tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87089333042965149672024-03-13T14:22:28.767+11:00Public Management AustraliaWelcome to Public Management Australia a blog written by Janine O'Flynn an academic at The Australian National University. The aim is to engage in public management topics developing around the world, not just Australia, and with the community of practitioners and academics interested in them.Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-35632859024580492762012-09-30T18:52:00.000+10:002012-09-30T18:52:11.573+10:00Government Accountability Office report on Collaboration in GovernmentWhen I was in Washington D.C. earlier this year I was invited to provide expert advice to a group, including <a href="http://www.businessofgovernment.org/bio/chris-mihm">Chris Mihm</a>, at the Government Accountability Office who were exploring issues to do with collaboration in government. Yesterday the GAO released it's report to Congress and it is available here: <a href="http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-1022">http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-1022</a> <div>
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The GAO does incredible work in the United States and always high on my recommended reading list for those interested issues of public management. Below is the overview of the report:</div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">What GAO Found</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Federal agencies have used a variety of mechanisms to implement
interagency collaborative efforts, such as the President appointing a
coordinator, agencies co-locating within one facility, or establishing
interagency task forces. These mechanisms can be used to address a range of
purposes including policy development; program implementation; oversight and
monitoring; information sharing and communication; and building organizational
capacity, such as staffing and training. Frequently, agencies use more than one
mechanism to address an issue. For example, climate change is a complex,
crosscutting issue, which involves many collaborative mechanisms in the
Executive Office of the President and interagency groups throughout government.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">Although collaborative mechanisms differ in complexity and scope, they
all benefit from certain key features, which raise issues to consider when
implementing these mechanisms. For example:</span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">•
</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Outcomes and Accountability: Have
short-term and long-term outcomes been clearly defined? Is there a way to track
and monitor their progress?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">•
</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Bridging Organizational Cultures: What
are the missions and organizational cultures of the participating agencies?
Have agencies agreed on common terminology and definitions?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">•
</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Leadership: How will leadership be
sustained over the long-term? If leadership is shared, have roles and
responsibilities been clearly identified and agreed upon?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">•
</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Clarity of Roles and Responsibilities:
Have participating agencies clarified roles and responsibilities?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Participants: Have all relevant
participants been included? Do they have the ability to commit resources for
their agency?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">•
</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Resources: How will the collaborative
mechanism be funded and staffed? Have online collaboration tools been
developed?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">•
</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Written Guidance and Agreements: If
appropriate, have participating agencies documented their agreement regarding
how they will be collaborating? Have they developed ways to continually update
and monitor these agreements?</span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: inherit; text-indent: -36pt;">Why GAO Did This Study</b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many of the meaningful results that the federal government seeks to
achieve—such as those related to protecting food and agriculture, providing
homeland security, and ensuring a well-trained and educated workforce—require
the coordinated efforts of more than one federal agency and often more than one
sector and level of government. Both Congress and the executive branch have
recognized the need for improved collaboration across the federal government.
The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) Modernization Act of
2010 establishes a new framework aimed at taking a more crosscutting and
integrated approach to focusing on results and improving government
performance. Effective implementation of the act could play an important role
in facilitating future actions to reduce duplication, overlap, and
fragmentation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: inherit;">GAO was asked to identify the mechanisms that the federal government
uses to lead and implement interagency collaboration, as well as issues to
consider when implementing these mechanisms. To examine these topics, GAO
conducted a literature review on interagency collaborative mechanisms,
interviewed 13 academic and practitioner experts in the field of collaboration,
and reviewed their work. GAO also conducted a detailed analysis of 45 GAO
reports, published between 2005 and 2012. GAO selected reports that contained
in-depth discussions of collaborative mechanisms and covered a broad range of
issues.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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For more information, contact J. Christopher Mihm at (202)512-6806 or <a href="mailto:mihmj@gao.gov"><span style="text-decoration: none;">mihmj@gao.gov</span></a>.</span><!--EndFragment--> </span><div>
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Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-37963543080148842882012-08-26T22:12:00.003+10:002012-08-26T22:14:19.381+10:00"Destined to become a standard text in public management, for all the right reasons"<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.anzsog.edu.au/profile/3546/john-alford">John Alford </a>and I have had great feedback on our book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rethinking-Public-Service-Delivery-Management/dp/0230237959/ref=zg_bsnr_10767_21">Rethinking Public Service Delivery: Managing with External Provider</a></i>s. The first published review is out now, via the Institute of Public Administration Australia (Victoria) <a href="http://www.vic.ipaa.org.au/news/latest-news/book-review---rethinking-public-service-delivery-managing-with-external-providers">site</a> and reproduced here. Last week we made it into the Top 10 (albeit briefly!!) for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/new-releases/books/10767/ref=zg_bs_tab_t_bsnr?pf_rd_p=1374969622&pf_rd_s=right-5&pf_rd_t=2101&pf_rd_i=list&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1K0YVNRWZ6KGM3MBGJ7R">Hot New Releases</a> on Amazon.</span><br />
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">RETHINKING PUBLIC
SERVICE DELIVERY: MANAGING WITH EXTERNAL PROVIDERS John Alford and Janine
O’Flynn (Palgrave Macmillan 2012)</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;"> Alford and O’Flynn
have written an admirable book on the contemporary reality of public service
delivery. For most public services effective delivery involves engaging
external providers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">The work is broad in
scope, erudition and example. It is practical in its intent as ‘unequivocally a
book about management’ (p4) and true to that sober spirit, it is usable for
practitioners. It is well organised and a pleasure to read for a subject so
apparently dry. It elegantly – and cunningly, as the authors’ plain language
masks their theoretical sophistication – subverts the view that external
arrangements can be governed only by contract for material reward or by
sanction. Ultimately, it challenges the inward-looking, superior, attitude of
too many bureaucrats – the attitude that the savages outside (businesses,
not-for-profits, the public) can only be bought or commanded, and must be
governed accordingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Alford and O’Flynn may
eschew that last characterisation as over-blown. They take care to demonstrate
empirically against the managerial standard of costs and benefits how external
providers are most effectively engaged, and to provide practicable advice as to
what works best. Their disarming conclusion is: ‘there is no one best way’ in
public delivery, ‘it depends’ on the circumstances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">At the risk of
over-simplifying an extended yet lucid argument, their thesis is that:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;">services
differ in the nature of delivery, in their complexity, and the ease of output
specification;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;">the
key questions for policy design are who decides, who produces, and of whom and
how is coordination necessary;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;">even
if institutions or interests only respond to material reward or legal sanction,
people are also motivated by ‘purposive values’ and social belonging - by a
sense of the public good – so the means of securing engagement may vary; and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;">‘strategic’
and ‘relationship’ costs and benefits count, not just finances and efficacy.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Critical to the thesis
is that ‘[t]o the extent that they receive private value, [public sector]
clients seem analogous to private sector customers, but they are quite
dissimilar in important ways’(p 177):as beneficiaries, obligatees or
regulatees, as citizens, and so often and so much as ‘co-producers’ in a
‘public value chain’. Co-production is a concept which Alford has developed in
a number of previous works, but never as simply and convincingly as here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">It is at this point
that the thesis edges closest to a theory of democratic government, a theory
overdue for reinstatement: that governing is different in kind because engagement
is intrinsic and that in one way or another, consent is critical. But the book
does not articulate this point as it ploughs its sober managerial field. Along
the way, Alford and O’Flynn offer astute guidance on diverse public management
challenges:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;">mobilising
volunteers, and recognising the ‘relationship costs’ in doing so;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;">how
to avoid corrupting the particular value-add of not-for-profits; factoring in
varying business cultures and drivers; and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-indent: -36pt;">PPPs,
noting that arrangements where government is solely the ‘decider’ and business
solely the contract ‘provider’ are not partnerships in any business sense.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">This is a point often
lost on Treasury departments who specify contract terms so tight and allocate
risk so fearfully as to rule out any additional public value generated in the
creative pursuit of commercial opportunities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Alford and O’Flynn’s
concluding guidance on the capabilities required for establishing and
sustaining external delivery is coherent and concrete.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">This book is replete
with tables and figures applying the argument ‘it depends’ on the
circumstances, by way of easy-to-follow decision-making guidance for public
managers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">It is <i>destined to
become a standard text in public management, for all the right reasons</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Available through <a href="http://www.palgravemacmillan.com.au/palgrave/onix/isbn/9780230237957"><span style="color: #910c84;">Palgrave-Macmillan</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Neil Edwards is an IPAA Victoria Fellow and
Chairman of the Airservices Board of Training at Airservices Australia. He has
held a number of senior public service positions at state and Commonwealth
levels, working in Australia and Canada.</span></b></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-34922450766521077992012-08-08T09:26:00.000+10:002012-08-08T09:26:45.154+10:00Rethinking Public Service Delivery<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Together with <a href="http://www.anzsog.edu.au/profile/3546/john-alford">John Alford</a>, I have just released <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rethinking-Public-Service-Delivery-Management/dp/0230237959/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1344381250&sr=8-2&keywords=janine+o%27flynn">Rethinking Public Service Delivery: Managing with External Providers</a> </i>with Palgrave. We've had great endorsements for the book and have also been doing quite a bit of press around the launches that we had in Melbourne and Canberra.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8L2SE78ueASHyv6uHAqiMXPkeEA7ctpU0f25zhRzH1u5FlSnN74Fk4qV1wSJlKdIGGw2K9q_wg-YhOzHUiv8wb6u8-0Vh5D15T79GdweNqC_MSanBSswbBLHagc_8vuRdqyLSwMdzLE3g/s1600/book+cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8L2SE78ueASHyv6uHAqiMXPkeEA7ctpU0f25zhRzH1u5FlSnN74Fk4qV1wSJlKdIGGw2K9q_wg-YhOzHUiv8wb6u8-0Vh5D15T79GdweNqC_MSanBSswbBLHagc_8vuRdqyLSwMdzLE3g/s320/book+cover.png" width="223" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'<i>This excellent book provides a useful and innovative framework for understanding effective delivery of public services</i>.' – Steven Rathgeb Smith, University of Washington, Seattle. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8L2SE78ueASHyv6uHAqiMXPkeEA7ctpU0f25zhRzH1u5FlSnN74Fk4qV1wSJlKdIGGw2K9q_wg-YhOzHUiv8wb6u8-0Vh5D15T79GdweNqC_MSanBSswbBLHagc_8vuRdqyLSwMdzLE3g/s1600/book+cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'<i>A brilliant introduction to new ideas and techniques for delivering public services, backed by convincing examples and analyses</i>.' – Knut Eggum Johansen, Special Adviser, Government Reform, Norway </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'<i>Should be required reading for all who want to understand the costs and benefits of different forms of public service provision, and the circumstances that influence their relative effectiveness</i>.' – George Boyne, Cardiff Business School </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'<i>A landmark survey. The framework can be used by both scholars and practitioners and will significantly advance the cause of creating public value</i>.' – G. Edward DeSeve, former Senior Advisor to President Obama</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">'<i>Drawing on lively case examples, this compelling book introduces differing types of engagement, concepts for choosing them, and techniques for managing them</i>.' – Terry Moran, former head, Prime Minister's Department, Australia.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In an op-ed for <a href="https://apps.facebook.com/theguardian/public-leaders-network/2012/aug/07/after-g4s-who-should-deliver-public-services">The Guardian</a> this week we set out the key arguments from the book and related them to some current contracting 'scandals' in the UK. We also had a feature piece in the <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/public-service/the-new-world-of-service-delivery-20120806-23p10.html">Public Sector Informant</a>, the monthly public sector lift out in The Canberra Times. John was interviewed on <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/rethinking-public-service-delivery/4151960">ABC Radio National</a>, and we have some more op-ed/feature pieces coming out in the UK and possibly the US over the coming weeks.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-48204210363258190602012-03-22T11:46:00.000+11:002012-03-22T11:46:52.817+11:00Clear goals and cross-agency workingHow do we get government organisations to work together effectively in pursuit of broad governmental goals? This is one of the major challenges of governing and, of course, not a new one. The US Government has announced its <a href="http://goals.performance.gov/goals_2013">Clear Goals</a> initiative which sets out a series of cross-agency goals - fourteen in fact - which seek to drive improvements in governmental performance. The goals range from energy efficiency through to the cybersecurity and sustainability.<br />
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I'll be visiting Washington DC in April-May with colleagues as part of the Strengthening the Performance Framework project we are undertaking with the <a href="http://www.apsc.gov.au/">Australian Public Service Commission</a> and will have the chance to talk with people about how these cross-agency goals trickle down into individual agencies, and then into the performance management of individuals and groups.<br />
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The practitioner and scholarly literature is full of stories of the complexity of doing this in practice; of how the goals of the agencies tend to take priority, especially where what we have called the supporting architecture of the public sector system reinforces such behaviour (see my article with colleagues <a href="http://crawford.anu.edu.au/pdf/staff/janine_oflynn/2011/IJPA_special_issue_on_JUG_as_published.pdf"><i>You Win Some, You Lose Some</i> </a>which reports on attempts to engender inter-agency collaboration in the Australian context). Having clear goals, a common purpose, or a shared mission is critical to enacting cross-agency working; however failure to address the systemic barriers that other aspects of government systems and structures embed can lead to an inability to deliver on the broader goals of government.<br />
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Such issues will be central to the new book I am working on for Routledge titled <i><a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415678247/">Crossing Boundaries in Public Management and Policy</a>. </i>This will bring together authors from across the world on the to address the theory and practice of working across boundaries.Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-41833397142102119282012-01-23T19:15:00.000+11:002012-01-23T19:15:38.786+11:00Joining-up: Experiences from the US and Australia<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfUrnjvBEAxtqqnwOifV13bpJ_Bjv3H-W2wW2x-00kiyTRn6Q4qrYZpNcXbUcfTfNEpdMDdOMpM0zZEveA9r3HDO9cIHb10ZrRX2tp8B0rqJj-2Wfqhaitc2oVP11b-IXjvMl7iQUl0lC/s1600/ed+deseve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzfUrnjvBEAxtqqnwOifV13bpJ_Bjv3H-W2wW2x-00kiyTRn6Q4qrYZpNcXbUcfTfNEpdMDdOMpM0zZEveA9r3HDO9cIHb10ZrRX2tp8B0rqJj-2Wfqhaitc2oVP11b-IXjvMl7iQUl0lC/s1600/ed+deseve.jpg" /></a>One of the great highlights of 2011 was the chance to work with G. Edward DeSeve, former special advisor to President Barack Obama and Adviser to Vice President Biden. Ed oversaw the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which involved spending near to US$800 billion to stimulate the US economy. Ed has written of his experience in a great report for the IBM Center for the Business of Government and you can download it for free <a href="http://www.businessofgovernment.org/bio/g-edward-deseve">here</a>.<br />
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Ed spoke with a group of senior public servants from the Australian Public Service in a Crawford Inaugural Masterclass about how he used a network approach to deliver public value and how he managed the oversight of spending through an innovative web-based model. You can see this in action at <a href="http://recovery.gov/">recovery.gov</a> where every dollar spent, every grant made is able to be tracked.<br />
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I spoke about Australian experiments with joined-up government, largely based on the large research project I have been involved with, and reflecting particular on a recent publication on the success and failure of this in relation to Indigenous Coordination Centres which was published in 2011 in the <i>International Journal of Public Administration, </i> and available from my webpage <a href="http://crawford.anu.edu.au/staff/joflynn.php">here</a>.<br />
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In addition to learning about the various aspects of his role and his deep and rich experience in serving in several administrations in the US, one of the favourite stories of the day for the participants was Ed's sparring with the satirist Stephen Colbert. A quick summary is <a href="http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=&sid=1829395">here</a> and Colbert's site has <a href="http://www.colbertnation.com/">video</a>.<br />
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This was the first of a series of of Masterclasses that will run at the <a href="http://crawford.anu.edu.au/">Crawford School</a> via the <a href="http://publicpolicy.anu.edu.au/">Australian National Institute of Public Policy</a>. The next one that I will be involved in will be on <a href="http://www.apsc.gov.au/capabilityreview/index.html">Capability Reviews</a> in the Australian Public Service later in 2012.<br />
<br />Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-44648402078906058942012-01-14T12:58:00.003+11:002012-01-23T18:44:16.047+11:00Rethinking Public Service Delivery<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarw4dMO9M7-cr42tw8Hg31VT0zBGzq8gAW1128j1i2wwxDTN_xFCY5s3C4SjQvanl5qhyEFgmlyslRxrMyHprL8UC49ILBoUdXCn44YZ5Tf5UNW_mxV9MvdHMaCccAMU5X4LpxgD4buuM/s1600/public-services.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697304037446302578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarw4dMO9M7-cr42tw8Hg31VT0zBGzq8gAW1128j1i2wwxDTN_xFCY5s3C4SjQvanl5qhyEFgmlyslRxrMyHprL8UC49ILBoUdXCn44YZ5Tf5UNW_mxV9MvdHMaCccAMU5X4LpxgD4buuM/s320/public-services.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 166px; margin: 0 10px 10px 0; width: 320px;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 100%;">The big news for 2012 is that the book that I have co-authored with <a href="http://www.anzsog.edu.au/Faculty/?FacultyId=3546">John Alford</a> from the University of Melbourne and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government will be published by Palgrave in May. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 100%;"><a href="http://www.palgrave.com/products//title.aspx?pid=379566">Rethinking Public Service Delivery: Managing with External Providers</a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;">considers how government organisations work with external providers in service delivery and covers the full range of contributors (from clients, volunteers and regulatees through to private, non-profit and other government organisations) and the various modes of engagement (from collaboration and contracts through to co-production).</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'trebuchet ms'; font-size: 100%; line-height: 20px;">We've had great feedback on the book and are looking forward to finally having it in print. </span></div>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-87029620233368449632012-01-14T12:39:00.004+11:002012-01-23T18:43:12.350+11:00Performance Management in the Australian Public Service: Designing a High Performance System<span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3fKiVrmJM89Cls5Ztn_XNLbBRRVkOGQV3J36tS_Mv286GOhhBpqjURciwtL5S1iMVeUDT5v-G-1fyOR41SlB5Gi_qB_1Z1Ah3ZkkFjN3XEMemTyuAC7OIt25N-WDjSqowl6vCJo8KqWW/s1600/hpo_n_high_performance_organization_tshirt-p235637059385557108zvoni_400.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5697299258202385490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO3fKiVrmJM89Cls5Ztn_XNLbBRRVkOGQV3J36tS_Mv286GOhhBpqjURciwtL5S1iMVeUDT5v-G-1fyOR41SlB5Gi_qB_1Z1Ah3ZkkFjN3XEMemTyuAC7OIt25N-WDjSqowl6vCJo8KqWW/s320/hpo_n_high_performance_organization_tshirt-p235637059385557108zvoni_400.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 320px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 320px;" /></a><br />Managing performance is one of the most challenging, yet necessary parts of effective public management. As part of the <a href="http://www.dpmc.gov.au/publications/aga_reform/aga_reform_blueprint/index.cfm">Ahead of the Game Blueprint</a> for Reform of the Australian Public Service there is a commitment to <a href="http://www.dpmc.gov.au/publications/aga_reform/aga_reform_blueprint/part4.7.cfm">strengthening the performance framework</a>. To do this the Australian Public Service Commission has created a <a href="http://news.anu.edu.au/?p=13291/">research partnership</a> which involves a group of academics spanning three universities. </span>The team includes <a href="http://www.canberra.edu.au/faculties/business/home/our-people/staff-profiles/deborah-blackman">Deborah Blackman</a> and <a href="http://www.canberra.edu.au/faculties/business/research/research-students-list/psr/fiona-buick">Fiona Buick</a> from University of Canberra, <a href="http://bus.unsw.adfa.edu.au/staff/profiles/odonnell_michael.html">Michael O'Donnell</a> and the University of New South Wales and <a href="http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/staff/joflynn.php">myself</a> from the Australian National University. <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span">This is an exciting project where we will get to work collaboratively with the APSC to look at what is happening around the world in terms of high performance systems, do some local experimentation, and then devise the principles for the new framework for the Australian Public Service. The potential of high performance systems is well known, but so are all the of problems, challenges and barriers to actually doing this in practice, so this is a challenging project, but also one that can potentially provide great payoffs for the APS. As we progress through the project I'll be setting out some of the findings.</span><br />
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</div>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-68688558751820266022011-10-03T16:33:00.004+11:002011-10-03T16:42:32.403+11:00Relaunch!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggmgtD7ScUYoafoW5xdcN5ci_LPldd0U5_iWjg85c4YymHWFnEa-11TaFxZ3Fm0I_QinAU8-Wr4YlRQz13cIXoqtXnQtDckmumLOBunoo3hx1-bu2FWU-Udwjyl0P6Sr3ZTAAYQOow133/s1600/seo-relaunch.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgggmgtD7ScUYoafoW5xdcN5ci_LPldd0U5_iWjg85c4YymHWFnEa-11TaFxZ3Fm0I_QinAU8-Wr4YlRQz13cIXoqtXnQtDckmumLOBunoo3hx1-bu2FWU-Udwjyl0P6Sr3ZTAAYQOow133/s320/seo-relaunch.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5659136042999727474" border="0" /></a><br />It's been two years since my last post, but I have decided to try again and get blogging about public management issues in Australia and around the world, as they develop.<br /><br />A colleague of mine suggested asking others to post and this is, I think, a great idea.<br /><br />So as October develops expect some stories about what is happening in public management circles in Australia. Also some thoughts on a couple of big projects about to begin.<br /><br />Questions are also encouraged as a way to start some debate so send them through if you have them.<br /><br />All the best,<br /><br />JanineJanine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-15568622798936857592009-10-30T15:59:00.003+11:002009-10-30T16:18:28.794+11:00Reform and the Role of Public Managers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6zrDCQvk22M9IHBT19og5fsZ0-kx-FqYIRIHi2Wc_5nwpgaNx2nPF88KCST75bTIJOTA_fIzFMlaqc1g-rJ0j-IbZeMQc35GdRCb1dTiuejhLnWFV7pYVC7FfSAHYbUd5xbVpTFCkJzX/s1600-h/files.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 229px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC6zrDCQvk22M9IHBT19og5fsZ0-kx-FqYIRIHi2Wc_5nwpgaNx2nPF88KCST75bTIJOTA_fIzFMlaqc1g-rJ0j-IbZeMQc35GdRCb1dTiuejhLnWFV7pYVC7FfSAHYbUd5xbVpTFCkJzX/s320/files.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398257821871084626" border="0" /></a><br />This morning I participated in a seminar with several schools in the <a href="http://www.policy-net.org/">PolicyNet</a> group. At some stage the visual of the seminar will end up <a href="http://www.policy-net.org/seminars">here</a> for those interested. Schools from Japan, China, Singapore, Canada participated so we had a great mix. Our local moderator was one of my star students Adeline Kooi and she did a terrific job as well as having some of the most challenging questions of the day.!<br /><br />I started off with a short lecture explaining public managers and public management, setting out the eras/generations of reform, pointing to the current challenges facing public managers, and the emerging contenders for the "next big thing". It was a great chance to test out some of these ideas, and engage with students from across the globe on how these ideas resonate in their specific contexts. Nothing like several rooms full of bright students to keep you on your toes!!<br /><br />Participants had some thought-provoking and insightful questions which got to the core of enduring debates in the field: what is the proper role of public managers? where is, or should be, the line of separation between politics and administration? how do we make reform and change "stick"? how do we overcome resistance to change? what tools can public managers use to gauge what the community wants? how does this approach fit into a developing country context? when does the backlash come to spur fundamental reform and what are the critical transition points? how do public managers balance competing demands from political and community domains? what happens when they get stuck between levels of government?<br /><br />At the end of our two-hour session we had covered lots of ground and I was pleased to get such a great range of questions. These have take me back again to this enduring issue of politics and management - who does what, when, what is the proper role and so on. I am gearing up for a session in a few weeks an the Third Annual ANU Leadership Workshop where I will talk in some detail about these issues in an ethical context.Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-38649551209541104662009-09-21T08:38:00.006+10:002009-09-29T17:43:37.339+10:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQdFKQGc1uKyjM-SsqmQq3XQbrmsByjMj05QDqxseyodn9x6GUy_OdplcPyg7ztqfaLQnJqC6hwTQdytmy-4Nh_f4gHbrjvIU-lYrWvHwtlcGqTt-aEvq49s1rI1SmCsYwu8hJDY8KRlf/s1600-h/beazley+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386787992100744914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKQdFKQGc1uKyjM-SsqmQq3XQbrmsByjMj05QDqxseyodn9x6GUy_OdplcPyg7ztqfaLQnJqC6hwTQdytmy-4Nh_f4gHbrjvIU-lYrWvHwtlcGqTt-aEvq49s1rI1SmCsYwu8hJDY8KRlf/s320/beazley+1.jpg" border="0" /></a> On 18 September I acted as MC at the Crawford School Alumni and Friends Dinner. It was a great chance to meet some past students and hear from Kim <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Beazley</span> on current issues in politics (under <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Chatham</span> House rules sorry!). <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Beazley</span> has a long history in Australian politics and he took up the role of <a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/cabs/chancellor/">Chancellor </a>of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">ANU</span> earlier this year. A couple of days prior to the event it was no surprise when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Beazley</span> would be the next <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26089577-5013871,00.html">Australian Ambassador </a>to the United States. <div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Alongside <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Beazley</span>, newly retired Liberal Brendan Nelson has also been fingered for a diplomatic post. Nelson will take up the role of Australian Ambassador to the European Union. It is an interesting fact that Rudd defeated Nelson's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">coalition</span> at the 2007 election and that he beat <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Beazley</span> in a leadership battle within the Australian Labor Party. </div><div> </div><div></div><div></div><div>Picture (L to R): <a href="http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/about_us/advisory_council/?name=Costello">Michael Costello</a>, <a href="http://www.alp.org.au/people/wa/beazley_kim.php">Kim Beazley</a>, <a href="http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/about_us/advisory_council/?name=Buchanan">Ian Buchanan</a> and <a href="http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/about_us/advisory_council/?name=Bradley">Graham Bradley</a>. </div></div>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-74315733415812534932009-09-15T11:28:00.004+10:002009-09-21T09:40:36.082+10:00A New Era of Reform?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_JbFqDAAP6kk12aqM6am3I4bckv87zlvbhrz1W8GAnMhYNcfGrgxf6XUTSZFAQDi72NxBJMtdZwSP70_ZryphKoHWXm9m1Dyt04LOlkWaKPIq6CbJuS11llQ8DC69VhEKZqEOkdkYsBQ/s1600-h/kevin_rudd2_thumb.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381503171418648962" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 175px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 118px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE_JbFqDAAP6kk12aqM6am3I4bckv87zlvbhrz1W8GAnMhYNcfGrgxf6XUTSZFAQDi72NxBJMtdZwSP70_ZryphKoHWXm9m1Dyt04LOlkWaKPIq6CbJuS11llQ8DC69VhEKZqEOkdkYsBQ/s320/kevin_rudd2_thumb.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Wow! Can it really be this long since I made any contribution? So much has been happening in public management circles in Australia that it is negligent of me not to have commented. Recently the Prime Minister has <a href="http://www.pmc.gov.au/consultation/aga_reform/index.cfm">outlined his vision</a> to build 'the best public service in the world'. The first stage of this involved establishing an Advisory Group oversee an international benchmarking exercise which will test the Australian Public Service against counterparts around the world. The Advisory Group will also oversee the development of a reform blueprint. The PMs speech, presented at the recent conference of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government is available<a href="http://www.pm.gov.au/node/6172"> here</a>. Expect much more from me on this topic in the coming months.<br /><br />In late July I has the chance to present at a conference on Unicameral systems. For a few years I wrote the political chronicles of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), so I was invited by my colleague <a href="http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/staff/juhr.php">Professor John Uhr</a> who heads up the <a href="http://www.parliamentarystudies.anu.edu.au/">Parliamentary Studies Centre</a> to contribute to this international conference examining the experience of the ACT in the context of other unicameral systems around the world. It was not until I arrived, however, that I realised the conference would be held in the Legislative Assembly and that I would be presenting my thoughts on that very Assembly whilst standing in it! Video of the conference is available from the <a href="http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/video/flash/">Crawford School</a> site and a <a href="http://www.parliamentarystudies.anu.edu.au/papers_etc/2009/events/Varieties_of_Unicameralism_-_summary.pdf">summary of proceedings </a>is also available.Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-49005938975356747372009-07-27T21:02:00.009+10:002009-07-29T09:31:41.216+10:00Global Speak: Virtual Seminar<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1CwbA85nsvrnc_le2R9Ui1_oezRBv4O3MRwkm7YvUv9Fe_Ss2iyGPJJx7vk5UYdaI__y_L4VxDNOjzZAbSpRnjAbRDUGvKqRxXXIvqjDchtAuHzQVqQoZz10Sd252M5RJGhNsdfHk_cw/s1600-h/virtual+seminar.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5363657722989193490" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 136px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 81px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW1CwbA85nsvrnc_le2R9Ui1_oezRBv4O3MRwkm7YvUv9Fe_Ss2iyGPJJx7vk5UYdaI__y_L4VxDNOjzZAbSpRnjAbRDUGvKqRxXXIvqjDchtAuHzQVqQoZz10Sd252M5RJGhNsdfHk_cw/s320/virtual+seminar.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I'm really pleased to have been invited to present a virtual seminar as part of the <a href="http://www.policy-net.org/">PolicyNet</a> group of which the Crawford School is a member. This will see me beamed around the world to institutions such as Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (National University of Singapore), Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (Princeton, USA), Peking University School of Government, Hertie School of Governance (Berlin), Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (Carleton University, Canada), Balsillie School of International Affairs (Canada), The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva), and Tsinghua University School of Public Affairs (Tsinghua University, China). This is a great chance to link up with people in other parts of the world and to connect up our students (some schools use the seminar series as a basis for a course) - hopefully my Australian accent will not be too thick!!<br /><br /><br />I settled on the following title <em><a href="http://www.policy-net.org/seminars">Understanding The Role of Public Managers in the 21st Century: Challenges and Debates</a>.</em> This will enable me to speak broadly about the changing role of public managers and how this has changed over time as waves of reform have redefined this role. It will also provide a chance to discuss some of the interesting debates that are emerging around the public value framework something I have spent quite a bit of time delving into over the last few years.<br /><br />Recently John Alford and I published a piece in a special issue of the <em><a href="http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a909505810">International Journal of Public Administration</a></em> titled Making Sense of Public Value: Concepts, Critiques and Emergent Meanings. In the paper we revisited Mark Moore's original work on the public value framework - essentially a strategic management framework for the public sector - and then we considered how the notion of public value has taken off in different ways, especially over the last few years.<br /><br />A fairly heated debate has been sparked through a serious of exchanges in the <em>Australian Journal of Public Administration</em> through a series of articles since 2007 which are essentially focused on the politics, management and whether this approach travels well outside the USA. More recently the debate has internationalised with our piece in the IJPA and a piece by Rod Rhodes and John Wanna being published in <em>Public Administration.</em> Expect this one to continue on for a while! </div>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-45131351539853078442009-07-03T08:59:00.005+10:002009-07-03T09:53:52.053+10:00The Challange of "Closing the Gap"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFYWKFnchalXi6aX7k3EW7PusQ76RaJN9RPIkKu_ypq8WJDAGE_xImQ9cJBXsdIexRVrmEcs6B-fNVx7CE4Az8qBh5jQN26ybi_KnCtHTSK0xreqU3FmJfc9Klt3cGOQ5Os3ZUSKOLXZ0/s1600-h/New+Picture+%281%29.bmp"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 237px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFYWKFnchalXi6aX7k3EW7PusQ76RaJN9RPIkKu_ypq8WJDAGE_xImQ9cJBXsdIexRVrmEcs6B-fNVx7CE4Az8qBh5jQN26ybi_KnCtHTSK0xreqU3FmJfc9Klt3cGOQ5Os3ZUSKOLXZ0/s320/New+Picture+%281%29.bmp" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354013947097109186" border="0" /></a><br />Yesterday the <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/">Productivity Commission</a> released the <span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/indigenous/keyindicators2009">Overcoming Disadvantage</a> </span>report which tracks whether or not government policy and programs are impacting on Indigenous Australians outcomes across a range of areas e.g. life expectancy, Year 12 completions, health, criminal justice and so on. The almost 800-page report (<a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/90130/overview-booklet.pdf">a shorter overview is available</a>) is an attempt to pull together data from across the country to enable the <a href="http://www.coag.gov.au/">Council of Australian Governments</a> (COAG) to track progress on its commitment addressing Indigenous disadvantage. It is the fourth in the series of reports (<a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/indigenous">2003, 2005, 2007</a>). The current framework is centred on the notion of "closing the gap" which is at the centre of COAG agreements hammered out under the Rudd government in late 2007 through 2008.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25725998-601,00.html">Media coverage</a> has so far been relatively negative and has focused on the lack of progress and, in some cases, increase in worrying statistics (e.g. reporting of child abuse). As was noted in <a href="http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/houserules/index.php/theaustralian/comments/closing_the_gap/">The Australian</a> yesterday "all the usual horror statistics are there" with "no improvement in 80 per cent of the 50 economic and social indicators of disadvantage the report measure. Indigenous children are six times as likely to be abused as non-indigenous Australians, according to the report. This is an increase on 2003 when they were four times as likely to be abused. Indigenous people are 13 times more likely to end up in prison. The imprisonment rate increased by 46 per cent for indigenous women and 27 per cent for indigenous men. Indigenous victims of domestic violence are hospitalised at a rate 34 times higher than non-indigenous people". It is hard to tell a positive story about the data, but what can we garner from the report about the challenges of public management in Australia?<br /><br />Firstly, this is a complex and challenging policy area. As part of a large research project our team has spent a lot of time looking at how government agencies connect up to address Indigenous policy and service delivery. Here we are not talking (simply!) about Commonwealth organisations, but also States, Territories, local government, non-profits, private organisations, and community groups. Making progress using such a complex institutional and organisational structures creates ample opportunity, but major barriers.<br /><br />Secondly, creation and collection of data is a real challenge in policy areas that span jurisdictions and organisations. This is not the first we have heard of this (health care is another classic example). Amazingly there is no common data collection approach but, instead, a multitude of system - think for example of how police officers in each Australian jurisdiction would classify their activities, or health providers, or educational institutions. Getting <span style="font-style: italic;">simple</span> picture is problematic. Prime Minister Rudd <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/national/national/general/gap-humbles-governments/1557950.aspx?src=enews">noted yesterday</a> at the COAG meeting that ''there's simply not enough statistical analysis to give us clear indications as to what's happening on the ground''. In the end, there is an enormous challenge of getting baseline data and this has still not been solved.<br /><br />Third, the report and the associated coverage shows us again the perils of performance measurement and reporting. The <a href="http://player.video.news.com.au/theaustralian/#krZl6aehhAJX_Cnvef962oxabgZjMMev">Prime Minister</a> has indicated that the report was "devastating", and others have lamented the lack of progress. But when the end outcomes of the COAG closing the gap strategy include indicators such as closing the life expectancy gap in a generation, are we right to pass judgement a few years in? In other areas very ambitious targets have been set and rightly so: halving the gap in employment outcomes in a decade, having the gap in reading, writing and numeracy within a decade and so on. Another issue emerges around the closing the gap notion: we are not trying to reach an absolute standard, but a relative one and the outcomes for non-Indigenous Australians are not static. This means that where there is improvement in the outcomes for non-Indigenous Australians the gap which has to be breached widens.<br /><br />For sure we need to track progress, but what will be the implications for policy action? My concern, based on our recent research work, is what the reaction will be and whether there is ever a chance for changes to become embedded in an area subject to so much policy inertia. One of the key things that emerged from our recent field work was the almost constant churn in policy and programs and the inability for people on-the-ground to ever get traction. Let's see what the coming weeks bring.Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-11845587771509851882009-06-23T08:20:00.005+10:002009-06-23T09:01:31.681+10:00Did I make the Top 50?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJoizU6madE0zr6pAAFfy5aJhKn7WOjKtOowac7XHdv6JyxCS6M5Agi6j1U4ikxsdP5QqJJ5lzwPdTQiZcj1pzGa4eNgssEQ2iY7cZZJK5-GMVru6LGf7x6GqKVTWkht5xirJ5qw7IVLz/s1600-h/top-50.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350290863035075890" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 232px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTJoizU6madE0zr6pAAFfy5aJhKn7WOjKtOowac7XHdv6JyxCS6M5Agi6j1U4ikxsdP5QqJJ5lzwPdTQiZcj1pzGa4eNgssEQ2iY7cZZJK5-GMVru6LGf7x6GqKVTWkht5xirJ5qw7IVLz/s320/top-50.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div>Yesterday I got an email from the editors of <a href="http://www.esade.edu/public/modules.php?name=issue&idnewsletter=1&idissue=45">PUBLIC</a> which comes out of the ESADE Institute of Public Governance and Management, Spain. They have released the Top 50 articles from their newsletter PUBLIC as part of their 5th Anniversary. Around 10,000 people read the newsletter in more than 100 countries. A few years back I was invited to write an <a href="http://www.esade.edu/public/modules.php?name=issue&idnewsletter=1&idissue=32">article</a> on public value and contracts for the newsletter and was published alongside Joseph Stiglitz, Chris Huxham and Christopher Pollitt, not bad. </div><br /><br /><div></div><div>Unfortunately I didn't make the cut for the Top 50 but it is a great collection for those interested in public management and reads like a "who's who" (maybe this explains my glaring absence?). Better still, the editors have made it free! You can access it from the following link: <a href="http://issuu.com/publicbook/docs/public_en/8">http://issuu.com/publicbook/docs/public_en/8</a></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div></div></div>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-67830630878629607582009-06-22T07:36:00.004+10:002009-06-22T08:07:51.406+10:00Nothing like a scandal to heat up a cold Canberra winter!<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5349898687617372242" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 223px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRn6WVh7tL1dbAm-dYY3mmzQB8Pj9iamCtO8-gLaOVxKl-poK9n_G4qxvVZ0nEPmb4TEaDtOqRuytHHKGCFQN6L4_sAnT0Af-dLDv41tAdgKz862KQ9Xg_sWLy0rgFj8BEUTR4YsmPaSx3/s320/cartoon.jpg" border="0" />After a bit of a break - apologies for that - I am back to blogging, and what a time to return! Last week the "ute-gate" scandal emerged from the depths of winter to give political junkies a scandal to obsess about. The Brits may have heads rolling over perks, but surely it is only in Australia that a <a href="http://www.pm.gov.au/">Prime Minister</a> can borrow a ute from a mate and see it snowball into calls for resignation over emails, favours, faxes and dust-ups at the <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/gallery/1,20039,5058014-601,00.html">Mid-Winter Ball</a>!<br /><br />In <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25669049-601,00.html">The Australian</a> today several articles deal with the emerging scandal and political showdown. The story centres on whether or not a long-time friend of the PM (and a car dealer that lent him a ute) was given favoured treatment by the government in having his interests represented during a period where the government was trying to assist the car industry.<br /><br />With calls for resignation flying back and forth a range of interesting questions are being asked: Did a long-time friend of the PMs get special treatment? Is it "normal" for the Treasurer to get faxes about constituents at home? Does the mysterious email exist? Has the PM and/or his Treasurer misled the Parliament? As the Federal Police are called in investigate some parts of the "whodunit" age old questions emerge: what is the proper role of public servants? what is the nature of the relationship between politicians, their advisors, and public servants?<br /><br />Such questions are nothing new, we now have a new scandal, however, to examine them in. Perhaps most importantly, are public servants acting inappropriately or not? Has a culture emerged whereby public servants are too "responsive" to political actors? This scandal feeds into a very interesting debate which played out in the pages of the Australian Journal of Public Administration between the former head of the <a href="http://www.apsc.gov.au/">Australian Public Service Commission</a>, Andrew Podger and the former head of the <a href="http://www.pmc.gov.au/">Department of Prime Minister of Cabinet</a>, Dr Peter Shergold. the articles are available for free from the <a href="http://www.wiley.com/bw/journal.asp?ref=0313-6647">journal website. </a><br /><br />Over the coming days and weeks we can expect this issue to be dissected to the nth degree, however for those interested in public administration and management this will be yet another (potential) example of the changing nature of the politico-bureaucratic relationship and the questionable role of political advisers who act as agents between the two.<br /><br />The pollies are back in Canberra this week before the winter recess: expect a feisty week as they play high stakes poker in part with the reputation of public servants.Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-1635761337207983682009-04-09T00:00:00.004+10:002009-04-09T08:42:27.365+10:00And another thing ... Back to Bhutan<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Kie_KIUBxirN1dXHgxyf8fP323rswfnAj6xuUUrNYmlRFTDLqoIDlT67TmmZGMeSQCpT52vF3BBnDZKiNzS2Ic3WJwOP9rtflOfqku5kHs1cndJeoE7TOvd0GKllCoGKkarHk_ceFOgb/s1600-h/pub+admin+develoment.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322320934213619746" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 101px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 132px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Kie_KIUBxirN1dXHgxyf8fP323rswfnAj6xuUUrNYmlRFTDLqoIDlT67TmmZGMeSQCpT52vF3BBnDZKiNzS2Ic3WJwOP9rtflOfqku5kHs1cndJeoE7TOvd0GKllCoGKkarHk_ceFOgb/s320/pub+admin+develoment.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I recently had an article (with Debbie <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Blackman</span>) published in <em>Public Administration and Development, </em>which looks at civil service reform in Bhutan. Debbie and I visited Bhutan together in 2007 and have both returned (separately) in 2008 to work with civil servants there. Despite the remarkable changes going on in Bhutan in recent times there is remarkably little written on Bhutan's reforms. Part of this probably has to do with limited access but also the fact that most attention in recent times has come from the international infatuation with Gross National Happiness which, I think, tends to be caricatured and not taken seriously as a unique Buddhist-inspired development philosophy. Some have argued <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">GNH</span> is the Bhutanese contribution to Buddhist economics - I didn't even know this existed until I starting writing this article! You can see the abstract <a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/2821/home?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0">here</a> or you can get the whole article from my Crawford School page. Over the next year I will do some writing on service delivery and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">reform</span> in Bhutan, and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">perhaps</span> over the next couple join with some colleagues to write a book of reform and democratisation. In the meantime enjoy some of the first published work on public sector reform in Bhutan!</div>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-54199776209061495372009-04-08T23:20:00.007+10:002009-04-09T08:44:26.509+10:00Dole queues, hiring binges, and book contracts!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-EK6x6fUqF5Ir9FvPTjl07tnzOhVxF1WMn22tZdJmxKhnxipNTUIXNV8pJzCXq4HcrTEnuhusAof6RT1Flyi3TP8DJAQsvKvO2wE6NtuPvSqPxQxaOuAeTxgmniLIz6FcxHs3DphMNToK/s1600-h/unemployment.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5322311059166770450" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 203px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-EK6x6fUqF5Ir9FvPTjl07tnzOhVxF1WMn22tZdJmxKhnxipNTUIXNV8pJzCXq4HcrTEnuhusAof6RT1Flyi3TP8DJAQsvKvO2wE6NtuPvSqPxQxaOuAeTxgmniLIz6FcxHs3DphMNToK/s320/unemployment.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>One area of employment growth has been the recent hiring binge at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Centrelink</span> - the Australian government one-stop-shop - as government gears up for a major increase in unemployment numbers. In <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25294634-5013404,00.html">The Australian </a>this week it was reported that <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Centrelink</span> had hired 1000 additional staff to handle to deal with the increased demand from those joining the unemployment queue. The call centre has been unable to meet demand from a combination of pressure including rising unemployment, those seeking assistance from recent natural disasters, and people desperately ringing to see when the Rudd government's "stimulus" payment will hit their bank accounts. With latest unemployment figures out tomorrow, maybe we could see some more hiring going on at the service end of government? </div><div></div><div>In a related <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25294635-5013404,00.html">development</a> the recent announcement of the tender outcomes for the latest round of employment services contracts has caused outcry to say the least! More than a decade in, the system has had a real shake-up with the latest round of tendering, the first under the Rudd Government. International players have entered the game in Australia and a range of local, non-profit providers, many rated as high performing providers, have lost contracts and will now start adding their own staff to the dole queues. The Job Network, now Job Service Australia, has always been a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">fascinating</span> experiment with a quasi-market: the previous government dismantled a government organisation which handled job placement for unemployment people and created a market for employment services. Whilst it took a few rounds to settle - a period over which there was a clear reduction in the number of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">providers</span> as market concentration occurred - an interesting mix of competition, performance <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">management</span>, and attempts to develop longer-term arrangements developed. I wrote a three-part <a href="http://casestudies.anzsog.edu.au/List+all+cases/">case</a> which set out the history of employment services reform and how performance management developed in the system for the Australia and New Zealand School of Management a couple of years ago - might be time for an update! </div><div> </div><div></div><div>Given the uproar over changes, including who lost contracts and why, current sentiment is that there may be a <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2008/s2536362.htm">Senate inquiry</a> to investigate the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">basis</span> for awarding the contracts. Of course, in a "market", quasi as it might be, there is no <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">guarantees of business</span> .......</div><div></div><div>Busy time ahead for me as I embark on my first major book. Together with John Alford from the Australia New Zealand School of Government, I have a contract with Palgrave Macmillian to write a book on how government works with external parties to deliver public services. Due with the publisher June 2010 looks like John and I will be powering on through 2009-10. </div>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-65531554156250838542009-03-27T07:15:00.006+11:002009-04-09T08:45:19.486+10:00Blogging in the Mother CountryColin Talbot, an academic from the UK has recently started a blog on Whitehall and Public Management. I met Colin a few years ago at a conference in Nottingham where I was presenting a paper on public value and contracting and we have keep in touch since exchanging papers and thoughts on the topics. He works across a range of public management topics but I found his book <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paradoxical-Primate-Societas-S/dp/0907845851/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238099156&sr=8-1">The Paradoxical Primate</a></em> a fabulous read - highly recommended!<br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317594942593369618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWhPDwbkCdqsF8mAKAmI6Ba_rIJ22LwEjpkX2X1apZE9ykcYAcj2MS1NifjDehDF4dzPt0r5SDFQZyYzVmGC4F5sHrMDgk6lrQRHu15uj_2ODcUu-r0yN6ariDED0RT_EPv6T-yUzL8uif/s320/whitehall1.jpg" border="0" /><br /><br /><br /><br />Colin has been doing some work in the area of public value - one of my areas of interest - and recently edited a special issue of the <a href="http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=g909506346~db=all"><em>International Journal of Public Administration</em> </a>on the topic where I had an article with John Alford, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.anzsog.edu.au">Australia and New Zealand School of Government. </a><br /><br />Colin's blog has been an instant success and shows clearly the interest in public management <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">around</span> the world. You can check it out here: <a href="http://whitehallwatch.wordpress.com/">http://whitehallwatch.wordpress.com/</a>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-45739315333562048922009-03-26T21:30:00.006+11:002009-04-09T08:43:31.420+10:00Cutting Jobs to Change Culture?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqaecK8XcdKAC6-ZITlTbRjdO7_oyYg5yH3Ch8xrJXrWi3EAi6-IbcRB0Pn32m8V2E7mWMVuRkZcMNfm2S939JMyrrxqoZySt6Wj6yOpSTHo1URqm3G4F-ROFIozuaUxHZV4DqV8WYktP/s1600-h/axe.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317446367480691138" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 111px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqaecK8XcdKAC6-ZITlTbRjdO7_oyYg5yH3Ch8xrJXrWi3EAi6-IbcRB0Pn32m8V2E7mWMVuRkZcMNfm2S939JMyrrxqoZySt6Wj6yOpSTHo1URqm3G4F-ROFIozuaUxHZV4DqV8WYktP/s320/axe.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />The Australian Bureau of Statistics has announced that it will cut 180 managers, following on from similar level cuts <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/General/executive-stress-as-180-abs-jobs-to-go/1465638.aspx?src=email">last year</a>. As I have mentioned previously the "efficiency dividend" is challenging many government organisations but in this case it has been startling to hear the cuts are driven, in part, by the opinions of younger staff in the organisation.<br /><br />The Acting Australian Statistician explained that his decision was guided, in part, by a repeated complaint from younger staff that the "management culture" was a key barrier to innovation and adaptation.<br /><br />The issue of organisational culture is, to say the least, a controversial one in the academic literature and also in management practice. In <em>practice</em> culture is often cited as a key to organisational success or as a reason why organisations struggle to perform or achieve goals. But what do even mean by culture? Definitions abound, of course, but one of the most interesting debates in the literature on culture (well, from my view anyway) is whether culture is something an organisation <em>has</em> which means management can change it or use it as some form of lever; on the other hand are those that conceive of culture as something an organisation <em>is. Here </em>culture is a more anthropological concept<em> </em>which implies managers cannot do much "to" it. In practice, when we hear of attempts to change culture we often hear about how hard this is, how organisations fail at it, or how "if only we can change the culture" we would be able to do what we really want to.<br /><br />Whether removing 180 managers will allow for profound cultural change, let's wait and see!Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-43854461311389283152009-02-25T12:32:00.003+11:002009-04-09T08:41:50.536+10:00Are Canberrans Really Safe from the Axe?A recent article in the <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/capital-ps-jobs-look-safe-from-axe/1441912.aspx?storypage=0">Canberra Times</a> optimistically reported that Canberra-based public servants were largely safe from the federal government's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">suspected</span> trimming of the public service. In the 1990s massive cuts <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">occurred</span> to the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Commonwealth</span> public service and created major economic problems in the capital (although the resultant <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">property</span> price crash would be welcomed by some in Canberra!). The never-ending '<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">efficiency</span> dividend' imposed on government agencies has resulted in vacant jobs going unfilled, non-renewal of contractors and the like. But for how long can <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">dividends</span> be delivered using this approach? In combination with the Prime Ministers <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">phenomenal</span> work ethic and his seemingly never-ending demands on public servants to follow his lead has caused a lot of fuss around Canberra (see earlier posts). And, whilst the Territory government might be 'confident' they will be spared the razor gang's cuts, their <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">optimism</span> might be seen in months to come, to be over-inflated.<br /><br />It's also to believe that cuts won't be made in Canberra in what are mainly policy parts of Departments to enable service expansion around the country when we are getting closer and closer to a dreaded recession. Demand for governments services will <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">clearly</span> increase - something <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">recognised</span> recently by the reconfiguring of rules in the <a href="http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25099422-31037,00.html">Job Network</a> to enable those made redundant to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">immediately</span> access job placement and training services - at a cost of almost $300M. When push comes to shove will the government really want to save Canberra, or invest its ever-dwindling funds into services for what will be an increasing pool of unemployed people across the coutry?Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-69580113172232330032009-01-13T10:18:00.002+11:002009-01-13T10:27:05.135+11:00Public Servants Fight BackToday, <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/workload-takes-toll-on-bureaucrats/1405345.aspx?storypage=0">The Canberra Times</a> carried another article on the issue of workloads for public servants. This is an issue which is unlikely to fade from the radar as the human resource issues bubbling away in the Australian Public Service continue to emerge - high turnover, efficiency dividends, recruitment problems, changes to terms and conditions following the election of Labor, and increasing deamnds from both political masters and the community.<br /><br /> What was interesting about the latest installment in this ongoing issue was the comments by the head of the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Australian</span> Public Service Commission, Lynelle Briggs. Briggs was quoted as saying, The cumulative weight of efficiency dividends over the past 20 years or so has been enormous ... and that in combination with only partial funding of salary increases in the public service, together with the things we're asked to absorb, has taken a big toll.''<br /><br />Briggs argued, ''I think if the Government wants good policy advice with some carefully nuanced perspectives on where to go, then people need time to have a break ... the alternative is that we continue to work at this rate and we get used to it. But if the Government is going to do that they're going to have to pay us more. It's as simple as that.''<br /><br />The Community and Public Sector Union has mounted similar arguments and is gearing up for a "major campaign" against the government as the combined effects of arbitrary efficiency <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">dividends</span>, increasing demand for services, and downward pressure on salaries looks like creating a very <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">unhealthy</span> work environment indeed.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/workload-takes-toll-on-bureaucrats/1405345.aspx?storypage=0"></a>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-63568920712416335242008-12-24T08:20:00.003+11:002008-12-24T08:52:20.647+11:00Kevin Rudd slashes staff bill for MPs<div>An article in The Australian caught my eye this morning: <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24839221-2702,00.html">Kevin Rudd slashes staff bill for MPs.</a><br /><br />Australian PM Kevin Rudd has a nickname around Canberra <em>Kevin 24/7</em> in recognition of the long-hours culture he has bought to the public service. It did not take long for a public spat to emerge between Rudd, the public service and unions as he pushed public servants into longer and <a href="http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23818820-5013871,00.html">longer hours </a>to fit with his working style. Rudd, however, has been <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/29/2259640.htm">unapologetic</a> indicating he had big plans and that public servants had to be prepared to work hard. In terms of people management issues, it is not hard to predict the short-medium terms impacts here - higher turnover, burn-out, sliding morale and so on. It is hard to imagine that many will be happy to see this become a permanent approach to work in the public sector, especially given the focus in recent years on work-life balance.<br /><br />Today's article was focused on MPs staff and showed that here too he getting more for his money: "Kevin Rudd has slashed the cost of hiring staff for politicians by $5 million a month since taking office and has met his promise to cut ministerial staff by30 per cent". Questions are being raised, however about the quality of work that might come from a reduction in the number of advisers and increasing demands on them.<br /><br />Earlier this year <a href="http://arts.anu.edu.au/sss/TeachingStaff.asp#maley">Dr Maria Maley </a>from the School of Social Sciences at ANU did an<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMLTlrOHP9Xw3zjl7T5Hyle74Qa1tuGYkrCrGMTVeJh0EXmKJ9hEl2aL_A2cgmtbrGftsLalXc85-Gq1-xectZ_uXlDriWR9-mN2N32sBKEwTiKlqWyfzFYbzmAs7qEL4qKCRO1_D5egF/s1600-h/kevin.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5283106259033082466" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMLTlrOHP9Xw3zjl7T5Hyle74Qa1tuGYkrCrGMTVeJh0EXmKJ9hEl2aL_A2cgmtbrGftsLalXc85-Gq1-xectZ_uXlDriWR9-mN2N32sBKEwTiKlqWyfzFYbzmAs7qEL4qKCRO1_D5egF/s320/kevin.jpg" border="0" /></a> interesting <a href="http://polsc.anu.edu.au/seminars.php">seminar</a> in the ANU Political Science Program looking at the roles and activities of ministerial advisers. In identifying the distinctive roles that advisers play, Maria's work is reminiscent of Mintzberg's work which followed managers to find out what it was they <em>actually</em> did.<br /><br />It will be interesting to see what the effect of Kevin 24/7 will have on both advisers and the public service over the next few years!</div>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-34307704881459453302008-12-23T13:56:00.007+11:002008-12-23T21:21:57.259+11:00Public Sector Reform in Bhutan<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxQltFqE0rmJ6pJtPGhCq55hXOGiC8XXXVOw3jLP-V4utdl-uNgUVCYSdGmj-x_Lk3DAkV39h4sPrf7TFpFwlIJNhZraHiZ5y3vi_Fl2V65-SPtzwNlsvgO3sxsc0WARITerZsUtueA9-/s1600-h/bhutan.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282814729076410930" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxQltFqE0rmJ6pJtPGhCq55hXOGiC8XXXVOw3jLP-V4utdl-uNgUVCYSdGmj-x_Lk3DAkV39h4sPrf7TFpFwlIJNhZraHiZ5y3vi_Fl2V65-SPtzwNlsvgO3sxsc0WARITerZsUtueA9-/s320/bhutan.jpg" border="0" /></a> In November I travelled to Bhutan to deliver a course on Service Excellence to civil servants as part of the Management Development Program hosted by the <a href="http://www.rim.edu.bt/">Royal Institute of Management </a>and the <a href="http://www.rcsc.gov.bt/">Royal Civil Service Commission </a>in collaboration with the ANU and the <a href="http://www.canberra.edu.au/home/">University of Canberra</a>. It was a great chance to learn about the challenges related to service delivery faced by civil servants in Bhutan as they confront the twin pressures of development and democracy.<br /><br />One of the most interesting parts of the Bhutanese reform story is the unique development philosophy they have adopted, Gross National Happiness, which captures an important range of aspects not just economic development. Whilst many outside Bhutan think this is a quirky notion, it captures the Buddhist beliefs which underpin life in Bhutan such as protection of nature, and the desire to preserve important social and cultural aspects. Some have suggested it represents a "post-modern state" (for some comments on this see my paper in Public Administration and Development).<br /><br />I have recently written two papers on Bhutan with Debbie Blackman from the University of Canberra. These will soon be published in <a href="http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/2821/home">Public Administration and Development</a> and the <a href="http://info.emeraldinsight.com/products/journals/journals.htm?PHPSESSID=4cl5h0osjqfahii4eii40umj62&id=ijcoma">International Journal of Commerce and Management</a>. You can get an early draft of the Public Administration and Development paper from the <a href="http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/degrees/pogo/discussion_papers/PDP08-01.pdf">Crawford School</a> discussion paper site.<br /><br />It was my second visit; in 2008 Debbie and I worked with colleagues at RIM to develop courses for their upcoming Masters program.<br /><br />Here I am pictured with <a href="http://www.rim.edu.bt/FacProfile/ThinleyNamgyel.htm">Thinley Namgyal</a> from RIM, taking a break as we hiked to the famous Taktshang Monastery or Tigers Nest. Thinley did his MBA at the University of Canberra and he is currently the Registrar at the Royal Institute of Management.Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708933304296514967.post-2809114964641297182008-12-23T13:26:00.006+11:002008-12-23T13:43:38.360+11:00Collaboration: what's all the fuss?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid_BO6219FIuEVAdIYeCJeAei2I0S1ydWIstCAnmEpKcs3MV2as2nAELNS93mian1SB6CFoP6zbImWFlRTzigtPTKZfnN-9500FMAXQ3-OwW7hWz_jydVO2aOtLbdE6kt5ecvoyNf_igfl/s1600-h/collaborative+governance+2008.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5282806832231151618" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 162px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 195px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid_BO6219FIuEVAdIYeCJeAei2I0S1ydWIstCAnmEpKcs3MV2as2nAELNS93mian1SB6CFoP6zbImWFlRTzigtPTKZfnN-9500FMAXQ3-OwW7hWz_jydVO2aOtLbdE6kt5ecvoyNf_igfl/s320/collaborative+governance+2008.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Welcome to Public Management Australia a blog written by Janine O'Flynn, an academic in the <a href="http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/">Crawford School of Economics and Government</a> at <a href="http://www.anu.edu.au/index.php">The Australian National University</a> . The aim of the blog is to connect with those interested in issues of public management in Australia and around the world.<br /><br />To start us off, my first post will be on the issue of collaboration in the public sector. Collaboration has became an increasingly popular notion, not just in the Australian public sector but around world. Recently I co-edited a book on Collaborative Governance in Australia as part of the <a href="http://epress.anu.edu.au/titles/anzsog.html">Australia and New Zealand School of Government series</a> and it is now available to download from the <a href="http://epress.anu.edu.au/titles/index.html">ANU E Press</a>. The book brings together papers from practitioners in government, non-profits, and academics.<br /><br />My chapter raises the question as to whether we really have much evidence for collaborative practice, as opposed to collaboration talk. It also questions whether collaboration is just another buzzword which has taken hold. Feel free to comment!<br /><br />Download the book (or individual chapters) for free: <a href="http://epress.anu.edu.au/collab_gov_citation.html">http://epress.anu.edu.au/collab_gov_citation.html</a>Janine O'Flynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01202184392509172537noreply@blogger.com4