Alessandro Spano

Public Value Creation and Management Control Systems

Abstract This article addresses the issue of re-thinking public value in a more systemic approach analyzing the link between institutional, political and managerial dimensions. In particular, the article aims at building a new management control model for public sector organisations which takes into consideration institutional and political planning systems and management control systems. The article is based on the assumption that public value can be created only when the decision making process is based on a close relationship between the institutional dimension, the political dimension and the corporate dimension in order to make sure that the goal-congruence principle is respected.

The Impact of Introducing an ERP System on Organizational Processes and Individual Employees of an Italian Regional Government Organization

Abstract The purpose of this article is to advance understanding of the impact of implementing an ERP system on organizational processes and individuals in a public sector organization. Specifically, the following questions will be explored: What is the impact of ERP system implementation on organizational processes? What has been the impact of implementing ERP on individual employees? A survey instrument was developed and used to answer these questions. The article contributes to academic knowledge by providing empirical evidence concerning the impact of ERP system implementation on organizational processes and individual employees of a regional government organization in Italy.

How Do We Measure Public Value? From Theory to Practice

Abstract Purpose To fill the gap in the literature with regard to public value measurement (PVM) and to provide a model for measuring public value at an individual organizational level, based on managerial control systems (MCS). Design/methodology/approach This article helps review the literature on PVM and propose a model for measuring the value generated by individual organizations. Measurement challenges and potential solutions are investigated. Findings Public value generated by an individual organization can be calculated by measuring if and to what extent the organization’s outcomes and objectives have been achieved. Public value production and measurement are part of a wider PVM process, which is congruent with the major elements of MCS, from planning to operations, and measurement to evaluation. Research limitations/implications This article provides knowledge to support the measurement of public value produced by public sector organizations. However, the suggested use of MCS for a comprehensive measure of the public value produced by a public body does not allow for a comparison of the public values generated by different organizations, as the value is calculated against the objectives set by that specific organization. More research is needed in order to fully utilize this model in practice. Practical implications The findings may help public sector organizations, policymakers and public managers measure the public value produced by a public organization as a whole. Social implications This article may help citizens and other stakeholders understand the public value produced by a public organization. Originality/value This article is based on an original research undertaken by the author and faces the relatively neglected issue of PVM. It suggests the use of public value MCS as a model for measuring public value produced by individual organizations.

Performance Review and Assessment of Public Managers: Some Evidence from Local Governments in Italy

Performance review and assessment (PRA) of public managers has been adopted in several countries, but we still lack detailed knowledge of what affects the effectiveness of PRA systems. Based on interview data and on a survey of Italian public managers, this article aims to investigate this issue by developing and testing a preliminary model of perceived effectiveness of PRA. The results suggest that PRA perceived effectiveness seems related to the clarity of the organizational design, the quality of the PRA process, the involvement of public managers in the PRA process, and the use of PRA results for tightening control.

Managerial and Organizational Impact of ERP Systems in Public Sector Organizations. A Case Study

Drawing on a questionnaire survey conducted in an Italian Regional Government organization, the paper presents an in-depth analysis of the organizational issues linked to the introduction of an Enterprise Resource Planning system. The results of the second part of the research based on the results of the first qualitative part where a Focus Groups (FGs) analysis was used, are provided. A structured questionnaire, made specifically for this study by operationalizing the variables raised in the previous phase in ten types of questions, has been used. The sample is composed of 775 employees and managers users of the ERP system. Results show that, broadly speaking, employees believe that organizational rather than technical aspects are the main obstacle to fully utilizing the ERP system, that knowledge of the system did not spread through structured or programmed actions (e.g. training). Limitation and future research perspectives are also discussed.

Performance-Related Payments in Local Governments: Do They Improve Performance or Only Increase Salary?

ABSTRACT Personnel policies in public sector organizations are fundamental to improving public services, since they have an impact on both individual and organizational performance. Within the broad area of Human Resources Management (HRM), Performance-Related Pay Systems (PRPSs) are widely considered one of the cornerstones of public sector managerial reforms. Monetary incentives should be paid for performance achievements of single employees and/or teams, according to a defined set of objectives. While the role and appropriateness of PRPSs in the public sector have been widely discussed in the literature, in some countries monetary incentives have been used as a tool to increase individual salaries, without considering them as a motivating instrument in a wider HRM system. A small number of studies have been conducted to understand the limitations of this form of incentives and to investigate whether it can be replaced by different and more effective incentives in order to avoid the de-motivating effect caused by money, as recognized in the literature. This study tries to fill this gap investigating, through twenty-five interviews to informed respondents the effectiveness of existing PRPSs at Local government level in Italy both in terms of performance and motivation and the possibility to substitute monetary with non-monetary incentives. The findings suggest that the limitations of monetary incentives have been widely recognized, but it is still difficult to replace them with different and more effective alternatives.

The Impact of Using an ERP System on Organizational Processes and Individual Employees

This article reports the results of a research aimed at investigating the impact of an ERP system on organizational processes and individual employees in a public sector organization (Italian Regional Council). Through a qualitative method (Focus Groups – FG) interesting results have come out: system introduction planning, organizational and technical aspects seem to be relevant issues to be addressed in order to improve ERP system’s effectiveness. Through a structured questionnaire, a larger sample of employees will be involved in the second phase, aimed at testing the constructs which emerged with the FG analysis and the relationships among them.

Organizational Performance in the Italian Health care Sector

The public sector performance management (PM) literature is particularly rich as this topic is one of the most appealing for public sector scholars (Pollitt, J Public Adm Res Theory 6:25–44, 2005). However, organizational performance (OP) has been neglected across the world (Andrews et al. J Public Adm Res Theory 21:i301–i319, 2011) as well as in the Italian public administration (Martin and Spano, Public Money Manag 35:303–310, 2015). This chapter investigates how OP is defined, measured, and evaluated in the Italian health care sector. Our analysis showed the limited use of performance management in Italian public health organizations and a high variability in the way OP is defined and measured. This makes it difficult to compare the results of different organizations. For this reason, future standardization could allow policy makers to improve the accountability.

Business Intelligence in Public Sector Organizations: A Case Study

Information Technology (IT) makes it possible to manage the increased complexity that all businesses, both public and private, face. One of the consequences of the growing use of IT is the large quantity of data produced and stored. However, very often this data is not exploited to their full potential. An existing tool that can increase the benefits related to the availability of data, specifically for supporting the decision-making process, is Business Intelligence (BI). BI may be defined as “an integrated, company-specific, IT-based total approach for managerial decision support” (Kemper et al. Business intelligence and performance management: theory, systems, and industrial applications, Springer, U.K., pp. 3–12, 2013). We investigate the impact of BI on managers’ behaviours. More specifically, the main aim of our research is to understand how the information provided by BI is used, what the perceived advantages and disadvantages are of its use and how the use of the BI module influences the managerial decision-making process.