Complete Unabridged Papers

This section contains original works (academic papers, conference presentations, analytic studies, etc.) from which articles have been excerpted. These works are typically too lengthy to publish in their entirety in hard copy, but The Public Manager Web site allows readers to view the full work—including footnotes, references, and bibliography—for a more complete appreciation of content details, method, and source material.

 

 

The New Administration's Shared Services Opportunity (appendix)

By John Marshall

 

“Shared services” is a transformational business model for managing “back office” administrative services, such as financial management (FM), human resources (HR), purchasing, and information technology (IT). These services support the objectives and missions of any business or government enterprise and are essential for any organization to function. They are also very routine activities with low strategic value, and the work processes and IT systems used to manage them are easily standardized and consolidated into “shared service organizations” (SSOs) that can perform them more cost effectively than most organizations can for themselves. In today’s economy, there is no reason for any government or business enterprise to “own” its own back office when faster, better and cheaper services are available through high performing SSOs.

 

Shared services are producing impressive business results in leading public and private sector organizations around the world. Their use in the Federal Government has been championed by both Republican and Democratic administrations, but adoption and maturity have lagged behind global pacesetters.

 

Entrepreneurship in City Immigration Policy

William E. Baker and Paul A. Harris

 

How an issue gets on the governmental agenda has been an important topic for many years. Cobb and Elder theorize key to change is a “triggering point”, whereas Kingdon informs us that the change occurs with the convergence of the three steams of problems, politics, and policies producing a window opportunity. Important to each theory is the role of an entrepreneur to move the issue through the policy making process. The City of Dalton, Georgia as one of the first new destinations for large scale immigration is a case study that supports the theories of Cobb and Elder and a Kingdon is also applicable at the local level.

 

Improving Transportation by Leveraging Alternative Entergy Solutions: Initiatives in U.S. Air Force Transportation Systems

Steve G. Green, Kurt A. Heppard, and Michael A. Phillipich

 

Efficient transportation of material, people, and other resources is a key factor in any successful military campaign. Leveraging alternative fuels presents an exceptional opportunity for the Department of Defense (DoD) to address one of the most significant issues it faces as it strives to improve its transportation and logistics. Effectively managing the availability and cost of fuel, or aptly put “fueling the fight” could literally dictate ultimate success or failure on the battle field. This paper will examine the issue, identify some of the laws and directives that address energy consumption, describe the United States Air Force’s (USAF) and the United States Air Force Academy’s (USAFA) responses to the situation. A review of alternative energy solutions being studied and implemented by USAF transportation systems includes a case study on biodiesel; the alternative energy source that has an immediate potential impact on transportation for USAF organizations.

 

Six Trends Transforming Government

By Mark Abramson, Jonathan Breul, and John Kamensky

 

How the interrelated effects of demographics, technology, and new modes of public service delivery are changing the way government is being managed.

 

In the late 1990s, no one suspected that government management would dramatically change the way it has today—in emergency response; in the use of “311” service calling, Blackberries, and other personal electronic tools; and in operations, such as the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) transformation from a paper-bound agency to one of the most efficient in electronic services. Public managers must constantly look for ways to adopt, adapt, or innovate new ways to deliver services.

 

Intergovernmental Policy Collaboration Between the City of Portland and Mt. Hood National Forest: Bull Run Watershed Analytical Case Study

Gary L. Larsen

 

The City of Portland and the USDA Forest Service are working together, along with citizens, to formulate comprehensive new policy to guide joint management of the Bull Run watershed on the Mt. Hood National Forest. This effort follows four decades of conflict resulting from differences between the federal view of multiple use contrasted with a local view of exclusive use for producing high quality water. The new policy is being formulated by the City and the Forest Service through negotiation of a comprehensive Memorandum of Understanding that structures the parties’ roles, responsibilities, business processes, and working relationships. A systems approach using the vector of change model is used to describe and analyze the policy formulation process.

 

 

67th Annual ASPA Conference

The paper that follows is based on the author’s plenary lecture at the 67th Annual ASPA National Conference held in Denver, Colorado, March 31-April 2, 2006. It contains comprehensive text not published in the article in the printed version of The Public Manager.

 

Don’t Feed the Crocodiles: Public Administration’s Role in Restoring Democracy

Irene Rubin

 

This paper describes the eroding components of democratic governance, and then urges public administrators to take some steps to repair the damage. Academics can help, but how career officials respond to this crumbling infrastructure is key because the process by which they carry out their daily tasks gives substance to or denies democracy. Democratic governance comes not just from the top down, but also from the bottom up.

 

 

Citizen Auditors—Web-Enabled, Open-Source Government

Eric Kavanagh

 

In this article, Eric Kavanagh takes an interesting look at disaster preparedness and examines how models that oversee the financial holdings and reporting accuracy of America’s corporations can be used to effect transparency in government—right down to where federal relief funds go for Hurricane Katrina victims. Eric Kavanagh is the Web editor for TDWI, an organization that provides education, training, certification, and market research for executives and IT professionals worldwide. Founded in 1995, TDWI is the premier educational institute for business intelligence and data warehousing, visit www.tdwi.org.

 

 

Business Continuity/Emergency Planning Webcast

Tony Gill, an author appearing in our Fall 2005 issue, will conduct a webcast dealing with business continuity planning.  The specifics of this particular session will examine the economic impact of pandemic that can be mitigated by integrating Telework into business continuity planning.  Discussions will include strategies for addressing absenteeism and maintaining corporate operations in such an environment.  The webcast may be viewed at

 

http://events.streamlogics.com/gill/dec15-05/index.asp

 

As a service to those parties interested in the topic of business continuity planning and telework, we offer access to his latest The Public Manager article.

 

 

Continuity Planning in a Post-Katrina World

Tony Gill

 

The time has come for the federal government to integrate standard principles of business continuity, emergency management, and risk management into a common template and include telework as a key component of workplace continuity strategy. This article examines how the times ahead will inevitably force private-sector participants to assess the strategic value of telework in maintaining critical operations, and public-sector organizations will be expected to provide leadership.

 

 

66th Annual ASPA National Conference

The three papers that follow are based on presentations given at the 66th Annual ASPA National Conference held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 2–5, 2005. They include comprehensive text not published as part excerpted versions featured in the printed edition of The Public Manager.

 

Corruption and the Development of Organizational Ethic Since the 1996 Constitution

I.W. Ferreira and M.S. Bayat

 

In their paper, Corruption and the Development of Organizational Ethic Since the 1996 Constitution, I. W. Ferreira and M. S. Bayat discuss how measures since the 1996 Constitution—such as the drafting of codes of conduct, whistle-blowing, and training initiatives—are making public officials more aware of the need for ethical conduct in their public dealings.

 

 

Impact of Accountability and Ethics on Public Service Delivery: A South African Perspective

Kishore Raga and Derek Taylor

 

Kishore Raga and Derek Taylor discuss in their paper, Impact of Accountability and Ethics on Public Service Delivery: A South African Perspective, how South Africa’s Constitution of 1996, by requiring all government departments to observe particular codes of conduct, is attempting to improve accountability and ethics in public service delivery—specifically at the local level.

 

 

Protection Management: An Integrated Approach to Homeland Security Educating Homeland Security Specialists

Peter A. Mameli

 

In his paper, Protection Management: An Integrated Approach to Homeland Security Educating Homeland Security Specialists, Peter A. Mameli talks about an innovative approach to weaving an interlocking knowledge base among security, fire, and emergency management professionals, who often labor under conflicting organizational cultures and world views.