bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fabric pilling image segmentation by embedding dual-attention mechanism U-Net network
Authors: Yan Yu , Tan Yanjun , Gao Pengfu , Yu Qiuyu , Deng Yuntao
Published: May 2024

The initial step in fabric pilling rating is to segment and localize the pilling region, which is a crucial and challenging task. This paper presents a fabric puckering image segmentation method that is integrated into a U-Net network with a dual-attention mechanism. We have enhanced the fully convolutional neural network (U-Net) model by incorporating the dual-attention mechanism. This modification has resulted in a powerful feature extraction capability, enabling the objective and accurate segmentation of the fabric puckering region. We refer to this improved model as the dual-attention U-Net. The network model for fabric pilling feature extraction adopts the improved VGG16 model architecture as its encoding part. The model parameters are initialized with VGG16 pre-training weights to accelerate convergence speed. Second, the feature fusion between the corresponding layers of the encoding part and the decoding part was fed into the dual-attention mechanism module to strengthen the weight values of the fabric pilling region adaptively, which made the model more focused on the fabric pilling target region; Third, the dual-attention U-Net model was trained by data augmentation and migration learning strategies to prevent overfitting; Finally, the performance of the model was evaluated with the collected fabric pilling data set. The results of the experiments indicate that the claimed dual-attention U-Net model is superior to the typical U-Net model in terms of accuracy and precision. The dual-attention U-Net model achieved 99.03% accuracy for fabric pilling segmentation.
Sustained-release of essential oils by polyvinyl alcohol-based nanofibers
Authors: Hu Xuemin , Huo Zihao , Yan Jin , He Aimin , Wang Lisha , Ha Erqi , Wang Shuo , Yang Wenxiu
Published: May 2024

Flavored cigarettes are very popular among consumers. However, many essential oils in cigarettes are lost during storage, and the utilization rate of the essential oils during use is low. Therefore, effective packaging and stable sustained release are urgently needed. In this study, a composite electrospun stable nanofiber storage material was prepared for sustained release. Polyethylene glycol, which has good heat storage properties, was selected as the heat storage material to inhibit the release of essential materials during storage. Porous graphene with good thermal conductivity and a porous structure was selected as the heat conductive component to ensure rapid and uniform release. Polyethylene glycol/porous graphene polyvinyl alcohol-mint essential oil sustained-release composite electrospun nanofibers membrane was prepared by electrospinning, and the morphology, composition, thermal properties, and sustained-release properties were tested. The results showed that the composite electrospun nanofiber membrane reduced the loss of mint oil during storage and enabled the rapid release of mint oil at high temperatures. At room temperature, the retention rate of the mint oil was still more than 90% after 120 h, and at a high temperature (75°C) the retention rate was less than 20% after 10 min; that is, 80% of the essential oil material was released within 10 min.
The moderating effect of metalinguistic reflection on the linguistic resources used in written scientific explanations / Efecto moderador de la reflexión metalingüística en los recursos lingüísticos empleados en explicaciones científicas escritas
Authors: Hugo Evelyn , Meneses Alejandra , Montenegro Maximiliano
Published: May 2024

The objective of this study was to analyse the moderating effect of metalinguistic reflection (MR) on linguistic resources to predict the quality of the scientific explanations produced by 359 fourth-grade students who participated in an instructional proposal on scientific explanations of two different scientific processes. The students’ MR level on the changes in their written explanations was assessed at the beginning and end of each unit according to three dimensions: conceptual, discursive and textual. The results show that in the first unit, the effect of metadiscursive resources on quality was diminished by the moderating effect of MR. In the second unit, the moderating effect of MR increased the effects of nominalization on the quality of the texts. The results show that the relationships between MR, linguistic resources and writing explanations are complex and dynamic. More studies are needed to grasp their development and their effects on disciplinary learning and writing.
A design-based implementation study of a preschool Spanish/English multi-tiered language curriculum / Estudio de implementación basada en el diseño de un currículum preescolar multinivel inglés/español
Authors: Spencer Trina D. , Moran Meghan K. , Petersen Douglas B. , Thompson Marilyn S. , Restrepo M. Adelaida
Published: May 2024

Implementation considerations should be integrated into the iterative development of educational innovations. The purpose of this design-based implementation research (DBIR) was to identify intervention components worthy of revision, examine the feasibility of a video manual and document barriers to the implementation of a multi-tiered dual-language instructional curriculum. Six teachers implemented the curriculum and provided feedback via structured interviews. Although four of the six teachers reported the intervention to be highly feasible, multi-tiered instruction did not align with the beliefs of two teachers. Teachers’ feedback combined with child-level narrative and vocabulary outcomes led to curriculum revisions and to the creation of additional implementation supports. Findings suggest system-level barriers influence the sustainability of multi-tiered instruction in early childhood settings.
Perception Management: An Active Strategy for Marketing and Delivering Academic Excellence at Liberal Arts Colleges
Authors: Stupak Ronald J.
Published: May 2024

Too many colleges and universities continue to remain archaic in their outdated administrative structures anchored in faculties that are too self-satisfied and too self-centered to take a lead in bringing about mutual accountability systems and behaviors on their respective campuses. More specifically, numerous liberal arts colleges continue to spend too much time looking inward, planning too much from memory rather than from imagination, suffer from faculty hubris and indifference, and do not demonstrate the market sophistication needed to be viable and visible, let alone excellent, in the changed economic world of the past decade. Therefore, in order to accentuate the contextual anchors, communication techniques, practical realities, benchmark comparabilities, sophisticated interdependence, marketing concepts, and mutual accountability required to move beyond mere survival, this article will describe, develop, and delineate “perception management” as a strategic design and action agenda for turning passive reactions into proactive realities at liberal arts colleges in particular and the public sector in general.
Performance Improvement and Customer Satisfaction as A Focus of Public Service Reform: Trends and Challenges in Africa
Authors: Un M. J. Balogun
Published: May 2024

As a reaction to the inherent weaknesses of over-arching approaches to public service reform, attention is gradually shifting to the construction of low- to medium-range models depicting conditions under which otherwise rule-bound, change-resisting, and slow-moving bureaucratic organizations might be transformed into entrepreneurial and customer-oriented entities. This rests on the assumption that the contemporary global shift toward liberalisation would do for the evaluation of public goods what the interplay of supply and demand forces in a free market does for the price of tradable goods.

Yet, the assumption of a free market for public goods is being increasingly questioned. The “ustomer” concept, in particular, is perceived by some scholars as either inapplicable to the government setting or downright subversive of the democratic norm of accountability. This article also identifies a number of factors that combine to stand the market on its head and, by so doing, to frustrate the best laid out customer service plans in government. Among these factors are the prevailing “market culture,” the devaluation and/or distortion of basic management information, and the asymmetrical relationship between “supply” and “demand.”

At the same time, however, this article argues that, in the context of Africa where democracy is still at a nascent stage, the “ustomer” focus presents a credible response to concerns about political and public accountability. Besides providing a few case studies in the performance of service delivery systems and assessing efforts at launching customer service initiatives as part of public-sector reform programmes, this article examines some of the preconditions for the inauguration and successful implementation of customer service programmes in the African pubic service.
Are There Virtues in Whistleblowing? Perspectives from Health Care Organizations
Authors: Cruise Peter L.
Published: May 2024

Another frontier of contemporary ethics is using whistle-blowers as a means to fight fraud and abuse in health care organizations. The federal government does this by increasingly relying on the False Claims Act and quitam suits brought by whistleblowers. This article argues that this approach is dysfunctional for both the whistleblower and the organizations targeted by them. The article proposes that enhanced standards, informed by virtue ethics and utilized by independent bodies such as the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations or JCAHO during the health care organization accreditation process, offer a better alternative to the current retributive approach now used by the federal government.
Reconciling the Research: Municipal finance officers on the Role of Performance Data in the Budget Process
Authors: Kelly Janet M. , Riverbark William C.
Published: May 2024

Research on the use of performance measurement points to contradictory conclusions. Most municipalities self-report that they collect performance data on a regular basis but actually use the information only sparingly during the budget construction process. To explore what may be happening or not happening, the authors began with a case study of a medium-sized municipality in the southeast, then expanded to a survey of similar-sized cities in the same region. They conclude that most municipalities are indeed collecting performance data but are simply adding them to the budget document after the deliberation process is over. The role of the budget office in performance-based reform is discussed along with the organizational changes needed to embrace performance measurement during budget construction.
Developing A Foundation: Administration in the Polis
Authors: Argyle Nolan J.
Published: May 2024

This study argues that much can be gamed by examining the true intel lectual origins of the discipline of public administration-origins found not in the work of Weber nor of Wilson nut in the writings of the Greek thinkers underpinning the development of Western civilization. This study examines early Greek contributions to our understanding of the administrative state, beginning with Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. A framework is developed which allows an examination and comparison of early Greek thought with more contemporary views of administration. The study concludes with an assessment of the value of such an examination.
Rome and Byzantium: An Administrative Overview
Authors: Argyriades Demetrius
Published: May 2024

An unintended consequence of the abrupt collapse of the USSR was to revive the rift between Rome and Byzantium whose origins are traceable to doctrinal disputes within the Christian Church culminating in the Schism of 1054. The legacy of the mistrust that this divorce engendered accounts for stereotypes which still exists today. None of these pre-conceptions has proved more time-resistant than the perceived dichotomy between divergent patterns of governance in Rome and Constantinopole. Thus, "Roman" as a predicate for administration conveys the image of rigor, integrity, and effectiveness while "Byzantium," by contrast, is often used a s synonym for bureaucratic muddling and obscurantism. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. The study of the two systems reveals, quite on the contrary, a remarkable affinity and continuity born of a common past and a shared administrative culture. Although differences exist, they may be explained in terms of changing circumstances, environmental challenges or pressures as well as varying degrees of centralization of power. The implications of all these are self-evident for modern governance and public administration.
Local Government Enterprise Fund Activity: Trends and Implications
Authors: Molinari Jeffrey , Tyer Charlie
Published: May 2024

Many municipal and county governments provide services that are financed through user charges and fees. According to accepted accounting principles, these services should be accounted for in an enterprise fund. The use of enterprise funds s becoming increasingly popular to local governments. Despite their increasing popularity, the public finance literature has identified some significant equity, control, and accountability issues associated with the use of enterprise funds. This article explores how enterprise fund activity has fared in South Carolina cities and counties over the past decade, compares that with a national survey, and offers some possible explanations for the growth in their use.
Innovations in Local Government Human Resource Systems: Observations from Several Best Practice Locations
Authors: Coggburn Jerrell D. , Hays Steven W.
Published: May 2024

The search for optimal means of accomplishing various public management tasks has long pervaded the thought and practice of public administration. This study represents an up-close look at several local jurisdictions-cities and counties-that are recognized leaders in reforming their human resources systems. The specific reforms discussed touch upon almost all elements of any government's personnel system including recruitment, selection, employee motivation (retention), training, and development. Some of the most significant conclusions of the research resonate from the prominence of various "reinvention" themes in the jurisdictions' reform agendas. Relatedly, the study offers proof that there are many examples of human resource management innovations that might be readily transported into other settings. Another significant conclusion of the site visits is that the process by which reform is introduced may well be as important as the substance of the innovations themselves.
The Local Political Economy of Inner City Neighborhoods: Theory and Application
Authors: Baer Susan E. , Ihrke Douglas M.
Published: May 2024

One of the issues in the local political economy literature revolves around the advantages of a centralized system of government versus a decentralized system of metropolitan governance with overlapping jurisdictions. Supporters of the creation of suburban communities within metropolitan areas suggest that a decentralized system creates a quasi-marketplace amongst suburban communities where residents and businesses as a whole benefit from a more attractive bundle of public services. The success of this type of system has traditionally been evaluated based on criteria such as efficiency, equity, and political feasibility. We turn the logic of metropolitan fragmentation/overlapping jurisdictions inward to explore theoretically whether the creation of Community Benefits Districts (CBDs) can similarly achieve efficient service delivery benefits for residents and businesses in inner cities, while also including equity and political feasibility in service provision as additional evaluative criteria. CBDs are new city sub-districts whose residents and businesses both agree to pay an additional property tax in order to receive supplemental public services such as safety, garbage collection, and economic development. We then attempt to apply the concepts of efficiency, equity, and political feasibility to a case study of a Baltimore sub-district.
Public Participation and Community Development: The Role of Strategic Planning
Authors: Blair Robert
Published: May 2024

Communities increasingly adopt decision aides like strategic planning as a way to clarify their role in local development. Many public administrators have integrated public participation into this planning process. This article examines the link between public participation and strategic planning. Sustainability requires local resources and strategies so public participation seems critical and essential. A case study approach explores links between local development activities and community strategic action plans laid several years earlier, and most importantly, determines the role of public participation in those connections. This paper attempts to answer a series of basic questions on the structure of strategic plans developed by communities. Do strategic plans facilitate community development? Does participatory strategic planning increase local development and sustainable activities in a community?
Local Government and the Implementation of Alabama'S Economic Development Policy
Authors: Zahariadis Nikolaos , Morgan Leslie
Published: May 2024

Political power affects not only the outcome (success or failure) of policy implementation, but also the design of structures used to deliver the policy. Beginning with the premise that the social construction of reality shapes the way policy recipients are perceived as well as the costs and benefits imposed upon them, we explore the effects of political power on the delivery of benefits to advantaged populations. More specifically, we examine the impact of local, or sub-state, government in shaping state economic development policy. To empirically probe the effects of power, we have chosen the case of Honda's investment in Alabama in 1999. We reach two conclusions. First, clarity of objectives is not detrimental to effective implementation. Second, implementation structures may be designed with fuzzy objectives and questionable linkages to outcomes in order to secure the highest level of support. Bureaucratic discretion is not simply a function of issues or need for accountability, but also a function of the incentives derived by political power.
Local Governments as E-Governments: Meeting the Implementation Challenge
Authors: Streib Gregory D. , Willoughby Katherine G.
Published: May 2024

The Internet has become an important way for individuals, private companies, and governments to get information, to communicate, and to do business. Research shows that local governments have been slow to respond to these developments. In this article we examine the ability of local governments to implement the changes needed to become cyber-governments. We develop a model that examines the strengths and weaknesses that need to be considered before embarking on E-governance reforms. We also examine the hurdles that local governments will need to cross in order to achieve success.
Complexity Theory: A New Way to Look at Organizational Change
Authors: Grobman Garym
Published: May 2024

There is a revolution in the physical sciences with applying new theories that emphasize holism, uncertainty, and nonlinearity and that de-emphasize reductionism, predictability and linearity. The interest is growing in applying these theories to the study of organizations, including public organizations. The classic model of the organization as a machine has long since been discredited, but the models that have replaced this metaphor have been less than satisfactory. The basic principles of complexity theory are explained using organizations as examples. Complexity theory suggests that organizational managers promote bringing their organizations to the “edge of chaos” rather than troubleshooting, to trust workers to self-organize to solve problems, to encourage rather than banish informal communications networks, to “go with the flow” rather than script procedures, to build in some redundancy and slack resources, and to induce a healthy level of tension and anxiety in the organization to promote creativity and maximize organizational effectiveness.
Finding Organizational Reality in Paradise: A Team of Two
Authors: Stupak Ronald J. , Stupak Katherine N.
Published: May 2024

The ultimate goal of a team of two is the overriding desire to build, to serve, to perform, to grow, and to teach. At its highest level, team-based leaders and team-led organizations regardless of size, location, or context are followed, imitated, and respected because of who they are and the values their organizations represent. Servant leadership, within a team framework, is becoming the preferred way of galvanizing the workforce in the contemporary, service driven environment. The team of two described in this article systematically and operationally managed alignment, coordination, continuous learning, power, interpersonal interactions, and the decision process by creating and maintaining mutual trust, accountability, and respect. In effect, the “reflective practitioners” highlighted in this analysis demonstrate that actions do speak louder than words.
Od Values and Mormonism: Creating Adaptive Systems
Authors: Mcconkie Mark L. , Boss R. Wayne
Published: May 2024

Our central thesis is that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, nicknamed “Mormons”, has created a culture which is not only friendly to but which also encourages change. This culture grows out of doctrinal preferences which recognize the importance of change to processes of personal and institutional growth, and which has therefore been receptive to administrative practices which encourage the same behaviors, albeit under a different nomenclature, that OD theory, practice, and interventions support.
The Ethics of New Public Management: Is Integrity at Stake?
Authors: Kolthoff Emile , Huberts Leo , Van Den Heuvel Hans
Published: May 2024

Since the late 1980s, public administration has moved to a more businesslike approach, commonly referred to as New Public Management or NPM. Output budgeting, privatization, competition and commercialization receive more attention. The question has been raised if too much identification with the style of the private sector might not generate undesired effect, for instance in the area of public integrity.

In this paper a theory, based on existing knowledge is provided about the possible negative, as well as the positive, effects on public integrity of the introduction of businesslike methods in the public service.

The overall conclusion of the paper is that the effect of introducing businesslike methods in the public sector depends more on the establishment of practical principles to ensure that these methods are exercised in an effective and ethical manner, than the introduction of businesslike methods as such.
Purchasing Faith-Based Social Services: Constitutional, Philosophical, and Practical Challenges
Authors: Gibelman Margaret
Published: May 2024

This article examines the implications of President Bush's faith-based initiative for the delivery of social services to vulnerable populations through the mechanism of purchase of service contracting. The historic relationship between church, state, and social welfare is reviewed as this relationship provides an important context in which to understand the current initiative. The Bush initiative, however, redefines and redirects the historic relationship and poses new forms of challenges for traditional service providers, including those under sectarian auspices. The implications of opening government doors to a new set of faith-based providers are highlighted, including potential legal challenges under the First Amendment, the need for capacity-building among faith-based groups, and the possible affects of deregulation, decreased funding, and increased competition.
Making Performance Measurement Relevant? Administrators’ Attitudes and Structural Orientations
Authors: Yang Kaifeng
Published: May 2024

To make performance measurement (PEM) more relevant, researchers have proposed such solutions as citizen-driven PEM, linking PEM with political accountability, using PEM to facilitate double-loop policy learning, and measuring fairness. But will public administrators be receptive to the ideas? How do organizational contexts affect their attitudes? Based on survey data, this study finds a majority of the respondents are positive about citizen-driven PEM and measuring fairness, but skeptical about using PEM results for external accountability or double-loop policy learning. The impacts of procedural orientation, market orientation, and network orientation are examined.
An Advanced Degree in Public Administration – is it Valued by City Councils?
Authors: Vanderleeuw James , Sides Jason , Williams Brian
Published: May 2024

Does holding an advanced degree in public administration matter to city councils, the local political institution that makes the hiring decision? Previous studies of city manager education place emphasis on city managers receiving professional training in public administration, and do so from a strong normative tradition stressing the professionalization of local government. The analysis presented in this paper asks whether city councils in fact place greater value on hiring a manager who holds an advanced degree in public administration compared to managers with other educational backgrounds. We employ logistic regression analysis of responses provided by city managers in the state of Texas to determine the extent to which this is the case. We find that an advanced degree in public administration is valued more than other educational backgrounds by city councils, and this value is independent of social and economic characteristics of cities and traits of individual managers.
On the Edge of A Glass Cliff: Women in Leadership in Public Organizations
Authors: Smith Amy E.
Published: May 2024

Public management research and research on organizations more generally has focused on diversity in leadership, with particular attention to issues of gender. Yet, little is known about the organizational circumstances under which women attain leadership positions, particularly in public sector settings. The glass cliff theory, stemming from research on private sector organizations, can further our understanding of these circumstances in public organizations. The glass cliff theory suggests that when women do get into leadership positions, it is most likely when the organization is in a period of crisis and when the risk of failure is higher. Using a national sample of local education agencies, this study finds support for the glass cliff theory and also finds that women hold more leadership positions in public organizations when women are in elected positions, women are in lower ranking positions, and agencies are larger.
Road to Ruin? Horizontal Equalisation of Road Grant Allocations in eastern Mainland Australian States
Authors: Drew Joseph , Dollery Brian
Published: May 2024

Intergovernmental grant funding of local government is not only common in many multi-tiered countries, but often hypothecated on local government infrastructure maintenance and renewal. In Australia, the federal government has been providing grant funding for roads since 1973 through the different state Local Government Grant Commissions. The guiding principle for this distribution of grants has been to enhance horizontal equity in the provision of local government services to all Australians, regardless of where they reside. This objective has particular significance in a commodity based economy which relies on local government for the bulk of its road infrastructure. Moreover, several recent inquiries have suggested that a growing local infrastructure backlog is a problem with national economic ramifications. Against this background, this paper examines whether the grant allocation practices of the three states which account for the bulk of the Australian population and economic activity accord with intended horizontal fiscal equity principles underlying road grant allocations. We present evidence which demonstrates that a lack of consistency and transparency not only undermines equity goals, but also the financial sustainability of individual local authorities.
The Underemployment Puzzle: The Effects of Overqualification and Involuntary Part-Time Status on Volunteering
Authors: Collins Brian K. , Long Laurie
Published: May 2024

Reverberations from the Great Recession are evident in the long-term underemployed, which includes involuntary part-time employees and those who hold educational credentials in excess of occupational requirements. Yet, the relationship between underemployment and volunteering has not been fully explored. This research examines whether two common conceptions of underemployment— overqualification and involuntary part-time employment—affect the likelihood of volunteering. Underemployment is examined from consumption and investment models of volunteering to offer contrasting implications about the relationship between underemployment and volunteering. We use logit models to analyze data from a regional underemployment survey to assess our hypotheses. Our findings suggest that self-perceptions of underemployment and objective indicators of educational overqualification increase the likelihood of volunteering, which presents important opportunities for the nonprofit and voluntary sector during periods of economic restructuring.
The Roles Assumed by Public Administrators: The Link between Administrative Discretion and Representation
Authors: Roman Alexandru
Published: May 2024

Traditionally, studies couched within the theory of representative bureaucracy have focused on examining outcomes for social minorities within a specific set of administrative practices or public policies. The concept of administrative discretion typically lies at the core of these studies, as public servants do indeed need to enjoy a certain level of administrative discretion in order to incorporate the values of a given group into their everyday decision-making. Yet, while the centrality of administrative discretion is seldom, if ever, questioned and it is most often implicitly assumed, its actual effects are rarely explicitly explored. This study, constructed on the theoretical insights drawn from representative bureaucracy and role theories, examines the relationship between administrative discretion and the assumption of roles by public servants, in particular, the representation role of steward of public interest. The empirical results confirm that administrative discretion has a significant impact on the types of roles assumed by public administrators.
The Politics of Regional Disadvantage: Regional Differences in Public Sector Employment
Authors: Colley Linda , Brown Kerry
Published: May 2024

The notion of regional disparity has received attention by government as entire regions may lag national average indictors of wellbeing and performance through lack of natural resources or access to human capital. Regional prosperity is affected by many different circumstances, including government activities and public service participation in regional labour markets. This research offers a new conceptualisation of space, place and scale in the public employment context. It examines public service jobs across regions in a particular jurisdiction and analyses how public employment compares to other jobs in each regional labour market. The research concludes that public services and public employment policies play an important role in the quantity and quality of regional job opportunities, and that public service restructuring that involves job cuts and outsourcing will affect this regional prosperity in unforeseen ways.
Performance Management in the Third Sector: A Literature-Based Analysis of Terms and Definitions
Authors: Woerrlein Lena Maria , Scheck Barbara
Published: May 2024

This paper contributes to the rather young field of research on performance management in the third sector, by providing a unique overview of current terms and definitions used in both research and professional practice. In current performance management literature, no attention is given to the fact that key terms are used inconsistently and even somewhat contradictorily. We follow the assumption that ambiguous terminology prevents further development of the topic and hampers both practitioners and academics. Therefore, we stress the importance of standardized definitions and terminology as well as present an approach to address the issue of how performance management should be understood in the third sector. The chosen concept is the one promoted by the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD/DAC). This concept is applied for two reasons: first, the OECD/DAC already has endeavored to unify terms and definitions in the field of development cooperation since its foundation in the 1960s; second, these terms and definitions are already widely used due to its large membership base. By adopting the OECD/DAC approach, this paper aims at a more unified use of third sector performance concepts in both research and practice.
Assessing Changing Accountability Structures Created by Emerging Equity Markets in the Nonprofit Sector
Authors: Grizzle Cleopatra , Sloan Margaret F.
Published: May 2024

The issue of nonprofit accountability has received broad attention by practitioners and academics and a rich accountability literature has emerged within the past two decades. In recent years amidst rising costs within the economy, increased competition for donations and grants, and rivalry from for-profit companies entering the third sector in greater numbers, nonprofits have been increasingly turning to innovative foundations and the for-profit world to leverage and/or replace their traditional sources of funding. One inevitable result from these changes in financial structures is an accompanying change in accountability structures for organizations accessing such capital. On one hand, an infusion of philanthropic equity can encourage greater accountability and help organizations define internal controls and evaluation mechanisms, yet it can also pose threats including mission creep and corporate mimicry. While donors have, at least in theory, always desired accountability from nonprofits, for these new investors accountability will not be theoretical. It will require potential shifts to a more business-based accountability structure. This paper examines these emerging financing mechanisms, predicts the potential accountability impacts from both a nonprofit's managerial and governance perspective, and contributes to our knowledge of how nonprofit leaders can respond to emerging capitalization markets for organizations engaging with these nontraditional financing vehicles.
The Effect of the Tasks Middle Managers Perform on Organizational Performance
Authors: Johansen Morgen , Hawes Daniel P.
Published: May 2024

This paper asks: what influence do various middle management tasks have on organizational performance? We identify five tasks: setting clear goals, communication, participative management, human resources management, and resource distribution, and model their separate and combined influence on objective performance measures. Using a dataset of survey and performance data from 2007–2010 on over 250 public schools in Hawaii, findings show that setting clear goals has a positive, significant impact on performance. After combining these tasks into three general management measures (leadership, management, and resource management), results show that the management dimension is significant. This study adds to the public management literature by focusing on the effect of middle management, and specific management tasks, on performance, in a unionized agency.
Knowledge by Association: Communities of Practice in Public Management
Authors: Smith Amy E.
Published: May 2024

Managers in any organization face myriad challenges. One way to figure out how to deal with these challenges is to learn what peers do in similar situations – to seek and share knowledge. Knowledge sharing has an established tradition in research. Empirical studies highlight communities of practice as one venue for knowledge sharing, although few studies examine how knowledge is shared within communities that span multiple jurisdictions particularly in public sector settings. This study reveals five structures, behaviors, and processes embedded in communities of practice that enable knowledge sharing across public sector jurisdictions: structured and unstructured exchange, anecdotes and storytelling, modeling by experienced members, multiple modes of communication, and confidentiality. Together, these practices establish a gateway to informal communication, build community through communication within and across groups, provide access to “know how” information from a diverse set of perspectives, and encourage peer comparisons.
The Overlooked Role of Local Experts in Learning to use Technology in Public Organizations
Authors: Woldesenbet Daniel , Klay William Earle
Published: May 2024

Information technology (IT) can enhance organizational productivity, but only if it is learned well by employees. Unfortunately, researchers and practitioners have largely neglected the informal social processes through which employees learn to use IT. This is a study of public employees who voluntarily help others to learn. The objective was to learn how these “local experts” assist co-workers and why they do so. It finds they are motivated by both extrinsic and intrinsic factors, including altruism. Local experts seek to enhance their organization's productivity by taking the lead in learning new technology and helping others to master it. In doing so, they become sophisticated diagnosticians and trainers who are largely overlooked by top management. The findings of this study can be immediately applied by practitioners in nearly all organizations to help their local experts to enhance employees’ learning and productivity.
Learning by Using Performance Measures in Local Governments: The Perspective of Public Managers
Authors: Onesti Tiziano , Angiola Nunzio , Bianchi Piervito
Published: May 2024

The aim of the research is to identify the factors which enable / restrain public managers’ learning from past experience.

The article draws upon research undertaken in Italian local governments after the last performance-based reform (2009). It gives evidence of the ways of learning in organizations characterized by a bureaucratic administrative culture, a political regime instability and ones that operate under financial stress conditions. These circumstances are common in many public administrations in the “era” of the global financial, economic and fiscal crisis.

We based our analysis on a cross-sectional data set and the research was carried out using an OLS model.

Besides the factors identified in the performance management literature which foster public managers’ learning, we found that the political regime stability produced positive effects on learning. Moreover, executives in municipalities characterized with an higher percentage of enforcement measures tended to be more aware of the importance of measuring and analyzing past performance in order to reduce further potential financial criticalities.
Funding Impermanance: Quantifying the Public Funds Sent to Closed Schools in the Nation's First Urban School Voucher Program
Authors: Ford Michael R.
Published: May 2024

Since the 1990–1991 school year the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) has provided vouchers to tens of thousands of mostly low-income Milwaukee children attending private schools at public expense. The Milwaukee voucher experience, as a free-market government reform reliant on the use of non-government service providers, sits firmly in the new public management framework. This analysis uses fiscal and enrollment data to quantify the amount of public money sent to the 128 voucher schools that exited the MPCP. The author finds that about 12% of the total program expenditure was on closed schools between 1991 and 2013. The authors conclude that policymakers should consider the likelihood of substantial investment in failed institutions when considering the implementation of new public management reforms.
E-Government and E-Governance Best Practices in Cities and Countries Compared between 2003 and 2012: Fad or Diffused Innovation?
Authors: Melitski James , Calista Donald
Published: May 2024

By examining evaluations of worldwide city and country Websites from 2003 to 2012, this study compares their digitized government performance. Defined as dual variables, digitized government represents e-government services and e-governance collaboration. For each jurisdiction, this time-series assessment determines whether the innovation is developing linearly (in stages) or diffusing (leveling off) over time. The results are bifurcated. They convey that diffusion is occurring among worldwide municipal government Websites for both e-government and e-governance. The country findings, however, are inconsistent. The discussion explains the findings by applying a well-known four-fold typology of information technology (IT) and social change to them. The conclusions affirm digitized government's multidimensional qualities.
Getting all you Can: County Government Investment Pool Participation Based on Need or Want
Authors: Modlin Steve
Published: May 2024

This study examines county government participation in the state-sponsored investment pool, the North Carolina Capital Management Trust (NCCMT) term portfolio, as a method to increase investment earnings for various expenditures under poor market conditions. Based on a survival analysis model of all counties that participated inclusive of additional survey data from finance officers concerning annual practices between fiscal years 2008–2012, findings suggest that county sales taxes were the most influential revenue stream on NCCMT term portfolio participation in conjunction with the presence of available funds in the cash portfolio. Findings also determined that the NCCMT term portfolio was the safest investment option available for this time period compared to other securities.
Twenty Years of Benchmarking in North Carolina: Lessons Learned from Comparison of Performance Statistics as Benchmarks
Authors: Rivenbark William C. , Roenigk Dale J. , Fasiello Roberta
Published: May 2024

The North Carolina Benchmarking Project has been in existence for approximately 20 years, functioning under the benchmarking category of comparison of performance statistics as benchmarks. This form of benchmarking, however, is diagnostic, requiring subsequent analytical steps before local officials can actually use comparative data for improving service delivery. This article presents lessons learned from the North Carolina Benchmarking Project to advance our understanding of why local governments participate in these types of benchmarking initiatives and how they review and make decisions regarding the comparative data. They include that local governments participate more for the purpose of greater internal accountability rather than performance management and that local governments use benchmarking data both for excellence and satisficing when responding to departmental rankings.
Contracting Out for Municipal Human Resources: Analyzing the Role of Human Capital in the Make Or Buy Decision
Authors: Battaglio Paul , French P. Edward , Goodman Doug
Published: May 2024

Human capital continues to be a guiding force in the effort to tap the potential of employees for organizational excellence. This is especially true of public organizations that are eager to attract the right persons for the right jobs in an increasingly competitive labor market. Human capital theory also suggests that not all employees possess knowledge and skills that are of equal strategic importance to the organization. Thus, organizations will seek to retain and develop employees that are mission crucial, while pursuing service delivery alternatives such as contracting out for non-essential goals. Utilizing a national survey of local government human resource professionals, the present study assesses the role long-term and short-term human resource planning plays in the contracting out of human resource functions. The results suggest that contracting out human resource services may be less of a factor in long-term strategic management assessments. In contrast to local governments lacking workforce planning metrics, municipalities that have the capacity to engage in sophisticated long-term human resource planning may not face the same managerial, fiscal, and political pressures to contract out.
Strengthening Organizational Capacity and Practices for High-Performing Nonprofit Organizations: Evidence from the National Assessment of the Social Innovation Fund—A Public-Private Partnership
Authors: Zhang Xiaodong , Griffith Janet , Pershing Janet , Sun Jing , Malakoff Lara , Marsland Whitney , Field Kurt Peters Elly
Published: May 2024

The Social Innovation Fund (SIF) is a federal initiative that leverages funds through public-private collaborations to support and build the evidence base for community programs. The SIF awards grants to grantmaking nonprofit organizations that, in turn, select, fund, and support local nonprofit organizations to implement community-based programs in one of three core areas: youth development, economic opportunity, and healthy futures. The federal funds are matched both by grantees and by subgrantees, leveraging $3 of funding for each $1 of federal funds. The fundamental purpose of the SIF is to strengthen the capacity and practices of nonprofit organizations to select and support grantees that operate evidence-based programs, implement rigorous evaluations, scale up, and collaborate with other organizations.

Employing a quasi-experimental design, the national assessment found improved organizational capacity among SIF grantees. Between 2009 and 2014, SIF grantees funded in the 2010–2012 grant cycles reported improvement in 13 out of 14 measures of organizational capacity. Compared to applicants for SIF who were not selected and to a national sample of grantmaking nonprofits, and measured by effect size estimates (Cohen, 1988), SIF had a large impact on the evaluation capacity of SIF grantees, a medium impact on their support for subgrantees and for scaling, and a small impact on subgrantee selection and collaboration.
Assessing Contractor Accountability in the Supreme Court
Authors: Beaty Leann , Cizmar Anne
Published: May 2024

In the context of the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm, government has increasingly moved from providing services directly to citizens to purchasing services from private providers. One of the arguments offered in favor of contracting out government services is that private providers will be held accountable by the courts. To examine this position, we utilize the Spaeth Supreme Court database to analyze all decisions from 1946—2012 with a private contractor litigant. The results of our study, which suggest the United States Supreme Court has become more pro-contractor over time, empirically refute the argument that contractors will be held more accountable to the rule of law.