Saudi and Australian Accountability and Performance Measurement

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Introduction

This study intends to find out measurement and accountability that are used in Saudi Arabia in comparison with the Australian environment. These two countries are in different worlds with different economic capabilities one being a developed country another developing country. These countries have different accountability and measurement. Accountability and measurements help public organizations improve their reputations and increase service delivery to the public. It will also help in providing information on the economic environment and social performance of any government in power. Despite such benefits, some public sector operatives do not wish to engage in accountability and performance measurement activities because of the corrupt practices that they practice.

Accountability is a moral duty on part of the public sector to relevant stakeholders because it embraces ethical consideration in service delivery from the organization.

Context and background to the study

The public sector is becoming the focus of the private sector and the general public in the last few years because of the role they play in determining the general direction of the economy. The public sector is involved in creating an economic environment for economic growth in the country. The management of the public sector should therefore be good as well as accountable to the society they serve. Therefore performance measurement should be as per identifiable goals that are related to the public sector service delivery.

Statement of purpose and scope of the study

The public service in Saudi Arabia is not such efficient as other service sectors in the developed world because of the accountability and performance measurements adopted by these two different opposing governments. The investors who are planning to invest in a country will seek information on business ethics practice that is practiced in a county, legal environment and political environment. A country with good accountability and political environment must have a good accountability and performance measurement of service delivery.

Literature review

It is imperative to note that any person holding an office or any other non-profit institution or workplace is accountable and lawfully responsible for that particular entity.

To be accountable is defined as being responsible and fully answerable for the efficient fulfillment of the assignments of any association or organization. The level by which leaders are successful and independent in discharging their duties responsively determines the accountability of any individual. The general public maintains that the immediate representatives that stand for them in any task must honestly give details in any dealings. It is contemplated that people holding high positions should openly account for their proceedings, decisions as well as the use of public shared assets (Fisse & Braithwaite, 1994).

The liability information revealed in any governing system is believed to permit the voters to review the value of policies and the honesty of execution so that the most talented and sincere can be chosen as an overseer. Open responsibility leads to the assortment of policies that will support growth and ensure that any shared resources are used properly as required. On the other hand, accountability is more than just reporting outcome information or declaration but it is a means of improving performance.

Numerous social movements are increasingly calling for better accountability when addressing the issue of marginalized and neglected groups. The recommendations provided especially by health guidelines advocate for accountability that will eventually lead to effective services. There are several worldwide programs that public campaign to pressurize hospital boards Village health committees and concerned stakeholders in implementing the recommended health policies (Solomon, 2007).

Health guidelines and recommendations also suggest that improving accountability leads to more responsive policies and effective services. These events sustain a liberal chain of actions that comprise broadcasting of information, monitoring, intercession, and peer demands amid diverse actors. In many parts of the world economic difficulties are being experienced and the health care industry is striving hard to meet the already scarce facilities. Without accountability and transparency, there could never be a better life.

The accountability of employees is measured when services are delivered accordingly and efficiently without any discrimination. The magnitude of people seeking services for example in health care institutions at times seems to be overwhelming hence services may tend to be slow. Participants should acknowledge liability and responsibility in their decisions and actions. The proper delegation of power in any health care organization is important because this will give responsibility to diverse branches within its jurisdiction and will also see everyone perform diligently. For this reason, checks and balances are assured (Decker, 2007).

Checks and balances are set and used in several organizations and in many government institutions. The full distribution of authority or the allocation of independent power to a division or a wing of an organization to act autonomously can define the meaning of checking and balancing. It is tremendously hard to evade checks and balances, which ensure that the interest of the people is represented accordingly. Any organization that puts in place this system can achieve higher goals and brilliant visions. This is also another way of ensuring quality service delivery. The United States Constitution holds the best example of checks and balances, which has entrenched the three main divisions of the government and their main functions that make sure the government does not become oppressive. Beneath this structure, no one subdivision has decisive power, and each division performs most efficiently when it acts in the best interest of the general public. Indeed, the disjointing of powers among the branches is intended to check the democratic procedure. The only way to maintain both public and non-public leaders’ integrity is to initiate an effective system of checks and balances (Solomon, 2007).

Many organizations rely on their members to collaborate with one another in accomplishing the missions and goals of an institution and also to ensure its continued existence. Accountability is very vital given that, it is another way of enhancing cooperation and also augments the degree to which members analyze one another as part of their body. In any working culture, accountability erases cultural individualism and promotes collectivism.

Establishing and cultivating a positive working culture is not something that happens apart from the main dealings of the company. The culture is part and parcel of the way that critical decisions are arrived at, individual roles are clear, systems are well-thought-out, resources and powers as well as reimbursements are disseminated. Culture is recognized in the way that amenities are selected and deliberated, communication barriers are cleared remuneration are presented, and the ways that people come together and treat one another every day.

Experts do argue that everything that influences how people think and narrates to one another in the work surroundings contributes to any organization’s culture. A company’s culture can be sensed almost immediately by seeing how people feel happy, excited, animated, open, supportive, safe, and friendly. This kind of environment makes anyone maintain a positive working culture and avoid the culture of blame (LeBow & Spitzer, 2002).

Objectives of the research

The main objectives of the research are to:

Find out the weaknesses that are in South Arabia’s accountability and financial system in the public sector.
To establish and suggest a good framework of accountability and performance measurement in Saudi Arabia’s public sector for a better environment for business and reporting disclosure.
The research shall focus on performance measurements models that are applicable within the public sector which include the business excellence model, total quality management, results and determinants framework and balances scorecard. This model recognizes the value of non-financial information to a multi-stakeholder environment.
The research shall evaluate the great method of performance measurements in an effort to create a more effective, efficient and accountable public sector in Saudi Arabia.
The research will simulate between public sector measurement performance in Australia and Saudi Arabia.

Research question

The research questions will be:

What impact does accountability and performance measurements have on the public sector in Saudi Arabia?
What accountability and performance measurements policies are implemented in the Australian public sector?
How good accountability and performance measurements do affect the performance of the Australian public sector.
What is the possible relationship between accountability and performance measurements policies implemented and the services offered by the public sectors?
Which accountability and performance measurement activities should be employed by the Saudi Arabia public sector?

Methodology/theoretical underpinning

This will help in the research because it involves the research design of the study. It will mainly focus on the way in which the research process is going to be selected, the reason for choosing the research design, and how to use it. There are two approaches that are used in research design which are positivist and anti-positivist. In this case, the anti-positivist approach will be used in the context of literature review as well as the context of the research. This approach will be used in this research because the sample is small and a qualitative analysis of the data is required.

Research design/method of investigation

The research work shall be carried out on Saudi Arabia’s public sector as well as the Australian public sector. The reason for choosing this sample is to have an opportunity of getting all information regarding research questions from different public sectors that are developing and developed world. Qualitative research is going to be carried out for this research.

After collecting the information from the qualitative survey comparisons will be made between the two countries regarding each aspect of the research question then the statistical analysis will be carried out.

Ethical considerations

While carrying out research ethical values are very important because there are some aspects that ought to be observed by the researcher. Without them, the research may lose meaning, as those considerations influence the final results. In the case of interviews, the researcher should ensure that he informs the people participating in the interview of the purpose of the interview and the use of the information they will provide. The researcher should ensure that he obtains consent from the people he is interviewing at the same time he should have the information the way he intends to use it. The information should be used in a manner that is morally acceptable that is it does not harm the character’s reputation or the person who gave the information. To protect the personal lives of the interviewees, the researcher shall avoid mentioning names while writing the research report. In some cases, the researcher shall strive to keep privacy, confidentially anonymity in writing such research. The interviewed individuals in Saudi Arabia will not be disclosed but their information disclosed in a manner that does not display their character. The information collected should not touch the personal lives of individuals thus keeping personal privacy. The questionnaire that will be used should not contain a section that requires personal details to be given in this research. This is to avoid a scenario where there will be a temptation to give personal information.

Importance/implication of the study

The research will be important to both the private and public sectors because accountability measurement and performance measurement in the public sector is growing very fast in most countries due to corruption and other malpractices. Accountability and performance measurement will ensure the future generation is not compromised by the present malpractices in the private sector. This type of information is required by the private sector who wants to invest in a country because this will form part of the business environment. The future generation will find some information and resources to use when accountability and performance are well considered in the public sector operations. For any country to have sustainable development, accountability should be the main issue in the public sector. Performance measurement and accountability will focus on the impact of the public sector on the living and non–living environment of any country. Therefore, the information obtained by this research will have a great impact on the public sector life in Saudi Arabia as well as on future research that will be carried out in future information.

Limitations of the study

This study will focus on accountability and performance measurement in the public sector of two countries, Saudi Arabia a developing country, and Australia a developed country. The two public sectors definitely will show different levels of accountability but the time available for this research is too short to allow detailed research on reasons behind different approaches to the management of the public sector. The other limitation is that the research will be done for academic purposes which may not be considered by many as serious research to affect the lives of the individuals in the public sector in the lives of the two countries. This research will to some extent contribute to future research opportunities for future researchers in the same topic.

Thesis chapters

This research shall have five chapters where the first chapter will have an introduction, background information on the research, statement of the problem, research questions, and limitations of the research and organization of the research.

The second chapter shall contain the literature review which is a critical review of the existing literature on performance measurement and accountability in the public sector. It will consider various aspects of performance measurement and accountability in developed countries and developing countries.

Chapter three shall have the methodology employed in carrying out the research and it will guide how the research will be carried out. Chapter four is the second last chapter but the most important section of the research because it contains the results and findings of the research itself. It will discuss the data collected for the research and highlight the findings. It shall represent the data collected into information that is useful in a form of a chart, graphs, tables and other visual items to show the results. The chapter will lay the ground for discussion and analysis of the result.

Chapter five will discuss the results as well as make conclusions and recommendations. The results shall be discussed in view of the literature review in chapter II and the primary question of the research shall be answered in this chapter.

Time line for the research

TASK ID	TASK TITLE	PLANNED START DATE	PLANNED END DATE	ACTUAL END DATE	DELIVERABLE
	Identity problem	1/05/09	2/05/09		Present proposal idea
	Analysis problem	6/05/09	6/05/09		Identity possible solutions
	Draft proposal	7/05/09	11/05/09		Present draft proposal for approval
	Final proposal	15/05/09	17/05/09		Present final proposal
	Proposal presentation	17/05/09	17/05/09		Final proposal
	Data collection	18/05/09	25/05/09
	Data analysis	26/05/09	29/05/09		Draft the report
	Report writing	29/05/09	31/05/09		Presentation of report for approval
	Revision of the report	1/06/09	4/06/09
	Final presentation	15/06/09	15/06/09

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