Ali Haidar

Work, Religious Diversity and Islam

This paper investigates how Islamic doctrine conceives the place of work by outlining the notion of an Islamic work ethic and by discussing a number of human resource issues in relation to Islam. Knowledge of these issues has become an urgent need given the high level of discrimination Muslim workers suffer in modern workplaces. The paper argues that potential areas offriction between Islam and contemporary HRM practices can be managed effectively as there is not inherent conflict between Islamic doctrine and modern workplaces. The paper concludes with an outline of the nature of the Islamic influence in Australia, a western nation in which Islam is one of the fastest growing religions.

Managerial values in local government – Victoria, Australia

This article explores the values that local government senior managers assume in their day‐to‐day relationship with elected officials (councillors). The study is set in the state of Victoria, Australia which, along with the two other levels of Australian government, has a strong historical association with the Westminster system of public management. The findings demonstrate that local government senior managers practice the fundamental values and beliefs of public management neutrality.

Performance Contract Management in Regional Local Government — Victoria

The Victorian Local Government Act, 1989 introduced fixed-term performance contracts for all senior management staff. As a result, issues such as promotion, training, remuneration and contract renewal can now be directly influenced by performance evaluation. This paper examines the performance evaluation process in practice in order to determine its outcomes. We found considerable commitment by CEOs and senior officers to the system but quantitative outcomes were more difficult to identify. The study is set in six local government units in Gippsland, Victoria.

Politicisation but not Responsiveness: Preferences and Experiences of New Zealand Councillors

This article reports the responses of New Zealand local government councillors concerning their preferences for, and experiences of, council officer employment; and the values councillors perceive that council officers adopt in their dealings with councillors. This study received responses from slightly fewer than one hundred councillors in New Zealand local government out of 247 and therefore, the results presented here should be viewed as indicative only because of the small sample. Nevertheless the survey found that 54 per cent to 77 per cent would prefer to have influence over council officer employment, with council officers displaying deference to the authority of councillors. Councillors prefer to have frank and fearless advice but they prefer not to be under pressure from council officers to accept that advice. This ensures that they obtain the type of support they need to carry out the tasks and responsibilities that have been conferred on local authorities; and they – the councillors rather than council officers – remain in control of the council affairs.

Public Management Morality and the Employment Relationship in the Westminster Style of Cabinet Government: Developing a Conceptual Framework for Empirical Study with Special Reference to Australia

In the context of fundaTtJ.enta/ changes in the public service employment relationship in most English-speaking Commonwealth countries, this article develops a conceptual framework with a view to study its impact on the moral orientations of public managers. Whilst special reference is made to the Australian situation and literature, the conceptual framework has applicability in those Commonwealth countries where the Westminster style of Cabinet government has continued.

Neutral – Neither Trustees nor Hired Guns: The Experiences and Preferences of Local Government Councillors of NSW Australia

This paper reports on the preferences and experiences of the councillor level of New South Wales (NSW, Australia) local government, concerning the public service values that guide the council staff working under a politicised employment relationship. The results of the study show that councillors perceive council staff to be as largely neutral in their behaviour as they expect them to be. The paper further reports that the council staff (in the view of councillors) do not politically respond to any unreasonable demands made by elected officials or act as the trustee of the public interest in competition with them. Data for this study were collected through interviews, a survey, and from secondary sources.

Budget Formulation and Weber's Three Types of Dominations

fO..J DO organisations function? What modes are followed? Writers differ on these. Max Weber, the seminal German sociologist, argued at the tum of the century that the dominant mode of functioning in present-day mass societies, organisations tend to be bureaucratic. To Weber, it meant that: (a) there exists a constitutionally established hierarchy and a set of rules for the incumbents to carry out their functions, and (b) incumbents, in carrying out their func~ tions, actually do obey these rules and hierarchy. 1 So far no attempt has been made to examine the validity of Webers formulation in a Westminster style of cabinet government.2 British writings on constitution generally argue that in the Westminster style of cabinet government, pre-established rules and hierarchy to carry out governmental function do not exist. For example, Haldane said: