The digital divide and ICT learning in rural communities:examples of good practice service delivery

This article aims to gain a greater understanding of relevant and successful methods of stimulating an ICT culture and skills development in rural areas. The paper distils good practice activities, utilizing criteria derived from a review of the rural dimensions of ICT learning, from a range of relevant initiatives and programmes. These good practice activities cover: community resource centres providing opportunities for ‘tasting’ ICTs; video games and Internet Cafe´s as tools removing ‘entry barriers’; emphasis on ‘user management’ as a means of creating ownership; service delivery beyond fixed locations; use of ICT capacities in the delivery of general services; and selected use of financial support.

Institutional shifts in inter-municipal service delivery:an analysis of developments in eight Western European countries

Comparative research on inter-municipal cooperation in eight European countries shows that there is a great variety of institutional arrangements for cooperation across the different countries. Also, these arrangements tend to change over time in terms of the scope of cooperation among partners, their composition and the degree of organizational integration. This article describes and analyzes the variety of and shifts in institutional arrangements for a specific class of inter-municipal cooperation arrangements: those that are set up to provide for the joint delivery of public services. It is argued that specific arrangements are typically the outcomes of interaction between national institutional contexts,?environmental factors and local preferences.

Addressing the project implementation challenges in the Saudi Arabian power supply industry: an investigative approach towards improving project delivery

For many decades, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been widely known for being a reliable oil exporter. This fact, however, has not exempted it from facing significant domestic energy challenges. One of the most pressing of these challenges involves bridging the widening electricity supply-demand gap where, currently, the demand is growing at a very fast rate. One crucial means to address this challenge is through delivering power supply projects with maximum efficiency. Project delivery delay, however, is not uncommon in this highly capital-intensive industry, indicating electricity supplies are not coping with the demand increases. To provide a deeper insight into the challenges of project implementation and efficient practice, this research adopts a pragmatic approach by triangulating literature, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The research was conducted in the Saudi Arabian power supply industry – Western Operating Area. A total of 105 usable questionnaires were collected, and 28 recorded, semi-structured interviews were conducted, analysed and synthesised to produce a conceptual model of what constitutes the project implementation challenges in the investigated industry. This was achieved by conducting a comprehensive ranking analysis applied to all 58 identified and surveyed factors which, according to project practitioners in the investigated industry, contribute to project delay. 28 of these project delay factors were selected as the "most important" ones. Factor Analysis was employed to structure these 28 most important project delay factors into the following meaningful set of 7 project implementation challenges: Saudi Electricity Company's contractual commitments, Saudi Electricity Company's communication and coordination effectiveness, contractors' project planning and project control effectiveness, consultant-related aspects, manpower challenges and material uncertainties, Saudi Electricity Company's tendering system, and lack of project requirements clarity. The study has implications for industry policy in that it provides a coherent assessment of the key project stakeholders' central problems. From this analysis, pragmatic recommendations are proposed that, if enacted, will minimise the significance of the identified problems on future project outcomes, thus helping to ensure the electricity supply-demand gap is diminished.

A strategy formulation process for the delivery of technology enabled service delivery systems

The Product Service Systems, servitization, and Service Science literature continues to grow as organisations seek to protect and improve their competitive position. The potential of technology applications to deliver service delivery systems facilitated by the ability to make real time decisions based upon ‘in the field’ performance is also significant. Research identifies four key questions to be addressed. Namely: how far along the servitization continuum should the organisation go in a single strategic step? Does the organisation have the structure and infrastructure to support this transition? What level of condition monitoring should it employ? Is the product positioned correctly in the value chain to adopt condition monitoring technology? Strategy consists of three dimensions, namely content, context, and process. The literature relating to PSS, servitization, and strategy all discuss the concepts relative to content and context but none offer a process to deliver an aligned strategy to deliver a service delivery system enabled by condition based management. This paper presents a tested iterative strategy formulation methodology which is the result of a structured development programme.

Debate : arm's- length bodies and alternative models of service delivery

This article reflects on the UK coalition government’s ‘alternative models’ agenda, specifically in terms of the adoption of new models of service delivery by arm’s-length bodies (ALBs). It provides an overview of the alternative models agenda and discusses barriers to implementation. These include practical challenges involved in the set up of alternative models, the role of sponsor departments, and the effective communication of best practice. Finally, the article highlights some issues for further discussion.

Reformed county government structure and service delivery performance: An integrated study of Florida counties

The most fundamental and challenging function of government is the effective and efficient delivery of services to local taxpayers and businesses. Counties, once known as the “dark continent” of American government, have recently become a major player in the provision of services. Population growth and suburbanization have increased service demands while the counties' role as service provider to incorporated residents has also expanded due to additional federal and state mandates. County governments are under unprecedented pressure and scrutiny to meet citizens' and elected officials' demands for high quality, and equitable delivery of services at the lowest possible cost while contending with anti-tax sentiments, greatly decreased state and federal support, and exceptionally costly and complex health and public safety problems. ^ This study tested the reform government theory proposition that reformed structures of county government positively correlate with efficient service delivery. A county government reformed index was developed for this dissertation comprised of form of government, home-rule status, method of election, number of government jurisdictions, and number of elected officials. The county government reform index and a measure of relative structural fragmentation were used to assess their impact on two measures of service output: mean county road pavement condition and county road maintenance expenditures. The study's multi-level design triangulated results from different data sources and methods of analysis. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews of county officials, secondary archival sources, and a survey of 544 elected and appointed officials from Florida's 67 counties. The results of the three sources of data converged in finding that reformed Florida counties are more likely than unreformed counties to provide better road service and to spend less on road expenditures. The same results were found for unfragmented Florida counties. Because both the county government reform index and the fragmentation variables were specified acknowledging the reform theory as well as elements from the public-choice model, the results help explain contradicting findings in the urban service research. ^ Therefore, as suggested by the corroborated findings of this dissertation, reformed as well as unfragmented counties are better providers of road maintenance service and do so in a less costly manner. These findings hold although the variables were specified to capture theoretical arguments from the consolidated as well as the public-choice theories suggesting a way to advance the debate from the consolidated-fragmented dichotomy of urban governance. ^

Best practices in exemplary service delivery: A multiple case study of service quality

The purpose of this study was to explain how exemplary service providers in luxury hotels provide consistently excellent service. Using a case study framework, the study investigated the service provider's strategies and concepts of service delivery, the importance and implementation of organizational and individual controls, and the role of training and learning. The study identified barriers to service provision and characteristics of the exemplary individuals that affect their ability to deliver luxury service. This study sought to better understand how exemplary service providers learn, think about, and do their work. The sample population of three Five-Diamond-Award winning resorts was selected for their potential for learning about the phenomenon of interest. The results demonstrate that exemplary service providers possess individual characteristics that are enhanced by the organizations for which they work. Exemplary service providers are often exemplary communicators who are emotionally generous and genuinely enjoy helping and serving others. Exemplary service organizations treat their employees as they treat their customers, as suggested by the Service-Profit Chain (Heskett, Sasser & Schlesinger, 1997). Further, they have systems and standards to guarantee satisfactory service experiences for every guest. They also encourage their service providers to personalize their service delivery and to seek opportunities to delight their guests, using a combination of controls, traditions and cultural values. Several customer service theories are discussed in relationship to whether they were or were not supported by the data. The study concluded that the delivery of exemplary service is a complex phenomenon that requires successful interactions between guests, service providers and the organization. A Model of Exemplary Service Delivery is presented and discussed that demonstrates the components of service quality as shown in the data. The model can be used by practitioners seeking to create, enhance, or evaluate their service quality, and by researchers seeking insights into the complex concepts in service quality research. Implications for future research are discussed.

Creating Memories: The Interactive Process of Service Delivery

A model is presented that captures the complex nature of the service experience in an attempt to aid in the design, development and evaluation of service delivery personnel and systems.

Context-Aware Personalised Service Delivery

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