Building public policy on shifting sands: the case of the National Asset Management Agency

Over the last thirty years, there has been an increased demand for better management of public sector organisations (PSOs). This requires that they are answerable for the inputs that they are given but also for what they achieve with these inputs (Hood 1991; Hood 1995). It is suggested that this will improve the management of the organisation through better planning and control, and the achievement of greater accountability (Smith 1995). However, such a rational approach with clear goals and the means to measure achievement can cause difficulties for many PSOs. These difficulties include the distinctive nature of the public sector due to the political environment within which the public sector manager operates (Stewart and Walsh 1992) and the fact that PSOs will have many stakeholders, each of whom will have their own specific objectives based on their own perspective (Boyle 1995). This can
result in goal ambiguity which means that there is leeway in interpreting the results of the PSO. The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) was set up to bring stability to the financial system by buying loans from the banks (which were in most cases, non-performing loans). The intention was to cleanse the banks of these loans so that they could return to their normal business of taking deposits and making loans. However, the legislation, also gave NAMA a wide range of other responsibilities including responsibility for facilitating credit in the economy and protecting the interests of taxpayers. In more recent times, NAMA has been given responsibility for building social housing. This wide-range of activities is a clear example of a PSO being given multiple goals which may conflict and is therefore likely to lead to goal ambiguity. This makes it very difficult to evaluate NAMA’s performance as they are attempting to meet numerous goals at the same time and also highlights the complexity of policy making in the public sector. The purpose of this paper is to examine how NAMA dealt with goal ambiguity. This will be done through a thematic analysis of its annual reports over the last five years. The paper’s will contribute to the ongoing debate about the evaluation of PSOs and the complex environment within which they operate which makes evaluation difficult as they are
answerable to multiple stakeholders who have different objectives and different criteria for measuring success.

A Preliminary Case Study for Collaborative Quality Enhancement

Eight universities have collaborated in an Erasmus+ funded project to create a lean process to enhance self-evaluation and accreditation through peer alliance and cooperation. Central to this process is the partnering of two institutions as critical friends, based on prior selfevaluations of specific programmes to identify particular criteria for improvement. A pairing algorithm matches two institutions based on their respective self-evaluation scores. It ensures there are significant differences in key criteria that are mutually beneficial for future programme development and enhancement. The ensuing meetings between critical friends have been designated as ‘cross-sparring’. This paper focuses on a case-study of the crosssparring and resulting enhancement outcomes between Umeå University and Queen’s University Belfast, and their respective Masters programmes in Software Engineering and Mechanical Engineering. The collaborative experiences of the process are evaluated, reported, discussed and conclusions provided on the efficacy of this particular application of cross-sparring.

Enhancing the Manufacturing Knowledge of Undergraduate Engineering Students: A Case Study of a Design-Build-Test Challenge Involving Folding Bicycles

Many engineers currently in professional practice will have gained a degree level qualification which involved studying a curriculum heavy with mathematics and engineering science. While this knowledge is vital to the engineering design process so also is manufacturing knowledge, if the resulting designs are to be both technically and commercially viable.
The methodology advanced by the CDIO Initiative aims to improve engineering education by teaching in the context of Conceiving, Designing, Implementing and Operating products, processes or systems. A key element of this approach is the use of Design-Built-Test (DBT) projects as the core of an integrated curriculum. This approach facilitates the development of professional skills as well as the application of technical knowledge and skills developed in other parts of the degree programme. This approach also changes the role of lecturer to that of facilitator / coach in an active learning environment in which students gain concrete experiences that support their development.
The case study herein describes Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student involvement in the manufacture and assembly of concept and functional prototypes of a folding bicycle.

Neoliberal Capitalism, Social Reproduction Crisis, Gender Implications and Forms of Resistance: The case of Greece

Neoliberal capitalism and its accompanied austerity measures has had a profound effect on social reproduction throughout Europe. Social reproduction, ie, the process that makes it possible for individuals, families, and society to reproduce itself – is in crisis. The concept of social reproduction utilized in this presentation is framed within the feminist and Marxist tradition. Historically, social reproduction was met through both waged and unwaged work with women playing a predominant role either as waged, predominantly public sector, workers (social workers, teachers, carers, nurses, etc) or as unpaid workers (unpaid carers: mothers, wives, etc.) but now both forms of work are destabilized and undermined. Thus, the crisis in social reproduction. Within this crisis women’s unequal position is further undermined but at the same time progressive women and men are organizing to present alternatives forms of social reproduction. This presentation by utilizing the case of Greece will first outline the neoliberal processes that have caused the crisis in social reproduction. Second, it will present the consequences of social reproduction by highlighting the gender implications. Third, it will discuss the reorganization of social reproduction which is taking place outside the logic of capitalist society and is manifested through the creation of solidarity health clinics and pharmacies, communal kitchens, creation of various forms of bartering etc. This presentation will argue that these forms present glimpses of another society , a society based on principles of solidarity and cooperation. A society worth fighting for. And finally the presentation will conclude by discussing at which level can this crisis be resolved and the role of the social work profession.

Benchmarking Energy Transitions: An Irish Case Study

The challenges of a low carbon energy transition have now been recognized by most nation states, each of whom have responded with differing visions, strategies and programmes, with variable veracity and effectiveness. Given the complexity of each country’s energy system (and sub-systems such as mobility, food etc), the differing sources and wealth of indigenous energy resources, the variable legacy of the fossil fuel regime and differing capacity to respond to global shifts in energy markets, it is clear that each country will respond to this challenge in very different ways.
This poses difficulties for understanding the extent to which a transition may be taking hold in any territory as simple indicators such as GHG emission data or increases in renewable energy ignore the complex contexts in which transitions take place. Drawing on the results of a study, funded by the Irish Environmental Protection Agency (Characterizing and Catalyzing Transitions) and using the wider theoretical framework of socio-technological transitions, this paper will explore the challenges, virtues and constraints of attempting to ‘benchmark’ the Republic of Ireland’s transition. This will lead to wider observations on the normative nature of benchmarking and a critical review of how we conceptualize the very idea of transition.

A Framework for Spatial Road Safety Assessment: Case Study of Northern Ireland

Road traffic injuries are a major health issue worldwide. There are many factors that can
affect the levels of road traffic collisions which in turn increase the levels of people killed or
seriously injured. When road traffic collisions occur, observed facts are recorded in relation
to the incident. These facts are recorded as variable observations, and for this study,
variables and indicators are defined almost equivalently. There can be hundreds of different
indicators for the various collisions, as different countries face different road situations. This
makes it difficult to perform a road safety assessment, which can be applied globally. The
goal of this study is to select the most appropriate indicators and create a composite
indicator as a function of these indicators, which can be used as summary values, allowing
ease of comparisons between the countries/regions that have undergone a road safety
assessment. The composite indicator will then be used to assess the current situation in
Northern Ireland and provide scores for ranking policing in terms of overall road safety on
their road networks.