Category: Public Service

Public service refers to the set of different services offered by the government to the people under its jurisdiction, either through public or private sectors. Public service may also refer to a course that is offered in various higher learning institutions in order to equip learners with key knowledge and skills in the vast field of public administration. Public service or public administration is a field with a diverse scope, which main goal is to help in the advancement of policies and management to enable the government to carry its missions in a smooth manner. In other words, this is a field of profession primarily focused on the organization of government programmes and policies in various sectors of accountability. One of the main and striking characteristics of people within this diverse sector consists in the fact that, their services are required in all public agencies and departments. This, however, automatically makes them professionals in a number of disciplines. This nature of the service has won my heart at once, thus increasing my interest in this field.

As it can be observed, the overall responsibilities of public service usually involve outputs that can rarely be attributed to characteristics of quality or even to specific individual efforts. Public service is a field guided by commitment and dedication, which attracts only those people who are passionate about serving the communities. Having studied Political Science and Philosophy, I am interested in using community-based organizations within this specific field to make a difference in the community. My wide knowledge in public policies, coupled with rich skills acquired from previous experiences and engagements are enough to lead me into higher levels of performance within this particular field. My participation in a number of sessions and retreats has also exposed me to extensive administrative duties, thus giving me some extra knowledge as far as the practice of public administration is concerned.

My personal attributes, which include the ability to work well under pressure, fast comprehension of new concepts, and effective communication will help me effectively undertake the practice of public administration. More importantly, I will also try to utilize the basic skills of public relations that I possess in helping various segments of the community thrive in their respectful areas of commitments. My fluency in French is an added advantage to my career as a public service officer. French is arguably one of the widely-spoken languages across the world, and this clearly explains the reason why many people in the modern world have decided to study it as an alternative or the second language. This great exposure is likely to open up new opportunities to my career as well as to my personal growth, since I would be able to extend my public administration services to people of different cultural backgrounds, who may not be familiar with my first language, but can understand French. All these qualifications and experiences are instrumental in helping me achieve my goals in the diverse sector of public administration, where service to the people is a matter of priority. With all my experiences and ambitions, there is no doubt that public service has become more beneficial to me now more than ever before, and that is why I would not hesitate to embrace it fully as my favorite profession.

Compulsory public service is a contentious issue. An overview of the Bill of Rights immediately shoots down the idea that the citizens of this country can be forced to serve. It is the right of every man, woman, and child to be free and to pursue happiness within the bounds of law.

The only reason why there is a debate regarding this issue is due to the fact that there are misguided patriots who believed that every citizen must prove their love and loyalty to this country by doing public service. The government should not be given the power to coerce its citizens to engage in one or even two years of public service; it is against the law of the land. It would be best for the government to promote the ideals of volunteerism in order to recruit and train people that are eager to serve.

The Bill of Rights is very clear when it comes to the limitations of the government when it comes to intruding into the personal life of a citizen. The governments vast powers cannot be used to force a person to serve. Slavery has been outlawed a long time ago and therefore there is no justification for the use of coercion in any shape or form in order to fill up the needed vacancies in the public service sector. The government should serve the people but the people must not be forced to serve the government.

Aside from violating the constitutional rights of every citizen, the concept of compulsory public service is impractical. It can be argued that there are many people that are not interested to serve in the Armed Forces and other jobs that are under the authority of the Federal government. Imagine the kind of trouble the government would have to contend with if they are authorized to compel its citizens to serve for at least a year. It would be costly in terms of manpower and litigation purposes.

It is a terrible idea to suggest compulsive service. However, those who decide to become a public servant must be held in high esteem. The spirit of volunteerism must be stirred up and not the spirit of coercion. The government and its citizens must laud anyone who enters public service. It must be viewed as an honorable thing to do, lifting the spirits of the family members of those who chose to serve in spite of its many challenges.

The government must therefore encourage people to serve. It is the job of the government to persuade people to serve in a short term or long term basis. One way to do this is to communicate clearly the positive impact to the community and the nation if one person decides to spend a few years of his or her life to serve others.

A persuasive message can also be achieved by developing creative ways to reward those who are in public service. The government has limited resources and therefore cannot provide extensive monetary rewards but this must not stop the government form finding ways to honor and appreciate those who work as public servants.

Conclusion

There are those who contend that the citizens of this country must be compelled to engage in public service. This may seem like the most patriotic thing to do but the Bill of Rights clearly stipulates that no citizen can be forced by the government to do something.

This is also an unproductive exercise because coercion can lead to defiant behavior and costly litigation. It is the job of the government to persuade people to join. The spirit of volunteerism must be cultivated. The government must demonstrate that public servants are well-appreciated. As a result there would be more volunteers that are ready and able to serve.

Introduction

The role of Public Service Commission in Canada has experienced considerable change over the years in the process of providing professional services, and at the same time safeguarding merit within its scope of service. Human resource has also experienced modernization through various employment Acts. However, there are various issues and trends influencing the operational and legislative impact of Public Service Commission which cannot be treated in isolation to the whole issue (PSC 2).

The commission should endeavor in fulfilling its mandate on protecting and promoting merit within the government. In addition to these, Canada has had difficult time dealing with issues concerning liberal democracy within its political boundaries. Various policies have always been enacted by the government which acts as potential guidelines towards fulfilling as well as enhancing government mandates (Whitaker 54).

Outline and assess the scope of public sector employment in Canada. What are the main issues facing the federal government with respect to personnel policy and how well do you believe the federal government is organized to manage its personnel responsibilities?

The public sector employment in Canada has undergone significant changes regarding human resources. The public service has been on a hiring trend looking for large numbers of young men, Canadian citizens, with vast skills and interests in various fields of service.

The Canadian government is currently interested in the young generation having management skills and interested in working with federal public service commission. The young professionals are considered to have potential abilities which could be utilized by the government in designing policies suitable for meeting future needs of Canadians (Johnson 619-621).

One of the main issues facing the federal government with respect to personnel policy is the issue on merit, politics and disparity on socio-economic activities. Professionalization of the public service requires the government to provide necessary services which calls for the existence of pro-active skills capable of utilizing the available services. In response, the government tried to establish merit system within the public service in its provinces starting with Saskatchewan (Johnson 619-621).

Several current and impending challenges affect the PSC in the process of implementing their role as policy makers. Public Service Commission is endowed with the responsibility of being both managers and overseers on policies and programs regarding the running of government departments. The shift within the Human Resource landscape was recognized by some commissions as far as 1979, this brought about several discussions within subsequent years on the issues meant to determine necessary regulations amongst employees.

These included flexibility, roles and responsibilities as well as efficiencies. There is growing trend on the issues involving scarcity of talent and leadership as a result of issues such as; the aging workforce, shifting focus on the emotional status of workers and increase in the number of operations worldwide 9(3-6).

Canada is known to have high number of post-secondary graduates; this is because of the country’s strength in formulation of education policies. Despite strength in literacy level, it’s noted that Canada lags behind when it comes to technical and advanced level of education amongst the population.

Despite the positive trend in the economic recovery, there has been little imbalance caused by wholesale migration of the population towards the Western region of the country. Challenge would be experienced on the issues concerning computer and information technology which currently tends to shape-up the level of interactions both at personal and across business networks.

Such adoption has brought dramatic change within various places of work since every department is styling up to catch up with the rest of the world. There is also the issue on stakeholders forming alliances for the purposes of addressing various shortcomings within the employment sector. This has made it difficult for the government to coordinate issues between them and the private sector since there are more bodies involved (PSC 7-8).

The other issue facing the federal government concerns the cultural diversity within Canadian major cities such as Toronto. This has contributed to creation of disharmony within the work places on issues such as religion and languages hence putting the government on task of creating policies meant to reconcile such diversity.

There is also the issue on demographic crisis where the rate of labor entrants is lower than that of departures. Federal public service is currently leading in the number of employers, hence with the current trend, is facing difficulties on the issues concerning recruitment and retention of employees. The level of imbalance within the workplaces is expected to create differential attitudes amongst employees.

The young generation appears so much self-centered concerning their various jobs since they believe in mentorship, training and creation of job opportunities by the government. Such cultural trend has been so much entrenched within the Canadian working population hence calling for the government to review its major policies (PSC 9).

The level of unpreparedness of the government concerning employment issues is clearly revealed on the level of insecurity within companies. According to employer surveys, companies are realigning their pay packages for the purposes of retaining generation Y workers since there is less inflow from the millennial.

However, apart from employing young generation, there is need for revising policies which could help in attracting mid-career professionals (PSC 10). The federal government pushed for every reason to remove the laws granting powers to public sector unions on organizing strikes concerning their employment rights.

However, for quite some time the numbers of unionized members have been falling drastically. This has been followed by potential shift in the structure guarding the labor market which results in continual erosion on values safeguarding organized labor amongst the employees. Despite these, the federal government is not doing much to bridge the gap on financial security between government and private workers.

The federal government is also facing the crisis on funding pensions due to certain factors such as economic downturn. Other factors include increase in the number of pensioners, stagnation experienced on the long-term interest rates and low return on the countries assets (PSC 12). There is notable decline in ethics within various government sectors which has seen considerable decline of public trust towards the government.

However, the public sector has experienced improvement due to the job losses within the private sector as a result of economic downturn. There is significant corporate greed as well as poor management within the government departments which led to poor drive on interest on professions within the public service professions. Tension exists between the government and the methods of governance which tends to foster for open policy creation processes, contrary to the traditional management practices (PSC 34).

There has not been any clear evidence showing the level of federal government’s engagement in the full transformation on the basic roles within PSC. The government has been so much motivated by their short-term goals on cutting the budget rather than focusing on long-term goals based on transforming the nature of the government (Johnson 561).

Why have successive governments attempted to limit the influence of bureaucrats during the policy-making process? What methods were used to counteract this influence? Were they successful?

Bureaucrats as opposed to politicians are directly involved in the process of policy formulation but are not under any obligation to answer to the public concerning these policies. The responsibility of being answerable to the public concerning policies is instead vested on the politicians (Whitaker 54). The issue is also linked to democracy since bureaucrats were believed to involve themselves in shaping some public policies secretly.

Bureaucrats were also associated with various forms of unethical behaviors such as corruption as well as inefficiency in performance. They are known to have great command on information which forms vital area within policy making process, and this tend to ignore opinions of senior government officials.

This makes bureaucrats have the freedom to impose their own policy preferences without consulting the government. Such process creates confusion on the necessary changes desired by the government concerning a policy during implementation process. They have great influence on shaping policy outcome and implementation since their contributions can never be ignored (Whitaker 59).

To limit such influence the government resorted to the use of middle-class movements which were aimed at reducing the powers and influence of the bureaucrats. The move created freedom within the government administrative circles since it was deprived of any political influence. Creation of various boards and commissions helped in the smooth running of government functions since politicians were no longer involved (Johnson and Molloy 203-223).

The nature of appointments also changed whereby merit system was adopted hence assisted in eliminating favoritism and bias amongst the political class. Another mechanism used was establishing counterweight endowed with the responsibility of giving political policy advice which would neutralize bureaucratic influence (Whitaker 60-61).

The government applied the use of private-sector management which assisted in controlling markets providing better regulation conditions as compared to bureaucratic systems. This intervention launched by conservatives did not work well since it only contributed towards lowering of bureaucrats’ status on influence but never led to total elimination of bureaucracy within government. They discovered that their aim on reducing bureaucracy through this method required more of it to achieve the purpose.

There was also the introduction of the chief of staff around every minister serving in the government, this aimed at assisting ministers in political administration within their various departments. The idea also proved unsuccessful since they did not represent any formal role within the ministries (Whitaker 62-63).

To reduce the high level of command bureaucrats had over information, the government tried to prevent departments from exposing their various policy papers. This was aimed at making it easy for the ruling political party to impose any policy of their interest on individuals. While the bureaucrats had knowledge on policy formulation and identification of various errors within policies, the politicians did not, hence the idea proved ineffective (Whitaker 65).

What were the reactions to the recommendations of the Gomery Report? Why did critics believe the recommendations would have a negative impact on government and the public service? Why did the Harper government reject key recommendations in the Report? What initiatives did the Harper government enact in response to the Report?

In relation towards Commissioner Gomery’s recommendations the Liberals decided to come up with some restrictions and their own regulations concerning the manner in which the government was to conduct business.

Their aim was to corner the government whereby they directed that the bureaucrats were not to be entrusted with any issue before weighing the quality of their characters. This resulted into high level of mistrust within the government lowering the morale of workers hence dwindled the efforts of restructuring the relationship between politicians and bureaucrats (Whitaker 68-69).

Critics believed that the recommendations would bring chaos within the government and the public service since there was little truth in them. They believed the recommendations were baseless since they only covered false relations to the problem they were to address.

According to critics the recommendations would grant politicians an illegal upper hand which would grant them powers to manipulate government systems for the purposes of achieving self ulterior motives (Whitaker 69). At the same time part of the recommendations seem to promote mistrust between ministers and their assistants.

The report brought sharp divide amongst the academicians with the non-partisans arguing that the recommendations would fuel bad relations between the politicians and the bureaucrats. They argued that the report deemed to represent a clear departure from the manner in which Canadian federal government should function, hence could be very detrimental to the public.

They solidly opposed the issue on the report which sought to increase the powers of unelected public officials above that of ministers. This was viewed by the critics as a means of damaging the nature of accountability which existed within various departments concerning management and administrative issues. There was no clear demarcation within the report on issues concerning politics, policies, administration and issues concerning management (Whitaker 71-72).

Harper government rejected key recommendations in the report since they contributed towards diminishing the political power of the bureaucrats and at the same time did not grant recognition towards the chain of accountability within the cabinet. There was no firm line within the report that separated bureaucrats from elected officials and also the report sought to reduce the political control of the prime minister of senior public servants.

Part of the key recommendations contradicted with the stated conservative rules. This could be seen within the part of the report which supported greater autonomy and accountability for the bureaucrats which contradicted governing philosophies of the Harper Conservatives (Whitaker 72).

In response to the Report Stephen Harper’s government established itself with clear focus and control over all its businesses. Harper government revealed its impatience with policies within the report which did not consider Conservative views. The government was strongly committed in imposing conservative policy agendas which acted as source of neutralization to Gomery recommendations. He ensured that all departments within the government operated fully under conservative objectives (Whitaker 72-73).

Conclusion

Federal public service remains to be Canada’s largest employer despite changes which might occur within other government departments. Canada is faced with the threat of shrinking native population giving way to new immigrants within the employment sector. This has given rise to so many issues and trends within the workplaces which ultimately affect the normal operations of the public service.

Tensions experienced within the PSC could well be handled by the Privy Council Office which is a body concerned with crisis management (Johnson and Molloy 203-223). Concerning political administration, there is great importance in delegating roles based on government’s policies, rules and regulations to avoid unnecessary conflicts.

Works Cited

Johnson, David. “Thinking Government: Ideas, Policies, Institutions, and Public Sector Management in Canada”. (2nd Ed.).Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004

Johnson, David & Andrew, Molloy. “The Quiet Crisis and the Emergence of La Releve.” Canadian Public Administration, 2 (2009): 203-223

Public Service Commission (PSC). “Emerging Trends Affecting the Public Service Commission and the Public Service Employment Act.” Public Policy Forum Research, (2009): 3-50

Whitaker, Reg. “Political Versus Administration: Politicians and Bureaucrats.” Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010

Introduction

The effective and efficient management of human and economic resources is a key requirement for a nation to function effectively and develop in the ever-increasing competitive worldwide economy (Belanger & Hiller 2006). There is a global shift towards forms of governance that are more open and embraces democracy.

As a result of this, governments are faced with the challenge of enhancing the efficiency of their public service delivery (Bellamy 2003).

The discovery of the internet and the increasing need to increase the processing capacity and expand data storage has had significant influences on the way that governments are making of use Information and Communications Technology across the government institutions with the prime objective of increasing efficiency in public service delivery (Bolman & Deal 2008).

The effects of relying on ICT to facilitate governance functions are likely to be a subject of contention, with the pending requirements for implementation exerting intense pressure on the public sector to progress their performances, exploit external opportunities and help in overcoming the challenges imposed by the internal weakness and external threats that may hinder the effective delivery of public service operations to the citizens (Bovaird & Loffler 2000).

This paper attempts to evaluate whether the aspect of e-governance poses a threat to public service professionals.

The concept of e-government

E-government can be broadly used to refer to the use of ICT by the government to deliver its services to the people (Belanger & Hiller 2006).

On a narrower perspective, e-government refers to the deployment of ICTs to support government operations and enhance the delivery of government services to its people through enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the government’s agencies and enhancing service quality (Buelens & Broeck 2007).

Various definitions of the aspect of e-governance have been suggested although the uniform concept across them is related to the strategic use of Information Technology and an emphasis on the effectiveness of the public sector (Carter & Belanger 2005).

In this essay, e-government is defines as the use of ICT by the government in order to facilitate an efficient and cost-effective government that aims at offering convenient services to the public through allowing public access of information and promoting accountability within the public service (Bellamy 2003).

As a result, it is arguably evident that the implementation of e-government imposes some impacts on the professionals within the public sector. The nature of the influences is significantly determined by the manner in which the public service professionals and the larger public make use of the ICT frameworks adopted by the government (Carter & Belanger 2005).

The principal objective of e-government, as discussed in the conceptualization involves enhancing the efficiency of the delivery of public service by the various government agencies (Belanger & Hiller 2006). This implies that e-government offers the framework through which the citizens can interact and obtain services of the central government, local authority and state governments in a manner that is efficient and cost-effective.

With respect to the structural understanding of the application of e-government in the context of the public sector, there are three fundamental applications of e-government. They include government to government, government to business and government to citizens (Curtin & Sommer 2003).

The motivating factors of the Information society towards the use of e-government

The introduction of Information technology frameworks played an integral role in transforming the society into an information society that could facilitate easy methods of accessing and exploiting information associated with the public sector (Deloitte Research 2003).

The current society that is information-based is a prospective turning point that changed the manner in which governments administer their operations and offering new methods that governments can exploit in order to facilitate service delivery to its citizens (Bolman & Deal 2008).

Simply put, it can be argued that ICT is the most significant contributing tool and a powerful tool that can facilitate the realization of the millennium development goals.

In fact, according to the millennium declaration and its associated roadmap calls for the various governments to implement a strategic management approach that has a foundation on the knowledge infrastructure, which is mainly achievable using Information and Communication Technologies (Drucker 2007).

This can be effectively implemented through a collaborative effort with the public sector, implying that the public service professionals should be at the forefront in the implementation and ensuring that there is effective use of ICT in the delivery of government services to the citizens.

In addition, the mainstream of information and communication technology in the context of planning and designing the strategies is vital in the delivery of public services both at the federal and state government level with respect to administrative bodies of the government (Effy 2008).

This means that e-government is an essential Information and communications technology application in the public sector in ensuring that there is development of a better service delivery platform by the public service professionals.

The inference that can be made from this observation is that e-government is an opportunity for the public service professionals to undertake their duties of public service with ease and enhanced productivity (Evans & Yen 2005).

Consequently, the World Summit on the Information Society that was occurred during 2003 and 2005 in Geneva reported that the international community was ready to implement strategies aimed at enhancing the role that Information and Communications Technology plays in socio-economic, cultural and political development numerous countries across the globe (Bellamy 2003).

The best and current practices in Information and Communication Technologies were explored during the Information Society Summit that was aimed at enhancing interaction and communication between the government agencies and the citizens of a country (Gianakis 2004). Basing on this perspective, e-government can be viewed as means to achieving an end, instead of being viewed as an end.

The use of e-government in the delivery of public service is still in infancy phases of development and has promised to transform with the technological advancements and an increase in public acceptance and trust in electronic interactions and communication with the government (Bellamy 2003).

It is, therefore, the role of the public service professionals to cultivate the trust of the citizens in digital communication and acceptance of e-government in order to ensure that public service delivery system is efficient.

The underlying fact is that the concept of e-government is a revolution to the conventional public service delivery system that required the individual engagement of the public service professionals; with e-government, interaction is real-time and does not require their physical engagement with the citizens during the delivery of public service (Hiller & Belanger 2001).

Thus, public service professionals should exploit the concept of e-government in order enhance the overall efficiency of the delivery system, and this can only be achieved if the citizens and the professionals are involved in a collaborative effort aimed at realizing the significance of e-government in the delivery of public service (Silcock 2001).

The structural dimensions of the applications of e-government

Government to Government operations are an important aspect of e-government; this means that different administrative levels of government should ensure that their internal systems, policies and procedures are effective prior to the implementation of electronic transactions with citizens and the business community (Carter & Belanger 2005).

Basically, there are three fundamental levels of initiative strategies that demand the use of the government to government aspect of electronic government. The first level is in relation to the increasing government policies and laws that are emphasizing on the reduction of paperwork with the main objective reducing the information collection efforts and the requirements used for reporting of the government.

In addition, it enhances the effectiveness of government-wide information systems (Hudson & Lowe 2001).

Secondly, the increasing interest to focus an enhanced efficiency, cost reduction strategy through reducing the time for the government transactions, a reduction in the number of personnel required for task completion and ensuring that there is consistency of the outputs play an important role in necessitating a government to government form of e-government (Hutton & Massey 2006).

Thirdly, the need to implement best practices that are analogous with the private sector makes it necessary for Government to Government transactions to be undertaken electronically. As a result, the various administrative levels of government are often regarded as forms of e-government strategies because of the significant role they play in public service delivery to citizens.

Basing on the above models, it is the responsibility of the policy-makers and public service professionals to advocate for the implementation e-government in order to ensure that government to government transactions are executed efficiently (Curtin & Sommer 2003).

With this regard, e-government is always perceived as the best solution towards addressing the challenges that are serving as impediments to effective government to government transactions and ultimately public service delivery (Mann 2006).

An instance of the use of e-government in facilitating government to government transactions is the North East Gang Information System (NEGIS) in the United States (Carter & Belanger 2005). NEGIS is mainly concerned with collecting information relating to gang violence in northeastern states such as New York and Rhode Island.

As a result, it serves to connect the various police departments within the US, which is also helps in transmission of information to other law enforcement agencies at the federal and state level (Perry & Wise 1990).

Therefore, policy-makers and professionals in the public service should ensure effective implementation of e-government in the structural that entails government to government transactions, which turn helps in improving the efficiency of service delivery to citizens.

The implication from this model is that e-government is an opportunity through which public service delivery system can be revolutionized towards an effective system (Perry & Wise 1990).

The second structural dimension regarding the application of e-government in the context of public sector is through enhancing the interaction and transactions between the government and the business community of a country’s economy (Carter & Belanger 2005).

Government to business transactions is an integral element of public service delivery; as such, it requires adequate attention due to a high level of enthusiasm associated with the business sector and the opportunity for cost reduction by ensuring that there is improvement of the procurement practices and imposing an increase in competitions.

This structural dimension of electronic government plays an important role in reflecting information concerning the sale of surplus commodities by the government to the larger public and the procurement of products and services for the purposes of fostering public awareness (Stair & Reynolds 2008).

The main areas of application of e-government in relation to the government to business structural dimension include performance-based contracting, share-in-savings contracts and reverse auctions.

Performance-based contracting is an electronic form of communication whereby government pays the contractors in accordance to actual objectives and the total output of a task done for the government and the corresponding input efforts towards such a job.

Share-in-savings contract is an electronic method of transaction whereby contractors are supposed to pay the prior costs associated with a project that has been tendered by the government (Cherniss 1974). Reverse auction involves the use of the internet by companies on a real-time basis in order undertake government contracts (Taylor & Bellamy 1998).

The underlying rationale behind relying in e-government in the government to business structural dimension is directed towards the business community in the sense that e-government makes it easy for government services such as procurement, sales and tendering for all the state industries.

The second motive towards e-government in this structural dimension is the increasing demand by the policy-makers with respect to effective procurement (Bovaird & Loffler 2000). The fundamental argument is that the government to business strategies is facilitated basing on the opportunity to modernize and advance the reliability of tasks that are personnel-intensive (Tittemore 2003).

For example the processing and renewal of licenses, addressing changes in employee benefits such as in the instance of government of Malaysia towards to the adoption of e-government.

A perfect example of government business appliance of electronic government is the case of Government Services Administration Auctions (GSA), which offers a framework through which the federal surplus property is sold online to the bidders with the highest values (United Nations 2010).

The third structural dimension of e-government that is important to the public delivery system is facilitating the interaction between the governments and their citizens (Carter & Belanger 2005). This is a practical strategy to enhance the interaction between the government and its citizens.

The government is perceived as a public organization that has the duty to meet the needs and demands of its citizens; it can rely on electronic transactions and communication to offer services such as tax submission, license applications and renewal, government loans and other government-related services (Vandenabeele 2007).

The most important rationale for the government to citizens’ structural dimension involves facilitating availability of the public information to the citizens by use of tools such as websites. Simply stated, the government to citizens’ initiative has the main objective of easing the agency-centric and process-burdened nature of government activities and services directed towards the citizens (Cherniss 1974).

Similarly, e-government can be implemented using a single government website through which the citizens can have access and undertake tasks that are related to the diverse government agencies, thereby eliminating the need for the citizens to communicate with the various government institutions individually (Wright 2007).

It is evident from this that the professionals in public service can make use of this opportunity to enhance the efficiency of the public service delivery system, this is mainly because they will be deliberated of the most processes associated with public service, and therefore, they are relieved of the time and they could redirect their productivity efforts to other government functions related to the public sector.

The following section analyses the rationale behind the use of e-government in the public sector (Vandenabeele, 2007).

Rationales for use of E-government

The most significant rationale behind the use of e-government in the public sector is improving efficiency, which can take various forms during the application of e-government. For instance, e-government can help in the reduction of errors and enhance the consistency of the results of various projects initiated with the government by automation of the government tasks (Curtin & Sommer 2003).

Efficiency can also take the form of cost reduction strategy and reduction of the many administrative layers and processes in the public sector. The efficiency imposed by the application of e-government offers the government employees in the public sector adequate opportunities in order to develop new expertise and career advancements (Bovaird & Loffler 2000).

The use of e-government in the delivery of public service offers an opportunity and added benefits associated with enhancing the quality and ease of access of government services to the citizens (Carter & Belanger 2005). Apart from enhancing efficiency, public service quality is enhanced through speedy transactions and accountability during the delivery of public services.

E-government applications can be revolutionized in order to facilitate the provision of new services. Another rationale towards the application of e-government is the contribution towards qualitative change regarding how the various government agencies can undertake business functions and how the government communicates and interacts with its citizens (Belanger & Hiller 2006).

In most cases, managerial reform cannot be effective if it is supported by information and communication technologies to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the management of the public service employees, procurement and other government functions that are directed towards the general public (Carter & Belanger 2005).

The opportunities that e-government has offered has resulted to improved administration, that results to a global convergence that is aims at standard reform model in the public sector.

Generally, ICT based reforms presents various opportunities to the personnel to enhance their productivity during delivery of services. The following section discusses the policy implications concerning the application of e-government basing on the evidence gathered from Asia (Belanger & Hiller 2006).

Policy implications to public service professionals regarding the application of e-government

Positive implications

E-government applications offer support to the government administrative functions associated with payroll and accounts. The implementation of e-government systems can provide significant advantages to the public service professionals because it reduces the handling of information and costs of compliance, which results to speedy undertaking of tasks (Bellamy 2003).

In addition, an integration of all the government administrative functions, processes and departments for all the government assets associated with the public sector plays an important role in meeting the demands of different public service departments within the government (Deloitte Research 2003).

This is an added advantage to the public service professionals through a reduction of the burdens associated with processing the requests of the citizens in their interactions with the government. Additionally, this makes it easier for the public service professionals to undertake their tasks with ease (Bellamy 2003).

An example of this use of e-government is the Computer Crime Investigation established by the Republic of Korea Supreme Prosecutor’s Office and the Seoul District Prosecutor’s Office during 2000 (Deloitte Research 2003). This initiative has facilitated the prosecution of criminal offenses that have been transformed due to technology, making it easier to deal with them (Buelens & Broeck 2007).

The inference that can be made from this is that e-government offers an opportunity through which public service employees can enhance undertake tasks without the technological challenges. ICT systems have been implemented in Pakistan into the whole tax department, which has in turn helped in facilitating communication between the tax collectors and the taxpayers (Bolman & Deal 2008).

According to Bellamy (2003), an example of an effective use of e-government is the case of the financial management systems that were deployed in Sri Lanka as a method of offering a network environment that is attractive. The implemented financial systems in the country offered new opportunities for the public service division to efficiently address the various financial management challenges (Bellamy 2003).

In addition, the newly implemented systems help in ensuring that the financial management, such as treasury cash management and human resource management in the government agencies were undertaken efficiently (Belanger & Hiller 2006).

Prior to the implementation of the new IT systems, they were client-based, the deployment of the new system are mostly internet-based that used a network system, which in turn facilitates the access to government information by every citizens in the country irrespective of the geograogical barriers (Bellamy 2003).

The second positive implication of adopting e-government to the public service professionals are that it facilitates the workflow management concerning inter-organization policy proposition (Bovaird & Loffler 2000). This means the e-government offers opportunity through which public service professionals can manage their workflow.

Workflow in the context of the public sector involves tasks such as moving files and documents within the various workstations. They also include processes such as authorization, entry and editing of data, which are done electronically.

This plays an integral role in removing instances of delay, as in the case of paper-based service delivery and manual delivery (Buelens & Broeck 2007). Workflow systems also involve activities such as claims processing, bids and proposals, which are all facilitated by the application of e-government.

Another positive repercussion associated by electronic government is the capability to offer applications that are helpful in the handling of complaints from the public, acquisition of human resource and awards for scholarship and grants (Belanger & Hiller 2006).

A successful example of this application of e-government is the use of National Tax service Unit deployed in Korea, which has implemented a Tax Integrated System using computer systems that stores and gathers up information associated with taxes (Carter & Belanger 2005).

This has facilitated effective differentiation and selection of the taxpayers in the country, which makes it easy to conduct tax auditing processes by the tax officials. In addition, the tax integrated system has helped reduced cases associated with manual assessment that summed up to approximately 5 million annually.

Carter and Belanger (2005) argues that this has helped to eliminate the need to of conducting physical meetings every now and then between the tax officers and the taxpayers and also helps in the eliminating of cases associated with unfair selection by the taxpayers in order to conduct an audit (Belanger & Hiller 2006).

The second example of application of e-government in this perspective is the case of Philippines Department of Budget and Management (Deloitte Research 2003), which significantly relies on the application of electronic government to facilitate communications associated with budgetary releases to the public and various agencies of the government.

In addition, it relies on electronic government applications to conduct open transactions with the members of the public. The e-government system that is web-based contains relevant data regarding the government accounts that are to be paid and the amounts that have been dispatched by the Department of Budget and Management (United Nations 2010).

This does not only facilitate the checking of genuineness of the public service officials by the private contractors during cases of procurements but also facilitates access to detailed information regarding the accounts payable and the amount that have been dispatched for each agency and the relative amounts that the contractors are supposed to be paid on a monthly basis (United Nations 2010).

The Third positive implication to the public service professionals associated with use of e-government is effective communication that facilitates the interaction between the government and citizens. Simply stated, the use of e-government serves to reduce the communication gap that exists between the government and its citizens; this enhances the working environment for the public service professionals (Bovaird & Loffler 2000).

For instance, in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India, electronic government has been applied suing Computer-Aided Administration of Registration with the main objective enhancing communication between the government and the general public (United Nations 2010). The World Bank reports that since the implementation of CARD, more than 214 public offices have been computerized.

This has eliminated significant constraints associated with the registration of deeds and facilitated the dispatch of services such as encumbrance and the issuance of validation services. The positive aspect being represented here is the application of e-government facilitates the issuance of public services that have traditionally required middlemen to be completed in time, thereby fostering openness (United Nations 2010).

Negative implications

The most significant challenge that stands in the way of effective e-government application in the public sector is the potential disparities regarding access to computer systems. This is a prospective barrier owing to the fact that poor citizens and low-income individuals who do not have internet activity will not benefit from the applications of e-government.

This means that the incapacity of the public sector to offer online services to all citizens in the country is in itself a potential setback to the success of e-government applications.

The threat imposed by the e-government to the public service professionals is that use of computers can be a source of impediments for the less privileged and disabled community. This requires costly hardware in order for such communities to be able to access the internet (Bovaird & Loffler 2000).

Privacy issues are also another potential threat and negative implication that e-government poses to public service professionals with respect to managerial functions.

Public sector employees have the challenge of guaranteeing the privacy of privacy protection to the citizens in order to win the trust of online transactions with the government. Some of the challenges posed by online interaction include the constant transfer of information across the various public sector agencies and private information disclosure (Bellamy 2003).

Computer security is also another potential challenge that has a negative implication for the application of e-government in the public sector. It is important that government agencies protect their databases from malicious potential attacks that may jeopardize the integrity of such information and the data stored in the database.

Some of the computer security threats that may jeopardize the effectiveness of e-government applications in the public sector include security management, control of operating systems, continuity of service delivery, development of software applications and access controls (Bovaird & Loffler 2000).

This implies that the threat towards the effective implementation of e-government by the public service professionals is to cultivate the confidence and trust of the public that their private information is secure (Bellamy 2003).

Conclusion

The paper has revealed that the use of electronic government in the public sector facilitates the access of public services by the people. This means that e-government is an effective approach towards increasing the interaction between different administrative levels of government, government to business and government to business.

The implication of this is that it offers an opportunity for public service professionals to enhance their efficiency of public service delivery through enhancing communication between the public sector employees, the various government agencies, citizens and business (Bellamy 2003).

Despite the challenges and threats associated with the application of e-government, it is arguably evident that e-government offers more opportunities to the public service professionals compared to the threats. Therefore, it can be argued that e-government is not a potential threat to public service professionals.

References

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Abstract

The purpose of this essay is to examine public service delivery and customer satisfaction in the UAE/Dubai. It highlights public-private partnership (PPP), the UAE and Dubai governments’ reform programs toward service innovation, quality and excellence, customer happiness and satisfaction and strategic approaches used by the Dubai Police to achieve customer satisfaction. Dubai Government’s effort to transform e-services to smart services has yielded positive outcomes based on customer experience survey results. It is therefore recommended that the Dubai Government must continue to focus on quality service improvements through new technologies to realize its public happiness objective.

Introduction

Public service delivery and customer satisfaction in Dubai have taken a new turn under the leadership of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The UAE and the Dubai governments embarked on robust public sector reforms that covered a shift from e-government to the smart government to improve the quality of services to the public, performance management by regular surveys and feedback. The government has launched the happiness meter to measure the levels of public happiness and satisfaction with services offered by the government (Badran, Marri, & Younes, 2013).

The government also introduced Star Rating System to determine “the level of all service delivery channels used by the Dubai customers through assessment and classification of not only Service Centres but surpassing that to other service delivery channels” (Wam, 2014). The objective of the Star Rating System is to encourage constructive competition between government agencies to ensure that they can enhance “public services in Dubai to exceptional standards and attain extraordinary customer experience” (Wam, 2014). The Dubai government can only achieve this through service innovations by using smart apps and a strong focus on the concept of ‘happiness’ to achieve the vision of the leadership.

The purpose of this essay is to examine public service delivery and customer satisfaction in the UAE/Dubai. It highlights public-private partnership (PPP), the UAE and Dubai governments’ reform programs toward service innovation, quality and excellence, customer happiness and satisfaction and strategic approaches used by the Dubai Police to achieve customer satisfaction.

The public-private partnerships (PPP) approach adopted in the UAE/Dubai

A public-private partnership (PPP) is a term used to describe “a government-sponsored initiative or scheme which involves the use of private finance to facilitate the provision of services to the public and/or the delivery of social infrastructure assets” (Tan, 2012, p. 2). Various governments have relied on PPPs to develop infrastructure assets that require massive investments. They include transportation, education, healthcare and even in defense. PPPs marks a critical shift in the relationship between the public and private sector about capital investments (Ahadzi & Bowles, 2004). The UAE has often relied on PPPs to fund and manage some of its mega infrastructure projects. The Dubai Metro, for instance, was a product of the PPP project that cost over “Dh 28 billion to develop in partnership with at least five multinational corporations” (Khan, 2013, p. 1). Further, management of the project, as a part of an agreement with the RTA, is currently under the British Government company known as Serco (Khan, 2013). One must agree that there are no two projects that are the same, and therefore PPPs come in different forms for different projects (National Council for Public-Private Partnerships, 2015).

The UAE government uses management contracts to contract its operations and management to private firms under PPP approaches. The Dubai Metro, for instance, is run and managed by Serco, the UK government company (Serco Consulting, 2014). It is imperative to recognize that the obligation to offer services remains with the government while everyday management, controls, and authority are the responsibilities of the private company (Asian Development Bank, n.d). Within six months, Dubai Metro realized the following benefits because of PPP.

Table 1: the transformation at Dubai Metro through PPP (Serco Consulting, 2014)

A management contract also has inherent advantages to parties involved in the project. The government of Dubai has been able to achieve several operational gains, which are offered by Serco, a private company, without transferring the Dubai Metro to the company. The kind of contract involved is simple to draw and therefore less controversial. Also, a management contract is a relatively low cost because the private company makes use of a few employees to achieve the intended outcomes.

The UAE/Dubai also uses a service contract PPP approach. For instance, Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) was quoted saying that over the next few years, the RTA will start the construction and operation of the rail projects (Bhatia, 2015). Under this project, Route 2020 will be considered to expand the Dubai Metro and initiate phase two of the Dubai Tram project (Bhatia, 2015). It involves a bidding process by private firms, and TRA has opted for the PPP model, “comprising elements attractive for the private sector to take the initiative and bear the costs of such projects against benefiting from the project’s returns over the contract period” (Bhatia, 2015, p. 1). Under the service contract, the UAE government works with private companies to “conduct the specified project for a given period as stipulated in the contract” (Asian Development Bank, n.d, p. 24). Hence, the UAE government remains the major provider of the infrastructure service. Meanwhile, the private players must undertake the project under agreed costs and terms. They must also meet the performance standards established by the government agency.

To enhance customer satisfaction through PPP, Serco Consulting has ensured that service delivery and performance are the core of its program. Also, the PPP has introduced efficiency and effectiveness, transparency and accountability, and innovation and creativity in delivering most public services in Dubai. Further benefits of PPP have been noted in technological skills and expertise transfer. Dubai is focused on using the best firms to meet its public demands, particularly where its current human capital is unable to meet service levels and demands. Thus, by working with foreign firms such as Serco, the government also aims for knowledge transfer and sustainability of the project on a long-term basis. For instance, nearly all commuters in Dubai know the number the 800-9090, which is advertised in Dubai throughout for travelers to make any inquiries about traveling. This improvement was achieved by contracting Avaya through PPP and it immediately led to increased customer satisfaction.

Some emirates lack robust changes in governments noted in Dubai because of leadership or political support (Dulaimi, Alhashemi, Ling, & Kumaraswamy, 2010). Also, in the recent past, Dubai has attracted several multinational firms because of its development strategies and as a result, it has a strong private consortium relative to other emirates. Dulaimi et al. (2010) have observed that a strong consortium of private firms and supporting leadership are the key to successful PPP, which perhaps are lacking in other emirates.

Service Innovation, Quality, and Excellence in the UAE and Dubai Government

In the recent past, the UAE and Dubai governments have embarked on reform programs towards service innovation, quality, and excellence. These reforms are reflected through various initiatives such as smart government, happiness meter, Dubai excellence program, and stars rating for the governmental entities among others (Halligan, 2014). They all aim to enhance public service delivery and customer satisfaction.

The Dubai Smart Government initiative aims to provide solutions to determine customer satisfaction with key government services across various departments (Sutton, 2015). The Dubai Excellence Program was created in 1997 to enhance the concept of excellence, quality, innovation, best management and professional practices in government agencies (Nuseirat, n.d). The Excellence Program has created excellence models, evaluate users and reward performers. The overall aim of the Program is to achieve international levels of performance for government agencies in Dubai. While the Excellence Program has been successful because of leaders’ state of commitment and involvement, motivation and team spirit, it has also suffered some drawbacks related to the absence of benchmarks, resistance to change, lack awareness, and poor skills (Nuseirat, n.d).

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has been instrumental in the transformation of Dubai. In the recent past, the Sheikh, the Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE launched the ‘Happiness Meter’ to measure government services and the public’s levels of happiness and satisfaction with the offered services every day based on ongoing changes and expectations of users (Dubai Trade, mimeo). Government officers at the central database network will collect and send outcomes to decision-makers to determine specific agencies with the highest happiness and satisfaction rating. The government will use feedback for service improvement and enhancing user experiences.

By launching the Smart City, the Dubai government and its agencies have shown the commitment to achieve all the requirements and aspirations of the citizens. Dubai government has focused on six critical pillars to implement under the Smart City program. They include 100 programs that focus on transport, communications, infrastructure, electricity, economic services, urban planning, and 1,000 government services that are expected to go smart within the next three years (Wam, 2014). The leadership has recognized the need for improvement and development to enhance the quality of life of citizens through various government programs delivered via public-private partnerships (Wam, 2014).

It is imperative to recognize that the government of Dubai continuously conducts reviews to determine smart government performance. The latest review was done in May 2015 for government agencies that have made smart moves. The report covered the UAE and Dubai governments’ transition from e-government to smart government across 41 most important departments, which had shown achievement within 730 days given for the shift. Overall, the UAE government has achieved 96.3% for its 337 services regarded as the most important in daily service provision to the public.

Table 2: Smart Government Transition Review May 2015

Some government entities such as the Dubai Police, Dubai Customs and Dubai Courts have received “Star Rating for their initiatives to promote customer satisfaction and public service delivery” (Wam, 2014). Dubai Customs has been recognized as the first 100 percent SMART government agency. On this note, the Customs surveyed to determine the impacts of its SMART services and achieved the following outcomes.

Table 3: Dubai Customs’ the satisfaction survey – (Dubai Trade, mimeo)

These results show the success of the Dubai Customs in initiating and implementing effective smart government services. Aspects of SMART governments must be captured in evaluations. They show that Dubai Customs is focused on providing customers with unique user experiences when they seek government services. These services must be smart in all spheres.

The Dubai Courts have also demonstrated excellent performance under the Dubai Government Excellence Program 2015. It has increased by 11 positions relative to the last evaluation. The Dubai Courts were able to achieve this improvement because of the critical changes it has made across various departments. The major focus has been on customer satisfaction, which increased to 92.3 percent. The Courts have been praised for excellent facilities and legal and advisory services, which have been developed to improve customer and social well-being.

The Dubai Police has also demonstrated excellent performance, which is reflected in its 95 percent customer satisfaction rating. Averagely, other government agencies in Dubai had recorded 79 percent for the year 2015 rating. The police department has been able to achieve this improvement because of smart initiatives it has implemented through modern technologies and smartphones.

Also, Dubai Municipality has embarked on an ambitious plan to change 450 e-services into smart ones while the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) focuses on providing smart transportation through a traffic system, a single-center for controlling traffic and means of transportation and delivering some 200 services via smartphones. Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) plans to introduce “smart meters and grid to enhance well-being and comfort of users through sustainability initiatives” (Wam, 2014, p. 1). Dubai Design District wants to be the smartest place globally for smart solutions to enhance transactions of visas, licenses and other services offered by the government. Also, the Department of Economic Development (DED) has focused on smart business solutions.

Happiness vs. Satisfaction in customer services in the Dubai Government

Dubai Happiness program is still at a nascent stage. However, it goes far beyond customer satisfaction. According to one of the officials from the Dubai Excellence Program, customer happiness includes customer satisfaction with additional requirements to exceed expectations i.e., it is raising the bar for satisfaction to ensure public happiness with services offered by the government. Happiness is measured by evaluating perceptions of customers by considering certain factors such as employees’ attitudes, premises and the nature of the service itself.

Happiness Meter is a unique initiative that strives to measure the happiness and satisfaction of Dubai citizens with services offered by the government every day through an electronic platform linked via a central network. Happiness Meter remits daily reports to decision-makers. These reports are used to monitor and identify specific government services that users are happy about and then locate specific geographical locations in which these services are offered as constituents of a sustained effort to create customer service and enhance the happiness of Dubai people.

The Sheikh believes that annual and quarterly reports to evaluate “happiness and satisfaction of users are no longer fashionable and do not meet the emirate’s ambitions” (Wam, 2014, p. 1). Such improvements should be driven by daily transformations witnessed and expectations of the public. On this note, Happiness Meter strives to measure government services every day.

As opposed to customer satisfaction, customer happiness focuses on service as a daily task and the initiative must have a real impact on people’s happiness.

Customer happiness is a part of the smart government and smart city launched in Dubai to enhance the use of modern technologies for improving the efficiency of government performance and helping to deliver public happiness and satisfaction. The Sheikh asserts that the overall objective of the Happiness Initiative is to ensure the happiness of the public and provide uncomplicated life through lessening the period spent to accomplish requested public services.

According to Hammad (2013), the Dubai government is no longer concentrating on customer satisfaction but is striving for customer happiness. The government is becoming more hospitable, delivering services promptly, improving innovations that reach the people and is accessible through residents’ smartphones 24/7. Thus, the government is focused on delighting the public by providing effective interaction and engagement, which are achieved inefficiently and gracefully to attain customer happiness (Hammad, 2013).

Various government agencies must reshape and reconsider their strategies to align them with the Happiness Meter rather than a satisfactory measure. As previously noted, different government departments have adopted Happiness Meter to shift from customer satisfaction to customer happiness. For instance, RTA, Dubai Courts, Dubai Police, Department of Economic Development, Dubai Customs, Dubai Airport Freezone Authority (DAFZA) and Dubai Electricity and Water Authority have shown attempts to reshape and reconsider their practices to smart services to ensure that they achieve customer happiness and satisfaction. A focus on customer happiness will ensure that the government evaluates every aspect of its services and track them daily. The transition will occur from e-services to smart services. These processes are supported by strong information technology capabilities coupled with smartphone accessibility used by most residents of Dubai. Thus, in the future, even visitors will instantly experience such happiness through service provisions. Customer happiness aims to improve the quality of life of Dubai residents.

Decision-makers can gain access to Happiness Meter results in qualitative form using smart systems. Users have various options to provide their feedback on the quality of services provided by the government. These platforms can be found at various points of service or Internet-enabled smart virtual systems.

The Happiness Meter will be slowly rolled out to all other government agencies. Also, Dubai targets specific private institutions with its Happiness Meter. This aims to enhance tourists’ and visitors’ experiences while in Dubai.

The Dubai Police strategy on customer satisfaction: An In-depth Analysis

The Dubai Police focus on quality service, and it is a forward-thinking and progressive government agency. It has adopted a systematic approach to achieving customer happiness. The service is connected to the strategic objective of ensuring a 90 percent score in user satisfaction (Alrazouqi, 2014). Dubai Police consists of a competent team assisted by Smart Services under Technical Accreditation to ensure that all services offered are measured daily to meet the standards of public happiness and satisfaction. The agency strives to translate its vision to reality and realize its strategic objective of attaining 90 percent customer satisfaction.

The General Department of e-Services of the Dubai Police has been keen on adopting new technologies for public service delivery. Today, the Dubai Police deliver over 300 services through different electronic platforms, including the “Internet, smartphones, Intranet and kiosks” (Alrazouqi, 2014, p. 4). among others for efficiency and speed.

The strategy it has adopted aims to provide simple, easy procedures for users. In several cases, the Dubai Police is outstanding because of DNA testing, use of electronic fingerprints, paperless processes, use of automatic vehicle locator and application of electronic services for different services such as renewal of vehicle license.

The Dubai Police has adopted Community Policing and Human Rights programs to facilitate service delivery and ensure public happiness.

The Dubai Police transformed its e-services to smart service to support the government initiative of Smart Government and Happiness Meter. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid insisted on efficiency, and Dubai Police concentrated on the development of “smart services that automatically operate without human intervention” (Alrazouqi, 2014, p. 6). Consequently, it is the first police agency in the UAE to provide smart services and improved processes for getting services e.g. certificate of good conduct.

Gradually, the department has adopted several smartphone services to reduce the frequencies of visiting the station and the burden of complex procedures (Wam, 2014).

To enhance customer happiness, the Dubai Police has started to use Google Glass for face detections of wanted criminals, traffic violations and to identify wanted cars through their plate numbers (Patrizio, 2014). Moreover, members of the public with the Glass are also encouraged to use it to report violation instantly.

These strategies have produced remarkable results because Dubai Police has recorded 95 percent customer satisfaction 2015 based on a poll conducted by the Dubai Model Centre for various government agencies that offer public services.

The Dubai Police implemented its strategies based on procedures of customer services in a holistic way by focusing on critical service categories. The process is systematic and daily follow-up reports are expected from the central data center.

The Dubai Police believes that by transforming e-services to smart ones, it is most likely to exceed the expectation of the public, simplify processes and enhance the speed of service delivery. Therefore, members of the public can use their iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and Windows phones to gain access to hundreds of services from the Dubai Police (Alrazouqi, 2014).

Recommendations

First, Dubai government agencies must continue to upgrade their smart services delivery by evaluating the needs of the public, constantly introducing new services and creating effective technical support systems. Second, government ministries must continue to train their employees on how to use new technologies effectively to optimize outcomes, responses to customers’ needs and service delivery. Third, Dubai government employees should attain the required competencies to ensure that the SMART Government initiative is successful. Training and develop fundamental concepts of the initiative is necessary to achieve the strategic goals of the government. Process monitoring and evaluation are required across all departments. Fourth, the Dubai government must establish a benchmark for performance improvement. This should be supported with appropriate training to accommodate ongoing changes while service directors and decision-makers across various agencies must conduct an evaluation and use feedback to improve future processes. Fifth, the Dubai Police customer service strategy is an excellent program that must continuously innovate to meet the needs of the public.

Thus, the department must work with technology companies to acquire the best smart solutions for a diverse range of its services. Also, it would be important for the Dubai Police to consolidate most apps to enhance ease of use and installation. Finally, the Dubai government must ensure the effective integration of all its platforms for unified performance-driven toward strategic smart government objectives. Smart services should help the government and users to save costs, time and efforts while providing the best results for all stakeholders. Also, mass public education is required to ensure that residents of Dubai are aware of these new developments. Overall, as the Sheikh puts it, the UAE and Dubai governments should not strive to sustain innovations in modern technologies and scientific discoveries, but rather to lead such new improvements, which is a difficult task. Hence, these government entities must continuously reinvent new ways of delivering services.

Conclusion

Public service delivery and customer satisfaction are important for the government of Dubai. Consequently, various elements that enhance these processes and outcomes have been reshaped and reviewed to deliver customer happiness and satisfaction. Thus, the Dubai government embarked on a smart government initiative to introduce new services and upgrade e-services to smart services with the focus on increasing the level of public happiness and satisfaction with government services.

Although smart government initiative is in its nascent stage, early adopters have so far registered remarkable performances about customer happiness and satisfaction. Most public services are automated to reduce human intervention. As a result, there are improved efficiency and effectiveness, simplified, easy procedures and public participation.

These outcomes have led to customer happiness and satisfaction as projected by the Dubai government. Overall, the government must continue to improve its processes and adopt the best practices and technologies for optimal outcomes.

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The County of San Diego is a public organization striving for continuous development and improvement of its activities. The organization plays an important role in realizing the strategy of helping the region to build better health (“County of San Diego Annual Report 2014-2015” 1). Therefore, the organization is focused on providing appropriate policies for improving the health status of the population. The indicators related to health area of influence promoted by the County of San Diego include Life Expectancy and Quality of life (percent of citizens with an appropriate level of health able to live independently) (“County of San Diego Annual Report 2014-2015” 5). Therefore, caring for people that are most vulnerable to becoming dependent on daily care is one of the primary goals of the organization.

Aging citizens of San Diego are one of the main objects of concerns of the County of San Diego. The organization works with providing appropriate policies and solving the problems related to improving the health of the aging population. “The Alzheimer’s Project: A Call to Arms” is the project launched by the County of San Diego to promote the regional initiative to address the urgent problem of enormous rates of the disease and contribute to the problem-solving process. The project gathers together the best specialists to provide expertise and strategic guidance on the creation of policies able to decrease the current rates of the disease and improve the life of people suffering from it (“The Alzheimer’s Project: A Call to Arms” 6).

The Central Issue

Through promoting the discussed project, the County of San Diego strives for dealing with such issues, as broadening the knowledge about the Alzheimer’s disease, improving existing treatments, and investing in promising areas of research. Alzheimer’s disease is fatal and every year takes millions of life of US citizens (Ballard et al. 1019). San Diego also faces the skyrocketing numbers of patients suffering from the disease and needs urgent solutions to stop the tendencies of a growing percent of people with the symptoms of the disease. Besides being fatal, the disease puts a tremendous toll on caregivers, as caring for such patients is extremely challenging and expensive. Alzheimer’s disease causes a huge economic burden in San Diego and puts a serious threat to the ability of healthcare system to function properly. Therefore, investing time and efforts in dealing with the central issues of the project can benefit the citizens of San Diego and the whole population of the country. If effective methods of dealing with the problem are found in the project, the effective policies would be developed to ensure implementing efficient solutions in San Diego.

The Major Factors

One of the major factors influencing the development of issues related to the discussed project is the involvement of all groups of specialists from different sectors affected by Alzheimer’s disease. The effective participation of all important stakeholders is the factor that defines the success of the project. Three roundtables were organized within the project to promote searching for efficacious solutions for the issue. Each of the roundtables reflects different factor influencing the issue. The Care Roundtable including care providers, public safety, community-based organizations, healthcare providers, etc. reflects the factor related to the level of quality of care delivered to the patients with the disease. The factor of care has a huge influence on the discussed issue as the possibility of decreasing the rates of the disease directly depends on the quality of provided care.

The Cure Roundtable including researchers, physician-scientists, biotech representatives, etc. reflects the factor related to the appropriate research aimed at developing effective cures. The possibility of suppressing the speed of spreading of the disease can be raised if an appropriate cure is found. The Clinical Roundtable including clinicians reflects the factor related to the level of quality of diagnosis and treatment of the disease. It is essential for combating the issue, as appropriate diagnostics and effective treatment are the cornerstones of preventing further growth of the rates of fatal outcomes. The Public Education & Awareness effort was organized to “educate, engage, build awareness and generate support” (“The Alzheimer’s Project: A Call to Arms” 18). These steps help to get the issue on the public agenda.

Relevant History around the Issue

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia that is a clinical syndrome known characterized by such mental problems as the disturbance in speech and memory and difficulties in performing daily activities (Burns and Iliffe 467). As the number of San Diegans living with Alzheimer’s raised to sixty thousand, Chairwoman Diane Jacob addressed this epidemic in her speech and emphasized the importance of searching for an effective cure by San Diego’s world-class researchers (“The Alzheimer’s Project: A Call to Arms” 6). The chairwoman also emphasized the importance of easing the burden of the disease on the entire region. Supervisor Dave Roberts teamed up with the Chairwoman on the initiative, and the Alzheimer’s Project was launched (“The Alzheimer’s Project: A Call to Arms” 6). The project has brought together numerous experts and decision-makers, including researchers, healthcare providers, and community organizations.

Solutions for Resolving the Problem

The solutions for resolving the problem include steps that need to be made to influence the issue from different perspectives. First of all, the County of San Diego aims at developing a countywide plan that will help to improve the network of services for elderly people suffering from Alzheimer’s. It also puts an emphasis on establishing screening, diagnostic and disease management standards for primary care physicians and raising funding for necessary research aimed at finding an effective cure. Besides, the County of San Diego aims at launching an education and public awareness campaign. Such campaign will help to develop the understanding of the warning signs and provide appropriate training for public safety and social service personnel. The organization also needs to expand its Legislative Program to support legislation that provides enough resources for improving the level of care provided for people with Alzheimer’s and supporting the regional strategy. All of the identified solutions will help to benefit society with an effective strategy for combating one of the most heartbreaking and complicated diseases having serious negative implications on public life.

Challenges and Opportunities

The main challenges faced by the members of the initiative and the whole society are related to lack of information about the causes of the disease and the process of its development. Alzheimer’s remains one of the most mysterious diseases, as though certain assumptions about its nature are made, the scientists and doctors still cannot confirm that modern science and medicine have developed an effective algorithm for assessing the potential premises of the disease (Dalvi 669). Besides, the issue is also related to financial challenges, as caregiving for people suffering from the disease cost enormous sums of money, and as the number of such patients grows every year, the society suffers from a lack of financial opportunities to support them. The growing percent of aging population is also a challenge, as aging citizens are the most vulnerable to the disease.

The main opportunities for the initiative include raising the consciousness of people about the importance of early diagnostics of the disease, as such strategy will help to prevent severe damage to organism caused by the absence of in time medical care. Besides, one of the main opportunities for the initiative is to raise funds for new research projects aimed at developing an effective cure for the disease, as currently it is considered incurable (Dezell and Hill 1).

Benefits versus Costs

The cost of the initiative is relatively high, as gathering a big number of specialists together requires big investments. Besides, educational activities organized to raise public consciousness about the premises of the disease also need significant spending. Though the costs of the project are high, its benefits are significantly higher, as the epidemic of the disease causes enormous spending. If the project achieves its goals and finds the way to provide efficient funding for research projects and preventive educational activities, the results will outweigh the costs. If wide publicity becomes aware of the methods of providing in time care for the early stages of the disease and appropriate research projects aimed at finding the effective cure are launched, the initiative will recover expenditure.

The Findings of the Interview

I interviewed Dave Roberts, the supervisor of the County of San Diego to better understand the specifics of engaging in issues of concern and launching efficient initiatives. The interview subject shared his views on doing politics on behalf of the public issue. He emphasized that politicians have a huge power to attract the attention to certain issues that raise significant concerns. He mentioned that though some politicians can manipulate such issues to achieve their personal goals, responsible politicians have a huge potential for changing society’s position on different matters. In the case of the Alzheimer’s Project, Roberts emphasized the importance of addressing politicians to provide the full implementation of the National Alzheimer’s Plan. Besides, it is necessary to promote awareness of politicians of the importance of providing appropriate funding of activities aimed at raising public interest to the problem.

The interview subject’s experience might teach me that launching a public initiative requires certain skills in organizing effective educational activities aimed at raising public awareness of the certain issue. Besides, I learned that the success of such initiatives depends on the effective strategy of providing funds for the activities involved in the project. I also learned that such initiatives are the cornerstones of developing efficacious public policies necessary for regulating the life of society and dealing with the most vital and urgent problems.

The analysis of the specifics of dealing with public issues and launching appropriate initiatives on the example of such organization as The County of San Diego and its project “The Alzheimer’s Project: A Call to Arms” helped to explore the specifics of the process of addressing the issues of concern.

Works Cited

Ballard, Clive, Serge Gauthier, Anne Corbett, Carol Brayne, Dag Aarsland, and Emma Jones. “Alzheimer’s Disease.” The Lancet 377.9770 (2011): 1019-1031. Print.

Burns, Alistair, and Steve Iliffe. “Alzheimer’s Disease.” British Medical Journal 338.7692 (2009): 467-471. Print.

County of San Diego Annual Report 2014-2015. 2015. Web.

Dalvi, Arif. “Alzheimer’s Disease.” Disease-a-Month 58.12 (2012): 666-677. Print.

Dezell, Maureen, and Carrie Hill. Your Guide to Health: Alzheimer’s: Reliable Information for Patients and Their Families, Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media. Print.

The Alzheimer’s Project: A Call to Arms. 2015. Web.

Compulsory public service is a contentious issue. An overview of the Bill of Rights immediately shoots down the idea that the citizens of this country can be forced to serve. It is the right of every man, woman, and child to be free and to pursue happiness within the bounds of law.

The only reason why there is a debate regarding this issue is due to the fact that there are misguided patriots who believed that every citizen must prove their love and loyalty to this country by doing public service. The government should not be given the power to coerce its citizens to engage in one or even two years of public service; it is against the law of the land. It would be best for the government to promote the ideals of volunteerism in order to recruit and train people that are eager to serve.

The Bill of Rights is very clear when it comes to the limitations of the government when it comes to intruding into the personal life of a citizen. The government’s vast powers cannot be used to force a person to serve. Slavery has been outlawed a long time ago and therefore there is no justification for the use of coercion in any shape or form in order to fill up the needed vacancies in the public service sector. The government should serve the people but the people must not be forced to serve the government.

Aside from violating the constitutional rights of every citizen, the concept of compulsory public service is impractical. It can be argued that there are many people that are not interested to serve in the Armed Forces and other jobs that are under the authority of the Federal government. Imagine the kind of trouble the government would have to contend with if they are authorized to compel its citizens to serve for at least a year. It would be costly in terms of manpower and litigation purposes.

It is a terrible idea to suggest compulsive service. However, those who decide to become a public servant must be held in high esteem. The spirit of volunteerism must be stirred up and not the spirit of coercion. The government and its citizens must laud anyone who enters public service. It must be viewed as an honorable thing to do, lifting the spirits of the family members of those who chose to serve in spite of its many challenges.

The government must therefore encourage people to serve. It is the job of the government to persuade people to serve in a short term or long term basis. One way to do this is to communicate clearly the positive impact to the community and the nation if one person decides to spend a few years of his or her life to serve others.

A persuasive message can also be achieved by developing creative ways to reward those who are in public service. The government has limited resources and therefore cannot provide extensive monetary rewards but this must not stop the government form finding ways to honor and appreciate those who work as public servants.

Conclusion

There are those who contend that the citizens of this country must be compelled to engage in public service. This may seem like the most patriotic thing to do but the Bill of Rights clearly stipulates that no citizen can be forced by the government to do something.

This is also an unproductive exercise because coercion can lead to defiant behavior and costly litigation. It is the job of the government to persuade people to join. The spirit of volunteerism must be cultivated. The government must demonstrate that public servants are well-appreciated. As a result there would be more volunteers that are ready and able to serve.

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the adoption and reforms of structured financial management techniques and then identify the manner in which such techniques affect the availability and delivery of public services in the United States of America. Creation of public value is a major goal of the public sector (Bandy, 2011: 17-23).

Bandy (2011) explains that people in the public sector especially at the managerial level face many challenges, demands and the need to achieve well defined goals. Having an in-depth understanding of the public sector, conceptualizing the need to constantly create public value and employing structured financial management techniques are core aspects in the success of delivery of public services.

Implementation of necessary financial management strategies and adoption of crucial business operations are crucial in the contemporary society. A number of public financial management and accounting standards that govern the United States of America’s public service do exist (Khopkar, 2004).

The United States of America has continued to experience many challenges in its attempt to effectively address the long-term financial demands of its citizens (Roberge, 2011: 119).

The United States of America, a developed nation, and an epitome of business success in the world is a country that does not receive both multilateral and bilateral financial assistance. Monitoring of the level of national liabilities and debt is a crucial aspect of financial management.

The said aspect if not accorded due attention could lead to a lot of financial and other related social and political problems to the country (Menzel & Harvey, 2011). The ever increasing trend by investors in the United States’ public debt sector and debt defaults poses a number of economic challenges. Moreover, the financial crisis has immensely contributed to America’s every increasing financial woes.

Smith and Licari (2011) elaborate on the fact that the United States and other developed and developing countries across the globe have increasingly adopted structured financial management strategies. However, a number of challenges still abound.

Source: Newsroom. Future Demand for Public Services, Driven by an Aging Population, Will Cost the U.S. Government an Additional $940 Billion by 2025, According to New Accenture Report. Web.

Some of the major challenges exhibited in the United States financial market relate to the lack of accountability and transparency of the government and very poor national financial management strategies (Mathur, 1997: 33-52). Others are the inexistence of public sector monetary reporting and a lot of deficiency levels of fiscal management in national public institutions.

Structured financial management techniques

Previously in the United States, there have been no specific monetary development programs.

The structured and streamlined financial management procedures that have been implemented in the United States have continuously been focused on improving the level of efficiency in the financial sector, encouraging effectiveness in the manner in which business organizations operate and accountability in the administration and use of the existing and potential public resources.

According to Khopkar (2004), such procedures have had a major long-term impact on the delivery of public services to U.S citizens. Unlike in most countries, public services in the United States are mainly provided by the private sector.

Structured financial management in the U.S is a multifaceted concept. In the United States and many other developed nations, structured business management has become more popular in liquidity transactions. This is in line with the management of the recent Wall Street challenges and the global financial crisis. Bandy gives an elaborate critique and relevance of the significance of the structured means of managing finances.

Structured financial management has continued to be a major nightmare in the economic sector of the country (Bandy, 2011: 14-39). Due to the implementation of the structured financial management techniques, provision of public services is mainly done by private investors though such investors are strongly monitored and controlled by the U.S public utility commissions (Menzel & Harvey, 2011: 17-21).

Implementation of sophisticated financial arithmetic, complex security instruments and contract designs have continued to hasten development and economic transparency in the business arena.

In the United States, efforts to develop, implement and streamline structured financial management have always been encouraged by the ever increasing financial challenges and the need to transfer credit risks likely to be experienced in the country (Cauchon, 2009: 12-23).

Source: Newsroom. Future Demand for Public Services, Driven by an Aging Population, Will Cost the U.S. Government an Additional $940 Billion by 2025, According to New Accenture Report. Web.

Besides the use of credit derivatives such as CDSS, Cropf (2011) explains that apart from financial institution securitization of credit facilities and implementation of more reliable financial development programs, the United States has been on the forefront among both developed and developing nations in enhancing faster and steady financial market growth and development.

This is evident in the structured manner in which the country’s financial sector is managed and the way the public sector operates. According to Dubois and Fattore (2009: 711-724), securitization of credit risks in the United States has also been enhanced by the undergoing regulatory arbitrage undertaken under the Basel 1 category of the country’s public service.

Under the existing structured financial management in the United States, a number of risk management issues do exist. These issues are either directly or indirectly related to the U.S structured financial market. In fact, rating of financial agencies has become a profound and very critical approach used in the country to effectively manage financial matters and streamline business processes.

Some of the unique long term financial vehicles being employed include loans, insurance contracts and asset backed securities such as CDOs and ABCP. The U.S government has also focused on planning and strategizing on the pricing of very complicated yet strategic financial opportunities in the country.

As a result, effective management and implementation of regulatory financial measures have continued to be key aspects of the United States’ money market (Menzel & Harvey, 2011: 9-35; Fry 1989).

To reinforce the success of the implementation of structured financial management strategies in the United States of America, several issues must be addressed. One such issue relates to the management of the Risk Management Authority.

To that end, Jeong and Nor (2007) are of the view that organizational chief risk managers need to be accorded more managerial powers that would enable them to effectively monitor, measure and critically analyze risks that would otherwise hinder the country’s overall economic development and growth.

Rigorous analysis of all major financial transactions also needs to be addressed with the most appropriate data, management of models necessary for the rating, testing and pricing of financial products in the market being employed.

Software applications for planning, cost forecasting and risk management approaches are some of the common structured financial management techniques used in most states in the U.S., albeit in an indirect manner (Sheila & Schultz, 2011: 54-62).

Source: Newsroom. Future Demand for Public Services, Driven by an Aging Population, Will Cost the U.S. Government an Additional $940 Billion by 2025, According to New Accenture Report. Web.

Different states of the U.S use varied models and statistical data in their projection of their labor productivity levels. This approach is important as it helps in the prediction of the manner in which financial structures of the organization are managed and business processes undertaken. Complexity in this model emerges due to the varied demands and operational mechanisms of the many states of the U.S.

Public sector and financial management

The U.S federal government has managed to effectively offer attractive, reliable and risk-adjustable financial returns (Roberts, 1999). The structured financial management has also enabled the U.S not to engage in unnecessary debt agreements and financial sectors that are a mere burden to the U.S public. Effective budgetary control and allocation are crucial in enhancing the overall wellbeing of the U.S public service sector.

The U.S public sector financial management is focused on fully implementing structured financial techniques. The techniques focus on ensuring that the delivery of public services is constantly improved (White & Guy, 1994: 34-39).

Effect of structured financial management techniques

Enhancement of a greater level of transparency and accountability in the business sector is important. In the United States of America, effective risk management strategies have been formulated with the aim of streamlining business operations.

Forecasting risk levels has ensured that risk management is made more effective and that services being rendered to the public are streamlined. Though sometimes complicated, the structured financial management methodologies have proved to be very significant in the overall improvement of the U.S economy (Cropf, 2011: 9-15).

Large U.S financial organizations foster efficiency and high level of effectiveness in the manner in which public finances are managed. In the case of the United States of America, cost forecasting helps to fully conceptualize America’s financial position. As a result, both the federal and state governments initiate realistic financial goals, objectives and strategies.

In the United States of America, there has been an overall positive result of having low interest rate levels that have encouraged both local and international investors to do businesses in the country. Implementation of a structured financial management in the public sector of the U.S is significant.

According to Denhardt and Vinzant (2000), structured financial management helps the country and other developing countries to effectively offer business-pertinent solutions that can boost the level of efficiency and cost effectiveness in the manner in which business operations are done.

Cost forecasting and structured financial management techniques are very crucial and relevant as they help to project America’s financial position.

They help to aggregate economic and financial management, encourage fiscal sustainability, resource allocation and constant resource mobilization across all sectors of the national economy. With reference to the operational management in the business arena, economic development and financial management strategies have been relevant in the overall enhancement of budget management (Bandy, 2011: 75-138).

The strategies also enhance performance evaluation and that a high sense of accountability and profitability are realized in all national investments (Paramasivan & Subramanian, 2009: 78-123).The strategies have further improved financial management which focuses on the fiscal sustainability, resource allocation and streamlined resource mobilization strategies. The latter encourage better operational management.

This has been evident in the U.S through performance, budget management and value-for-money financial management mechanisms. With reference to governance, it has been possible for the business enterprises in the country to work towards enhancing good governance aimed at fostering a high level of accountability and transparency in all business deals (Sheila & Schultz, 2011).

Through the use of structured financial management and business operational techniques, it is possible for the U.S and other developing countries across the globe to effectively offer business relevant, cost effective, reliable and very streamlined first choice financial applications.

The two techniques can help a country to foster key financial strategies and values such as innovation, creativity, integrity, constant development of business opportunities and accountability across all levels of the government. They also help to diversify financial services being rendered to the public.

They promote establishment of stringent financial techniques that in turn shape the degree to which one understands core financial drivers in the country and the accompanying economic opportunities for long term financial success (Kettl & James, 2009: 98-105).

As evident in the United States’ money market and the management of the country’s business environment, fiduciary risk management is also made easy when structured financial risk management is enhanced.

Existing evidence

Planning software, management of risk and cost forecasting are three structured financial management approaches used in most American states. Their use is evidenced by the high sense of efficiency, cost effectiveness in most business operations and constant planning for the future wellbeing of the people of the United States.

In its quest for continued global financial dominance, the U.S federal government has heavily relied on the structured financial management mechanisms to boost its risk identification strategies. According to Sheila and Schultz (2011), the main reason for doing this is to enhance the availability and delivery of public service in the U.S. This is also evidenced by the U.S financial systems that have been very reliable and accountable.

The evidence of this argument is also based on the fact the United States of America’s civil service is made up of both the exempted and competitive service sectors. The diplomatic service sector which is modeled on the existing national civil service systems only operates with the view of enhancing strong global diplomatic relationships.

In the U.S., evidence on the effective implementation of structured financial management technique is currently not as common as it would be expected.

Though some of the main drivers for change have been hindered or indirectly affected by issues such as the constant undertaking of reforms in the public financial sector, existence of deficits in people’s skills levels has led to the full implementation of structured financial techniques (White & Guy, 1994: 29-43).

This is evidenced by the United States’ financial system which has continuously been unable to comprehensively account for its use of public money.

Constant transformation in most public service sectors in the existing and emerging markets is proof of how best the adoption and reform of structured financial management techniques have affected the availability and delivery of public services by the federal government of the U.S. corporate values such as efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability are evident in different public sectors.

The sectors include the U.S justice system, human services, revenue, postal agencies, defense and public safety (Jerome & Howard, 1998: 38-62).

The U.S public sector has continued to witness a steady shift in the manner in which public services are delivered. For instance, through structured financial management in the U.S, the country has continued to experience a shift from the use of standardised services to personalised ones.

By being insight driven rather than driven by reactive means, the United States of America has continued to be transformed for the better. As the existing evidence of the impact, the U.S economy has continued to be driven by public entrepreneurship since both the federal and the state governments no longer fully depend on rigid and unstructured financial management (Roberts, 1999).

As a result, the United States economy is no longer in form of piecemeal effiency but rather a mission oriented economy.

Transparency and accountability

It is crucial for U.S states and federal governments to employ structured financial management techniques with the view of tackling the challenges of cost and quality. Such challenges hinder the availability and delivery of public services in the country. There exists an unmatched level of openness, efficiency and accountability in the public services offered by the U.S government.

Besides the management of state and federal resources, adoption and reform of structured financial management techniques have highly contributed to the effective flow of information in various government structures of the U.S. Consequently, high levels of efficiency and cost effectiveness have continued to be realized in the U.S Wall Street and other financial sectors.

This has also been boosted by the participatory and collaborative manner in which all levels of the U.S government are integrated more so in the financial and public sector perspectives (Berezin, 2005; Clark, Reed, Stephan 2010).

It is evident that the adoption and overall reform of structured financial management techniques has led to the establishment of a new focus on how best to improve public service productivity. To enhance transparency and accountability, there has been segmentation of the U.S public into states and caucuses based on the specific needs.

This has led to a shift in the structure and delivery of fundamental public services needed by the public of the U.S (Patricia, 2010: 45-147). This relates to the U.S government’s continued attempt to have an in-depth understanding of the structured financial market. There has been an overall emphasis by the United States of America’s government for all public servants to offer high quality services that are truly valued by citizens.

Sadly, complaints against substandard service delivery, high cost of service, lack of transparency in some public sectors, poor service delivery and ineffective customer relationship still abound. As a means of enhancing transparency and accountability, the federal government focuses on enforcing reliable recruitment strategies (Smith & Licari, 2011).

Being the single largest employer in the public sector, the federal government uses very structured money management techniques in order to enforce fair workplace money management techniques.

Public sector reforms in the United States are in line with the federal policies on money management. It is also clear from the manner in which the public sector of the U.S is run that the delivery of public service aims at executing streamlined business processes and integrating all financial management techniques (Jerome & Howard, 1998: 47-56).

The projection also involves determining the level of efficiency and accountability standards necessary to ensure that all aspects of the delivery of public services are made better and more appropriate.

As explained by Moeller (2007), the existence of a high sense of efficiency, cost effectiveness and reliability of most of the services rendered to the public by the public servants indicate the high level of efficiency met by the public service of the U.S government.

Conclusion

Having a structured means of delivering public services is arguably a good means of enhancing efficiency, transparency, accountability and fostering public trust (Diane, 2008). Lack of efficiency and poor understanding of the manner in which the public sector operate poses many accountability challenges.

The U.S government needs to be focused on integrating the public sector and other operative mechanisms in order to fully win public trust. In line with the analysis, my stand is that structured financial management techniques are very significant in the running of the U.S public system.

I also believe that existence of a high level of transparency and accountability in the management of financial matters is crucial as it boosts public confidence in government of the day.

The above analysis indicates that incidences of rampant losses in the public financial sector, unclear strategies of resource allocation, unmonitored and unclear auditing, accounting systems and use of weak legislative framework are major challenges faced in the delivery of public services in the different states of the U.S.

Since the availability and actual delivery of public service in the U.S are highly dependent on the level of efficiency, reliability and accountability of financial management techniques, the U.S government needs to implement proper planning of public services. This could be done by adopting modern technologies and information systems that streamline business processes.

Public services should be people oriented and where possible, the government should privatize and keenly monitor the manner in which public services are delivered. Implementation of monetary development programs that are in line with the structured financial management approaches that are currently in use is crucial.

As evidenced by most arguments made by Bandy (2011: 34-45) on financial management, efforts to ensure that steady economic growth and effective delivery of public services should be made. This should be done by both the state and the federal governments.

The two should focus on implementing fair resource allocation, fiscal sustainability and restructured resource mobilization. Above all, the state and federal governments should collaborate in ensuring that they fully implement the necessary public service reforms.

References

Bandy, G. 2011, Financial Management and Accounting in the Public Sector, Routledge, London.

Berezin, M. 2005, “Emotions and the Economy” in Smelser, N.J. and R. Swedberg (eds.)The Handbook of Economic Sociology, Second Edition, Princeton University Press, Princeton.

Cauchon, D. 2009, Richest of Federal Workers Get Richer, Florida Today, Cengage Learning, Connecticut.

Clark, V., Reed, M. & Stephan, J. 2010, Using Monte Carlo simulation for a capital budgeting project, Journal of Management Accounting Quarterly.

Cropf, R. 2011, American Public Administration: Public Service for the 21st Century 5^th,Ed, Pearson Longman, London.

Denhardt, R. & Vinzant, D. 2000, The New Public Service, Serving Rather than Steering, Public Administration Review 60 (6).Jossey-Bass, New York.

Diane S. 2008, Global Public Policy, Transnational Policy Communities and their Networks, Journal of Policy Sciences.

Dubois, H. F. & Fattore, G. 2009, International Journal of Public Administration, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, New York.

Fry, B. 1989, Mastering Public Administration; from Max Weber to Dwight Waldo, Chatham, Chatham House Publishers, Inc., New Jersey.

Jeong, C. & Nor, F. 2007, Principles of Public Administration: An Introduction, Karisma Publications, Kuala Lumpur.

Jerome, B. M. & Howard, L. 1998, Public Administration: Balancing Power and Accountability 2^nd Ed, Praeger Publishing, Westport.

Kettl, D. & James, F. 2009, The Politics of the Administrative Process, CQ Press, Washington D.C.

Khopkar, S. M. 2004, Environmental Pollution Monitoring and Control, New Age International, New Delhi.

Mathur, P. N. 1997, The Civil Service of India, 1731-1894: a study of the history, evolution and demand for reform, Pearson Longman, London.

Menzel, D. & Harvey, W. 2011, The State of Public Administration: Issues, Challenges and Opportunity, M E Sharpe, New York.

Moeller, R. 2007, COSO Enterprise Risk Management: Understanding the New Integrated ERM Framework, John Wiley Sons Inc, New Jersey.

Paramasivan, C. & Subramanian, T. 2009, Financial Management, Prentice Hall, Oxford University.

Patricia, E. 2010, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Cambridge, 2^nd Ed., 45-147, Cambridge University Press, London.

Roberge, E. 2011, Whythegovdoesnotwork.com SNAFU, A Hysterical Memoir About Why the Government Doesn’t Work, FL: Createspace, Bureau Publishing, Orlando.

Roberts, J. 1999, A. Concise History of China, MA: Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

Sheila, K. & Schultz, S. 2011, American Public Service, Constitutional and Ethical foundation, Jones and Bartlet Learning, New York.

Smith, K. & Licari, M. J. 2011, Public Administration – Power and Politics in the Fourth Branch of Government, Cengage Learning, Connecticut.

White, J. & Guy, A. 1994, Research in public administration: reflections on theory and practice, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New Jersey.

Introduction

According to Le Grand’s framework, the public service providers range from ‘knights’ and ‘knaves’ who provide the services to ‘pawns’ and ‘queens’. The ‘knights and knaves’ are said to own a certain degree of public service motivation. This motivation allows them to give back to the society at large by providing public services while the ‘pawns and queens’ receive and enjoy those particular services.

A solid argument has been presented by most scholars to the effect that service providers cannot be categorized as pure ‘knights’ who have good intentions to tend to the society and pure ‘knaves’, who perform deeds for their own self-interest. Further, the end users of the public service provided possess the capacity to either control the services rendered to them or are entirely clueless on the same.

There is therefore a very strong relationship between the public authorities and the organizations, both of whom play a vital role in public service provision. In a quasi-market, the public authorities control the finance but delegate the role to purchase the services on behalf of the users to organizations (Le Grand, 1997). The public services are in turn paid for either by vouchers or under a contract.

The service users are dependent on the two principles to receive satisfactory services. The purpose of this article is to critically analyze Le Grand’s framework for the purposes of understanding the link between the public authorities and organizations that are mandated with the task of providing public services paid for either by vouchers or through a contract.

Models Of Public Service Providers Under The Le Grand’s Framework

To have a clear understanding on the relationship between the public authorities and the organizations, it is good to discuss the models that govern them. In his framework, Le Grand attempts to distinguish between the trust and mistrust models. Both models concern themselves with the public authorities’ connection with the organizations that provide public services.

In the trust model, the service providers are expected to use the funds in a professional manner. A good example of the service providers under this category are the doctors or nursery teachers. According to Le Grand, the professional usage of the allocated budget ensures that the service provided to the users is not only efficient and accountable but also one that is of high quality and equitably distributed.

It is for this reason that the public service providers in this model are regarded as ‘knights’. The service that they provide is not placed under the directives and sanctions of the public authorities. The knights are therefore entrusted to deliver the best services to the service user for the sake of creating a better society.

The mistrust model on the other hand requires the intervention of the public authorities to ensure compliance by the public service providers. The service providers under this category are not trusted by the public authorities to wholly and fully deliver public services to the service users without any directives and intervention. They are therefore regarded as ‘knaves’ and the authorities result to such actions such as financial incentives or promotions as a means to control the service providers.

However, these models proposed by Le Grand have posed certain challenges. By describing a ‘knave’ as a key principle whose main interest is to further his self-interest, it fails to fully describe the economic behaviour of an individual. The self-interest nature entails a wider range of basics that contribute to its existence such as material wealth and power. Le Grand further equates a ‘knight’ to altruism.

Though to some extent the existence of altruism behaviour has been proven, it is a difficult act to identify while providing public service. During the provision of public services, altruism can be visible in various forms such as empathy, responsibility and the will to conform. It is for this reason that most service providers with altruistic behaviours possess the will to assist others and in the meanwhile enjoy some personal benefits from the act itself.

It can therefore be assumed that the cost of altruistic act is enormous so as to give a feeling of personal satisfaction. This can therefore mean that if the cost is low, then the altruistic act ceases to exist and the individual may forsake to perform that act.

Application of Le Grand’s Framework In Understanding The Relationship Between The Public Authorities And Public Service Providers

Le Grand’s framework plays a very big role in categorically bringing out the relationship between the public authorities and the service providers. Through the introduction of metaphors of ‘knights’ and ‘knaves’, he brings to fore the motivations and behaviours of the individuals responsible for providing public service. The relationship is as a result of the development of quasi-markets as described in the framework.

It should be understood that the quasi-markets enhance competition between the public service providers. This is due to the fact that they have substituted the monopolistic nature of state service provisions to include other key players. The providers operating under the quasi-markets are not intent on capitalizing their profits or to be owned privately.

Further, the purchasing power of the service receiver is not articulated in monetary terms but rather through a set out budget or a voucher only intended for a particular service. The framework sets out conditions to be met in order for public service providers to efficiently and responsibly improve their services in quasi-markets. First, the quasi-market should be competitive by engaging multiple service providers.

It should also give a reliable and dependable access to information from the public authorities. They are also required to use minimal costs on one hand while also receive motivation in terms of financial concerns on the other. Lastly, use of incentives by public authorities to public service users was vehemently discouraged as it was seen as promoting discrimination in provision of services.

The application of this quasi-market model as outlined in the framework has brought out its strength. A good example is the usage of the model in state education. Glennerster, poses an argument that lack of competition in most schools in Britain since 1945 has led to a declined performance (Diamond, 2006).

He argues that some form of external competition is necessary to mount pressure on the schools in order to stimulate performance. In a study carried out to determine the motivation and behaviours of hospitals, it was concluded that the knights, who were represented by the consultants, would dominate over the knaves, who were represented by the managers (Le Grand & Crilly, 2004).

It was evident that the knights had a higher consideration to provide services that were of higher quality as opposed to their counterparts whose main interest is how they would make a financial break-through.

However, the framework has been challenged in the recent years. The notion of gaining equal and quality services has been put to test. This is because of the radical shake up in certain sectors such as schools and hospitals. Primary schools for example have experienced major shake up since 1990s.

I has become more apparent that there exist different tastes and preferences between the middle-class, high-class and low average earners. The middle –class for instance opted to transfer their children to private schools hence having access to better services as opposed to the poor. In essence, the models for advancing the public service have weakened. The public authority seem to be confronted with inevitable numerous persistent public service restructuring dilemmas.

It has to face the fact that the innovative public service providers are bound to deliver a greater choice in the quality of the services provided. This has generally raised the overall expectations. It is also noteworthy to point out that there has been evident widespread confusion, especially notable in the National Health Services (NHS) due to existence of federal authorities alongside the quasi-markets’ imposition.

Some critics have posed that this challenge has subjected the NHS managers to face numerous threats requiring them to give public services under central directives while also being expected to engage in good practice for the best interest of NHS. It can therefore be argued that there are still conflicting incentives with those highlighted in Le Grand’s framework.

The framework has also been challenged on the use of incentives to motivate the service providers by the authorities. Le Grand argues that the knights in particular, do not rely on incentives to work harder to provide quality services.

However, in the recent years, studies have indicated that most, if not all, service providers, including the ‘knights’ themselves seem to produce a higher output in their service provision when there is an incentive (Kendall, 2001). With the recent harsh economic time, it would be hard to pick out one ‘knight’ willing to provide services without a lure of any kind of financial incentive.

The authorities on the other hand have sought to strengthen the relationship with organizations by giving them some kind of incentives either by voucher payment or contract. However, there is still evidence that the knights, like the doctors, always strive to produce quality services to the pawns and queens hence bringing out the strength of Le Grand framework.

It is evident that Le Grand focused only on health, education and housing to bring out the relationship between the public authorities and the service providers, an aspect that has received a lot of criticism.

In his research findings, Welshman (2007) questions the adequacy and worthiness of the metaphors adopted by Le Grand and their attempt to portray the attitudes governing the behaviours and motivation of public service providers. He poses an argument that Le Grand failed to put into perspective the period 1945-79, which encompassed a wider aspect of public policy.

Conclusion

Le Grand framework that applies the use of metaphors to explain the attitudes towards the motivations and behaviours of public providers has contributed to the relationship between the authorities and the service providers.

Its major strengths and weaknesses have been brought to the fore but despite all the arguments posed, it is evident that the framework plays a major key role to explain and authenticate the relationship between the authorities and public providers.

The organizations still depend on the authorities to give directives on the service to be rendered and at the same time produce quality service in the interest of end service user. More so, the framework has only been challenged on very minimal grounds due to recent changing times.

Reference List

Diamond, P., 2006. Conondrums of Reform: Efficiency, Public Virtue And The Delivery of World-Class Public Services. Policy Network: London.

Kendall, J., 2001. Of Knights, Knaves and Merchants: The Case of Residential Care for Older People in England in the Late 1990s. Social Policy and Administration, 35(4), p.360-375.

Le Grand, J., 1997. Knights, Knaves or Pawns? Human Behaviour and Social Policy. Journal of social Policy, 26(2), p.149-169.

Le Grand, J. & Crilly, T., 2004.The Motivation and behaviour of Hospital Trusts. Social Science & Medicine, 58(1), p.1809-1823.

Welshman, J., 2007. Knights, Knaves, Pawns and Queens: attitudes to behaviour in postwar Britain. J Epidemial Community Health, 61(1), p.95-97.

Introduction

This is an evaluation essay focusing on the profile of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, which is graded as the largest union in the Canadian Federal Public Sector. According to the definition by PSAC local 555, PSAC is defined as the larger entity of the Public Service Alliance of Canada and is locally interpreted as a Directly Chartered Local (DCL) (Griffith, 2012).

Her membership spans to every province and territory in Canada. Members work in a wide range of embassies and consulates. It was established in 1966 through successful amalgamation of various associations and its members include both the public servants and the private industry workers.

Some of them work as officers in fisheries, immigration, customs, and food inspectors among other professions. They work for the federal government and a large number of them are in the private sector. PSAC’s representation also includes the members of the workers unions in Northern Canada and other municipalities.

In May 2012, Robyn Benson who was the Regional Executive Vice President for PSAC representing Prairie region was elected the National President of the Public Servants Alliance of Canada following the retirement of John Gordon. Their main office location is the city of Ottawa, Ontario in Canada with the modern architecture (PSAC, 2012).

PSAC committee is composed of various sub committees including the committee on equal opportunities, which is the standing committee of the National Board of Directors. In the national committee, there are representatives from the NBoD component and others from the equity group. Members of each equity group elect the PSAC equity representative and gender representation from each group to represent them at the National Conference (Camire & Lumineu, 2008).

The structure of the executive committee and that of the elected executive committee vary. The executive committee consists of one president, two vice-presidents, one recording secretary, one treasurer and two stewards, while the elected executive committee members include one president, two vice presidents, one treasurer, one secretary and two chief stewards (Griffith, 2012).

History

The Public Service Alliance of Canada was formed in 1966 and has had a long history of victories, many of which went to the Supreme Court. They have managed to gain many benefits for public workers, which have also positively spilled over, to private industry workers throughout Canada. These are the highlights of their 46-year history:

1966: The Public Service Alliance of Canada is formed “through the amalgamation of the Civil Service Federation, the Civil Service Association of Canada and 14 national affiliates with a membership of 110,000” (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.77).

1968: “First collective agreements are signed under the Public Service Staff Relations Act” (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.77).

1971: “The first PSAC strike takes place against Defense Construction Limited” (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.77).

1978: “The union successfully fights Bill C-28, an attempt to destroy collective bargaining in the federal public service” (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.78).

1984: “The union begins its “Black Paper” campaign that succeeds in bringing federal public sector workers under the health and safety provisions of the Canada Labor Code.” (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.78).

1987: “PSAC is the first union in Canada to provide a direct political voice for women as the second national women’s conference sends resolutions directly to the triennial convention. The Supreme Court rules that it is the employer’s responsibility to provide a harassment-free workplace.” (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.79).

1991: “PSAC carries out the largest national strike ever conducted by a single union in Canada. The union negotiates major post-strike improvements in federal public service job security affecting contracting-out, privatization and devolution. After a seven-year court battle, the Supreme Court upholds PSAC’s challenge and removes restrictions on political activity by most federal public sector workers except for deputy heads.” (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.79).

2005: “PSAC’s 22-year-old pay equity complaint against Canada Post results in a Human Rights Tribunal award of a minimum of $150-million in adjustments and interest. For the first time, the seven PSAC Regional Executive Vice-Presidents are elected by delegates at their respective regional triennial conventions” (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.82).

Structure

The Public Service Alliance of Canada is one of the largest unions in Canada and as such has a tall and complex structure. It is organized in two ways with the first being by region with seven regions (Atlantic, Quebec, National Capital Region, Ontario, Prairies, British Columbia, and the North) and the second being the component structure (PSAC, 2010). In addition, they are affiliated on the national level with the Canadian Labor Congress and with Public Services International on the international level (PSAC, 2010).

Locals

At the base of the component, there are locals, which are at the level where members and the union representatives interact. Members go to their locals for advice, education, and voting for proposed contracts and representatives (PSAC, 2010). There is another type of local called a directly chartered local (DCL) which is structured for a specific industry or employer. It bypasses the next level in PSAC’s structure components.

Components

Components gather all locals from the same governmental agency, department or territorial government while having their own elections, conventions and structures (PSAC, 2010). Some component responsibilities include:

• “Processing staffing complaints and grievances (up to but not including adjudication)
• Assuming responsibility at the workplace level for collective agreements signed by the PSAC covering members within the jurisdiction of the component
• Representing its member on matters, such as classification problems and working conditions not already covered in collective agreements”(Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.10)

Councils

Locals are also linked to regional and area councils. Area councils meanwhile serve as a hub for the sharing of information amongst locals in a community while also promoting and coordinating: “PSAC campaigns, political action, broader union or social justice campaigns and collective bargaining proposals” (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.13).

Regional councils bring activists together for leadership and political direction and can send resolutions to the Triennial Convention (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.10). Linked to these regional councils are human rights committees and regional women’s committees.

Committees

Human rights committees can be formed by visible minorities, aboriginals, peoples with disabilities and member of the LGBT community as a forum for removing discrimination in the workplaces and society (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008). Regional women’s committees, on the other hand are in place to “further address women’s equality issues – systemic discrimination and barriers working women face within and outside their workplaces” (Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2008, p.14).

There are also the Equal opportunities committee and the National Aboriginal, Inuit and Metis Network that provide advice on equity/human rights issues and provide a unified voice for the diverse aboriginal community within the union, respectively.

Conventions

Components and regions have their own conventions where issues are discussed and elections take place but the broader union governance takes place at the Triennial Convention, which is the supreme governing body where elections are held for positions in the National Board of Governors and where policies are, adopted (PSAC, 2010).

National Board of Directors and the Alliance Executive Committee

The national board of directors is composed of the Alliance Executive Committee, which is elected at the Triennial Convention along with the 17 component presidents (PSAC, 2010). They meet three times a year and are responsible for major policy and program changes while the Alliance Executive Committee on its own is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the union such as finances, campaigns, advocacy and mobilization of members (PSAC, 2010).

Representation and Growth

Public Service Alliance of Canada represents more than 172,000 people in every province and territory in Canada and those who work abroad in embassies and consulates. In Northern Canada, the PSAC represents most unionized workers employed by the governments of the Yukon, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories. The PSAC’s membership is diverse and growing with majority of its members working for federal government and agencies (crown corporations).

There is also an increase in PSAC members that work for private sector enterprises. PSAC was the sixth largest union in Canada in 2004 and the third largest public sector union (PSAC, 2004). PSAC representations focus on PSAC collective bargaining, grievances, legal services, classification and equal pay, and representation beyond the collective agreement. (PSAC, 2012)

PSAC Collective Bargaining: collective action, collective power (PSAC, 2012)

• PSAC has more than 230 bargaining units each with its own collective agreement that deals with its specific working conditions. Bargaining units can be as small as 10 members or as big as 70,000. When a new group of workers unionizes with PSAC, they either form a new bargaining unit, or join an existing one.
• PSAC collective agreement outlines member’s rights, responsibilities, and employer’s responsibilities.
• PSAC believes collective action creates collective power and representation can be maximized through member’s active participation in union activity such as negotiations, grievances, pay equity or any other union activity. PSAC for you and all members.

Grievances: representing members’ negotiate rights – A grievance is the union’s tool for making sure the employer follows the rules in the collective agreement. The grievance process allows members to raise the issue directly with the employer and the union to gather additional information relating to the grievance. PSAC supports you through the grievance process to protect the rights of all its members.

Legal Services: fighting for justice – PSAC staff lawyers advise and represent members in areas of the law of labor relations, employment, human rights and constitutional rights, freedoms and take on legal challenges to advance Canadian law and to protect the interests of its member’s and of vulnerable groups in society at large.

Classification and Equal Pay: Fairness in the pay cheque – PSAC provides assistance for members in matters of classification and pay equity. PSAC represents members interests when employers are developing classification plans to make sure they are fair and do not discriminate against any members and workers performing work of equal value should be paid an equal wage. In 1999, PSAC fought for and won the largest pay equity award in Canada because of its lawsuit against the federal government.

Representing beyond the collective agreement – PSAC provides representation and technical assistance regarding the interpretation and application of public and private sector pension plans and disability insurance arrangements including the corresponding legislation and regulations.

Bargaining Priorities

The top priorities for collective bargaining settlements have changed over time with changes in socio-economic climate, business practices and increased competition.

The bargaining settlements are more inclined to healthy, hazard-free workplaces, job security, equity and fairness, provisions dealing with contracting out, workplace reorganization, employee participation in decision-making, and the rights of same sex spouses.

However, clauses such as cost-of-living adjustments have become much less popular in the low-inflation climate of recent years. (The daily, 2005).These all represents PSAC bargaining priorities.

PSAC each unit/component has its own bargaining priorities. As most of its members work for the federal government, current priorities of bargaining focus on (PSAC, 2012):

• Job security- as there is high cut in federal government jobs and services.
• Third choice campaign- to encourage Canadians to ask for something better than being forced to choose between a strong economy (no deficit) and strong public service.
• Mental health matter- to address the growing mental health crisis in Canada
• Justice for aboriginal peoples- raising awareness about Aboriginal rights, putting pressure on the federal government to do the right thing.
• PSAC federal budget fight back- demanding the government to give Canadians a department by department accounting of exactly what services are going to be cut – where, when and how.
• Stamp out privatization at Canada Post – PSAC and its component, the Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE), are engaged in avoiding the privatization of Canada postal service.
• Hands off our pensions- to fight against government decision to recoup the federal deficit on the backs of public service employees.
• Save the gun registry- fight Bill C-19- PSAC is concerned that Members of Parliament have agreed to eliminate the federal long-gun registry and to destroy the more than seven million records in the registry by voting for Bill C-19, and calls on the Senators of Canada to refuse to pass Bill C-19
• Food safety first- improvement on food safety inspection and enforcement.
• Defending quality public services, the government’s disengagement and its move to become more reliant on the private sector threaten the future of our public services. Promoting a fair, equitable, safe and prosperous society respectful of the environment where no one is left out.
• Save our farms campaign- to stop the closure of Canada’s prison farms with collaboration with Union of Solicitor General Employees’.
• Our fish- to promote the role of the government and public service workers in the sustainable management of fish stocks and aquatic ecosystem in Canada.
• As compensation advisors- to address the long-standing classification, training, recruitment, retention, and workplace needs of compensation and benefit advisors that work in the federal government.

Some examples of Current negotiations include Canada Post Corporation, Parks Canada, Canada Revenue Agency, Treasury Board: border service, Treasury Board: technical service, Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation, Canadian Food Inspections Agency, Statistical Survey Operations, Fredericton Airport.

Key Achievements

Since being formed in 1966, PSAC has achieved a lot for its members, the Canadian labor movement, and for workers across Canada.

In 1974, PSAC designed and implemented its Union Development Program, which is an advanced education program that prepares union activists to undertake leadership roles in the union and prepare them to carry out broader labor and social justice actions. This program served as a model for other unions to emulate.

In 1991, PSAC organized the largest national strike conducted by a single union in Canada. The union was able to organize a protest on Parliament Hill, which was attended by tens of thousands of its members while picket lines were established throughout Canada. Eventually, PSAC was able to negotiate improvements in job security affecting privatization, devolution and contracting-out.

Also in 1991, the Supreme Court upheld a challenge by PSAC and removed restrictions preventing most federal public service workers, with exception to deputy heads, from engaging in political activity.

Some of PSAC’s key achievements involve the attention they pay specifically to minorities and their rights. For example, PSAC held the first national conference, Access ’93, for union members with disabilities. In 1995, PSAC held its first Unity conference, which involved racially visible and Aboriginal members.

This conference was very significant as it was the first of its kind in the labor movement. In keeping with this tradition of working to ensure minorities rights are attended to, PSAC established a union presence in the northern territories in 2005 at the annual meeting of the Assembly of First Nations. As a result, one of four workers in the northern territories is a PSAC member. One specific example of what they accomplished was the signing of an agreement with the Dene Nation to explore labor relations affecting Dene workers.

Future

A goal that PSAC is always striving to pursue is social change, wherein they want to help in building a society that is “Just, inclusive, safe, secure, prosperous and sustainable.” In order to achieve this goal, PSAC believes in protecting quality public services while demanding for more and better public services.

This involves working together with other unions and organizations to stop privatization, deregulation and cutbacks. Furthermore, in regards to social change, PSAC is involved in raising awareness for workplace issues. They have campaigns planned to address bullying and harassment as well as a national strategy aimed at addressing mental health issues.

Currently and for the near future, PSAC is and will continue to protest many of the cutbacks undertaken by the Conservative government. The Conservative government has informed thousands of PSAC members who may be affected and could possibly lose their jobs. This is obviously a major concern for PSAC right now and moving forward.

PSAC is worried for its members as well as all Canadians who rely on public services. PSAC, therefore, will be working to inform Canadians how they could be affected by cutback. PSAC has outlined the many areas which could be affected and those include, food inspection, Old Age Security, promotion of First Nations and Inuit health, environmental protection, preservation of historic sites, search and rescue, veteran assistance, support for the troops, border security and transportation safety.

These areas outlined by PSAC affect a wide range of Canadians. PSAC wants to remind Canadians that public service workers include their family members, friends, neighbors and customers and emphasize that proposed job cuts are bad for the economy and wellbeing of the nation.

Other goals that PSAC will continue to pursue will be to continually engage PSAC members in different campaigning initiatives. In addition, they will continue to lobby government and support the election of politicians who will support their goals such as protecting public service pensions and implementing universal childcare.

Conclusion

The good structure and visionary leadership of the Public Service Alliance of Canada is the one that has made the union succeed in its undertakings. Its 46-years’ history and the adequate documentation of the major successes encourage the growth of the union in terms of the membership. PSAC has its projected plans based on its past key achievements. The union is growing faster with its membership spilling out to include the private sector workers.

Their victory in various undertakings gives them an edge over other unions in Canada. PSAC recognizes the minority rejected groups in the society for example the women, disabled people and the aboriginals. They agitate for their rights and have a special representation in the national committee.

From the profile above, the writer concludes that for any organization to achieve its aims effectively there has to be clear set goals for the future, functional structures and leadership, policies and conventions, documentation of the key achievements and the setting out of the priorities.

References

Camire, L., & Lumineu. I. (2008). Public service alliance of Canada officers’ handbook. Ottawa: Ontario.

Griffith, D. (2012). PSAC local 555 by-laws. The University of Ontario Institute of Technology: Ontario.

Public Service Alliance of Canada, (2012). PSAC. Ottawa: Ontario.