English

Research comparing public and private organizations has become more common, but questions remain as to whether differences in sector are significant or spurious. The research reported here, based on secondary data from a cross-national study of research units, examines differences in the performance of public and private sector units, controlling for a number of potentially confounding variables. Path analysis is used to `factor out "performance differences in public and private sector units. The findings suggest that sector context is not entirely a spurious function of such variables as size and technology, but itself makes a significant contribution to performance differences. It is further concluded that multiple criteria are important when seeking to measure R&D performance by sector. Public sector units appear advantaged with respect to certain activities and private sector ones with respect to others.

This article examines the results of a study conducted of the top 100 public sector units in Sweden. These units are comprised of entities of government, municipalities, and county councils. The aim of the study was to examine and describe the commitment to codes of ethics in these Swedish public sector units. This article reports on the responses of those public sector units that possessed a code of ethics. The construct of commitment was measured by a consideration of the inputs, objectives and outputs of the code across six areas. The commitment to codes of ethics has an interest for those involved in the public sector in Sweden and society in general. Most public sector units are in the early stages of development and assimilation into overall ethics policies in code artefacts. On a specific level there are customized codes of ethics that are not always documented in a generic artefact. Theoretical and managerial implications are provided. Furthermore, suggestions for further research are proposed.

Assessing Public Sector Efficiency: Issues and Methodologies

Editorial

Academic science is the science practised in the open scientific community, in which members present their research for debate and discussion by their colleagues, and seek recognition of their work through publication in scientific journals. In the old days, knowledge and information were the private monopoly of a select group of people, transmitted orally or secretly through manuscripts. Industrial science as practised in private laboratories has had much in common with defence science and little in common with academic science. The sociology of science as an established discipline has developed considerably during the last two decades but so far its major interest has continued to be the analysis of traditional academic science. Medical and life sciences used to be primarily service sciences of the first grade and there was little intervention from industry or the military between scientists and the general public.Keywords: academic science; defence science; industrial science; scientific community; scientific journals

The concept of CSR has a long and wide-ranging history. It is a concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to the betterment of society and the environment. The companies’ act 2013 which mandates companies to spend on CSR activities as a result the term corporate social responsibility has gained worldwide attention and has achieved a new resonance in the global economy. This shows how CSR transited from being a voluntary, to a mainstream activity of business. Because of this dynamic nature of CSR it becomes very relevant to study on some of the unexplored dimensions of CSR and bring something valuable and add something to the existing literature of CSR. Present study highlights the CSR initiatives of hydro power company in India. The study focused on CSR activities carried out by NHPC over a period of five years. The study found that NHPC limited were more focused on their CSR activities and working for the welfare of society but still a lot to do for overcoming the problems.

The big five in cancer care across Southern Africa (awareness, access, standardized treatment guidelines, integrated supportive care, and equitable service delivery) remain elusive in isolated pockets across the subcontinent. For South Africa, given the large proportion of women who present with clinically detectable, later-stage cancer, clinical breast examinations conducted in primary health clinics—for all symptomatic women and asymptomatic women over the age of 35—is a low-cost option for population-level screening in the medium term. Service delivery is a key concept in ensuring reasonable healthcare outcomes. South African models that have been instituted in a few public sector units have undergone fundamental improvements, allowing for better clinical care in some settings over the last 20 years. Access is a bigger barrier in LMI countries than awareness. An understanding of ‘Hostile Hospital’ environments needs unpacking—be it from assessing the financial implications of quality care to the logistics of patients accessing care.

The article analyzes the issues of efficiency, with special emphasis on measuring it in public sector units. The reason behind establishing units of the public finance sector is to satisfy the needs of the society, whereas the expenses paid to satisfy those needs are financed from public means. The measurement of the efficiency of such units is an important element used for assessing the degree of accomplishment of public tasks. The article offers a review of the issue and attempts at characterizing selected efficiency measures used in the units of the public fi-nance sector.

This study aims at analysing risk and returns of different sectors of the Indian economy using both the market and accounting based information. The results based on market information show that Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), healthcare and oil and gas sectors are the most defensive sectors of the Indian economy whereas metal and Information Technology (IT) sectors are the most aggressive sectors of the Indian economy. They further show that macroeconomic factors explain the highest percentage of total absolute risk of metal, auto and capital goods sectors whereas sector specific factors explain the highest percentage of total risk of the FMCG sector. Moreover, the results indicate that market risk for different sectors of the Indian economy has not been stable over time. The results based on accounting information suggest that FMCG, metal and IT sectors are having the highest business risk whereas sectors like technology, auto and public sector units are having the least business risk. The results based on accounting information further prove that consumer durables and metal sectors are having the highest financial risk whereas FMCG, healthcare, IT and oil and gas sectors are having the least financial risk. Regarding the association of market and accounting based measures of risk, the results demonstrate that the entire risk computed on the basis of accounting information is not significantly captured by the market. It is only the financial risk which is significantly captured by the market.

Relating IT strategy and organizational culture: an empirical study of public sector units in India

This study focuses on the issue of workforce variety among associations in India. It investigates the on-going viewpoints, of workers and businesses, in regards to the need, implementation, and the executives of variety in their particular associations. The paper attempts to cover different work settings by concentrating on a Public Sector Unit, an Indian MNC, and a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) association. The review examines the reality of execution ofDiversity concerning the earnestness of the view of the requirement for Diversity. The study attempts to uncover the purpose of workforce diversity andseeks the answer to whether diversity is being implemented by organizations only to pacify the sensibilities of moderate society or to expand the efficiency ofthe Organization.

The Saudi Institute of Internal Auditors aims at developing the position of (the status and effectiveness) internal auditing in Saudi Arabia. One goal of the Institute is to provide the international internal auditing criteria, ethics and other relevant guidelines pertaining to internal auditing, as issued by the International Institute for Internal Auditing. This paper investigates whether the professional and legislative efforts in this regard have been well founded and successful. The professional and legislative efforts are, by nature, theoretical, and thus stop short of achieving the desired results which can only be achieved by putting the innovation efforts into practice. This study aims at elucidating the degree of implementation of these innovations by examining the perceptions of the directors of internal auditing departments in the Saudi public sector. The findings suggest that there is a lack of independence of the internal audit functions at public sector units, as well as a dearth of professionalism which may have a negative effect on the quality of the internal auditing function. This may hinder external auditors’ job when reviewing financial reporting. The results also point to some of the challenges relating to auditing that the Saudi public sector may face in future.

Both enterprises and public sector units take advantage of Enterprise Architecture concepts in an increasing manner. Therefore, a periodical assessment of its effectiveness (maturity) and suggesting certain improvements on the basis of obtained results is recommended (e.g. by TOGAF, a de facto Enterprise Architecture development standard). This article is an overview of existing approaches in this area, and identifies its weaknesses and strengths. Also, the author’s approach to assessment of enterprise architecture practice is discussed and directions of further research work in this area are presented.

Indian mythology is one of the richest elements of Indian culture, which enriches it further and makes it a unique one in the world. In-teresting aspect of the stories and characters in Indian mythology is that they are usually meant to convey subtle facts, rules and maxims to guide decisions in management. The study has mainly intended to identify relevance of Hindu mythological characters in the decision making process of managers. The study has also highlighted the relationships of management styles of managers with the techniques of different Hindu mythological characters and it has even presented the perception of managers regarding the application of Hindu mythology in managing their operation. The study was mainly conducted at the selected corporate houses both private and public sector units mainly located at Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh. Most profoundly, study has observed that perceptions of managers regarding the application of Hindu mythology were enthusiastic but the lack of organizational view to bring mythological based managerial training is considered to big challenge ahead.

A Study of Changing Face of Employee Compensation Practices in Public Sector Units