The Un-Politics of New Public Management in Ireland

Many of the principles and indeed the rhetoric of New Public Management proved attractive to both politicians and senior bureaucrats across the developed world as a remedy for problems in policy processes. Ireland shares many features of its constitutional structures and political practices with Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, all of them early and enthusiastic adopters of NPM. Some of the organizational and procedural changes in Irish public administration do indeed bear similarities to those we would expect to see as a result of adopting principles of NPM. However, we contend that surface impressions are misleading. Drawing on a time-series database of Irish state institutions, we show that organizational changes were not necessarily driven by NPM. The absence of strong political drivers meant that reform initiatives did not fundamentally alter the configuration of the Irish public administration. Many of the problems that NPM was intended to address are only now coming under scrutiny.

Management of public water supply to reduce power cost and improve wind power uptake

This paper presents a study on the implementation of Real-Time Pricing (RTP) based Demand Side Management (DSM) of water pumping at a clean water pumping station in Northern Ireland, with the intention of minimising electricity costs and maximising the usage of electricity from wind generation. A Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used to create pumping schedules based on system constraints and electricity tariff scenarios. Implementation of this method would allow the water network operator to make significant savings on electricity costs while also helping to mitigate the variability of wind generation.

New Public Management: The Story Continues

New Public Management (NPM) has aroused significant interest amongst academe, policy makers and practitioners, since its first articulation in the seminal articles by Hood (1991 and 1995). However, in the 21st century, a body of opinion has developed which asserts that the NPM is passé. This paper seeks to determine the contemporary status of NPM in the context of the UK, one of the early adopters of NPM. Close inspection of UK Government policy underlines the importance of NPM ideas in the New Labour Government modernisation policy (1997-2010). Furthermore, the policy actions of the 2010–2015 UK Coalition Government reveal that the global financial crisis intensified the drive for NPM in the UK’s public sector. This discussion reveals no evidence in support of the demise of NPM.

Management of public water supply to reduce energy cost and improve wind power uptake

This paper presents a study on the implementation of Real-Time Pricing (RTP) based Demand Side Management (DSM) of water pumping at a clean water pumping station in Northern Ireland, with the intention of minimising electricity costs and maximising the usage of electricity from wind generation. A Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used to create pumping schedules based on system constraints and electricity tariff scenarios. Implementation of this method would allow the water network operator to make significant savings on electricity costs while also helping to mitigate the variability of wind generation.

Management of public water supply to reduce energy cost and improve wind power uptake

This paper presents a study on the implementation of Real-Time Pricing (RTP) based Demand Side Management (DSM) of water pumping at a clean water pumping station in Northern Ireland, with the intention of minimising electricity costs and maximising the usage of electricity from wind generation. A Genetic Algorithm (GA) was used to create pumping schedules based on system constraints and electricity tariff scenarios. Implementation of this method would allow the water network operator to make significant savings on electricity costs while also helping to mitigate the variability of wind generation.

Analysis of Responses to Public Consultation - Policy for the Provision and Management of Cleaning Services in the Health and Social Care Sector (PDF 496KB)

Analysis of Responses to Public Consultation - DHSSPS Cleaning Services Policy in the Health and Social Care Sector

Growth and Public Transportation Investments: Growth Management Strategies to Reduce Transportation Capital Costs In and Near Midwestern Urban Areas, 1995

Transportation and land-use are independent, inter-active systems. Land-use patterns shape local transportation demand, but transportation systems in turn influence land-use patterns. In attempting to satisfy transportation demand created by existing land-use patterns, transportation planners directly, if not always consciously or intentionally, influence future land-use patterns. This study examines that complex relationship. The purpose of the study was threefold: to compile the body of knowledge already existing; to apply this body of knowledge to the context of midsize cities in the Midwest; and, to make the knowledge accessible both to transportation planners and to public officials who make key decisions about land use.

Energy efficiency and climate policy in the management of public spaces: public lighting

Public Lightning is an important part of municipality’s nighttime landscape. Lighting can be used to enhance public safety and security while improving the aesthetic appeal of the surrounding properties but with the current global financial crisis, such lighting systems must also be sustainable. Most climate policy efforts focus on the state and international level, however national governments won’t be able to meet their international commitments without local action. In Portugal, the Public Lighting is responsible for 3% of energy consumption. The problem is that the trend is to increase (about 4-5% per year) which represents very high costs for the municipal authorities. In terms of numbers are analyzed in this thesis 45 of 278 existent in Continental Portugal what represents only 16,2 % of the counties. This where the local authorities in Portugal that had a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) that had been accepted and made available in the Covenant of Mayors website until the end of year 2013. It is important that the Covenant of Mayors will increase the local authorities awareness for energy efficiency and especially to public lighting because there is still a long way to go in terms of energy consumption reduction. In future works it would be interesting to see the payback of the EolGreen post in a real scenario due to lack of energy consumption from the grid it would allow to have a pretty high initial investment even with the maintenance that those technologies need.

Representativeness, legitimacy and power in public involvement in health-care management

Public participation in health-service management is an increasingly prominent policy internationally. Frequently, though, academic studies have found it marginalized by health professionals who, keen to retain control over decision-making, undermine the legitimacy of involved members of the public, in particular by questioning their representativeness. This paper examines this negotiation of representative legitimacy between staff and involved users by drawing on a qualitative study of service-user involvement in pilot cancer-genetics services recently introduced in England, using interviews, participant observation and documentary analysis. In contrast to the findings of much of the literature, health professionals identified some degree of representative legitimacy in the contributions made by users. However, the ways in which staff and users constructed representativeness diverged significantly. Where staff valued the identities of users as biomedical and lay subjects, users themselves described the legitimacy of their contribution in more expansive terms of knowledge and citizenship. My analysis seeks to show how disputes over representativeness relate not just to a struggle for power according to contrasting group interests, but also to a substantive divergence in understanding of the nature of representativeness in the context of state-orchestrated efforts to increase public participation. This divergence might suggest problems with the enactment of such aspirations in practice; alternatively, however, contestation of representative legitimacy might be understood as reflecting ambiguities in policy-level objectives for participation, which secure implementation by accommodating the divergent constructions of those charged with putting initiatives into practice.

The Effect of Private Management of Public Schools on Student Achievement in Bogotá, Colombia

During the last 15 years, the public school system in Bogotá, Colombia has maintained a concession system in which 25 schools are managed privately with exemptions to many of the rules required in the traditional schools -- This study uses the propensity score matching technique to examine whether students in the privately-managed schools have better scores on the Saber 11° examinations taken upon completion of secondary school -- The results for 251 schools indicates that students with comparable socioeconomic characteristics score considerably better on these tests in the privately-managed schools than in the traditional public schools -- Thus, there is evidence that the privately-managed public schools are a cost-effective alternative to the traditional public school

Human resources management, citizenship behavior, and turnover intention in the portuguese public administration

Framed by a social exchange perspective, this study address the issue of whether positive employees’ perceptions about human resource management practices influence positive attitudes and behaviour. We hypothesize that human resource management practices (HRMP) have a significant negative effect on intention to voluntary leave the organization and a positive effect on organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), and that OCB could mediate the relationship between HRMP and turnover intention. A sample of 165 employees from the Portuguese public administration participated in the study. Data was analysed through descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis and hypotheses were tested using single and multiple linear regressions. Results indicate that HRMP is positively associated with OCB, but only internal communication practice is highly valued by Portuguese public employees and successfully predicts OCB. HRMP also show a positive association with turnover intention but only celebration and recognition practices are predictors of turnover intention. Contrary to our hypothesis OCB did not acted as mediator between HRMP and turnover intention. Some suggestions on managerial human resource practices were proposed as well as some main questions raised in the Portuguese public administration context.

A Decade Of Malaria During Pregnancy In Brazil: What Has Been Done Concerning Prevention And Management.

In Brazil, malaria remains a disease of major epidemiological importance because of the high number of cases in the Amazonian Region. Plasmodium spp infections during pregnancy are a significant public health problem with substantial risks for the pregnant woman, the foetus and the newborn child. In Brazil, the control of malaria during pregnancy is primarily achieved by prompt and effective treatment of the acute episodes. Thus, to assure rapid diagnosis and treatment for pregnant women with malaria, one of the recommended strategy for low transmission areas by World Health Organization and as part of a strategy by the Ministry of Health, the National Malaria Control Program has focused on integrative measures with woman and reproductive health. Here, we discuss the approach for the prevention and management of malaria during pregnancy in Brazil over the last 10 years (2003-2012) using morbidity data from Malaria Health Information System. Improving the efficiency and quality of healthcare and education and the consolidation of prevention programmes will be challenges in the control of malaria during pregnancy in the next decade.

AMBIVALENT IMPLICATIONS OF HEALTH CARE INFORMATION SYSTEMS: A STUDY IN THE BRAZILIAN PUBLIC HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

This article evaluates social implications of the ""SIGA"" Health Care Information System (HIS) in a public health care organization in the city of Sao Paulo. The evaluation was performed by means of an in-depth case study with patients and staff of a public health care organization, using qualitative and quantitative data. On the one hand, the system had consequences perceived as positive such as improved convenience and democratization of specialized treatment for patients and improvements in work organization. On the other hand, negative outcomes were reported, like difficulties faced by employees due to little familiarity with IT and an increase in the time needed to schedule appointments. Results show the ambiguity of the implications of HIS in developing countries, emphasizing the need for a more nuanced view of the evaluation of failures and successes and the importance of social contextual factors.

Forest-related partnerships in Brazilian Amazonia: There is more to sustainable forest management than reduced impact logging

There is more to sustainable forest management than reduced impact logging. Partnerships between multiple actors are needed in order to create the institutional context for good forest governance and sustainable forest management and stimulate the necessary local community involvement. The idea behind this is that the parties would be able to achieve more jointly than on their own by combining assets, knowledge, skills and political power of actors at different levels of scale. This article aims to demonstrate by example the nature and variety of forest-related partnerships in Brazilian Amazonia. Based on the lessons learned from these cases and the authors` experience, the principal characteristics of successful partnerships are described, with a focus on political and socioeconomic aspects. These characteristics include fairly negotiated partnership objectives, the active involvement of the public sector as well as impartial brokers, equitable and cost-effective institutional arrangements, sufficient and equitably shared benefits for all the parties involved, addressing socioeconomic drawbacks, and taking measures to maintain sustainable exploitation levels. The authors argue that, in addition to product-oriented partnerships which focus on sustainable forest management, there is also a need for politically oriented partnerships based on civil society coalitions. The watchdog function of these politically oriented partnerships, their awareness-raising campaigns regarding detrimental policies and practices, and advocacy for good forest governance are essential for the creation of the appropriate legal and political framework for sustainable forest management. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New perspectives on the processing and release of public information

This article discusses issues related to the organization and reception of information in the context of services and public information systems driven by technology. It stems from the assumption that in a ""technologized"" society, the distance between users and information is almost always of cognitive and socio-cultural nature, a product of our effort to design communication. In this context, we favor the approach of the information sign, seeking to answer how a documentary message turns into information, i.e. a structure recognized as socially useful. Observing the structural, cognitive and communicative aspects of the documentary message, based on Documentary Linguistics, Terminology, as well as on Textual Linguistics, the policy of knowledge management and innovation of the Government of the State of Sao Paulo is analyzed, which authorizes the use of Web 2.0, also questioning to what extent this initiative represents innovation in the environment of libraries.