Financial accounting reforms in the Australian public sector: an episode in institutional thinking

In recent years in Australia, accounting regulations have been developed that require the adoption of commercial accounting and reporting practices by public-sector organisations, including the recognition of cultural, heritage and scientific collections as assets by non-profit cultural organisations. The regulations inappropriately apply traditional accounting concepts of accountability and performance, notwithstanding that the primary objectives of many of the organisations affected are not financial. This study examines how this was able to occur within the ideas outlined in Douglas’s (1986) How Institutions Think. The study provides evidence to demonstrate that the development; promotion, and defense of the detailed accounting regulations were each constrained by institutional thinking and, as a result, only certain questions were asked and many problems and issues associated with the regulations were not addressed. Thus, it seeks to further our understanding of the nature and limits of change in accounting and the role of institutions in promoting and defending changes to accounting practice.

Which work characteristics predict employee outcomes for the public-sector employee? An examination of generic and occupation-specific characteristics

The wide-ranging changes that have occurred in the public sector over recent years have placed increasing demands on public-sector employees. A survey of employees within a relatively commercially-oriented public-sector organization in Australia was used to test a demand-oriented generic model of employee well-being and a variety of situation-specific variables. The presence of support at work and the amount of control an employee had over their job were found to be key predictors of employee-level outcomes. Perceptions of pay and the perception of a lack of human resources (HR) were also found to predict employee outcome variables. The results emphasize the impact that middle managers and HR managers can have in terms of reducing the detrimental employee effects that can be caused by the introduction of new public management (NPM) and the potential for a positive impact on employees. In particular, public-sector managers can use the design of jobs and the development of social support mechanisms, such as employee assistance programmes, to maintain, if not improve, the quality of working life experienced by their employees. More broadly, this study has found that the job strain model is a useful tool in a public-sector environment and is likely to be of increasing utility with the continuing introduction or consolidation of NPM over time. Managing these issues in the new public sector could be a key means of protecting the key resource of the Australian public sector - the employees.

Organizational change in the public sector: augmenting the demand control model to predict employee outcomes under New Public Management

This study identifies the environmental and personal characteristics that predict employee outcomes within an Australian public sector organization that had, under New Public Management (NPM), implemented a variety of practices traditionally found in the private sector. These are more results-oriented, and their adoption can be accompanied by increased strain for employees. The current investigation was guided by two complementary theories, the Demand Control Support (DCS) model and Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, and sought to examine the benefits of building on the DCS to include both situation-specific stressors and internal coping resources. Survey responses from 1,155 employees were analysed. The hierarchical regression analyses indicated that both external and employee-centred variables made significant contributions to variations in psychological health, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The external resources, work based support and, to a lesser extent, job control, predicted relatively large proportions of the variance in the target variables. The situation-specific stressors, particularly those involving harmful management practices (e.g., insufficient time to do job as well as you would like, lack of recognition for good work), made significant contributions to the outcome measures and generally supported the process of augmenting the generic components of the DCS with more situation-specific variables. In terms of internal resources, problem and emotion-based coping improved the capacity of the model to predict psychological health. The results suggest that the impact of NPM can be ameliorated by incorporating the dimensions of the augmented DCS and coping resources into the change programme.

The emergence of the public sector expectations gap

This paper focuses on the continuing worldwide phenomenon of homogenisation of audit rules, regulation and procedures between the government and private sectors. The observations are informed by Pusey’s (1991) criticisms of ‘economic rationalism’ as the driving mechanism behind public sector reforms in Australia. The presumed superiority of commercial audit is questioned in association with the work of Hopwood (1983, 1998), Otley and Pierce (1996) and, Power (1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997) that contextualise the role of audit. In the private sector audit there continues to be an ‘expectations gap’ arising from commercial pressures and a rhetorical support for the public interest. It is contended that audit quality in the public sector is driven by a different perception of public interest that has been eroded with the advent of economic rationalism. The consequent emergence of a public sector audit ‘expectations gap’ is an amalgam of new components particular to the government audit environment and, aspects of the private ‘expectations gap’ which have been transplanted into the public domain.

Market virtues and public failures : antecedents to public sector reform in the contract state

This paper considers the historical factors that have contributed to the pressures for reform in the Australian State of Victoria which proved to be more radical than paths taken by the Commonwealth Government and any other Australian states. As public management in Victoria made tentative steps towards market orientated practices, the inexperienced public officials, together with a mixture of political, economic, administrative and social factors made the government more vulnerable to a perceived need for reform. Australia, like the United Kingdom and New Zealand with which it shares similarities of government structure, commenced the path of reform in a tentative manner with major reforms being implemented by powerful leaders. Powerful reformers were Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom, a group of like minded politicians from Treasury in New Zealand and in the Australian State of Victoria, Jeff Kennett. Each capitalised on a sense of crises to move their reform agenda forward at a rapid pace. Victoria is offered as an illustration of how the past provides a means of understanding why Premier Jeff Kennett was able during the 1990's, to implement public sector reform into Victoria in such a dramatic way.

New forms of organising : changing structures, processes and boundaries in a public sector institution

Globalisation, deregulation, privatisation, and advances in communications technologies have intensified competition and impacted on the structures, processes and boundaries that define organisations. Increased competition at both the local and global level calls for increased responsiveness and flexibility, and continuous improvement and innovation. As organisations endeavour to become more attentive and responsive to environmental trends, and customer needs and expectations, they are experimenting with different forms of organising. This has included flattening structures, devolving decision-making responsibility and encouraging greater collaboration and knowledge transfer across functional areas.

The William Angliss Institute of TAFE operates in the post-secondary sector which has experienced significant changes over the past decade as a result of: wide-ranging public sector reforms imposed by successive governments; budgetary cutbacks; accountability and performance improvement pressures; increased national and international competition, industrial relations changes and more demanding, sophisticated customers. This paper draws on the INNFORM Study's three organisational design dimensions of structure, process, and boundaries to examine the nature and degree of change that has taken place at the Institute. Case study findings indicate that while William Angliss has implemetted changes across the three design dimensions, the depth and breadth of these vary and this has impacted on overall performance outcomes. Its experience suggests that even when an organisation adopts a systemic approach and implements changes simultaneously across structure, process and boundaries, optimal performance benefits will not accrue unless these elemental changes are mutually reinforcing and complementary. It also suggests that improvement to processes, particularly communications and human resources practices must be an overarching consideration, as complementary change across all three design dimensions depends ultimately on the contribution and commitment organisational members are prepared to make.

Reconceptualising outsourcing in the public sector : choices and outcomes

National Competition Policy’s introduction encouraged the use of outsourcing in the public sector, but variations in the extent and types of services outsourced were evident. Through reviewing the economic and political literature, this paper has uncovered six reasons for outsourcing that straddle the two paradigms. The desire to reduce costs and increase efficiency, focus on core competitive advantage, introduce workforce flexibility, manage industrial relations’ problems, satisfy decision-makers’ personal objectives and adhere to the neo-liberal government agenda are discussed. The paper puts forward a number of models which delve into the relationship between the theoretical factors which economic and political theorists have proposed as being important in making the decision to outsource and delineates between those factors which are perceived by decision-makers as important in their reasoning and those which are unperceived but impact on the outcomes. It concludes that is only by understanding the complex relationship between reasons, and perceived and unperceived factors, will outcomes be able to be predicted.

Combating the impact of managerialism on public sector employees

With the widespread and continuing adoption of managerialism in the public sector, ignoring the impact of change on employees could prevent managerialism from achieving its’ goals. This study investigates the efficacy of an augmented demand-control-support (D-C-S) model in predicting three of the key employee outcomes associated with organisational change - psychological health, job satisfaction and organisational commitment. Analyses of a survey of 207 employees in an Australian public sector organisation found that the augmented D-C-S model explained a significant proportion of the employee outcomes. The most important variables were work-based social support and job control. The results indicate that the augmented D-C-S model provides a useful tool for managers considering or implementing organisational change in the public sector.

Career progression, human capital and pay equity in Australian public sector labour markets

This study uses data from the Victorian Public Sector Census 2004 to identify the extent of equity in pay and career progression (promotion). A system of three equations is developed to capture the endogeneity between human capital and promotion and the interdependence between promotion, pay and human capital. The results indicate that there are substantial differences in the average wages earned by public sector employees in different Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) groups. While some of these differences arise from factors beyond the control of the public sector employers, others arise from bias in the public sector employment system and procedures. The earnings of individual employees in the public sector are determined in a systematic way by the wage structures in the different sub-sectors, the skill base of the employee on recruitment, sub-sector specific promotion rates, acquisition of formal and informal training and the apparent bias within recruitment and promotion systems in dealing with particular groups. The apparent bias of recruitment and promotion systems is complex in makeup and varies within EEO groups as well as between EEO groups. Most of the difference in pay across employees can be explained as an outcome of individual choice and labour market conditions external to the public sector. After adjusting for sectoral wage differences, skill base when recruited, sectoral promotion rate differences, experience in the public sector, whether individuals are employed on a full-time or part-time basis and individual training decisions, the statistical evidence is consistent with the finding that public sector recruitment and promotion systems tends to be biased, on average, against females and those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Achievements in formal education are important for salary progression. This is particularly the case for women. The main drivers of participation in formal education were employer support in both financial and non-financial terms. Promotion rates were important factors in explaining wage differences. Women tended to receive slightly fewer promotions than men, but women received, on average, greater rewards for each promotion.

The commitment of public sector Sweden to codes of ethics

This article examines the results of a study conducted of the top 100 public sector units in Sweden. These units are comprised of entities of government, municipalities, and county councils. The aim of the study was to examine and describe the commitment to codes of ethics in these Swedish public sector units. This article reports on the responses of those public sector units that possessed a code of ethics. The construct of commitment was measured by a consideration of the inputs, objectives and outputs of the code across six areas. The commitment to codes of ethics has an interest for those involved in the public sector in Sweden and society in general. Most public sector units are in the early stages of development and assimilation into overall ethics policies in code artefacts. On a specific level there are customized codes of ethics that are not always documented in a generic artefact. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided. Furthermore, suggestions for further research are proposed.

Roles, responsibilities and futures of chief information officers (CIOs) in the public sector

This paper discusses in its entirety, the CIO (Chief Information Officer) position in the public sector. Governments are increasingly adopting Information Technology for internal processes and for the delivery of service to their citizens. It includes literature on CIO roles and responsibilities which is heavily based on the private sector, due to the recognition of the role in this sector over twenty years. The position is just evolving in the public sector, and due to the context in which the public sector operates there are some similarities as well as vast differences. An evaluation of existing CIO models and theories form the basis for research on CIO roles, responsibilities and future within the public sector.

Public sector ethics in Sweden : a 4P-model of internal and external determinants in codes of ethics

This article summarizes and aggregates the results of a study conducted of the largest 100 public sector organizations derived from three categories in Sweden. These categories of organizations comprise 40 entities of government, 40 municipalities, and 20 county councils. The objective was to describe the determinants of codes of ethics in Swedish public sector organizations. This research reports on the responses of 27 organizations that possessed a code of ethics. The principal contribution is a 4P-model of seven internal and external determinants in public sector codes of ethics. The identified determinants relate to four principal sectors of a society, namely: public community sector, private corporate sector, private citizen sector, and political/policy conduct sector.

Codes of ethics best practice in the Swedish public sector: a PUBSEC-scale

Examines business ethics in Swedish public sector organizations, and in particular, explores the content of public sector codes of ethics; suggests that it is possible through such an analysis to gain an understanding of an organization's performance in this area. Describes the questionnaire survey sent to public sector organizations (government, county councils, municipalities) requesting information on how they developed an ethical ethos into their daily operations, and details the analysis undertaken into their codes of ethics. Draws on case studies with public sector units representing best practice, in respect to codes of ethics, to develop a customized public sector scale (PUBSEC-scale) consisting of seven dimensions and 41 items. Makes suggestions as to how the PUBSEC-scale could be used; points to the differences between the codes of ethics in the public and private sectors; looks at what the private sector can learn from the public sector; makes suggestions for further research.