of Conservative government economic policy since 1979. Its effectiveness in generating cost-effective services depends on competition to supply the service in question.
The NHS domestic market is large and, prior to the introduction of CCT, promised to be profitable for contractors. Many contract cleaners with office cleaning experience entered. In the event the costs of entry were heavy, and the profit margins of established firms were reduced. When contracts have been awarded to firms, they tended to be to those with a track record. Many firms therefore withdrew; and the few that remained have profit margins in the NHS little different from those found elsewhere. Of more than by firms with a serious interest in entry, probably no more than a handful can have come out of the experience in net profit in the first seven years.
The experience of CCT in the market for NHS domestic services has shown that a degree of competition in the market can be achieved, arguably because of the presence of direct service organizations. Competition for this market, on the other hand, can be limited by the high costs of entry.     

ORGANIZATIONAL STATUS A PERFORMANCE: SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS

Hypotheses derived from the public choice and other literatures on the relationship between ownership and performance were tested on ten UK organizations which had undergone status change, within the public sector or between the public and private sectors, in the last twenty years. Results on tests of performance in productivity, employment, and financial ratios against change in status, competition and internal management failed in most cases to support the thesis that change in ownership improves enterprise performance, even in its more sophisticated form where ownership change is assumed to be accompanied by increased competition and improved managerial incentives.     

TASK COMPLEXITY,ORGANIZATION SIZE,AND ADMINISTRATIVE INTENSITY: THE CASE OF UK UNIVERSITIES

The task complexity and size of public service organizations are arguably key determinants of the proportion of resources devoted to administration. Moreover, the combined effect of these two variables is also likely to have important implications for the scale of the administrative function. To explore the separate and combined effects of task complexity and size on administrative intensity in public service organizations, we examine the determinants of the relative proportion of resources allocated to central administration rather than academic departments in UK universities between 2003 and 2008. The results suggest that there is a non‐linear U‐shaped impact of both task complexity and size on administrative intensity, and that in combination these characteristics lead to a bigger central administrative component in universities. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGY,EXTERNAL REGULATION AND PUBLIC SERVICE PERFORMANCE

We test the separate and joint effects of strategy and regulation on public service performance. Strategy is measured as the extent to which service providers are prospectors, defenders and reactors. Regulation is assessed on the basis of the number of inspection events and service managers’ perceptions of the supportiveness of regulators. We find that, controlling for prior performance and the level of service expenditure, prospecting is a more successful strategy than defending or reacting. In addition, inspection events generally disrupt the relationship between strategy and performance, but regulation that is supportive reinforces this relationship. The evidence suggests that the impact of organizational strategies in the public sector is contingent on the characteristics of regulatory regimes.     

WHEN BUREAUCRACY MATTERS FOR ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE: EXPLORING THE BENEFITS OF ADMINISTRATIVE INTENSITY IN BIG AND COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONS

Administrative intensity is arguably a major determinant of public service performance. Although a large administrative function might constitute a bureaucratic burden, it could also enable organizations to better coordinate key activities. In particular, administrative intensity may strengthen or weaken the performance effects of other key organizational characteristics, such as size and task complexity. To explore these ideas, we analyse the separate and combined effects of administrative intensity, organization size and task complexity on the research and educational performance of UK universities between 2005 and 2011. The statistical results suggest that administrative intensity has a performance pay‐off for big and complex organizations.     

CELEBRATING ADVERSITY: INTER‐ORGANIZATIONAL DEPENDENCE AND PUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCE REPORTING IN THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE

Many aspects of public policy delivery involve complex networks rather than independent agencies. Yet little work has been done to understand the nature of performance measurements in settings where the performance of one agency is heavily dependent on the activities of other agencies. The issue of dependence has implications for operational and reputational risks. Our case study is focused on performance reporting by the Australian Federal Police (AFP). Our findings indicate that performance reporting remains heavily focused on input and process measures with relatively few output or outcome measures. Contrary to expectation, the AFP did not claim credit for success and attribute poor performance to other stakeholders. However, a higher than expected proportion of the dependent performance measures were positively framed.     

EUROPEANIZATION AND BUREAUCRATIC AUTONOMY IN THE NEW MEMBER STATES: A CASE STUDY OF THE AGRICULTURAL PAYING AGENCY IN SLOVAKIA

The paper explores the impact of Europeanization on bureaucratic autonomy in the new EU member states using as a case study the Agricultural Paying Agency in Slovakia. The paper shows that Europeanization had limited sustained impact on the personal autonomy of senior officials; however, it requires and sustains the personal autonomy of an extensive cadre of mid‐level and junior civil servants. At the same time, it necessitates and continues to sustain significant change in the way agricultural subsidies are distributed, with a high level of autonomy in implementation and a lower, but still significant, measure of autonomy in policy‐making. These conclusions can also generally be supported by evidence from Lithuania and Poland. In addition, the coercive elements of Europeanization interacted with the temporarily high bureaucratic autonomy in Slovakia to ‘open’ non‐coercive channels of Europeanization of agricultural subsidies and beyond.     

THE DYNAMICS OF PROFESSIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OF NEW ROLES IN PUBLIC SERVICES ORGANIZATIONS: THE CASE OF MODERN MATRONS IN THE ENGLISH NHS

This study contributes to research examining how professional autonomy and hierarchy impacts upon the implementation of policy designed to improve the quality of public services delivery through the introduction of new managerial roles. It is based on an empirical examination of a new role for nurses – modern matrons – who are expected by policy-makers to drive organizational change aimed at tackling health care acquired infections (HCAI) in the National Health Service (NHS) within England. First, we show that the changing role of nurses associated with their ongoing professionalization limits the influence of modern matrons over their own ranks in tackling HCAI. Second, the influence of modern matrons over doctors is limited. Third, government policy itself appears inconsistent in its support for the role of modern matrons. The attempts of modern matrons to tackle HCAI appear more effective where infection control activity is situated in professional practice and where modern matrons integrate aspirations for improved infection control within mainstream audit mechanisms in a health care organization.     

PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT IN SPANISH LOCAL GOVERNMENTS. A CROSS‐CASE COMPARISON STUDY

This paper explores local government in Spain: the nature of and extent to which performance measures are developed and how they are used in some of the biggest Spanish local governments. The features of performance measurement in Spain raise the question of why non‐mandatory performance indicators are introduced and why specific initiatives are undertaken. A cross‐theory strategy allows us to build a wider explanation of the cases studied. This study shows that performance measurement systems are not neutral but conditioned by the environmental context of each local government to fit into its organizational structure. Spanish local governments are experimenting with different approaches – centralized/decentralized, top‐down/bottom‐up, internal/external use – to implement performance measures. A relationship between external use and the top‐down approach, and internal use and the bottom‐up approach can be found. Our results also show that the institutional image value of taking decisions under rational decision‐making models is the primary driver of implementation processes.     

PUBLIC–NONPROFIT PARTNERSHIP PERFORMANCE IN A DISASTER CONTEXT: THE CASE OF HAITI

During disasters, partnerships between public and nonprofit organizations are vital to provide fast relief to affected communities. In this article, we develop a process model to support a performance evaluation of such intersectoral partnerships. The model includes input factors, organizational structures, outputs and the long‐term outcomes of public–nonprofit partnerships. These factors derive from theory and a systematic literature review of emergency, public, nonprofit, and network research. To adapt the model to a disaster context, we conducted a case study that examines public and nonprofit organizations that partnered during the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The case study results show that communication, trust, and experience are the most important partnership inputs; the most prevalent governance structure of public–nonprofit partnerships is a lead organization network. Time and quality measures should be considered to assess partnership outputs, and community, network, and organizational actor perspectives must be taken into account when evaluating partnership outcomes.     

MANAGING PUBLIC CONSULTATION: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND EMPIRICAL FINDINGS FROM BELGIAN CASE STUDIES

This article addresses the question of how governments can set up and manage, in an increasingly complex policy environment, processes of public consultation that lead to good outcomes. Drawing upon insights of democratic theory and literature on network and interactive governance, the article discusses the organization and outcomes of public consultation processes. The analysis of four Belgian cases shows that the absence of open process rules does not prevent good outcomes. Second, the level of managerial autonomy is positively correlated with the intensity of process design and management. Third, cases with intensive process design and management have better overall results. These findings question some normative assumptions in the literature, positing the need for open process rules regarding entrance, scope of discussion, and interaction. Intensive process design and management with rules properly accommodating the policy situation is possibly a better means of achieving good results than rule openness. These findings challenge the need for legislation stipulating in detail who needs to be consulted, about what, and how.     

BENCHMARKING IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR: A CRITICAL CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

How can we critically address benchmarking? By conceptualizing benchmarking as a normalizing governing technology, a space is cleared for analysing some of the power relations brought into play in benchmarking activities. As a device of power, benchmarking depends upon the production of normalizing knowledge and the freedom or self‐governing capacities of those who are benchmarked. The fruitfulness of this conception is illustrated through an example from the Danish hospital system.     

ROMANIA: A CASE STUDY IN DELAYED PRIVATIZATION

ABSTRACT

Romania emerged from 45 years of communism with 12,000 enterprises in state hands. As the nation moved toward democracy and free market conditions, its new leaders created legislation to privatize at least half of the state owned enterprises. In the years 1990 to 1996, the actions to privatize state owned enterprises went slowly, even though outside organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and European Union urged speed in privatization. Until November 1996, former communists who had high positions under Nicolae Ceasusescu led the government. After 1996, with a reform coalition running the country, privatization speeded up and made a difference in the county's economy. Privatization continues even though the government changed hands again in 2000. Romania's delayed privatization program has so far precluded the emergence of a new group of powerful owners who become so strong they can stymie the long-term achievement of a fully reformed economy.