HR role effectiveness and organizational culture in Australian local government

The role of the human resource management (HRM) function and its consequent contribution to organizational culture and strategic management have been much debated. This relationship has not been empirically tested in the Australian local government sector. This paper explores the types of organizational culture and the role effectiveness of the HRM function as perceived by 217 senior managers in 71 New South Wales and Queensland local government entities. We found four clusters of local government entities, each with different profiles of organizational culture and perceived effectiveness of the HRM role. While most organizations are undergoing a transition in their cultural values, over one-third of the organizations exhibit a market-oriented culture. These market-oriented organizations have a higher level of human resource role effectiveness. The present study contributes to the ongoing debate regarding the status and influence of HRM as a value-adding corporate function.

Australia local government and e-governance : from administration to citizen participation

This chapter analyses local government’s response to the pressure to modernise its structures through its use of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) to execute its broad range of tasks. The chapter begins by discussing Chadwick and May’s (2003) three basic models of e-government; managerial, consultative and participatory. Using data collected from an analysis of 658 local government websites in Australia together with existing survey research the chapter then analyses the extent to which local government sites fit into the three models. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the issues and problems faced by local government in its attempt to develop e-governance as both an extension of administrative as well as democratic functions.

Voluntary activity and local government : managing volunteers or facilitating active citizenship?

This article discusses the role of voluntary activity in the local government of Australia. Two approaches to facilitating volunteer participation in local government are presented. The authors encourage administrators to frame voluntary activity in support of local government as an example of active citizenship. This approach to volunteering is framed as part of an effort to develop social capital and foster sustainable communities. The application of this approach in the Australian state of Victoria is described.

The Victorian local government youth charter : opportunities and dilemmas

Since 2004, a process has been under way to support and enhance the role of Victorian local government in youth engagement – the centrepiece of which is a youth charter guide. This paper, written by one of the project designers, explores the context of local government and the intentions of the development project. It is argued that this not only involves organisational change, but re-thinking foundational assumptions about participation, democracy and young people. The project has provided opportunities to support and enhance youth–local government engagement. It also illuminates many dilemmas that relate to change in these contested social systems.

Intellectual capital reporting : an examination of local government in Victoria

The objective of this research is to examine how Victorian local government annual reports disclose information on intellectual capital. The idea of intellectual capital has become part of the working organisational vocabulary, and is widely held in management literature to be the pre-eminent economic resource and a key driver of efficiency, effectiveness and continual improvement in the private and public sectors. Under the recent Best Value Victoria policy, local governments are under increasing pressure to acquire and apply intellectual capital to improve responsiveness to community needs and meet cost and quality criteria. Annual reports exist as vehicles for communication, accountability and decision making. This study examines how the internal, external and human categories of intellectual capital are represented in the annual reports for the 2000 year for 77 of the 78 Victorian local
governments.

Using a matrix approach derived from Petty and Guthrie's (2000) framework, content analysis is employed to examine the incidence and intensity with which specific elements of intellectual capital are reported. This research indicates that generally the content of annual reports have not provided clear and coherent representations of how local government in Victoria are developing, applying and measuring intellectual capital. The nature and extent of intellectual capital reporting varies considerably between councils, and the disclosure of the human elements of intellectual capital is particularly underdeveloped. The findings suggest that more research in this area is needed to determine the extent to which intellectual capital should be disclosed and whether the current paucity of disclosure stems from disinterest or technical problems. There is also the need for further research into the need to identify and describe elements of intellectual capital, and into effective
reporting strategies and techniques. This may lead to the development of a 'best practice' reporting model for intellectual capital. Furthermore, the preliminary investigations indicate a perceived need to raise the consciousness of public sector
managers as to the existence of intellectual capital within their organisations, and ultimately lead to more informed and effective management of this asset.