Assessing safety culture in public sector organisations: A cross-national study

An appropriate safety culture helps in enhancing safety performance in organisations. This study aims to investigate safety culture prevalence, assess individual sociodemographic parameters and accident experience effects on this culture and explore ways to enhance this culture in public sector organisations. A specially designed questionnaire was randomly distributed to 805 public sector employees in Dubai and Kuwait. Respondents were asked to rate their agreement with 24 statements representing seven safety culture dimensions. Student t-test and non-parametric tests were used to analyse the responses. Results revealed that employees in both governments reported experiencing a reasonably strong safety culture in their workplaces with safety attitude and teamwork receiving the highest while safety rules and workload receiving the lowest ranks among the seven safety culture dimensions. Moreover, male employees reported experiencing more accidents and scoring higher on most safety culture dimensions than female employees. Finally, employees who experienced accidents in the last five years reported a higher safety culture score than others. Accordingly, recommendations are put forward to enhance safety culture in public sector organisations.     

The continuity of underperforming ICT projects in the public sector

There is a growing body of research on the successes and failures of information and communications technology (ICT) projects in the public sector. However, this literature has rarely addressed the question of why some projects persist and continue despite functioning poorly in several areas. In this paper, we suggest that the notions of institutional logics and status differences provide useful insights into the structure and trajectory of this type of continuity. We build our arguments through an in-depth qualitative case study of a public information and communications technology (PICT) project in India. From our findings, we develop a process model of PICT project continuity. We explain how the employment of bureaucratic posturing – a manifestation of bureaucratic logic – as a tactic by high status groups could lead to poor performance on several fronts. The paper elaborates on two levels of continuity: policy-level continuity, which in our case was enabled by the logics of decentralization and technocracy, and operational-level continuity, which was achieved when groups with contrasting status-related motivations supported the project.     

Knowledge sharing in cross-boundary information system development in the public sector

The success of information system development involving multi-organizational collaboration can depend heavily on effective knowledge sharing across boundaries. This paper reports on a comparative examination of knowledge sharing in two separate networks of public sector organizations participating in information technology innovation projects in New York State. As is typical of innovations resulting from recent government reforms, the knowledge sharing in these cases is a critical component of the information system development, involving a mix of tacit, explicit, and interactional forms of sharing across organizational boundaries. In one case the sharing is among state agencies and in the other across state and local government agencies. Using interviews, observations and document analysis, the longitudinal case studies follow knowledge sharing and other interactions in the interorganizational networks of these two distinct settings. Results confirm the difficulty of sharing knowledge across agencies, and further reveal the influences of several relevant factors—incentives, risks and barriers for sharing, and trust—on the effectiveness of knowledge sharing. The results contribute to theory on knowledge sharing processes in multi-organizational public sector settings and provide practice guidance for developing effective sharing relationships in collaborative cross-boundary information system initiatives. The research reported here is supported by the National Science Foundation grant #SES-9979839. The views and conclusions expressed in this report are those of the authors alone and do not reflect the views or policies of the National Science Foundation.     

The complexities of electronic services implementation and institutionalisation in the public sector

Electronic service implementation (ESI) in the public sector attempts to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency of governmental departments. Despite having provided the necessary infrastructure and investment, many governments have struggled to realise such aims due to the various forces that challenge implementation and institutionalisation. Using institutional theory as a lens, we explored the forces influencing the implementation and institutionalisation of ESI in the public sector. While our results reinforced previous research in IT implementation and organisational transformation, they showed that the dynamic nature of technology poses unanticipated pressures, and that these can impede the implementation and institutionalisation process.     

Spreading good ideas: a case study of the adoption of an innovation in the construction sector

A health and safety association collaborated with two research centres to examine the dissemination of knowledge of an ergonomic intervention by opinion leaders in the construction sector. The intervention was a hydraulic ladder lift that aided with loading and unloading of ladders off van roofs. Thirteen companies, with five to 900 employees, were involved. The van operators informed workmates not employed by their companies but who worked on the same site as them about the intervention. The opinion leaders informed decision makers within their companies which led to commitments to purchase similar units. They also gave presentations at prearranged health and safety meetings, where attendees indicated that they thought the intervention sounded like a good idea. In this way, knowledge of the innovation reached at least 32 more companies and potentially several thousand other employees. The study showed the potential for workplace change to be exponential.     

IT-based open learning: a case study in management learning

Abstract  This paper is concerned with the relationship between open learning and the use of computer mediated communications systems (CMCS) in supporting open learning. In order to illuminate this relationship, we report on a small scale trial of a model of open learning developed at Lancaster University: ITOL — Information Technology-based Open Learning. The ITOL model has successfully been applied to an M.A. in Management Learning, and through a case study approach, we discuss an evaluation of this new computer mediated M.A. and point out some of the issues that emerge in introducing CMCS into professional learning situations.     

Simulation for passage times in closed, multiclass networks of queues with unrestricted priorities

Regenerative simulation for passage times in networks of queues with priorities among job classes (and one or more job types) can be based on observation of a fully augmented job stack process which maintains the position of each of the jobs in a linear ‘job stack’, an enumeration of the jobs by service center and job class. In this paper we develop an estimation procedure for passage times through a subnetwork of queues. Observed passage times for all the jobs enter into the construction of point and interval estimates. The confidence intervals obtained using this estimation procedure are shorter than those obtained from simulation using a marked job.     

Administrative evaluation and public sector reform: an analytic hierarchy process approach

The objective of this paper is to propose a rational approach to administrative evaluation, including one prospective way to delegate authorities from the public sector to alternative sectors in the process of public sector reform. Specifically, we show how to match projects of a local government with alternative sectors rationally by using the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The matching process consists of three steps: evaluating projects of a local government; characterizing alternative sectors; and deriving overall judgments. The results of this paper quantitatively clarify the evaluation of projects and the characteristic of sectors, and it is concluded that 35% of local government projects should be devolved from the public sector to alternative sectors.     

Ergonomics in Northern Ireland: a survey of knowledge,attitudes, and implementation in industry and the public services

Abstract

In spite of the palpable benefits to organizations of applying the principles of ergonomics, it appears that a majority of employers, whether through ignorance or neglect, fail to do so (Simpson 1990). The present study sought to assess the impact of ergonomics on a broad cross-section of organizations in Northern Ireland from three perspectives: (1) knowledge and awareness of ergonomics; (2) attitudes towards ergonomics; and (3) the extent to which the principles of ergonomics were put into practice in the work-place. In all, 700 organizations were surveyed, representing manufacturing, service, and public sectors and ranging in size from 10 to more than 1000 employees. A total of 417 questionnaires (59·7%) were returned and, of these, 152 (36·5%) claimed no knowledge whatever of ergonomics. The extent to which knowledge was claimed tended to depend on the nature of the organizations. Analysis of the remaining 263 questionnaires revealed that, while only 36 organizations employed ergonomic specialists or engaged outside ergonomic consultants, 163 respondents reported specific instances of addressing ergonomic issues during the previous 12 months. Respondents exhibited generally positive attitudes towards ergonomics, although some cynicism was evident. Principal components analysis of the questionnaire items revealed several factors, most notably a general concern for ergonomic issues, cynicism towards ergonomics and, arguably, an attitude of helplessness concerning the state of the organization. Implications of these findings for promoting implementation of ergonomics within organizations are discussed.     

Documentation and the management of a software project—a case study

The purpose of this article is to discuss documentation and management technique in a software production project. It is claimed that clear and concise documentation is a major contribution to communication between people who are either inside or outside the software project and that such documentation plays an important role in the management of the project. A university software project is used as a case study to illustrate the above points and to describe the means for achieving them. This project developed a supervisor and an assembler for a small 4K words machine and at various times it involved up to ten parttime people (instructor and students). One of the goals of the project was the development and improvement of documentation technique, and the techniques described in this article were practised and improved as the project progressed. It is felt that with minor changes the conclusions of the university project can be used in industrial projects of similar size.     

A case study of co-ordinative decision-making in disaster management

A persistent problem in the management of response to disasters is the lack of coordination between the various agencies involved. This paper reports a case study of inter-agency co-ordination during the response to a railway accident in the UK. The case study examined two potential sources of difficulty for coordination: first, poorly shared mental models; and, second, a possible conflict between the requirements of distributed decision-making and the nature of individual decision-making. Interviews were conducted with six individuals from three response agencies. Analysis of reported events suggested that inter-agency co-ordination suffered through a widespread difficulty in constructing a reflexive shared mental model; that is, a shared mental representation of the distributed decision-making process itself, and its participants. This difficulty may be an inherent problem in the flexible development of temporary multi-agency organizations. The analysis focused on a distributed decision over how to transport casualties from an isolated location to hospital. This decision invoked a technique identified here as the progression of multiple options, which contrasts with both recognition-primed and analytical models of individual decisionmaking. The progression of multiple options appeared to be an effective technique for dealing with uncertainty, but was a further source of difficulty for inter-agency co-ordination.     

An e-government framework for assessing readiness for public sector e-procurement in a lower-middle income country

ABSTRACT

Governments globally are leveraging information and communication technology (ICT) growth towards improving the quality of public procurement services for socio-economic development. However, the extent of its application differs across nations. Notwithstanding the extant theoretical and empirical literature on IT for development, knowledge on how to assess readiness for adopting a full e-procurement system in the public sector of lower and lower-middle income countries (LMICs) begs for understanding. With the narrative of Ghana, we address this gap by drawing on the institutional and economic theory and the United Nations E-Government Development Index towards a holistic framework beyond the dyad of linear website functionalities and internet focus of prior e-government adoption models. Elite interviews gathered from multiple cases from Ghana’s public sector reveals the key readiness determinants for a full public sector e-procurement system. This study has significant implications for shaping the process-oriented management of government e-procurement projects towards socio-economic development in LMICs amid their complex institutional and socio-technical environments.     

Prioritisation of public investments in social infrastructures using multicriteria value analysis and decision conferencing: a case study

Not‐for‐profit private organisations that provide social services to children, the elderly and the disabled apply for financial support to develop or to renew their social infrastructures, through the Portuguese Institute for Social Welfare. In the context of scarce financial resources, the Institute decision‐makers felt the need to adopt an improved “rationality” in resource allocation, in order to increase transparency and to ensure that the collective best use is made of a limited budget. This paper describes the socio‐technical process followed in building a multicriteria value model, under a decision conferencing framework in which participation and interaction among decision‐actors were key features in the development of the three main phases of problem structuring, evaluation and prioritisation.     

Evaluation of radio‐frequency identification projects in public sectors of Korea

Recently there has been increasing radio‐frequency identification (RFID) implementation in public sectors of the Republic of Korea. In many cases, however, the evaluations of projects have been measured by hardware vendors or system integrators who were involved in the project, and in many cases the projects have been evaluated as a success. Also, in many cases in Korea, the success of projects has been evaluated by operation performance such as accuracy in inventory, reduction of the bullwhip effect, and reduction of inventory. This article presents a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) approach for evaluating RFID projects with a view different from the operational view. For relatively objective views of the evaluation, we have considered four different groups that were related to the RFID projects. We present the results of analysis from two pilot RFID projects in Korea. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Immediate usability: a case study of public access design for a community photo library

This paper describes a novel instantiation of a digital photo library in a public access system. It demonstrates how designers can utilize characteristics of a target user community (social constraints, trust, and a lack of anonymity) to provide capabilities, such as unrestricted annotation and uploading of photos, which would be impractical in other types of public access systems. It also presents a compact set of design principles and guidelines for ensuring the immediate usability of public access information systems. These principles and guidelines were derived from our experience developing PhotoFinder Kiosk, a community photo library. Attendees of a major HCI conference (CHI 2001 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems) successfully used the tool to browse and annotate collections of photographs spanning 20 years of HCI-related conferences, producing a richly annotated photo history of the field of human–computer interaction. Observations and usage log data were used to evaluate the tool and develop the guidelines. They provide specific guidance for practitioners, as well as a useful framework for additional research in public access interfaces.     

Quality management and the work environment: an empirical investigation in a public sector organization

The integration of quality management initiatives, particularly total quality management (TQM), and ergonomics has received increasing attention from scholars and practitioners. Above all, the question of how TQM programs relate to ergonomic aspects of organizational design and culture is at the center of this discussion. This study examines how elements of a "typical", Deming-inspired, TQM program in the public sector interact with the work environment. Elements of the TQM program were defined and measured using the Malcom Baldridge Award criteria. The specific elements examined were "Management Support of Quality", "Information and Analysis", "Human Resources", "Processes and Quality Results", and "Customer Focus and Satisfaction". The relationship between these TQM elements and the work environment were defined through five separate hypotheses. The work environment was described by the constructs "Supervisor Support", "Task Clarity", "Task Orientation", and "Innovation". Data were obtained through survey questionnaires administered to employees of four departments in a municipal government organization. Results supported three of the hypotheses, but produced some unanticipated outcomes with regard to the other two. Namely, "Management Support of Quality" was significantly related to "Supervisor Support", "Task Orientation", "Task Clarity" and "Innovation"; "Human Resources" was significantly related to "Supervisor Support"; "Processes and Quality Results" was significantly related to "Task Orientation" and "Innovation". Contrary to predicted "Information and Analysis" was negatively related to "Innovation", and "Customer Focus" was unrelated to any of the outcome variables. The relationships between these TQM elements and work environment dimensions are discussed. Implications for TQM and ergonomic practice are analyzed, and directions for future research proposed.     

MAPE：一个并行系统结构性能评价模拟环境

1 引言 MIMD(Multiple Instructions Multiple Data,多指令流多数据流)计算机,这一概念来源于Flynn对计算机系统的传统分类方法。在这种结构下,系统据有多个处理器,每个处理器独立地执行各自的指令,作用于各自拥有的数据。这种结构能很好地支持高并行问题     

LTV model in consultant sector. Case study: mental health clinic

Since the early 1980s, customer relationship management (CRM) has been important in the new competitive business environment. Today, due to development of competitive factors in the business, the enterprise's need to create and retain effective relations with customers has been highlighted more and more. With the aim of customer scoring applications, the most profitable customers can be identified. In this paper, we categorized customers by three types of values for the clinic by using logistic regression as a data-mining technique, and calculated the customer defection and future purchase probability in a mental health clinic of the university of Tehran. Model verification and validation (using lift chart) was done and customer segmentation and analysis presented with proper marketing strategies.     

Exploring university perceptions of IS implementation and attributes of success: a case study of public universities in Thailand

ABSTRACT

This study aims to gain a better understanding of public university implementation of organizational information systems (IS). Mixed methods research was used, including initial exploration, telephone interviews, and a self-administered mail survey. The data were gathered from university personnel at 40 public universities in Thailand, and the research focused on the university student-registration systems (S-R). The study results highlight the different perceptions between two response groups: administrators and system users. The results show different perceptions of IS implementation and attributes that define IS implementation success. The results also serve as important suggestions that need to be recognized by administrators and practitioners for effectively planning the implementation of organizational IS in public universities.