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Ontario's Regional Economic Development and Innovation Newsletter,
September 2nd, 2002

ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency requests proposals for Round II of
the Atlantic Innovation Fund

EDITOR'S PICK
Industry Clusters in Southern Arizona: 2001 Status Report

INNOVATION & RELATED POLICY
- Global Strategy and the Acquisition of Local Knowledge: How MNCs Enter
Regional Knowledge Clusters
- Comparing the Innovation Performance of Canadian Firms and those of
Selected European Countries: An Econometric Analysis

REGIONAL INNOVATION & CLUSTERS
- The Declustering of America

KNOWLEDGE & UNIVERSITIES
- Public Knowledge, Private Property and the Economics of High-Tech
Consortia

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
- The U.S. Broadband Problem
- Assessing the Economic Impacts of ICT

EVENTS
- BayBYTEs 2002 - Rural Technology Forum: Reaping the Rewards from Working
in Rural Communities

Access the website.

From: Focus Public Management Newsletter of the OECD,
June 2002 Number 24

Project e-government

To promote and co-ordinate the transition to e-government across all levels of government in Denmark, the government has launched "Project E-Government", which involves state, regional and local administrations (see Focus No. 23, p. 2). The e-government vision formulated in the strategy is to systematically use digital technologies to introduce new ways of thinking and to transform organisation and work processes, and thus improve efficiency and service. Project E-Government works with biannual project portfolios that are selected so as to maximise the impact of e-government in the public sector. The projects fall into two main categories:
• Resolving the general technical and legal issues that impede the development of e-government, e.g. initiatives to promote the diffusion of digital signatures as the basis

HELP at the tobacconists

HELP is the Austrian government’s portal to public administration information for citizens on the Internet, channelling citizens to information on various life events such as childbirth, marriage, purchase of motor vehicles, housing, etc. Since February

2001, Austrian tobacconists and

HELP have co-operated to create "Trafiknet", making the benefits of

HELP available to those citizens who do not have individual access to the Internet. Access at the tobacconists has the advantage of long opening hours, proximity to customers, and high customer frequency. See http://www.help.gv.at. government-business relations, government-citizen relations, labour market activation, sickness benefits administration, electronic services to families, geographical data sharing, hospital-nursing home co-operation, immigration, occupational accident administration, car registration, agricultural regulation, and welfare benefits administration. Among other things, the work has led to a portal with joined-up services where businesses in the future will be able to solve most of their dealings with government. See http://www.e.gov.dk/.

Contact:

Danish Ministry of Finance
Elisabeth Hvas, Head of Department
Tel. +45-33.92.38.60
E-mail: ehv@fm.dk

or

Kristian Thorn, Head of Section
Tel. +45-33.92.26.66
E-mail: krt@fm.dk

Institute for Innovation

The Portuguese Institute for Innovation in State Administration (IISA) was created in late 2001 to take the place of several existing state bodies, including the Secretariat for Administrative Modernisation. Its main objectives are to:

• Promote, co-ordinate and evaluate innovation in public policy in the state administration;
• Decentralise the implementation of innovation policies;
• Increase service transparency and proximity to citizens;
• Encourage management by results.

It is structured around four activity centres: technological innovation and quality; development of models and organisational innovation; civil service management; and database management and methodological development.

Innovation and modernisation group

A small reform unit – the Innovation and Modernisation Group – has been established in the Ministry of Labour and Government Administration in Norway to assist the Minister, who has responsibility for encouraging, supervising and coordinating the reform effort in the public sector. The Group’s mission is to provide guidance, help facilitate reform processes across sectors, and contribute to an effective general communications strategy on modernisation efforts. Principles and reform efforts include:

• Simplifying and reducing the number of public regulations, e.g. setting an automatic expiration date for certain regulations.
• Reviewing and re-organising state supervisory authorities.
• Increasing freedom of choice of service providers, e.g. through the use of vouchers.
• Requiring public service providers to carry out systematic user surveys.
• Requiring estimates of total costs, including user costs for public tenders, investments and major re-organisations of service provision.
• Increasing delegation and decentralisation of authority and responsibility to local service providers.
• Allowing for greater competition between public and private service providers on the local level.
• Improving efficiency in the business sector by implementing an action plan to improve market competition.

Contact

Svein Berbu
Innovation and Modernisation Group
Ministry of Labour and Government Administration
Tel +47-22-24.49.68
E-mail: svein.berbu@aad.dep.no

Central responsibility for hospitals

On 1 January 2002, responsibility for all public hospitals was transferred to the central government in Norway. These hospitals are to be operated as health enterprises and will be wholly owned by central government. The two main elements of the reform are: • Responsibility for the hospitals is transferred to a single owner: the central government. • The hospitals are organized as enterprises; they are separate legal subjects and thus not an integral part of the central government administration. The central government will determine the principal health policy objectives and frameworks, which will form the basis for management of the enterprises. The reform also includes most county municipal specialist health services – both physical and psychiatric health care – and the ambulance service.

Contact:

Vivi Lassen
Tel.+47-22-45.12.72
Fax: +47-22-46.94.70
Email: vivi.lassen@statskonsult.dep.no

Ontario's Regional Economic Development and Innovation Newsletter,
August 1st, 2002

The August 1st issue of the The OREDI newsletter is now available at:

http://www.utoronto.ca/onris/newsletterlink43.htm

CONTENTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS
- New Brunswick restructures economic development agencies as "Enterprise
Network"
- Half of U.S R&D Concentrated in Six U.S. States

EDITOR'S PICK
- Measuring Third Stream Activities

INNOVATION & RELATED POLICY
- Tuning the SR&ED Tax Incentive Program: Ideas for the ICT Sector
- Assessing the Socio-Economic Impacts of the Framework Programme

REGIONAL INNOVATION & CLUSTERS
- Governor's Guides to economic policies
- Smart Growth at the Frontier: Strategies and Resources for Rural
Communities

UNIVERSITIES & KNOWLEDGE
- Measuring Competence And Knowledge Using Employee Surveys: Evidence Using
The
British Skills Survey Of 1997

NEW EVENTS
- Doing Business in the New European Economy

Call for papers!

Invitation to submit An Abstract for Public Policy and Public Management in a Globalized World: Policy Learning and Policy Emulation across Countries and Regions

By David Levi-Faur and Eran Vigoda (Editors)

General description

Modern societies are going global and in this process are redefining the boundaries between the domestic and the external. In a shrinking world policy lessons are increasingly drawn on cross-national basis rather than on specific national experience and are less and less constrained by cultural and geopolitical boundaries. The know-how of other nations is increasingly conceived as essential and relevant for the economic competitiveness of nations and for the welfare of the citizens. Epistemic communities, international organizations and policy entrepreneurs thus transfer it to the domestic economic, political and social settings that are often radically different from the originating setting. The benefits, costs and implications of these policy transfers are the subject of this book. Specialists in public policy, public administration and public management join-force together to explore the role of policy learning in the promotion of more reflective and efficient public policies across the world. In doing so they aim to advance our knowledge on the new conditions of management, administration and policy in a global world.

While knowledge, technology and ideology were always highly susceptible to transfer from one nation to another, we are said to face policy transfers that are ever more intense and extensive. The trend is increasingly documented and reflected in the literature of the social sciences in large and the political science in particular. Itb is also a subject to extensive debate. On the one side stand proponents of globalization who advocate increase cross-national policy learning (and convergence) and perceive it as a great promise for the advance of management techniques, administrative controls and policy effectiveness. On the other side stands the critics of globalization that identify emulation, manipulation and coercion as the major forces that propel the changes that are widely evident across countries and policy spheres.

Thus, this debate touches on the meaning of policy learning, its origins, on the necessary and sufficient conditions that propel it, on the autonomy and motives of the agent that promote it, as well as on the institutional and other constraints over the implementations of imported-ideas in different context. In the context of this debate where everything is questionable this volumes is trying to deal with several prime questions of policy and management in a global world. (1) What are the political preconditions for cross-national policy learning? (2) What re the mechanism and agencies that are responsible for cross-national policy learning? (3) To what extent and under which conditions does cross-national policy learning lead to better public performances? (4) What are the cultural and institutional constraints on cross-national policy learning and how these constraints vary across state? And finally (5) which fields or arenas of policy making are more prone to globalization and extensive diffusion of policy transfers and what are the implications of these variations on worldwide policy implementation?

Contacts

If you are interested in contributing your work for this book please send an abstract directly to the Editors. Abstracts should be received no later than November 1, 2002. All submissions should be done electronically (use e-mail attachment files in MS Word format). Acceptance is subject to a double blind review process by an ad-hoc editorial board. Note that we have limited ourselves to a small number of chapters that are best written and best respond to the book's topic. Some of the papers will also be published in a special issue of the International Journal of Public Administration.


David Levi-Faur
Center for European Politics, Economics and Society
University of Oxford
3 George Street Mews
OXFORD, OX1 2AA
United Kingdom
Telephone: 44- (0) 1865 278701
Fax: 44- (0) 1865 278725
Email: david.levi-faur@socstud.ox.ac.uk

Eran Vigoda
Head of Graduate Program in Local Government Administration (MLGA)
Department of Political Science The University of Haifa Haifa, 31905
ISRAEL
Telephone: 972-(0)4-8240709
Fax: 972-(0)4-8257785
Email: eranv@poli.haifa.ac.il.

Ontario's Regional Economic Development and Innovation Newsletter,
July 15th, 2002

The July 15th issue of the OREDI Newsletter is now available for viewing at
http://www.utoronto.ca/onris/newsletterlink42.htm.

CONTENT SUMMARY:

ANNOUNCEMENTS
- New Technology Guide Identifies 290 Tech Companies in Waterloo region

EDITOR'S PICK
- Why Cities Matter: Policy Research Perspectives for Canada

INNOVATION & RELATED POLICY
- Innovation Analysis Bulletin - Vol. 4, No. 2
- Innovation Is a Social Process
- A Comparison of Business Costs in North America, Europe, and Japan: G7 - 2002 Edition
- Innovation in America: Federal Lab R&D Roundtable

REGIONAL INNOVATION & CLUSTERS
- The BHI State Competitiveness Index 2001
- Preparing for the Next Silicon Valley: Opportunities and Choices

UNIVERSITIES & KNOWLEDGE
- The University in the Learning Economy
- Knowledge about knowledge since Nelson & Winter: a mixed record
- The Production of Knowledge in Canada: Consolidation and Diversification

NEW EVENTS
- Softworld 2002

Public Voices

Public Voices is a unique journal that focuses on humanistic, artistic and
reflective expressions concerning public administrators and the public service.

For volume VI, Public Voices seeks unorthodox, controversial perspectives.
Submissions may include original fiction, poetry, review of novels and films and insights based on observation and research, etc.

Prof. Marc Holzer, Editor
ncpp@andromeda.rutgers.edu

Whitehall employees are the unhappiest in Britain
By Charlotte Denny and Larry Elliott
Monday October 23, 2000
The Guardian

Research carried out for the government has revealed that its own employees are the most demoralised group of workers in the country.

Twenty years of cost-cutting and constant change have left Britain's army of Whitehall civil servants the most demoralised group of workers in the UK, the survey shows.

Central government employees are the least likely to look forward to going to work when they wake up in the morning, the least likely to be proud to tell other people who they work for, and have the weakest sense of loyalty towards their employers.

Only one in seven say they trust senior management.

The embarrassing findings, which the Cabinet Office tried to water down, are revealed in research carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development for the government's in-house civil service training centre.

Its findings, to be published on Wednesday, suggest that the prime minister's pledge to modernise British government could be threatened by discontented civil servants.

The head of the civil service, Sir Richard Butler, said it provided a welcome insight into what staff in Whitehall think. "But we accept fully that there is a lot more work to be done."

Privately however, sources say the Cabinet Office was dismayed by the negative picture of Whitehall workers emerging from the research, for which it provided 15% of the funding. Senior

officials at the Cabinet Office asked the institute to play down the morale problem in its presentation of the report, fearing ministers could use it as a stick with which to beat the civil service.

Continuous Whitehall restructuring is to blame for the low morale, according to the institute. "Over the last two decades central government has enjoyed a plethora of initiatives designed to extend the operation of business disciplines and practices within the public sector," said Mike Emmott of the CIPD. "Such change clearly does not come without a cost."

Low morale comes despite civil servants enjoying more job security than any other group of workers and the most flexible working arrangements. More than half believe they are not fairly paid for the work they do compared with a third of private sector workers.

Within central government, more employees now work for private sector_style agencies than for traditional departments of state. But there is no evidence from the study that the move away from rigid Whitehall hierarchies to the more decentralised style of working in agencies makes their staff any happier.

"Public servants feel that the public service ethos to which they are committed is undervalued when compared with the emphasis on commercial imperatives and imported management practices," said Geoff Armstrong, the CIPD's director. Whitehall workers feel let down by senior

managers, who they say make promises they fail to keep. "It is clear from our report that employees in central government are not yet convinced that management is keeping its side of the bargain," Mr Armstrong said.

The findings pose a big challenge to senior management and the government, which launched a programme to modernise the civil service last year. This promised a better deal for staff and new, non-bureaucratic ways of working.

The Cabinet Office said yesterday: "Obviously some people aren't satisfied with their lot. If anything this research confirms the need for the [reform] programme. We are committed to making the civil service a better place to work."

The CIPD interviewed 2,000 workers from private firms, the health service, and central and local government. Health workers were the most contented group, followed by private sector workers.

Available from The Guardian/Observer Archive

Study finds Canada tops in e-government services

The Globe and Mail newspaper reported on April 24, 2002 that Canada is the top provider of electronic government services for the second consecutive year. In an international study by the consulting firm Accenture, Canada edged out Singapore and the United States as the best supplier of on-line services among twenty-three countries assessed. Ottawa was singled out in particular for providing well-integrated on-line services that put citizens’ needs first, offering means for giving feedback, and for having at least four areas from which Canadians can apply for employment insurance over the Internet. The third annual study of its kind highlighted the Canadian government’s strong leadership, focus on a whole-of-government approach, and commitment to innovation driven by citizens’ and businesses’ needs. Canada moved from fourth in the initial study to first in the last two studies. While Canada is in the forefront, the study noted that there is still a long way to go.

Source: Simon Tuck, "Study finds Canada tops in e-government services," The Globe and Mail, April 24, 2002, page B7.

Related resources: See Service Delivery

Human Resources Development Canada
Project Management Network


HRDC Project Management Network
By: Kearie Daniel

Over the years, studies have shown networking to be one of the most useful life skills to acquire. For many, networking skills are invaluable tools contributing to career advancement, learning opportunities or having a well-balanced life.

Line Gauthier, understands this. In fact, she understands so well that in June 2001, working on her own time, Gauthier created an initiative for HRDC employees, she called PMN (the HRDC Project Management Network). This network aims to create opportunities and to stimulate ongoing communication among staff, within and outside their branches through networking and sharing of tools and information related to project management skills and issues.

“Everywhere people are busy and there is a natural tendency to work in silos” says Gauthier. “In a structured but informal way, the Project Management Network offers opportunities to get communication flowing outside the silos.”

Creating a Workplace of Choice and Supporting Our People are commitments that Line Gauthier supports wholeheartedly. She believes that sharing information, opportunities and invitations are empowering to staff. “They receive invitations to take advantage of a variety of opportunities that may interest them.”

The NCR Calendar of events aims to be very dynamic. The network has frequent short and informal meetings over lunch hour or early in the morning, often with subject matter experts as guest speakers. Some of the themes explored so far have dealt with Project Management Tools, Lessons Learned, Best Practices, Knowledge Management, Communications, Team Dynamics, and Workload Management.

One of the initiatives within the network, enjoying significant success, is a special Mutual Mentoring program. “The formal mentor/mentee relationships are never easy to set up yet I was determined to develop mentoring opportunities,” says Gauthier. “This January, the Project Management Network piloted a 10-week Mutual Mentoring program where participants, in their four-member teams, take turns in their dual roles of mentee and mentor. They get the opportunity to mutually benefit from each other’s experience in a structured setting.”

“It is very satisfying to meet people everyday who tell me how much they appreciate participating or getting various information and invitations to PMN events and initiatives. Sometimes they tell me how a particular presentation or contact helped them in their job,” Gauthier says, “even when they’re often too busy to participate, they see the invitations as perks. It’s very rewarding for me and it makes it all worthwhile.”

Line concludes by saying “I’d like members to see the Project Management Network as a forum for creating their own opportunities by taking a leadership role in the areas of their choice.”

For more information on how to get involved in the HRDC Project Management Network or to be added to the mailing list, please contact Line at line.gauthier@hrdc-drhc.gc.ca or by phone at: 1-819-994-7947.

HRDC Project Management Network

<< The dynamic forum providing informal networking and knowledge transfer opportunities for all HRDC staff involved in project management. >>

MISSION : The HRDC Project Management Network provides opportunities for informal cross-functional networking and knowledge transfer for all HRDC staff involved at any level in the project management process.

MEMBERSHIP : This Network is for the benefit of all HRDC staff, from novice to expert, involved at any level in a project management process (IT and non-IT). As of February 15, 2002, there were a total of 935 members (672 in NCR) and the numbers are growing.

OBJECTIVES : The main objectives are to :

  1.  interact with colleagues of interdisciplinary project management backgrounds;
  2. create a calendar of frequent meetings in local networks across the country;
  3. foster buddying, coaching and mentoring opportunities;
  4. increase awareness and use of available resources, services, references, tools, lessons learned, best practices related to project management; and,
  5. be a cross-roads of partnering with the many related organizations.

ACTIVITIES : Regular bulletins are disseminated nationally with project management related exchanges of information. Local meetings are organized to offer informal networking and knowledge transfer opportunities. Main areas of focus include : 1) Project Management information sharing, 2) Knowledge Management / Knowledge Transfer, and 3) Mentoring / Coaching. In very concrete ways, we plan to stimulate awareness and discussion, as well as encourage the use of various existing tools and resources. Paramount importance will continue to be given to networking with the groups who have the formal mandates for Project Management, for Knowledge Management and for implementing Mentoring initiatives.

MENTORING : In January 2002, the NCR Project Management Network launched a pilot mentoring initiative based on small mutual mentoring focus groups. The concept of mutual mentoring or coaching seeks to capitalize on the value of each participant’s diverse strengths and areas of expertise. The dynamics of the small teams results in each participant benefiting from the experience of wearing both the mentee and mentor hats.

CONTACT US : For sharing or requesting more information, please contact line.gauthier@hrdc-drhc.gc.ca or at (819) 994-7947.

We have desktop access to expert advisors… The Leadership Network invites us to an online interactive virtual network where Project Management has been identified as one of the network communities. We can benefit from asking questions and seeking advice, or contributing as a virtual mentor or coach.

Canada’s Innovation Strategy

Canada's Innovation Strategy is presented in two papers. Both focus on what Canada must do to ensure equality and opportunity and economic innovation on the knowledge society.

Achieving Excellence: Investing in People, Knowledge and Opportunity recognizes the need to consider knowledge as a strategic national asset. It focuses on how to strengthen science and research capacity and on how to ensure that this knowledge contributes to building an innovative economy that benefits all Canadians.

Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians recognizes that a country's greatest resource in the knowledge society is its people. It looks at what can be done to strengthen learning in Canada, to develop people's talent and to provide opportunity for all to contribute to and benefit from the new economy.

Innovation Strategies in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, and Sweden

Mohamed Charih, member of The Innovation Journal Editorial Board, was honoured
by Ecole nationale d'administration publique with its first Prix d'Excellence en
recherche on November 9, 2001. Congratulations, Mohamed.

Just a short note to let you know that the June edition of the ESD
Clearinghouse has just been published. We have received lots of new ideas
and leads in the last month, thank you. Your views are always welcomed. Find
it at http://www.ipaciapc.ca/esd.


Patrice A. Dutil
Director of Research (pdutil@ipaciapc.ca)

The Institute of Public Administration of Canada has just published a ground
breaking study on government service delivery entitled Citizens First 2000.
IPAC, together with the Senior Service Delivery Officials Forum,
commissioned Erin Research to conduct a groundbreaking survey of the
opinions of Canadians regarding government services. The study was
sponsored by all the provinces, the Yukon Territory, the Federal Government
and the cities of Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver.

The survey was randomly sent to approximately 60,000 households in Canada.
The final report reflects the views of all people and regions across the
country regarding the services they receive from government. You will find a
press release, a summary report and the full report at:
http://www.ipaciapc.ca/english/new/citizens.htm


Patrice A. Dutil
Director of Research (pdutil@ipaciapc.ca)

Book Review: J. M. Roberts, "Twentieth Century: The History of the World, 1901 to 2000"

In its September issue, FUTURECASTS online magazine - at
www.futurecasts.com - presents a Book Review: J. M. Roberts, "Twentieth
Century: The History of the World, 1901 to 2000," a formidable effort to sketch
the many influences and trends that have shaped the world we live in and the
directions in which it is currently heading. History opens windows on the
future.

Also in the September issue, FUTURECASTS continues its "Authoritative Myths"
series with "The Myths We Live By: Economic and Political Myths that have
MIsguided Policy," highlighting the danger of such myths when they actually
succeed in being adopted as guides to policy. Reality perversely refuses to
conform to ideological expectations.

In the October issue, FUTURECASTS will present a Book Review: Robert
Conquest: "Reflections on a Ravaged Century," accentuating the negatives of a
20th century history that had all too many of them.

Regards,
Dan Blatt, Publisher,
FUTURECASTS online magazine,
www.futurecasts.com
dblatt@rsvlonline.net

Innovation in Government Workplaces

"The incidence of flexible job designs in the government sector is triple that reported for the private sector in Canada."

That's just one conclusion to be found in "Changing Government Workplaces", a new report from CPRN by Anil Verma and Zsuzsanna Lonti of the Centre for Industrial Relations at the University of Toronto. It speaks to the evident change underway in the public sector.

This paper is one in the series of reports completed for the Work Network's Human Resources in Government project . Project funders include the governments of Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, three federal agencies - Human Resources Development, the Public Service Commission and the Treasury Board Secretariat - and the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

The report is based on the Survey of Workplace Issues in Government (SWIG) carried out in the above jurisdictions as well as five in-depth case studies. It provides, for the first time, systematic empirical evidence on the extent of change in workplace practices in government. That evidence points to significant transformation.

The authors conclude that many of the changes in public sector workplaces are driven by external pressures such as budget constraints, public accountability pressures and shifting government priorities. These have led to adoption of such practices as performance measurement, divestiture of service functions and concentration of knowledge work, flexible job designs and a greater emphasis on training and employee involvement.

These changes, many claim, have lead to enhanced quality and productivity (though these are often difficult to measure). At the same time, the changes have lead to fewer jobs, but jobs that are better paid and that may need enhanced, or completely new, skills.

You can access or download the complete report by clicking here:

http://www.cprn.org/cprn.html

Announcement/New Edition: Probity
March 6, 2001

The 13th Edition (March-April/2001) of the Spanish language anti-corruption journal, Probity, (Revista Probidad), is now online: http://www.probidad.org.sv/revista

This edition includes 14 essays written by 9 anti-corruption analysts and practitioners from Latin America. It includes summaries of investigations and surveys; descriptions of new anti-corruption software and government and non-profit anti-corruption initiatives; and discussions of ethics, values, corruption scandals and anti-corruption proposals. The Table of Contents, which includes a brief summary of each essay, is included below our signatures.

We hope this new edition of Probity, like those that precede it, is a useful tool that enhances understanding about corruption in Latin America and will contribute to
new anti-corrupción strategies that are more indigenous and thus, effective.

While the journal is in Spanish, we hope you can benefit from it and will visit the Probidad web site: http://www.probidad.org.sv. It contains an English section
which describes our history, objectives, actors, and local and regional activities.

Jaime López
Linda Hemby
Co-editores
Revista Probidad
URL: www.probidad.org.sv
Correo: contacto@probidad.org.sv

European Commission proposes a new framework programme for research and innovation in Europe

Brussels, 21 February 2001

Proposals for a new research and innovation framework programme for the European Union have been presented today by the European Commission, on the initiative of Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin. "Europe has set out to become the most successful and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world. Research and innovation are the keys to success in achieving this goal," said Commissioner Busquin.

Reflecting the increased priority given to research and innovation, the Commission is proposing a budget of Euro17.5 billion for the new programme. This budget, covering the four-year period 2003-2006, represents an increase of 17% over the budget of the current research framework programme. The research and innovation programme is part of a wider political initiative aiming at creating a European Research Area, as endorsed by the Lisbon Summit in March 2000. The new programme is one of the major actions in the strategy paper the Commission has put forward for the Stockholm Summit on 23-24 March.

Commissioner Busquin added, "In this new programme, I am putting forward proposals to help businesses develop the key technologies for the future, and for our universities and research centres to work closer together to strengthen Europe's science base."

As outlined in the European Research Area initiative, research in Europe's universities and businesses is currently hampered by a number of constraints: projects often do not have enough critical mass to compete on a worldwide scale; research efforts are fragmented; and Europe is still not attracting excellent scientists back to work here. The new programme would address these problems by concentrating funding on a limited number of key priorities for Europe; helping research teams work more closely together in networks; and improving the mobility of researchers and the attractiveness of Europe as a home for world-class research.

Special emphasis is given to initiatives helping to open up European research to the rest of the world.

Seven key emerging technologies and research priorities are proposed:

  1. Genomics and biotechnology for health: the objective is to build on the recent breakthrough in decoding the genome to help tackle major diseases and strengthen Europe's biotechnology industry
  2. Information society technologies: the objective is to develop the key information technologies to strengthen Europe's industry and help people throughout Europe benefit from the development of the knowledge-based society
  3. Nanotechnologies, intelligent materials, new production methods: the objective is to help Europe's industry benefit from leading-edge technologies for the knowledge- and intelligence-based products, services and manufacturing processes of the future.
  4. Aeronautics and space: the objective is to build on recent successes to help maintain Europe's leading edge in the aerospace sector and provide further benefits for safety and environmental protection
  5. Food safety and health risks: the objective is to establish the scientific base needed for producing safe and healthy food and to control the risks related to food and environmental changes
  6. Sustainable development and global change: the objective is to strengthen the scientific and technological capacity needed for Europe to be able to implement sustainable development and make a significant contribution to the international efforts to understand and control global change
  7. Citizens and governance in European society: the objective is to mobilise research capacity in economic, political, social and human sciences to help understand and address issues related to the emergence of the knowledge-based society across our different cultures in Europe

A specific part of the budget is proposed for research to help improve the design of public policies at a European level the anticipation of scientific and technological needs of the Union.

This includes, for example, research on fisheries, as well as particular aspects of transport and energy policy, environment policy and other matters dealt with by the European Union. It also includes an allocation for research at the very frontiers of science and technology.

In addition to these priorities, special measures are proposed for SMEs, innovation, mobility of researchers and the networking of national initiatives.

For SMEs, the current framework programme has set a target participation of 10%. In the new programme, this objective is increased to 15%.

On innovation, the whole thrust of the new programme is designed to help businesses and researchers exploit the results of research and help translate these into new investment and jobs. Special measures include help in fields such as intellectual property rights, access to risk capital and finding partners in other Member States.

The highly successful mobility programme will be doubled in size. The objective is to improve mobility of researchers within Europe as well as to make Europe more attractive for world-class researchers.

More information

Government of Canada Appoints a Senior Visiting Fellow on Knowledge Creation and Innovation

Jocelyne Bourgon, the President of the Canadian Centre for Management Development, and Frank Claydon, Secretary of the Treasury Board Secretariat, are pleased to announce the appointment of a Senior Visiting Fellow on Knowledge Creation and Innovation.

Dawn Nicholson-O'Brien will assume this new role, effective November 21st, 2000, for a period of two years.

Building on related work that Dawn led with the Corporate Renewal and Knowledge Management Office, during the last 2¾ years at the TBS, and her doctoral studies in this area, the Senior Fellow will develop advanced seminars for federal executives in areas such as:

  • The new science and technology of the 21st century
  • The bioeconomy and the DNA for a new revolution
  • New leaders and leadership models emerging from the transformation of the workplace and societies worldwide
  • An economy of innovation versus replication.

Mrs. Nicholson-O'Brien has also agreed to publish a book for the Government of Canada on "Canada's Leadership in the Connected Economy". This will examine the major public policy issues arising from the knowledge-based economy, Canada's leadership, and what is uniquely Canadian that we need to preserve and foster in order to liberate human potential and to improve human well-being.

The Deputy Minister Committee on Learning and Development, in their June 2000 report, "A Public Service Learning Organization" recommended that a Learning Innovation Seed Fund be established. The objective is to encourage innovation and experimentation, and to sponsor the development and piloting of new ideas for service delivery, use of technology, policy development or leadership in the Public Service.

The Senior Fellow will establish this seed fund, working with Deputy Ministers and key partners federally, with a view to creating new knowledge, experimental laboratories and the mental space for applying new practices in key business and leadership areas. This is a strategic investment internally that is not dissimilar to the investments made to create research centres of excellence and the Canada Foundation for Innovation, for the benefit of Canadians.

Dawn brings 20 years of experience, knowledge and human networks to this new role, drawn from previous responsibilities in seven different departments and agencies, in a variety of roles at the DG and officer level, in the policy, program and communications communities. The office will be located in the TBS.

The Hospital of the Future.
Conference and Call for Paper

The university of Twente and Illinois Institute of Technology are pleased to announce the forthcoming Conference: THE HOSPITAL OF THE FUTURE.

Please see details and Call for papers in the link below:

http://www.sms.utwente.nl/beheer/webpage/viewmain.asp?objectID=1502

Anne Mueller 1930-2000 : Innovation Against Odds

Anne Mueller, who died this August aged 70, was the first British woman to reach Permanent Secretary level in a key central Civil Service management job. She headed the UK’s Management and Personnel Office from 1984-1988. A pioneer for her gender and her generation, she died in August 2000 after suffering from Parkinson’s Disease for many years.

Born in Bombay in 1930 to a German businessman father and an English mother, her family moved to Slovenia and then to England where she was being educated. She studied PPE at Somerville College Oxford and joined the civil service in 1953, rising through the ranks within the various departments dealing with industry. In 1956 she suffered a serious car-crash while based at OECD and always walked with a stick afterwards. She joined Cabinet Office as Second Permanent Secretary in 1984, heading the Management and Personnel Office (MPO), which was the slightly truncated remnant of the Civil Service Department after the latter’s abolition (matters of pay had gone to Treasury). The remaining department had a focus on the matters its title indicated.

A short anecdote. As a new entrant at Grade 7 – Principal – level to her department I received in 1986 a note as did many of us to say that Miss Mueller (as she was invariably known) wished to address all of her Grade 7s in GOGGS, the inelegant title of the Government Offices, Great George Street, just at the back of the Treasury. She did so with an energising mixture of passion and precision. A short woman, who walked with a stick, the result of a car crash in her 20s, her face was nonetheless youthful and determined. I recall she urged us all to read the latest management text-books from America, including one by people called Peters and Waterman on "excellence". It was the first cuckoo of what was to become a veritable dawn (or all-day) chorus of management theory that lasted the decade and more. She called on us all to maintain the ethos of the service, to raise the standard of our work. Nothing terribly exciting about that, except that one had the forcible impression of a personality who knew what she wanted.

Soon after that I invited her to speak to one of my training groups of young fast streamers – on the course Parliament, Government and the Civil Service. Her job was to indicate how the culture was changing and to be a role-model. Having read, as she recommended, the Peters and Waterman book, I courageously decided to entitle her session "Sticking to Your Knitting" after a chapter-heading in the book. The argument in the text was that organisations should focus on core tasks and not broaden their remit – Levis should not make suits. She agreed to come, but I think only the day before she was due to appear her office rang to indicate that "Miss Mueller was not entirely happy about the title". A woman Perm. Sec being associated with knitting the clear implication. Oh dear. When she turned up she was professional and cool. Only as she left did I nerve myself to apologise for the unintended slight of the title. She gave me the "long, penetrating gaze" that her obituarist Colette Bowe refers to. I do not believe now she cared less – but perhaps she slightly enjoyed the thought that I might have been very nervous that she did. Moral – never take the words of senior staff too seriously, nor academic slogans either.

Change

Anne Mueller led the drive to change patterns of work and to equalise the chances of women in the UK system. For her, managing and personnel were both key tasks, and neither should be reduced by forgetting its link with the other.

"The Most Successful Woman Civil Servant of her Generation" (the title of her Obituary) is fair. She became Dame Anne in 1988. I am sure that there is a text to be written on "The Miss X Generation" of British public service women born in the 1930s, now entirely retired, who might have chosen not to marry either because of the "marriage bar" or because children were an irreducible barrier to a career until the 1980s. The car crash at Fontainebleu in 1956 left her damaged, but it did not stop her infusing a spirit of innovation into the often nerveless bureaucratic life.

 Michael Duggett
London 19 October 2000

Dr Michael Duggett is Principal Lecturer at the Civil Service College, now a directorate of the Centre for Management and Policy Studies within Cabinet Office, UK. He is also a member of the editorial board of The Innovation Journal. These are his personal views.

Office of the E-Envoy

Michael Duggett

The UK has created a new office, headed by a dynamic official who was once John Major's and Tony Blair's private secretary, Alex Allan (well-known as a fan of the Grateful Dead). This office, reporting directly to the Prime Minister is to lead the drive to get the UK on-line. Its head has Permanent Secretary status and works in Cabinet Office alongside its ministers. It has three teams, dealing with:
e-Commerce
e-Government
e-Communications.
The last has replaced the now-defunct Central IT Unit.

In relation to e-Government the unit, headed by Ann Steward, is aimed at making the UK Government "A global exemplar in the use of the new technologies". There is a Prime-Ministerial target that by 2002 25% of dealings with the public should be capable of being done electronically, as set out in the Modernising Government White Paper of March 1999.

Dr Michael Duggett is Principal Lecturer at the Civil Service College, now a directorate of the Centre for Management and Policy Studies within Cabinet Office, UK. He is also a member of the editorial board of The Innovation Journal. These are his personal views.

Valuable E-Government Resource Now On-line

RELEASED: March 16, 2000

(Ottawa) - The Electronic Service Delivery (ESD) Clearinghouse is now on-line. This one-stop shop provides a direct link to the best new research, case studies, policies and tools in electronic service delivery today.

Born as a project of the Public Service Chief Information Officers Council (PSCIOC) and developed by the Institute On Governance (IOG), the ESD Clearinghouse provides a unique opportunity for resource sharing and collaboration across governments and jurisdictions.

The Clearinghouse is available on-line in the IOG's existing web site for governance issues, Policity.com (http://www.policity.com/esd), where it is sure to become an essential tool for program managers developing ESD in any department.

Last year's PSCIOC Lac Carling Congress-an annual conference bringing together the banks, municipal, provincial and federal governments and the IT vendor community to establish "best practices" for e-government-recognized the importance of ESD in today's public service and sparked the idea for the Clearinghouse.

People no longer want to wait in line for service at government offices. They expect service that fits with their busy schedules, is easy-to-use and available any time of day. If government managers want to produce the best service delivery for their programs, they have to become aware of the resources, policies and research available to guide them.

The PSCIOC saw the importance of resource sharing across jurisdictions and approached the Institute On Governance to develop a web site showcasing initiatives and information from across the country. After several months of design and planning the ESD Clearinghouse is now on-line. Content is updated regularly, and currently includes resources from the federal and provincial governments, the United States, Australia, Singapore, United Kingdom and some Canadian municipalities.

 For more information contact:

Jennifer McCarthy
Media Relations
Institute On Governance
Phone: (613) 562-0092, ext. 230
Fax: (613) 562-0097
E-mail: jmccarthy@iog.ca

BACKGROUND

Public Service CIO Council (PSCIOC) http://www.pscioc-cdpisp.org

The PSCIOC's mission is to enhance service delivery to the Canadian public through collaboration across governments and demonstrated leadership in the management of information and technology.

Made up of one CIO for each federal, provincial and territorial jurisdiction (and one municipal representative), this group of highly skilled and respected professionals provides leadership and initiates co-operative ventures on a variety of IT/IM issues.

The Council provides an excellent forum for the exchange of information and best practices, and promotes open communication between members and their peers.

Institute On Governance (IOG) http://www.iog.ca

The Institute On Governance is a non-profit organization with charitable status founded in 1990 to promote effective governance. We provide advice to public organizations on governance matters, and bring people together in a variety of settings to promote learning and debate. Our work in Canada and abroad is focused on creating, sharing and applying knowledge around governance issues.

Current activities fall within six research themes:

  1. citizen participation
  2. Aboriginal governance
  3. building policy capacity
  4. accountability and performance measurement
  5. governance and the web
  6. youth and governance

Policity.com http://www.policity.com

In November 1999, the Institute On Governance launched a new Internet site, policity.com -a collaborative, non-partisan site dedicated to promoting citizen-centred governance. Through partnerships with public and private organizations, policity supports the active participation of citizens in resolving public concerns, shaping government policy, and ensuring citizens' needs are central to program design and service delivery.

It is designed for people to interact, test their ideas and become part of an international network on governance issues. Currently, policity includes the following resources:

  • Public Library, a continually expanding collection of current literature on governance issues and practices, including the ESD Clearinghouse;
  • Toolshed, access to practical tools and state-of-the-art methods for citizen participation and electronic service delivery;
  • Worksites, "virtual workspaces", either open or private, custom-designed to facilitate consultation and develop ideas or projects over time and distance;
  • Notice Board, where visitors can post information on conferences, workshops, jobs and internships, or any comments and questions they wish to share.

Robert Theobald:

The Ultimate Model Of Citizenship

by Stephen Silha

Featured Article
Published on Monday, March 13, 2000 in the Christian Science Monitor

Every once in a while, you read a book that shakes your world. In 1970, a friend gave me Robert Theobald's An Alternative Future for America, and I was never the same after that. The book suggested we were headed for disaster - police state, environmental meltdown, economic disparity - unless we created a different future: one in which exponential growth in material things wasn't the primary goal. And more.

Submitted by Steve Kurtz

What US Government Employees Think,
Results of the 1999 Survey

Full-Time Civilian Workforce: 1,391,669
Employees Sent Surveys: 32,265
Employee Response Rate: 40%
Statistical Validity of 1999 Survey Results Data: +/- 2%

 WHY WE LISTEN TO EMPLOYEES:

  • Federal employees are key to getting results Americans care about.
  • We need to understand what employees require to be effective in their jobs. The Employee Survey provides insights into what works well and what needs to improve.
  • To attract and retain the talent we need now and in the future, we must take action to make the Federal work place better.

WHAT EMPLOYEES TOLD US:

Reinvention is making a difference in the work place. The survey shows that 84% of employees who believe reinvention is a priority where they work are satisfied with their jobs. This is considerably higher than the 60% government-wide employee satisfaction rate. And the job satisfaction rate is very low -- 31% -- for employees who do not think reinvention is a priority in their organizations.

Overall job satisfaction in the Federal government (60%) is about the same as in the private sector (62%). However, government employees give lower ratings to their supervisors and to the quality of the work produced in their units than private sector employees do.

The Federal government is a family-friendly place to work where differences among individuals are respected. Employees believe their supervisors support their family and personal life responsibilities, and several described how the government's family-friendly policies have helped them deal with family crises.

Federal employees now recognize that customer service is part of their jobs. Three out of four employees (72%) say they know their agencies have customer service goals.

More cooperation between labor and management is still needed. Only one in three employees think management and unions work cooperatively on mutual problems. Both managers and union representatives expressed concern that lack of trust between sides is a major barrier to progress.

Federal employees want good performers to be rewarded fairly and for poor performance to be addressed. Employees expressed the greatest dissatisfaction with how employee performance is handled. Two out of three employees believe rewards are based on something other than merit; many cited bias and favoritism. Still more employees say that no action is taken against poor performers; many pleaded strongly for something to be done about this problem.

 More information: http://www.employeesurvey.gov/

National Research Council Canada Communiqué

Roundtable 2000:
Canada's leading Regional Innovation gathering adds to Record of Achievement

(Ottawa, April 19, 2000) -- The Ottawa Regional Innovation Roundtable today is adding to its impressive record with announcements and discussions that reinforce its reputation for identifying trends and producing action. Roundtable 2000 is the fifth such gathering of leaders from government, industry, research, and education organized by the Ottawa Regional Innovation Forum.

This year's event, co-sponsored by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), is being held today at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa. The featured speakers include government leaders such as the Honourable Mike Harris, Premier of the Province of Ontario, the Honourable Jim Wilson, Ontario Minister of Energy, Science and Technology and local community and industry leaders such as Claude Bennett, Chair of the Ottawa Transition Board, Kirk Mandy, President and CEO of Mitel Corporation and Dr. Arthur Carty, President of the National Research Council of Canada.

"Silicon Valley North in the Ottawa area is one of the few true high-tech clusters in Canada," said Minister Wilson in stressing the importance of this event. "And the high-tech industries that are growing here are creating good, lasting jobs that help to recession-proof the economy. Two-thirds of all our new jobs are in high-tech industries, and these industries play a major role in turning the brain drain into a brain gain for Ontario."

The Roundtable, organized by the Ottawa Regional Innovation Forum and the NRC Regional Innovation Centre, is an annual meeting of close to 200 innovation leaders who have established an outstanding track record for spotting innovation trends and promoting collaborative programs in response.

"Through its innovative programs to attack the skill shortages in the high tech industry, its successful efforts to promote changes in tax and immigration policies, and its call for new alliances within and beyond the high tech sector, the Roundtable has provided leadership that has had an impact across Canada," said NRC President and Forum Co-Chair Arthur J. Carty. "NRC is proud of its role in the Roundtable and in bringing its benefits to other parts of Canada."

Previous Roundtables have focused on specific issues facing the information technology and telecommunications sector, and linking this sector with biotechnology, environmental technologies, and other high tech sectors. Last year the Roundtable called on participants to build bridges between high-tech and other sectors such as tourism, arts, culture, and services. Dr. Carty announced today that NRC, the National Arts Centre of Canada (NAC), the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA), and other partners are collaborating on a number of projects to meet this commitment including plans for a major collaborative conference, Creativity 2000, to be held at the NAC on June 21, 2000.

The Regional Innovation Forum was also a major force in promoting the need for changes in tax policies as they relate to Stock Options and Rollover provisions for re-investment in small high-tech companies. These changes were announced in this year's federal budget and were widely praised by the high-tech community.

The theme of Roundtable 2000, "Fostering Innovation in Canadian Enterprises", focuses on ways to encourage an innovation-oriented culture within companies and organizations. Discussions and workshops will consider incentives for innovation, marketing, and other issues related to the culture and values of firms.

The Regional Innovation Awards ceremony is another first for this year's Roundtable. The Awards honour outstanding innovators and innovations and seek to stimulate the climate for innovation in the region. The Award Categories include the Ottawa Citizen Year 2000 Innovator of the Year, the Mitel Year 2000 Innovation of the Year, and the National Research Council Year 2000 Lifetime Achievement Award for Innovation. The Regional Innovation Awards will also be hosted by CBC's Steve Smith (Red Green of the Red Green Show) and will commence at 6:30 P.M. following the Roundtable.

For further information, please contact:

Arvind Chhatbar
Executive Director,
Regional Innovation Forum
(613) 990-9550

Shannon Cassidy
Media Relations, NRC
(613) 998-7352

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL CANADA / APRIL 2000

1999 Best Book

The Public and Nonprofit Division (PNP) of the Academy of Management is soliciting nominations for its annual "Best Book Award." The winning author(s) will be honored at the annual meeting in Toronto, Aug. 4-9 (award ceremony probably Monday, Aug. 7). Nominations should be forwarded to Professor Nancy Roberts at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Details are in the forwarded messages, below. International issues and perspectives are increasingly important in PNP's domain, so we wholeheartedly welcome submissions with an international focus.

Nominated books must have a 1999 publication date. Additionally, we encourage you to consider participating in future activities of the division. One preconference roundtable with an international focus has been organized, and the division has received several interesting submissions with an international perspective for the regular, competitive program. Details of the conference and the Academy can be found at: http://www.aom.pace.edu/

In addition, the Public and Nonprofit Division has a formative website, still being revised, at: http://www.gvsu.edu/spna/aom/

Thanks for your interest. We hope to see you in Toronto in August.

Ralph S. Brower
Membership Committee and PDW Co-Chair
PNP Division
Academy of Management

Request for Nominations for Best Book Award

Dear Colleagues:

The Best Book Committee requests your nominations for the Public and Nonprofit Division s 1999 Best Book award. The initial request in the Fall resulted in a limited number of nominations. This follow-up is being sent to urge you to forward the names of notable works that you believe merit consideration for this award. The books nominated should address issues within the Division s domain of interest.

Author membership in the Division is not a criterion for nomination nor selection. Authors whose books are nominated can be members of the Division or those outside the Division and the Academy. The winner will be announced during the Academy Meeting in 2000.

The basic elements of the form for nomination are included below. Please return this form, or its equivalent through mail, email, fax, or phone call to:

Professor Nancy Roberts
Naval Postgraduate School
555 Dyer Road
Monterey, California 93943
nroberts@nps.navy.mil
831-656-2742 (Phone)
831-656-3407 (FAX)

NOMINATIONS

Book(s):

Reason for Nomination(s):

International Institute for Public Ethics Year 2000 Conference

Next year the Congress Centre in downtown Ottawa will be the location of a major international conference on public ethics. The Conference will be held on September 24-28, 2000, with the theme "Ethics in the New Millennium - Bridging the Gap Between Private and Public Sectors". The Ottawa Conference follows on directly from earlier conferences sponsored by the Ethics in Public Service Network (EPS), but will be the first under the aegis of the International Institute for Public Ethics (IIPE).

Previous Conferences

A series of international conferences looking at public sector ethics have been held every other year since 1988. The first was in Jerusalem, Israel (1988), followed by Sienna, Italy (1990), Jerusalem, Israel (1992), Stockholm, Sweden (1994), Brisbane, Australia (1996) and, most recently, Amsterdam, Netherlands (1998). Ottawa, Canada, was selected as the site for the Year 2000 Conference during the Netherlands Conference.

Conference Focus

Participants will share their views on the central challenges of ethics programs, from the perspective of both state-of-the-art theory and the most effective practices. Experience will be drawn from a variety of academic, government, business and non-governmental organizations from around the world. A truly comprehensive program will offer new insights to both public and private sector delegates.

Many activities will take place over the four days, including plenary and group discussions, luminary panels, workshops, the presentation of papers, and, of course, several social events where we expect to have a number of distinguished speakers. The topics to be covered include : Managing for Integrity (the Common Ground between the Public and Private Sectors); Implementing Ethics Programs; Ethics and the Public Sector for the New Millennium - The International Perspective.

An impressive array of contributors from key posts in government, university, non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations, and the media, will ensure this conference is intellectually stimulating and makes a positive impact on the discipline. In particular, the views of political and business leaders will complement the insights provided by academics and ethics practitioners.

Call for Papers and Workshop Proposals

The Program Committee is accepting proposals for papers for panel discussions or workshops until March 31, 2000. These are to be presented in 45 minute sessions, with papers being driven more by the presenter with some subsequent discussion, and the workshops being more interactive and activity-oriented. Presentations may be made in either English or French, with some key presentations having simultaneous translation. Abstracts should be sent to Jane McVeigh at and should be no longer than 150 words, double-spaced, in French or English.

For More Information

The Conference web site is well worth a visit - it gives more detailed information than that provided above, and is clearly presented and easy to navigate. It provides useful links, such as those to other upcoming conferences of a similar nature. The web site address is:
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/Ethics2000Ottawa. Should you wish to contact the Conference organizers for more information, the e-mail address is:

For a sense of what's going on in Ottawa, www.ottawastart.com, and www.ottawakiosk.com are both useful sites.

Exploring the Changing Boundaries of Governance:
A New Australian Institute

Effective and progressive societies in today's increasingly complex world are said to be characterised by "good governance" and an important new debate is emerging about what this means in practice.

Recent international analysis suggests that the relationships between the public, private and community sectors of society, and the effectiveness of institutions which mediate these relationships, are the heart of good governance.

Globalization and technological forces, a more competitive market place and changing government regulatory requirements are some of the factors contributing to new challenges in governance. Public, private and community organisations are increasingly being confronted with the need to make changes to their activities and processes so that they can more effectively meet their goals and better serve their stakeholders.

The National Institute for Governance, based at the University of Canberra, is setting up a network to address governance concerns of contemporary importance. In line with the discourse on governance issues in Australia and internationally, the Institute's approach is based on a broad definition of "governance" encompassing the "exercise of political, economic and administrative authority to manage a nation's affairs" and including the complex system of institutions, systems and processes which engage the state, civil society and the private sector in a democratic and transparent way" (United Nations Development Programme: "Reconceptualising Governance", Discussion Paper No. 2, January 1997).

For the first year of its activities, the Institute has chosen to focus on those issues that arise at the interface of the interests of the public, private and community sectors and on how these sectors engage with individual citizens. The public sector, in an increasingly contestable environment, has to deal differently with the private and community sectors, especially in devolving service delivery. The private sector, especially major corporations, is now subject to stock exchange and legislative requirements of corporate governance which affect its relationships with shareholders and the public as good and accountable citizens. And community organisations have to deal with both public and private sectors in new ways which subject them to commercial and management pressures. Common to the three sectors are internal governance issues such as accountability, transparency, ethical, participatory, efficiency issues as well as issues around information management and analysis and availability.

On 7 April 2000 the National Institute will host a conference in Canberra, Public & Private Sector Governance in Australia: Exploring the Changing Boundaries, with the aim of bringing researchers and practitioners together across the sectors to discuss governance issues which arise at the interface of the interests of the public, private and community sectors and which are of current interest. in Australia. Issues expected to be opened up by key speakers and discussed in open forum include: How are the changing boundaries of governance perceived? What are the governance implications of convergence of public and private sector activities and where might the limits be to that convergence? Is the community benefiting? How does accountability and public interest fit in? Is the new interface between government and the community in the delivery of services working? How is the scope and range of economic regulation changing the relationship between the private sector and the community? Can we yet tell whether contracting-out and regulation of the private sector has led to more or less efficiency? What is the future outlook for these issues?

The Institute also plans to have appended to this conference a symposium for post-graduate students to exchange ideas on their research projects in these fields.

You can find out more about and join the National Institute for Governance by visiting our website (http://governance.canberra.edu.au) or by contacting the Institute by phone (02 6201 5607, +61 2 6201 5607 for international calls), fax (02 6201 5608, +61 2 6201 5608 for international calls) or email (nigov@management.canberra.edu.au).

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Professor Meredith Edwards
Director
National Institute for Governance
& Deputy Vice-Chancellor
University of Canberra ACT 2601
Australia
Phone: +61 (0)2 6201 5061
Fax: +61 (0)2 6201 5608
Email: mae@management.canberra.edu.au

http://governance.canberra.edu.au

Public Management Conference Papers

Papers presented at the 5th National (US) Public Management Conference are posted, alphabetically, at http://www-bushschool.tamu.edu/pubman/

Canadian Federal Public Service Employee Survey 1999: First of Its Kind in the World

In the spring of 1999 the employer of all Canadian federal government employees, the Treasury Board of the Government of Canada, conducted the first public service-wide survey in the world. Conducted by Statistics Canada, the government’s statistical agency, the survey was distributed to more than 190,000 public servants, of whom 104,416 returned a survey, for a response rate of 55 per cent.

The President of APEX, the association of executives of the Government of Canada, summarized the results as follows:

"Among public servants, there is a strong commitment to the work of public service, but also a high level of stress and a sense of not having control over the decisions that immediately affect them, of being over-burdened with secondary work demands, and of not being fully supported." (APEX Bulletin, Vol. 16, No. 3, December 1999, p. 2)

Mexican Managerial Reform:
Overview and Future Steps

The administration of President Zedillo has launched an important project of administrative reform, perhaps the most (at least formally) ambitious and integral ever: the "Program for the Public Administration Modernization 1995-2000" (1996).

This program inaugurates long forgotten words in Mexican public sector: accountability, citizen rights, information rights, and evaluation. After a diagnostic, the program proposes two objectives:

1.- To transform Federal Public Administration into an organization that acts efficiently and with efficacy through a new culture of service.

2.- To fight against corruption and impunity, through preventing mechanisms and promoting human resources capacities.

The program proposes four different sub-programs: Citizen Participation and Service, Administrative Decentralization, Evaluation and Measurement of Public Management, and Professionalization and Ethics of Public Officers. Several programs and strategies have been implemented since then. Here we only discuss some of the challenges this program is facing in terms of two different key categories: accountability and civil service.

Accountability: the program enhances in the discourse the question of accountability. Basically in the presentation and in the diagnostic. However, the subprograms barely refer to the impact of the actions upon this issue. Citizen participation subprogram actions refer basically on better information regarding public services, reduction of required procedures, and the necessity of public agencies on monitoring their "clients". There is no attempt of requiring a large transformation of the way government controls information regarding impacts, costs, and budgets assigned to programs or services. There is no action programmed where "clients" could have real control over the process and results of the evaluation of the public agency. Decentralization subprogram actions emphasize the improvement of conditions for the supply of public services and the flexible capacity that public institutions should have to attend new necessities efficiently. The apparent assumption is that more accountability would be naturally produced by the better technical distribution of resources and responsibilities. Accountability is kept as an internal affair, where efficiency is more important than a wide open system of information for the public.

The subprogram Evaluation and Measurement of the public management actions enunciates the necessity of developing an integral system of information and new performance indicators. However, the subprogram proposes these systems for internal control. Better information to improve internal management, clear objectives and measurable outcomes for internal evaluation, performance indicators to guide the management decision-making process. There is no proposal regarding better ways of controlling public actions from citizens or Congress, for example. No reference of external evaluation of impacts on society of public programs. The basic emphasis is upon internal management decision-making process.

Civil Service: the subprogram for the Professionalization and Ethic of Public Service enunciates a long waited mechanism for the implementation of a public service career in Mexico. However, the program is still very general, inducing all public agencies to define their procedures for hiring and developing their human resources. Now is 1999, and still diverse parts of government have been incapable of agreeing in some way to propose a program for civil service.

In addition to these elements, in 1997 a new program for budgeting began to be implemented. Taking the ministry of Treasury as a base, budget is going to be defined among public organizations through a definition of outcomes and outputs. These outputs and outcomes are going to be the principal elements (through the creation of indicators of performance) to be considered in the future for the definition of budget levels of different public organizations. It is expected for next year that the System of Performance Evaluation would be implemented within a sample of public organizations.

Here at CIDE we work on innovation analysis in local government.

Dr. David Arellano Gault
Director de la División de Administración Pública
CIDE
Director de la Revista Gestión y Política Pública. CIDE
Carretera México Toluca 3655 (km. 16.5) C.P. 01210
DF. México
tel. (52) 57279825,24,23
fax (52) 57279873
arellano@dis1.cide.mx

News About Knowledge

What is Knowledge Management? For some opinions, see: http://gutenberg.com/~millennium/define.htm

Understanding Intellectual Capital: a dictionary of definitions http://www.ericsson.se/intellectualcapital/home.htm

Knowledge Management Consortium International, Society of Knowledge Management Professionals: http://kmci.org
- Has created the Innovation Management Society, and an Innovation Metrics Standard Committee. Contact innovationmetrics@km.org

Atlas of Knowledge Innovation: Beyond Business Planning by Debra M. Amidon and Darius Mahdjoubi
- Extracts at: www.entovation.com/whatsnew/atlas1.htm

Utah Daily Stops the Presses and Goes Electronic

With the added declaration that "Clearly, the future of newspapers is on the Web," the publisher of The Orem Daily Journal announced the Utah daily's final print edition July 30, adding that the publication begins exclusive online production Aug. 5. While numerous U.S. weeklies have moved to exclusive Web production, The Journal may be the first daily to make the leap. The decision may have been prompted in part by a trend recently published by a Progressive Policy Institute survey that ranked Utah -- at 46% -- fourth nationally in the percentage of residents with Internet access. Journal Publications intends to cross-promote The Journal and its two remaining paper publications. Some employees, notably those involved in distribution, are expected to be laid off as a result of the move. (The Salt Lake Tribune 30 Jul 99) http://www.sltrib.com/

Colorado Brings the Net Into the Courtroom

Colorado has signed an agreement that could make it the first state in the nation to let lawyers file lawsuits over the Internet. Electronic filing is available in some counties in the US, but not in any entire state Colorado signed an agreement with a software to phase in electronic filing in district courts statewide.

Officials say that by the end of next year, if all goes well, lawyers will be able to push a button on their computer terminals to make filings from their offices, while judges will have the option of e-mailing orders and decisions instantaneously from their chambers.

The voluntary system will start in November and will expand county by county, with a statewide system in place by December 2000.

Under the system, attorneys can sign up with the software company (JusticeLink) and pay 10 cents a page to make filings over the Internet. The company will process the filing, then notify the courthouse in Colorado through the Internet.

The court clerk then reviews the filing and pushes a button to accept it, and the system automatically assigns it a case number and a judge. Judges, in turn, can read the files over the Internet and even e-mail decisions to attorneys, he said.

For at least the first year, the courts will make paper copies of files for judges, attorneys and the public.

The state has not decided how the public will have access to filings. The state may make files available on the Internet with or without a fee.

(Associated Press 8/5/99 )

Creating an Innovation Culture: Key Challenges and Opportunities as Ontario Moves Ahead in the New Millennium

Paper prepared for the Ontario Jobs and Investment Board, a blue ribbon panel chaired by Premier Mike Harris of the Province of Ontario, Canada, looking at ways to spur Ontario on over the next 5-15 years- including how to generate innovation "on the road to prosperity".
http://204.101.2.101/jobgrow/papers/innovat.html

International Institute for Public Ethics Year 2000 Conference

Next year the Congress Centre in downtown Ottawa will be the location of a major international conference on public ethics. The Conference will be held on September 24-28, 2000, with the theme "Ethics in the New Millennium - Bridging the Gap Between Private and Public Sectors". The Ottawa Conference follows on directly from earlier conferences sponsored by the Ethics in Public Service Network (EPS), but will be the first under the aegis of the International Institute for Public Ethics (IIPE).

Previous Conferences

A series of international conferences looking at public sector ethics have been held every other year since 1988. The first was in Jerusalem, Israel (1988), followed by Sienna, Italy (1990), Jerusalem, Israel (1992), Stockholm, Sweden (1994), Brisbane, Australia (1996) and, most recently, Amsterdam, Netherlands (1998). Ottawa, Canada, was selected as the site for the Year 2000 Conference during the Netherlands Conference.

Conference Focus

Participants will share their views on the central challenges of ethics programs, from the perspective of both state-of-the-art theory and the most effective practices. Experience will be drawn from a variety of academic, government, business and non-governmental organizations from around the world. A truly comprehensive program will offer new insights to both public and private sector delegates.

Many activities will take place over the four days, including plenary and group discussions, luminary panels, workshops, the presentation of papers, and, of course, several social events where we expect to have a number of distinguished speakers. The topics to be covered include : Managing for Integrity (the Common Ground between the Public and Private Sectors); Implementing Ethics Programs; Ethics and the Public Sector for the New Millennium - The International Perspective.

An impressive array of contributors from key posts in government, university, non-governmental organizations, multinational corporations, and the media, will ensure this conference is intellectually stimulating and makes a positive impact on the discipline. In particular, the views of political and business leaders will complement the insights provided by academics and ethics practitioners.

Call for Papers and Workshop Proposals

The Program Committee is accepting proposals for papers for panel discussions or workshops until March 31, 2000. These are to be presented in 45 minute sessions, with papers being driven more by the presenter with some subsequent discussion, and the workshops being more interactive and activity-oriented. Presentations may be made in either English or French, with some key presentations having simultaneous translation. Abstracts should be sent to Jane McVeigh at and should be no longer than 150 words, double-spaced, in French or English.

For More Information

The Conference web site is well worth a visit - it gives more detailed information than that provided above, and is clearly presented and easy to navigate. It provides useful links, such as those to other upcoming conferences of a similar nature. The web site address is:

http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/Ethics2000Ottawa. Should you wish to contact the Conference organizers for more information, the e-mail address is: For a sense of what's going on in Ottawa, www.ottawastart.com, and www.ottawakiosk.com are both useful sites.

Canada's Capital in Autumn

For those who have not been to Ottawa in the fall, the stunning colours of the autumn leaves and the natural beauty of the Ottawa River and Gatineau Hills blends with Ottawa's many historic buildings to make an unforgettable visual paradise. A major cultural centre, Canada's capital is home to over 1 million people and has much to see and do, while at the same time maintaining the intimate feel of a close community in a beautiful natural setting.

Guidelines for Electronic Scholarship

From: Proposed Guidelines on Electronic Scholarship, Information Technology, and Computer Support in Political Science, September 1, 1999
Ad hoc Committee on Information Technology in Political Science,
American Political Science Association,
at: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~sws/apsa%20guidelines/itguidelines.htm

7. Recognition of contributions by faculty members. Faculty members who develop computer-based educational applications and scholarly works should be recognized for their curricula, pedagogical, and scholarly contributions. As part of the performance review process, whether for annual salary review, tenure, or promotion, experts in IT should evaluate electronic material where appropriate, as other comparable materials would be, through external peer review.

Departments of political science should develop a written policy concerning the evaluation of electronic scholarship which includes more than just written material, in the tenure and promotion process so that faculty members can make decisions about appropriate ways to distribute their research. In addition, if faculty members are expected to provide computer support within the department, they should be appropriately recognized and compensated or rewarded.

Political Science departments should develop evaluation procedures that specifically take into account electronic scholarship. It is generally agreed that scholarship is more than the discovery of new knowledge. It is also the application, integration, and dissemination of this new knowledge. This can happen in many different ways including text, web pages, CD/ROM or DVD, videos, and audio. Thus, information technology must become one of the criteria recognized and assessed in promotion and tenure decision, and performance reviews.

Electronic modes of scholarly distribution must be considered serious and legitimate.

Written electronic "publication" and scholarship should consider the following criteria:

1. Electronic journals should clearly indicate whether they are peer-reviewed.

2. Digital publications should indicate their rate of manuscript acceptance.

3. Names of those on the editorial board of electronic journals should be readily available.

Authors should be encouraged to include all of the above information with the scholarly material that they submit to their department for performance review and/or promotion and tenure.

While the number of purely electronic published outlets for scholarship in Political Science is still small it should be clearly understood that the rigor with which textual manuscripts and other electronic scholarly output is peer-reviewed can and should be equal to the criteria traditionally applied to scholarship in our discipline. The medium or media do not diminish the standards applied to the work that is presented for dissemination to the discipline.

When political scientists develop electronic material such as CD-ROMs or other digital products, departments should invite the authors to suggest names of expert outside evaluators who can assist the department in judging the nature and quality of the material produced. Departments in evaluating prizes awarded to faculty for creative and scholarly work in IT should, whenever appropriate, examine the assessment processes and awards criteria used by sister disciplines, particularly in the humanities, to evaluate faculty members engaged in "creative" work.

International Public Management Networkers

I am editor of the "Insights" Department of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. If you have ideas for this Department, send me an e mail about them. I am attaching below something I wrote recently for my inaugural issue that describes the sort of contribution I am looking for.

Eugene Bardach
Professor of Public Policy
Richard & Rhoda Goldman School of Public Policy
University of California
2607 Hearst Street
Berkeley, CA 94720-7320
510-642-7422
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~gspp

Eugene Bardach, Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley
Insights Dept Editor, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management

From the Department Editor

Wishing to inaugurate my tenure as Insights Department editor with an inspirational message to potential contributors, I sought my own inspiration in the writings of the Founders. I can’t improve on what the first Insights editor, James W. Vaupel, wrote back in mid-1981. So here it is, only slightly excerpted:

Many creative policy insights are lost for lack of a suitable forum. What is needed is a place to publish when you have one brilliant, incisive, or iconoclastic idea, captured with wit, verve, and precision. "INSIGHTS" is dedicated to cultivating this stimulating but neglected genre. … These substantive, methodological, or pedagogical articles could:

  • propound a creative, partially baked policy idea
  • challenge the direction of current policy with an "emperor’s new clothes" analysis
  • push a few numbers around, as only the most talented analysts can, to clarify some murky issue
  • share some crafty stratagem or wisdom from the firing line
  • resurrect a luminous insight that has been neglected
  • disseminate a policy that has worked elsewhere
  • exploit a book as a sparring partner, foil, target, or launching pad
  • distribute a paradigmatically sharp and refreshing memo
  • illustrate some method of policy analysis or management by deftly dissecting a puzzling problem
  • draw a constructive lesson from the unintended consequences of some policy or decision

Vaupel imposed a 2000-word maximum and proposed an average of 1500 words. I won’t officially change his numbers, but they seem high to me today. We are all busier than in 1981. Please try to do the job more succinctly. Look for ways to tell your story in a simple graph or a table with eight or ten numbers and readable headings.
Practitioners are particularly invited to try their hand at this. They have so many interesting stories to tell. Academics do too, of course. In any case, we do not discriminate on the basis of professional identification. Anyone who has a bright idea for an Insight and wants a reaction is welcome to send me a short summary by e-mail: e2bar@uclink4.berkeley.edu.

Gary Hamel's New Mantra: Innovation

Gary Hamel is best known for co-authoring the best-selling book, "Competing for the Future," which endeared him to corporate chieftains around the world. As a fan of his work, I've read just about everything he's written. The gist of his message has been that company leaders need to rethink how they do strategy.

But in recent months, Hamel has been shifting more of his attention to what he calls strategy innovation. Reason: e-commerce. "Somewhere out there is a bullet with your company's name on it," he wrote in a cover piece in Fortune magazine. "Competition today is not between products, it's between business models."

In another journal, the Product Development Best Practices Report, Hamel continues the argument. "I don't think product development practices and processes are the principal issue. The big challenge most companies face today is how to innovate - how to create business strategies and business models that generate new wealth.

"Thirty or forty years ago, Deming came along with quality. At that time it was an intensely radical idea. And it took many American companies twenty years to wake up to the fact that ordinary employees have brains that can and should be engaged in quality improvement. Now we take that for granted.

"The issue today is innovation," says Hamel. "And where does innovative, new-wealth creating strategy come from? Most people will tell you it comes from visionaries like Gates or Grove. But that's not satisfactory. we need to get past the common belief that innovation is supposed to be resident in R&D, or in the CEO and senior vice presidents, who, as a group, have almost zero diversity in their outlook. You have to encourage top management to give up their monopoly on strategy and setting corporate direction and find ways to turn that task over to the entire organization."

Other quotes from Hamel:
"You need a senior staff mature enough and open enough to be willing to tolerate an ongoing corporate-wide conversation about innovation. Or you need some people who can effectively organize a grass roots campaign. "You have people who see the writing on the walls, people who see new opportunities. But there's no legitimate route where they can be heard, where they can challenge the dominant logic of the organization." Product Development Best Practices Report is published by the Management Roundtable. For more information: http://www.ManagementRoundtable.com
More next week!

Robert B. Tucker is president of The Innovation Resource, Santa Barbara, California. He's author of MANAGING THE FUTURE: 10 Driving Forces of Change for the Next Century, and other books on innovation, and is a popular speaker at conferences. (Innovationresource@compuserve.com)

Innovation Network http://www.thinksmart.com
451 E. 58th Ave., #4625, Box 468 Phone: 303-308-1088
Denver, CO 80216 FAX: 303-295-6108
staff@thinksmart.com
Submitted by: Dorothy Milburn

"Information, Incentives and Commitment: An Empirical Analysis of Contracts between Government and State Enterprises"

From: The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Vol. 14, No. 2, Fall 1998

BY:
MARY SHIRLEY
World Bank, Development Economics Research Group
LIXIN XU
World Bank

This article analyzes the experience with performance contracts between developing country governments and the managers of their state-owned enterprises. It identifies how problems of information asymmetry, incentives, and commitment can lead to shirking. It applies this conceptual framework to a sample of 12 contracts with monopoly state enterprises in 6 developing countries and finds that all suffer from serious contracting problems and there is no pattern of improved performance that can be attributed to the contracts.

The Knowledge Ecology Network (KEN)

Last year [we established] the Knowledge Ecology Workgroup, a group of people coming together to design KEN - the Knowledge Ecology Network (to refresh your memory, the URL for the original KEW process is at: (http://www.KnowledgeEcology.com/kenf/)

[The KEN is about] Knowledge Ecology and the formation of a vibrant community of like-minded knowledge professionals. The KEWorkgroup continues their work, and are now proud to announce the first draft of the KEN design, a place we are currently naming as 'KENPort.'

We envision this community as a "town" in cyberspace, filled with people attracted by the richness of tools, ideas and groundbreaking dialogue around the principles, practices and models of Knowledge Ecology. It is designed as a place for people who are convinced that an evolving organization will be knowledge-based, community structured and driven by "entrepreneurial" intentions to contribute to society. In short we want to organize a community that attracts people concerned for the ecology of knowledge in organizations.

We have put together a high-level description of KENport, that awaits a review by knowledgeable potential members and leaders of the community, in short: by you. We are looking for your input, positive or negative. We are asking for your ideas for improvements and your critical appraisal of the overall approach.

The KENPort proposal seeks to outline the various features which a visitor to KENPort could experience, the opportunities for offering services within the KENPort enterprise / community, the governance arrangements for this development, and a possible revenue model for the development and operation of KENPort. It is intended to use the proposal as a basis for seeking investment funding and for undertaking more detailed design.

Before proceeding with more detailed design work, we have decided to seek additional external review of the proposal, inviting some former members of the KEWorkgroup, as well as a select number of others, experts in relevant fields. We are looking for your input, positive or negative. We are asking for your ideas for improvements and your critical appraisal of the overall approach.

The proposal can be viewed at http://www.knowledgeecology.com/kenport/

We will be opening a special web based conference to receive feedback and questions regarding the KENPort proposal. The duration of the proposal review conference is planned to last for 3 weeks starting on May 28 and ending on June 18. If you are interested to join in with other knowledge ecology enthusiasts to review the KENPort project, please respond by signing the 'Review Panel Registration' form at http://www.KnowledgeEcology.com/kenport/registration.shtml and we will send you instructions on how to access the conference.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly. We look forward to your contributing your wisdom in the creation of this exciting project.

Some interesting ideas on innovation

At: www.syntrek.com and http://www.syntrek.com/eisen2.htm

Public Administration (New European Forum)

Re-launch of Public Administration, an international quarterly

Edited by Professor R. A. W. Rhodes

Public Administration is a major refereed journal, founded in 1922, which publishes articles on public administration, public policy and public management. Originally the journal of the British Royal Institute of Public Administration, it became an independent international journal in 1992. It has a global circulation. For 1999 the journal has been relaunched with significantly increased coverage of European public administration in a new 'European Forum'.

AIMS

The new journal has three objectives

* To stimulate scholarly and practitioner dialogue in public administration, public management and policy analysis.
* To encourage critical, comparative analysis, especially of European, Commonwealth and American public administration.
* To publish articles which are theoretically rigorous and of a broad current interest.

Public Administration has an eminent editorial board drawn from Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA.

NEW 'EUROPEAN FORUM'

This new section recognises the significant expansion, and international orientation, of public administration in Western Europe; and it seeks to foster communication and co-operation among this community of scholars.

Although there are several national journals, few carry material on comparative public administration or aspire to an international audience. This gap in journal coverage, coupled with the quantity and quality of work available, has created the opportunity for a significant expansion of Public Administration. For 1999, the journal will be increased to 1000 pages and European articles will account for up to 50 per cent of its content.

EXPANDED REVIEW SECTION

A substantially expanded 'Reviews' section will continue to provide traditional reviews covering European as well as U.K. and U.S. publications.
It will also encourage 'state of the art' reviews of public administration in selected countries. There will also be an important innovation: the review section will cover the expanding field of electronic media, the worldwide web and CD-ROM publishing.

MAIN ARTICLES

The journal will continue to publish articles on public administration and public policy in Britain and the rest of the world, especially the Commonwealth and USA, which meet our stated aims. These will account for up to 50 per cent of the journal's contents.

PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND NOTES

These sections provide an outlet for shorter articles which address issues of interest to practitioners. Forthcoming Highlights include:

  • Special Issue: Comparing Networks
    edited by Peter Bogason and Theo Toonen
  • Compulsion by Stealth: Lessons from the European Union on the Use of National Identity Cards, Adrian Beck and Kate Broadhurst
  • Testing the Limits of Incrementalism, George Boyne
  • The Impact of Bureaucratic Structure on Policy Making, Morton Egeberg
  • Between Democracy and Efficiency: trends in local government reform in the Netherlands and Germany, Frank Hendriks
  • Causes and Effects in Policy Change: the Brent Spar case, Grant Jordan
  • The Public Sector Ethos is Dead, Long Live the Public Service Ethos, Mick Temple
  • What Drives Machinery of Government Change? Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom 1950-1997, Patrick Willis and Glyn Davis

SUBMITTING ARTICLES

The editors will welcome articles on any aspect of public administration which meet our stated aims. Articles for the 'Main Articles' section and 'European Forum' should be 6-8,000 words long. Articles for 'Public Management' and the 'Review Articles' should be 4,000 words.

'Notes' should be no more than 2,000 words. Manuscripts for 'European Forum' should be sent to:

Professor Walter Kickert,
Department of Public Administration,
Erasmus University, P.O. Box 1738,
3000 DR, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

ALL other manuscripts should be sent to:

Professor R.A.W. Rhodes,
Department of Politics,
University of Newcastle,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 7RU, U.K.

Authors should send 3 (three) copies of their manuscripts, typed, double spaced (including all references and quotations) on A4 paper including a separate title page and a 150-word abstract. The journal uses author-date references and does not print notes. A style sheet is available from the Managing Editor. Contributions for the new 'European Forum' are welcome now.

All books for review should be sent to:

Professor Peter Bogason,
Department of Social Science,
Roskilde University,
P.O. Box 260, DK 4000,
Roskilde, Denmark.

ORDERING

Personal rates

* US$58.00 North America*
* =A335.00 Rest of World

Reduced rates for members of national political science associations

* US$50.00 North America*
* =A330.00 Rest of World

Institutional rates

* =A3193.00 Europe
* US$ 380.00 North America*
* =A3229.00 Rest of World

To subscribe please e-mail: jnlinfo@blackwellpublishers.co.uk or visit
http://www.blackwellpublishers.co.uk/asp/journal.asp?ref=3D0033-3298, to order a sample copy e-mail gnelmes@blackwellpublishers.co.uk including PADM - SAMPLE COPY in the address line and giving both your name and address and that of your institutional librarian

Source: PUMA News Forum

2000 Dubai Award: Call for Best Practices

The Dubai International Award for Best Practices in Improving the Living Environment (DIABP) recognizes initiatives which have made outstanding contributions to improving the quality of life in cities and communities around the world. Each of the ten Awards consists of a US$30,000 cash prize, a trophy and certificate. The Award is open to all organizations from the public, private and civil society sectors. The deadline for submissions is 31 March 2000. Substantive feedback will be provided to those that submit early. For the complete submission guide in English, French or Spanish, please visit: http://www.sustainabledevelopment.org/blp/awards/ or contact: bestpractices@unchs.org

1999 Best Practices Database on CD-ROM

A joint product of UNCHS (Habitat) and the Together Foundation, the 1999 Best Practices database has been officially released on CD-ROM during the 17th session of the Commission on Human Settlements on 7 May 1999. Over 650 good and best practices will be searchable by subject, region, country, eco-system and keyword. The database is a valuable resource for practicing professionals, decision- and policy-makers, researchers and the media.

To purchase the CD-ROM version, please contact the Together Foundation at: info@together.org

Furthermore this database is also available via the Internet at: http://www.bestpractices.org

What's New

- Women & Local Government, Ibaque, Colombia
- Banana Kelly, USA: Award-winning Update
- Chengdu, China, Best Practices Update
- World Conference on Model Cities, Statement by Dr. Toepfer
- Best Practices in Brazil: Annoucing The Caixa BP Award
For more information on the preceding, please visit our web site at: http://www.sustainabledevelopment.org/blp/news

Reference

- Analysis of use of the Best Practices database May 1999
For more information on this reference, please visit our web site at: http://www.sustainabledevelopment.org/blp/news

This information was published in the B E S T P R A C T I C E S N E W S L E T T E R

The newsletter is published by the Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme (BLP) of the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat) to inform and to stimulate exchange between local authorities, civic organizations, policy makers, researchers and urban practitioners for making our cities and communities more livable.

Their Address:

Best Practices and Local Leadership Programme UNCHS (Habitat), P.O. Box 30030, Nairobi, Kenya Tel: (254-2) 624328, Fax: (254-2) 623080 e-mail: bestpractices@unchs.org

The website of the Best Practices & Local Leadership Programme (BLP) may be visited at: http://www.sustainabledevelopment.org/blp

Glossary of Concepts and Listserv "Globe-L" on Globalization

Public Administration in America is heavily influenced by globalization -- many agencies confront international problems that affect their operations, and increasingly transnational organizations develop policies and programs that impact Americans and affect our domestic activities. A growing number of Americans are involved internationally in projects that involve or affect the administrative practices of other countries. Yet there is no clear agreement about what GLOBALIZATION is or how it works. Some see it as an economic process in which multinational corporations and the uncontrolled movement of capital are re-shaping the world. Others point to the increased movement of people, of goods, of information and practices as crucially important. We can also think about how some administrative functions have moved upwards to international organizations or regimes, while others are moving downwards, not only to states in our federal system, but also to autonomous nations, such as indigenous peoples. This means that inter-governmental relations at all levels are becoming more complex and important.

I have been working internationally and collaboratively to develop a mini-glossary of concepts relating to globalization and if anyone in your section is writing or thinking about this phenomenon and its implications, I'd like to invite them to join the project. We have an international Listserv called "Globe-L" that anyone can join, and the preliminary results of our work can be seen on my Web Site which has a segment for globalization at: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~fredr/welcome.htm#global
To go directly to the summary, with color slides, of our preliminary findings, you can go to: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~fredr/glonotes.htm We plan to build on this foundation and cumulate our findings by adding whatever material members of Globe-L contribute. You or any member of your section who writes to tell me what they mean by "globalization" can join this list -- and leave it as soon as they find it uninteresting.

For your background information, consider that at last year's meeting of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) conference in Seattle, our Section for International and Comparative Administration (SICA) held a roundtable on the implications of globalization for administrative development. I wrote a short note for this session which you can find at: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~fredr/sica.htm

There you will also find links to notes written by other participants. We agreed that this is an important theme with far-reaching implications for American public administration as well as for development administration in other countries. Although the Globe-L project was launched in conjunction with the International Sociological Association, interested members of ASPA are welcome to participate.

Would you be willing to help by identifying members of your section who are doing research and writing on any administration questions that have global implications? You could give me their names and e-mail addresses or, if you prefer, just forward this note to them with a request that they contact me directly -- using e-mail only since I won't be able to handle the project on slow mail. What I am asking for is a short text that either by explicit definition or implicitly, in context, shows what someone has in mind when speaking or writing about "globalization." The results of the ASPA portion of this study will be made available to ASPA in general and SICA in particular, and interested members will always be able to view and use the results by going to my Web Page. I hope the results will help them write more effectively about links between globalization and public administration. The techniques used in this project can also, of course, be adapted for the clarification of other important but fuzzy terms, so this exercise should also prove helpful for members not especially interested in globalization.

I look forward to your response. With many thanks and much aloha, Fred

FRED W. RIGGS, Professor Emeritus
Political Science Department, University of Hawaii
2424 Maile Way, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, U.S.A.
Phone: (808) 956-8123 Fax: (808) 956-6877
e-mail: FREDR@HAWAII.EDU
Web Page: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~fredr/

Century old slogan of the Cosmopolitan Clubs: ABOVE ALL NATIONS IS HUMANITY

A Report of the Special Parliamentary Committee for the Future, Part 2: Skill and Faira Play–An Active and Responsible Finland

A broad-based discussion of the role and future of Finland this report addresses such issues as values, work and unemployment, trouble spots in the social welfare system, sustainable development and an government active stance and the governance of change.

Available from:
Committee Counsellor Paula Tiihonen
The Finnish Parliament
FIN–00102 Helsinki
Email: paula.tiihonen@eduskunta.fi
Internet: http://www.eduskunta.fi

Some intersting information from the Canadian Centre for Management Development found at http://www.ccmd-ccg.gc.ca/whatsNew.html

Risk Assessment

This is a short reply to the separate comments and questions posed by Hawks and Clarke in Vol 6 # 20 ofthe Innovation Management Network.

First to Mr. Clarke -- "Right on, Sir." The simple fact is that there is just no substitute for having been there and done it, and the more often the better. Since today's markets are chaotic, doing the same experiment does not necessarily yield the same result.

Useful art is more like quantum physics than bench science. Hence, though simulations and case studies are helpful background knowledge, training for preprogrammed linear responses is not very useful.

The experimental stuff Senge does at MIT to build learning organizations is perhaps more helpful, and learning in the real world is better yet. (My recent book "Engines of Prosperity," Imperial College Press, 1998, discusses trends and suggests useful templates for knowledge based business in today's markets.)

For Mr. Hawks, yes, sorting by degrees of "newness" is indeed a useful way to look at things. Chapter one of my 1990 book "High Tech with Low Risk" delves into that. Figure one on page five gives a three by three matrix that sorts project uncertainty (risk) along the market and technology axis.

The so-called "suicide square" is when both the market and the technology are new. It offers the highest risk-return. Conversely, when both the technology and the market are "existing," the risk-return is the lowest. In the middle are "extensional" markets and technologies. The different squares, of course, beg for different approaches and strategies.

Both books are available from Amazon.com. A sampling of useful readings and references is posted on my web page. Abstracts and samples of talks are also posted. www.trudelgroup.com.

from John D. Trudel

Response re Definition of Innovation

In the new product literature, the demarkations are:

(1) product extension (same base product with slight modifications; identical product in a new segment)
(2) new platform product (net product from which product extensions are possible
(3) new-to-the-company products (NIH, but imported to the company who is now going to product it for the first time)
(4) new-to-the-world (never been done before; no market exists)

From:
Innovation Management Network, Volume 6, Number 22 (March 30, 1999)

WEB PAGE IS: http://www.mcmaster.ca/
THE TIM WEB PAGE ADDRESS IS: http://www.aom.pace.edu/tim/

European Journal of Innovation Management

The European Journal of Innovation Management fills in a very important gap in representing the phenomenon of innovation in a modern context and in covering all the different aspects the management of innovation should address. EJIM takes a holistic approach rather than the narrow technical focus adopted by many publications. It presents innovation management as an all-encompassing integrated process, demonstrating the role of specific areas and also the various linkages. This information resource is packed with a wide range of discussion papers, case studies, and reports on new breakthroughs and the philosophy behind the theory and the practice of continuous improvement in innovation. In addition, it regularly brings you Internet editorials, book reviews, reports from key conferences and an events calendar to keep you firmly up to date with everything that is happening in the field.

Editor: Professor Mohammed Zairi, SABIC Chair of Best Practice Management, University of Bradford, England Deputy Editor: Perviaz K Ahmed, Unilever Lecturer in Innovation Management, University of Bradford, England

Contents of Volume 2, Number 1, 1999
* Editorial - Strategy in innovation
* "Successful market innovation" by Axel Johne
* "TQM and business innovation" by A Martines Lorente, F Dewhurst and B Dale
* "The effectiveness of market nformation in enhanicng new product success rates" by Shart, N Tzokas and M Saren
* "Benchmarking for brand innovation" by P k Ahmed and M Zairi

Further details
Website: http://www.mcb.co.uk/ejim.htm

Contact: cnewsome@mcb.co.uk

From:
Innovation Management Network, Volume 6, Number 22 (March 30, 1999)

WEB PAGE IS: http://www.mcmaster.ca/
THE TIM WEB PAGE ADDRESS IS: http://www.aom.pace.edu/tim/

Volkswagen Foundation - Transformation of Economic/Political/Social Systems

Funding Available

http://www.volkswagen-stiftung.de/english/merkblat/merktran.htm

Support for theoretical and empirical research into the coincidence and interaction of economic and political transitions and the linkages between them, alterations in the administrative, legal and social spheres, and in international relations. Academic institutions from all over the world are eligible.

Closing date: 21 March, 1999

Websites on environment and environmental aspects of the economy

Some websites which deal with the environment and with the environmental aspects of the economy can be found in the Innovation Journal Library. You may find them interesting, and often informative, although their quality varies with their competence and the vested interests involved.

P.S. I'm constantly hungry for more good sites on this subject, so everybody feel free to send their favourites to me!

Sandy Bryce
adbryce@magma.ca

Announcing the Launch of a New Journal

FORESIGHT: the journal of futures studies, strategic thinking and policy. FORESIGHT is a new international and interdisciplinary journal concerned with the study of the future. Edited by Colin Blackman, former editor of Futures, and supported by an editorial board of prominent individuals, FORESIGHT is aimed at an academic, business and policy making audience.

It will be an important vehicle for the publication of research, business analysis and policy thinking. FORESIGHT will provide a much needed forum for debate on the important social, economic, political, technological and environmental issues which are shaping all our futures. It is intended to be a valuable resource for those in business, organizations and government, providing a long-term perspective to better inform decisions and actions.

FORESIGHT will be launched in February 1999 and will be published six times a year. Each issue will contain peer reviewed articles as well as opinion pieces and essays from leading academic and business thinkers, and a reviews section (including book reviews, conference reports, letters to the editor, communications on research in progress, a calendar of events and other regular journal features). The first issue includes articles on, for instance, the inevitability of a business model for education, the role of the military in non-war operations, the need to rethink time and leisure, using scenarios to plan the future of health services, and the internet and globalization of culture.

FORESIGHT will be available in hard copy and online to subscribers.
For further details: http://www.camfordpublishing.com

Colin Blackman

Call for Proposals for Drucker Course

Claremont Graduate University
The Peter F. Drucker Archives

The Board of Advisors of the Peter F. Drucker Archives seeks to entertain proposals that will result in a commission for the development of one or more courses that, in design and content, perpetuate the thinking and teaching of Peter Drucker.

These courses will be the foundation of a program of development of a library of concepts related to DruckerAEs idea as well as a content library of learning-focused materials designed to communicate the concepts.

The proposed course(s) shall:

  1. draw on materials in the Drucker Archives and other resources
  2. provide content for at least 24 contact hours
  3. target one of the following audiences; graduate management students, mid-level executives, leaders in non-profit organizations
  4. have clearly defined outcome and measurement components
  5. be adaptable to other audiences.

The Board welcomes letters of interest, accompanied by current vitae of the proposal author(s), by January 12, 1999.

On the basis of the letters of interest, The Board will grant several grants of $5,000-$10,000 for the development of commission proposal packages for its consideration.

Commission proposals should include the following:

  1. 15-20 page paper summarizing the underlying elements of the proposed course,
  2. Preliminary syllabus outline, including media integration
  3. Proposed budget and timeline

The Board will select one or more proposals for development into a full course to be packaged and promoted by the Drucker Archives.

Papers written as part of the commission proposal process will be considered for inclusion in a compilation to be delivered and published in conjunction with the celebration of Professor DruckerAEs 90th birthday in November 1999. The completed course package will be required at the same time.

Those receiving commissions to develop course materials will be granted full access to the Drucker Archives, including stipends for travel. The Drucker Archives will also provide other types of support necessary to complete a project of this nature.

Materials submitted as part of the commission proposal packages will become the property of the Drucker Archives.

For more information contact Eric Pollard at (909) 607-7359 or eric.pollard@cgu.edu

Eric Pollard, Director, The Drucker Archives
Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management
Claremont Graduate University
1021 N. Dartmouth Avenue, Claremont, California 91711
(909) 607-7359, Fax (909) 607-7359, Eric.Pollard@cgu.edu

Global Knowledge Innovation Infrastructure (GKII):

The Banff Center announced the launch of a Global Knowledge Innovation Infrastructure (GKII) the week of December 1, 1998 in Calgary, Canada.

Innovation and Sensible Risk Taking in the Public Sector: In his Report of December 1, 1998, the Auditor General of Canada announced release of a report on proceedings of a roundtable discussion on innovation and sensible risk taking in the public sector. The roundtable included senior managers from federal and provincial governments, political representatives, and representatives from private sector and labour organizations.

Intellectual Capital:
Conferences and links: GOTOBUTTON BM_1_
http://www.business.mcmaster.ca/mktg/nbontis/ic/#LIN
Articles: GOTOBUTTON BM_2_
http://www.business.mcmaster.ca/mktg/nbontis/ic/#REF
Researchers: http://www.business.mcmaster.ca/mktg/nbontis/ic/#RES

Articles:http://www.business.mcmaster.ca/mktg/nbontis/ic/#REF

Researchers: http://www.business.mcmaster.ca/mktg/nbontis/ic/#RES

CLAD4s Document On-Line: A New Public Management for Latin America

Latin American Centre for Development Administration (CLAD) - invites all communities interested in the public sector to see the document: A New Public Management for Latin America.

This document was written by CLAD's Scientific Council and approved by CLAD's Directive Council at its October 14th, 1998 meeting (Madrid, Spain). This Council is made up of the highest governmental authorities responsible for the modernization of Public Administration and State reform, among its twenty-five member states.

You can find it at the following address: http://www.clad.org.ve/gespub.html

Spanish and Portugese versions are also available there.
Sincerely, Marianela Nuqez Barboza CEDAI - CLAD NOTICLAD No. 8

"The fact that in the institutional action of CLAD, the International Congress is the main work programme can be explained by the wide and qualified call at the regional and extra regional level, as well as for the ability to foster debate and exchange of learning on the various ambits related to public matters and performance of managing institutions. For this reason, this issue of NOTICLAD (No. 8) underscores the most significant aspects arising out of the III Congress recently held.

"The I Ibero-American Conference of Ministers of Public Administration and State Reform -the results of which are submitted here- is another relevant initiative of CLAD. This Conference approved the Lisbon Declaration, which was endorsed in turn by the VIII Summit of Heads of State and Government. Also, the XXVIII Regular Meeting of the Directive Council of CLAD was held in Madrid. The agreements of this meeting, underscored by NOTICLAD, include upcoming international sittings, the creation of work groups, and the endorsement of a constitutional document -A New Public Management for Latin America."

For more details, visit CLAD's Web Site (http://www.clad.org.ve), where you could find the electronic version of NOTICLAD No. 8 (http://www.clad.org.ve/noti8i.html), and an extended vision of our services (printed and on-line).

CLAD

Rankings: Rankings of Journals of Managing Innovation and New Technology http://mint.mcmaster.ca/mint/readings/index.htm

From: colin.talbot@publicfutures.com
Dear colleagues,

As you know, work has been going on in the UK on developing a "Public Service Excellence Model". The aim has been to develop a specifically public sector performance benchmarking and assessment tool.

The Model was developed by Prof. Colin Talbot of the University of Glamorgan in the UK.

We have now completed a survey in the UK in which nearly 100 organisations participated, each doing a self-assessment against the Model of their own performance. These include central government agencies, local government, health bodies, police, probation, fire and other services.

Feedback on the Model, and the detailed assessment criteria, has been very positive.

Two organisations have also very creatively now used the basic framework of the Model for "business planning" purposes.

A number of documents outlining the Model are currently available. If you would like information please specify which documents you would like.

Mapping Social Cohesion

Another report has just been released today by the (Ottawa based) Canadian Policy Research Network which talks about communities from the aspect of cohesion- apparently based on a Club of Rome study. It looks at local communities and the "whole society" from five dimensions:

  • belonging
  • inclusion
  • involvement
  • recognition
  • legitimacy

The report (which is all Canadian) cites work by the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Environment Canada's approaches (to environmental citizenship) among others.

Here's an extract from their email announcement today:

Canadian Policy Research Networks is pleased to announce the release of "Mapping Social Cohesion: The State of Canadian Research," by Jane Jenson. The Study as well as a Backgrounder and Press Release are available for complete download from our website at http://www.cprn.org (L'étude est aussi disponible en français).

I would recommend reading the full report.

Bill Pugsley (613) 731-0145

President, Canadian Meteorological & Oceanographic Society
Président, Société canadienne de météorologie et d'océanographie http://www.meds.dfo.ca/cmos/
E-Mail: PUGSLEY@FREENET.CARLETON.CA (checked daily)
(back-up) BPUGSLEY@COMPUSERVE.COM (checked weekly)

A related report has also been published by the CPRN, Securing the Social Union, by Kathy O'Hara. This study reports on the results of a series of roundtable discussions held last year by CPRN with federal and provincial officials, academics, and experts from non governmental organizations. These roundtables discussions considered the definition of the social union, including its purpose, values and principles. They also looked at how outcomes in the social union could be measured, what new institutions are required to carry out the functions of the social union, and how citizens could become engaged in the construction of the social union. Details at:

Editor, Innovation Journal

IPMN Workshop

The Planning Committee for the 1999 IPMN Workshop in Siena, Italy is now soliciting proposals for participation in the Workshop that will meet July 28-30, 1999. Priority for Workshop participation is given to members of the IPMJ editorial board as a matter of IPMN policy. However, the Planning Committee is intereted in reviewing proposals from IPMN members for participation as presenters or discussants. Participation in IPMN Workshops will be limited, as has been the case in the past, to approximately 25 persons. Four paper presentations will be made in the two day workshop so as to permit in depth reflection and discussion among participants. The Workshop theme selected by the IPMN Policy Steering Committee is, "Assessing Alternative Research Methodologies in Public Management." Please send proposals for participation to our Siena host, Professor Riccardo Mussari at mussari mussari@unisi.it with copies to L. R. Jones at and to Professor Kuno Schedler, IPMN Coordinator, at Kuno.Schedler@unisg.ch and to Professor Fred Thompson, IPMJ Editor at http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bpugsley
The program for the Workshop should be completed by the end of January 1999.

Also, think about participating in some way at the next IPMN Conference in Sydney in the spring of 2000.
Y2K is on the way.

Government of Canada Departmental Performance Reports

- available at: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/rma/dpr/97-98/9798dpre.html

The Impact of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Have a look at MIT: The Impact of Innovation concerning the impact the MIT graduates have had on the USA economy at: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/founders/

Report on Finland´s Future

Paula Tiihonen just finished her 1½ year job working on the Report on Finland´s Future.

100 pages on future options - about values, work, welfare models, the information society - have been decided in our Committee for the Future in the Parliament. On Wednesday the Report was in plenary in the Parliament and it was accepted.
It will be translated in English.

Two innovations were created:

1) The Report of the Committee for the Future was handled in plenary- in a session of 200 MPs in assembly - totally on the Internet. The whole discussion was delivered by voice and by picture on Internet. You could have looked (at) it- in Finnish. It was the first time in the history of Internet and in the history of parliaments in the whole world you could follow an official assembly by Internet.
If you go to the web-site of the Finnish Parliament (www.eduskunta.fi) you can see our committee´s reports and also multi-videos, etc . The Assembly discussion will also be there for 2-3 months.

2) It was the first time when the collection of innovative ideas for politics got results - a decision of Parliament on the initiative of politicians. In the Report there are 28 concrete statements for government - these statements will also become a basic document for the election and a basis for negotiations and for the program of a new government (elections in May).

Two Virtual Symposia

The Department of Public Administration, National University of Ireland, Cork, is to conduct two Virtual Symposia on the following themes:

1. Public Administration in Ireland

2. Public Administration in Europe

The proceedings of each symposium is to be published in two special editions of Public Administration and Management: An Interactive Journal.

The intention of the special editions is to present as comprehensive a picture as possible of the current state of, and issues in, Public Administration in Ireland and Europe. Therefore, papers in all areas of the discipline are being solicited.

Public Administration and Management: An Interactive Journal is a peer-reviewed, academic publication. However, this should not discourage those from a non-academic background who are active in Public Administration from submitting articles in their area of expertise.

The dead-line for the submission of abstracts of proposed papers was December 15, 1998. These should be of 300 words or less and include three key words. These should be submitted by post to:

The Virtual Symposia Committee
The Department of Public Administration,
National University of Ireland,
Cork.

They may also be submitted by fax to: 353/21/903135; or via e-mail to: p.burke@ucc
Please state clearly in which symposium you are interested.

Those wishing to review the journal may do so at: http://www.hbg.psu.edu/Faculty/jxr11/index.html. Questions or comments may be addressed to Patrick Gerard Burke using the above contact information or by telephone at 353/21/902087.

Education Indicators in Canada

http://www.cmec.ca/stats/indicators.stm

Education expenditures
Within Canada, the amount of funding available for education and the method of funding vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Among the factors that contribute to the wide variety of relative education expenditures are the size of the population, participation rates, taxation resources and levels, and local priorities for education. Various levels of government spent a total of about $56 billion in real dollars on education and training in 1993-94, up from approximately
$45 billion in 1989-90, an increase of over 24%.

While the share of funds spent by trade/vocation-al institutes, colleges, and universities remained fairly stable between 1989-90 and 1993-94, the share spent on elementary and secondary education increased over the same five-year period, accounting for much of the overall growth in expenditures.

Among the G-7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and the United States), Canada recorded the highest level of public investment in all levels of education relative to the economy. Canada's expenditure per student as a percentage of gross domestic product per capita was about 32% in 1990-91. The United States, at nearly 30%, had the second-highest rate, and Japan, at about 23%, had the lowest rate for those G-7 countries that reported this information.

Generally, education and health are the two largest sectors of expenditure in provinces and territories, together accounting for 41.6% of over-all expenditures in 1993-94. The percentage of overall funds allotted to education and health fell by less than 1% between 1988-89 and 1992-93, while the amount allocated to social services increased by nearly 2% over the same period, and the amount set aside for servicing the debt increased by 1%.
1996 PCEIP

Ontario Public Sector Quality Fair

Learn from the best examples in federal, provincial and municipal government in Ontario.

Charge for the seminars, exhibits are free

June 16 and 17, 1998 8am to 5pm each day
Joseph Shepard Bldg. 4900 Yonge St. North York
More information: www.psqf.org
1-800-263-3538

Public Service Excellence Model

Prof. Colin Talbot

For those interested, a new model for the public sector - the Public Services Excellence Model - is being developed by myself and colleagues in the UK.
The model has 14 categories broken down into 3 sections:

  • Enablers
  • Organisational Results
  • Programme results

Beneath each category there are between 4/8 criteria - 82 in all - which can be used for organisational measurement.

The model has been developed as a synthesis of existing theory and practice and is about to be tested in the field through a survey of about 3,000 chief executive/director level public managers in the UK.

The model is also being linked to a software application which allows it's use both as a 'one-off' or annual benchmarking tool and also as an in-year management tool. The software allows users to build their own measures alongside the benchmarking criteria, thus allowing both generalisability and specificity in the same framework. Anyone wanting to know more, please email me. public-admin-and-management-request@mailbase.ac.uk

Quality Road

"Bronte.Earl@health.gov.au" wrote about their first steps towards a quality management. I am not sure if I repeat things, but did you know that there is a great quality research movement going on in continental Europe?

Good institutions to contact would be:
* European Foundation for Quality Management, Brussels
* European Institute for Public Administration, Brussels
* Speyer Postgraduate School for Public Administration, Speyer (Germany)
* OECD, Paris (ask for Elke Loeffler)

All the addresses can be found on the Web.

Kuno Schedler
University of St. Gallen
Switzerland

Journal of Engineering and Technology Management -

Call for Papers --- Special Issue --- Beyond Sociotechnical Systems

The Journal of Engineering and Technology Management is pleased to announce a call for papers for a special issue addressing sociotechnical systems. Terri Griffith (Washington University, St. Louis) and Deborah Dougherty (Rutgers University) will serve as guest editors.

Since the 1950s researchers have acknowledged that technical and social factors interact to influence organizational outcomes. Work prior to the 50s (and even some work today) often argued for technological determinism where technology implementations were expected to have direct effects -- for example, if a robotic welding system is introduced on an assembly-line, production throughput will increase.

One of the first counters to the deterministic approach was made by Trist and Bamforth1. They noted that human and organizational outcomes could only be understood when social, psychological, environmental, and technological systems are assessed as a whole. This approach has come to be known as a sociotechnical systems (STS) perspective. This perspective assumes that organizations are "made up of people (the social system) using tools, techniques and knowledge (the technical system) to produce goods or services valued by customers (who are part of the organization's external environment). How well the social and technical systems are designed with respect to one another and with respect to the demands of the external environment determines to a large extent how effective the organization will be"2, p.1.

Research building from STS continues through today. A 1997 issue of Human Relations 3 focuses on organization innovation and STS as a work design process (i.e., to be compared with reengineering). Spender4 uses the ideas of social construction and STS to discuss a knowledge theory of the firm. He notes that STS "is unsuitable as the basis for a theory of the firm because it adopt[s] too naive a view of social systems and ignor[es] economic interactions" (p.55).

By contrasting Spender's comment with that of prior STS researchers it is possible to see that the concept of STS is being used in two different ways. Much STS work focuses on designing work for both organizational and human good. There is a normative slant in that the work suggests people should be involved in designing the relationships between technology and work. Quality of work life is a key consideration. The other perspective on STS is more theoretical. STS provides critical insights to understanding the relationships between people, technology, and organizational outcomes. It is this perspective that Spender (and others) have indicated is a limited, but interesting, approach to understanding organizational outcomes.

This special issue is the next step in this dialog. Trist and his colleagues took the first step by opening the black box that was technology in the 50s. Since then, technology researchers have explored a number of connections that might fit into a general socio-tech view:

  • the interactions of individual cognition and technology use, as with email systems the relationships between social roles and networks and technology adoption
  • the cycles of technology problem solving and types of technical problems
  • the spirals of adaptation between organization and technology in manufacturing innovation
  • the co-evolution of social values and technological systems.

Others have developed tools and techniques designed to enable the linkage of technologies across, or through people, such as concurrent engineering, design for manufacturing, and CAD/CAM systems.

With this explosion of STS-like work in technology management, at all different levels of analysis and focused on such a variety of problems, we think it is time to explore the theory that they may, or may not, have in common. Do any or all of these relationships embody similar or different dynamics? Can we build a broad sociotechnical theory that explains the linkages at so many levels and/or technology problems, or are there different kinds of sociotechnical connections that require different theories? Or that fit different kinds of technology management issues? Perhaps a comprehensive theory is not possible -- that instead only subsets of levels, problems, and other dimensions should be considered. Alternatively, future work may find that a comprehensive theory is possible and provides a new approach to our understanding.

To summarize, the goal of this special issue is twofold. The special issue will present papers that go beyond STS as a rather vague description to develop more explanatory theories of technology-organizational outcomes. These papers would clearly explicate the what (what factors), how (how are the factors related), and why (why do these dynamics exist). It is expected that the description, "Sociotechnical Systems," will not be adequate for the new conceptualizations. The special issue will also present empirical papers if they advance our understanding of STS as a theory, rather than just an approach. Thus, empirical papers must include a cogent and comprehensive description of their definition of, or contribution to, STS theory.

Submissions might address (but are not limited to) the following:

  • sociotechnical theory of the firm
  • the dynamics of cognition and sociotechnical effects
  • sociotechnical approaches to managing organizational knowledge
  • other names for sociotechnical systems
  • development and comparison of micro and macro sociotechnical theories
  • assessment of the need for sociotechnical approaches
  • the role of sociotechnical systems given a hypercompetitive environment
  • culture's consequences for sociotechnical systems
  • sociotechnical systems are dead, long live sociotechnical systems

The guest editors of this special issue represent different paradigms and levels of analysis. This is seen as a benefit in expanding the approaches taken to this topic. Authors should submit six copies of their manuscript to the editor they perceive as being most appropriate for the work. Papers should be prepared in accordance with the JET-M "Guide for Authors" (available in the first issue of each volume).

Papers must be received by the appropriate editor no later than April 1, 1999. All submissions will be reviewed according to the JET-M standard double-blind review process.

Terri L. Griffith
One Brookings Dr.
Campus Box 1133
Washington University
St. Louis, MO 63141
griffith@wuolin.wustl.edu
314/935-6394 (voice)
314/935-6359 (fax)

Deborah J. Dougherty
Rutgers University Faculty of Management
81 New Street
Newark, NJ 07102-1820
doughert@everest.rugers.edu
732-873-0057 (voice)

1Trist, E.L., and K.W. Bamforth, "Some Social and Psychological Consequences of the Long-Wall Method of Coal-Getting," Human Relations, 4 (1951): 3-38.

2Pasmore, W.A., Designing Effective Organizations: The Sociotechnical Systems Perspective, (New York, NY: John Wiley, 1988).

3Mathews, J.A., "Introduction to the Special Issue," Human Relations 50 (1997): 487-496. 4Spender, J.C., "Making Knowledge the Basis of a Dynamic Theory of the Firm," Strategic Management Journal 17, Winter (1996): 45-62.

From Volume 5, Number 76 (September 18, 1998) of Innovative Management Network THE MINT WEB PAGE IS: http://mint.mcmaster.ca/
THE "TIM" WEB PAGE ADDRESS IS: http://www.aom.pace.edu/tim/

Midwest Division of the Academy of Management

42nd Annual Meeting Friday-Saturday, April 16-17, 1999 Cornhusker Hotel, Lincoln, Nebraska

The Great Search for Canadian Futurists

If you consider yourself to be a futurist, please complete and return this form as soon as possible.

Please send copies of this form to other futurists known to you. Thank you.

The Directory of Canadian Futurists will be printed as a small booklet. It will include Canadians from every sector who are paid, full time or even only occasionally, to undertake one or more forms of serious future-oriented activity, e.g. give a speech or strategic briefing or undertake scanning, forecasting, scenario creation, search conferences or futures research.

The Directory is being produced by Square One Management Ltd. under contract from the Policy Research Secretariat, Ottawa. It is intended as a service to all persons who have need
to make contact with Canadian futurists.

When it is published in the fall of 1998, there will be a small
charge for the Directory. All participants in this survey will be offered a discount on the Directory.

The Economics of Public Spending:
Debts, Deficits and Economic Performance

An International Conference 26-27 March 1999 Laurentian University Sudbury, Ontario Canada

Description of the problem:

The Big Questions:

  • What is the link between budget deficits and economic performance?
  • Do you think big deficits cause recessions?
  • Are balanced budgets the answer to our economic woes?
  • What has caused the rise in debt-to-GDP ratios and how should we deal with this issue?
  • What are the economic and social consequences of policies seeking to balance budgets?
  • Has globalization reduced governments' potency to effectively deal with issues of unemployment, income distribution and social quality?
  • Have Keynesian policies failed? And if so what is the alternative?
  • Is this the beginning of the end of the Welfare State?

All these questions, and many more, will be answered at the conference by a panel of leading experts in the fields of Government Finance, the Welfare State, and the Labour Market.

Planning of the conference:

The call for papers to be presented at the conference has been mailed out to several institutions around the world. Personal invitations have been sent to some prominent economists who have already confirmed their willingness to participate in the conference. The deadline for submitting proposals is
30 September 1998.

A preliminary programme of the conference is expected to be out in early October 1998.

The deadline for submitting completed papers is 15 February 1999. The actual conference will take place on 26-27 March 1999.

April 1999 the preparation of the manuscript for publication starts. If the refereeing process is efficient and the manuscript is submitted in the form of high quality laser printed, camera-ready copy the Publisher promises that the book will be published by Fall 1999.

If you would like to participate in this exciting event, please send me an abstract of your paper as soon as possible and I will add your name to the list of participants.

For more information, http://www.economics.laurentian.ca/bougrine/conference.htm

Updated 06/05/03