Human resource management in public administration

Crisis management in public administration: The three phases model for safety incidents

Human resource management (HRM) plays a critical role in shaping public administration by ensuring the efficiency, effectiveness, and adaptability of public institutions. In post-socialist European countries, HRM reforms have been central to broader public sector transformations aimed at increasing transparency, meritocracy, and efficiency. However, these reform processes are often hindered by institutional inertia, political influences, and resistance to change. This study examines how reform requirements and resistance to change influence the transformation of HRM practices in public administration across post-socialist European countries. Using a structured literature review approach, this study systematically analyzes peer-reviewed academic research published in quality journals indexed in the Web of Science database. A purposive and criterion-based sampling strategy was applied to select relevant studies that address HRM reforms, institutional challenges, and governance dynamics within the post-socialist context. Findings indicate that historical legacies, politicization, and institutional resistance remain significant barriers to the successful implementation of HRM reforms. This study also highlights that while legal and procedural adjustments have been made, many public administrations struggle with the practical application of reform policies due to entrenched bureaucratic cultures and limited professionalization of HRM functions. By providing a structured synthesis of existing research, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of HRM transformation in post-socialist public administrations. It also identifies areas wherein further empirical research is needed to explore potential strategies for overcoming barriers to reform.

Research in Public Administration and Public Management has distinctive features that influence the choices and application of research methods. The standard methodologies for researching from the social sciences can be difficult to follow in the complex world of the public sector. In a dynamic political context, the focus lies on solving societal problems whilst also using methodological principles to do scientifically sound research. The second edition of Research Methods in Public Administration and Public Management represents a comprehensive guide to undertaking and using research in Public Management and Administration. It is succinct but covers a wide variety of research strategies, including action research, experiments, case studies, desk research, systematic literature reviews and more. It pays attention to issues of design, sampling, research ethics and data management. This textbook does explain the role of theory, but also offers many international examples and practical exercises. It takes the reader through the journey of research, starting with the problem definition, choice of theory, research design options and tools to achieve impactful research. New and revised material includes, but is not limited to: A closer look at popular methods like the experiment and the systematic literature review; A deeper examination of research ethics and data management; New examples from a wide range of countries; Updated ‘Further Reading’ material and additional useful websites. This exciting new edition will be core reading for students at all levels as well as practitioners who are carrying out research on Public Management and Administration.

Research in public administration and public management has distinctive features that influence the choices and application of research methods. Periods of change and upheaval in the public sector provide ample opportunities and cases for research, but the standard methodologies for researching in the social sciences can be difficult to follow in the complex world of the public sector. In a dynamic political environment, the focus lies on solving social problems whilst also using methodological principles needed for doing scientifically sound research. Research Methods in Public Administration and Public Management represents a comprehensive guide to doing and using research in public management and administration. It is impressively succinct but covering a wide variety of research strategies including among others: action research, hypotheses, sampling, case selection, questionnaires, interviewing, desk research, prescription and research ethics. This textbook does not bog the nascent researcher down in the theory but does provide numerous international examples and practical exercises to illuminate the research journey. Sandra Van Thiel guides us through the theory, operationalization and research design process before explaining the tools required to carry-out impactful research. This concise textbook will be core reading for those studying research methods and/or carrying out research on public management and administration.

This paper analyzes the dimensions underlying the management practices of public managers when they areimplementing their organizational objectives. This study also shows, in relation to our conceptual framework ofthe five dimensions of strategy execution, the necessary behaviours and attitudes that public managers ought todeploy in performing their missions of public benefit. To that end we conducted a factor analysis, subsequent toa survey of service managers in public administration, which allowed to assess and to emphasize thesignificance of each of the five dimensions of strategy execution.

The article deals with building a public administration system based on the implementation of project management. The article defines the role, place and possibilities of application of project management in public administration. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the identification and analysis of the most significant problems today related to project management in public administration. In this study, methods of qualitative, quantitative and multi-criteria analysis, as well as methods of systematization and generalization were used. When writing the article, we used methods: analysis, comparison. The author proposes ways to create favorable conditions for the effective use of project management in the state structure, among which are increasing the knowledge of employees, improving the office work system, the regulatory framework, and peer review of projects according to the five-criteria methodology. 1 criterion - economic and financial part of the project; 2nd criterion - the social part of the project; 3rd criterion - the political part of the project; 4th criterion - the cultural part of the project; Criterion 5 - the environmental part of the project. The main conclusion of the study is the identification and use of the most significant scientific approaches, methodologies and best organizational management practices in public administration, which allows clarifying the reasons for the failure of some projects, as well as improving the quality of assessing the level of government projects. This makes it possible to adapt the proposed methodology to the evaluation of specific government projects.

Purpose – Talent management is becoming an increasingly important area of research and implementation in organisations as is the importance of the organisation's internal resources, i.e. people. The purpose of the paper is to present the results and key findings of the research on how employees in Slovenian public administration rate the implementation and its effects of talent management activities to attract, develop and retain young talented individuals from generation Z. Aims(s) – The aims of this paper were to evaluate the talent management activities for young talented individuals in Slovenian public administration and develop a model of Gen Z talent management. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data was collected with the help of an online questionnaire and the questionnaire, which was designed for the empirical research, consisted of several sets of questions. The collected data was processed in the SPSS statistical program and Microsoft Excel. Findings – The results of the survey show that the respondents do not rate attracting, development and retention of young talented individuals in public administration the best as the average rating of all sets is 3.0. Results show that some attraction and development activities have a positive impact (p < 0.05) on the retention of young talented individuals in Slovenian public administration organisations. Limitations of the study – The limitation was related to the fact that the survey was conducted only in the Slovenian public administration and not in the entire public sector. It would be reasonable to expand the research in the future to the entire public sector and abroad. Practical implications – The paper is useful for practice mainly because it presents the possibility of using the developed model of Gen Z talent management in public administration. Originality/value – The originality of the topic is reflected in the lack of empirical research on the topic of Gen Z talent management in public administrations and the first such research in Slovenian public administration.

Performance management has become a ubiquitous part of public administration thanks to the New Public Management (NPM) reforms, which were introduced in Anglo-Saxon countries at the end of the 20th century and diffused later into different settings (e.g. the EU). It plays a central role in improving public sector management and fixing bureaucratic issues. This entry discusses the key ideas about performance management in public administration. It first demonstrates the background, definition and development of the concept of performance over the last decades. It examines the link between performance and NPM and the debate surrounding its definition and multi-dimensional nature in the public context. It briefly describes three successively evident multidimensional performance measurement frameworks: Inputs- Outputs-Outcomes (IOO), Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and Total Quality Management (TQM). The entry also notes the recent studies of identifying new dimensions for measuring performance. The entry concludes with a demonstration of the main challenges to integrating performance into public administration management.

The article is aimed at a comprehensive study, generalization and detailed analysis of scientific and practical information, risk management experience in the public sector. The author examines the experience of implementing a risk management system in the UK, the United States of America, their features and the main directions of development in the public sector. The study identifies the main components, stages and requirements necessary for the use of risk management in public administration. The article examines the regulatory framework of the Republic of Kazakhstan regulating the instruments of the risk management system at the level of strategic planning of public administration, and in the implementation of control and supervisory functions of state bodies. As a result of the study, the points confirming the low level of implementation and use of risk management tools in the public administration system of the Republic of Kazakhstan are indicated. The paper pays considerable attention to the main causes of risks characteristic of organizations operating in the public sector. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the formation of conceptual foundations for the introduction of risk management into the public administration system of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The introduction of risk management methods will increase the efficiency and effectiveness of decisions made by public authorities, and become an important component of the strategic development of public administration. The author, using the methods of system analysis, such as generalization, scientific abstraction, comparison, analysis, identified the main problematic issues of implementing risk management in the public administration system of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In the future, the results of the study can be used as a scientific and methodological basis for training and advanced training of specialists in the field of public service.

Combining insights from traditional thought and practice and from contemporary political analysis, Madison's Managers presents a constitutional theory of public administration in the United States. Anthony Michael Bertelli and Laurence E. Lynn Jr. contend that managerial responsibility in American government depends on official respect for the separation of powers and a commitment to judgment, balance, rationality, and accountability in managerial practice. The authors argue that public management-administration by unelected officials of public agencies and activities based on authority delegated to them by policymakers-derives from the principles of American constitutionalism, articulated most clearly by James Madison. Public management is, they argue, a constitutional institution necessary to successful governance under the separation of powers. To support their argument, Bertelli and Lynn combine two intellectual traditions often regarded as antagonistic: modern political economy, which regards public administration as controlled through bargaining among the separate powers and organized interests, and traditional public administration, which emphasizes the responsible implementation of policies established by legislatures and elected executives while respecting the procedural and substantive rights enforced by the courts. These literatures are mutually reinforcing, the authors argue, because both feature the role of constitutional principles in public management. Madison's Managers challenges public management scholars and professionals to recognize that the legitimacy and future of public administration depend on its constitutional foundations and their specific implications for managerial practice.

The article reveals the main features of the competence approach in the practice of European public administration. The features of the competence approach in public administration are determined on the basis of analysis of the basic concepts of public administration. In the dynamics of the formation and development of popular theories of interaction between state and local authorities, such as the theory of a free community, community (public) and public and state (the theory of municipal dualism), we can trace a number of characteristic features of a competency approach, which manifests itself both through the general theoretical relations and manifestations, and through the practice of coexistence of public authorities. There is a problem of definition and distribution of public functions as a prerequisite for defining and shaping the competences of public institutions. An important issue in the context of a competent approach is the institutional consolidation of functions in the context of the existence of the basic models of territorial organization of power. In each of the varieties of the Governance concept (Responsive Governance concept, Democratic Governance concept, Good Governance concept), the specifics of the use of competencies are defined. The archetypal symbols in the European public administration are singled out using the analysis of competence in public administration in its main constituents. A brief description of the archetypal aspect of European public administration is given. The main components of competence are shown in connection with the existing archetypal symbols and the characteristic trends of their development. Their connection is shown according to the scheme “the entity component (who?) — the object component (what?) — the administrative component (how?) — the basis (in what environment?)”. Concerning the trends of development of a competence approach in the context of practice and theory of public administration, it is determined that modern concepts of public administration are characterized by shifting the balance between state and public institutions to the sphere of common goals and tasks, and thus responsibility. The joint activity of all subjects of society requires new forms of cooperation, definition of the spheres and subjects of each entity’s activity for effective cooperation, distribution of functions and competences of the entities, formation and consolidation of their status characteristics.

Digital transformation in the Society 5.0 era requires organizations to manage human resources (HR) adaptively through the use of technology, one of which is Digital Human Resource (HR) Analytics. HR analytics enables organizations to make data-driven decisions on employee performance, turnover, and development, but its effectiveness is highly dependent on the digital competence of the employees. This study aims to analyze the influence of Digital HR Analytics and digital competence on employee productivity within the context of Indonesian organizations. Using a quantitative approach, the study measures the relationship of these two independent variables on employee productivity through a survey of a number of purposively selected respondents. The findings show that Digital HR Analytics contributes significantly to increasing productivity, consistent with evidence-based decision-making theory, while employees' digital competence is proven to strengthen the utilization of the analysis results. This finding confirms that digital literacy not only involves technical skills but also the ability to adapt, collaborate, and be aware of data security. Theoretically, this study enriches the literature on contemporary public administration and HR management by integrating two important variables that have previously been studied more in isolation. Practically, the results provide recommendations for organizations to invest in HR analytics technology while also enhancing the digital capacity of their employees through continuous training, so that productivity can be optimally increased.

The article focuses on assessing how the quality management system is implemented within Slovak local and regional self-government organizations. The main aim of the article was to evaluate the degree of implementation of selected quality management systems – common assessment framework (CAF), total quality management (TQM), European forum for quality management business excellence model (EFQM), international organization for standardization standard 9001 (ISO 9001), and benchmarking at the level of local and regional self-government of Slovakia. The theoretical part covers quality management in public administration, the tools and methodologies employed within public administration – CAF, TQM, EFQM, ISO 9001 standard, and benchmarking. In the practical section, the results are presented, analyzed, and evaluated alongside the validation of established professional research assumptions in the form of hypotheses of the evaluative mixed-type research. The article can serve as a methodological recommendation for public administration organizations on how to introduce quality methods and which methods are most suitable for the given areas of activity.

Plants, organisms, and the environment in which they live influence one another, and on this relationship depends the survival of a species. Man recently started paying special attention to ecology: this fact has led to the development of adaptive management as an answer to the unpredictable development of the species and has also highlighted the importance of protecting the environment. This paper presents a theoretical and a practical perspective on the adaptive management which is applied in ecosystems and shows the possibilities for implementing adaptive management in public administration, thus transforming it into an adaptive administration with added use of adaptive administration theory. The aim of this work is to approach adaptive management from a historical point of view and to follow its transference from ecology to public administration. The expected result is that public managers will develop new methods to manage public administration for the benefit of the citizens. 
 Keywords: ecosystems, public administration, adaptive management

Public administration managers' and employees' perceptions of adaptability to change under “the future of work” paradigm