Susan M. Ogden

Performance management in the public sector

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to assess the state of performance management within the public sector and suggest areas for further research.Design – This is a theoretical paper based on a literature review.Findings – The expected improvements in performance, accountability, transparency, quality of service and value for money have not yet materialised in the public sector. There are three classes of problems with performance management in the public sector – technical, systems and involvement. Externally imposed restructurings and reorganisations restrict the successful implementation of performance management.Research limitations/implications – The paper is theoretical, and empirical research to test the results is required.Practical implications – The findings can be used to enhance performance management systems within both the public and private sectors.Originality/value – The paper provides an overview of the state of performance management and measurement within public sector organisations a...

13_2_30: Experiences, perceptions and expectations of retail employment for Generation Y

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine Generation Y, potential graduate entrants to UK retailing, in respect of their job experiences, career perceptions and initial employment expectations.Design/methodology/approach – Utilising qualitative research methods, an exploratory study was undertaken with 33 students (all of whom fell into the category of Generation Y) from two UK universities.Findings – The study found that many of the propositions contained within the Generation Y literature were reflected among participants in relation to their future career and lifestyle aspirations. This points to the need for retailers to carefully manage graduate expectations and experiences to ensure commitment to the sector.Research limitations/implications – Being an exploratory study, the results are not genralisable to the wider population. The findings frame a future longitudinal study on the retail careers of Generation Y graduates as they move from the anticipation to the encounter stage of their caree...

Clearing the way for gender balance in the management of the UK financial services industry

Purpose – Females now comprise just over half of the workforce in the UK financial services sector. This paper aims to report on the current position relating to factors that are facilitating and inhibiting women from moving into middle and senior levels of management within the financial services sector.Design/methodology/approach – A comparative analysis of four case studies from a cross‐section of the financial services industry is presented, each compiled using interviews with male and female senior and middle managers, and gender‐defined focus groups usually of employees who are in the promotion pipeline.Findings – Despite progress in the case study organisations, both men and women concur that females encounter more barriers to career progression in the industry than men and that these relate primarily to a long hours culture and networking. This leads some women to exclude themselves from working in certain parts of the industry, such as corporate banking. Further, this aspect of the industry cultu...

Comment: benchmarking and best practice in the small hotel sector

This comment paper calls for a need to view benchmarking as a means to disseminate best practice in small hospitality organizations. Outlines the barriers to benchmarking in the sector and endorses the role and value of grading and award schemes as “external benchmarking” agencies.

Bessant's continuous improvement model: revisiting and revising

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose that a redevelopment of Bessants continuous improvement (CI) model makes a useful contribution to the research and understanding of the development of performance improvement in the public sector.Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents a conceptual discussion that develops the case for a three stage CI model from an analysis of the literature and feedback from key management stakeholders across a range of public sector organisations.Findings – Although Bessants five stage model presents a useful way of understanding how CI culture evolves, it is less useful as a framework for measuring the level of CI maturity as it does not provide indicators against each of the five stages of development. It is argued that a three stage model which contains a set of indicators for each level may be useful in the current public sector context where self‐assessment is seen as central to driving organisational improvement.Research limitations/implications – The a...

Enabling the career development of female managers in finance and retail

Purpose – In the UK financial services and retailing sectors there is a clear anomaly between the numbers of females employed and their representation at management levels. The aim of this study is to investigate the nature and significance of factors that actively enable the career development of female managers in these contexts, in organisations with an above industry average representation of female managers.Design/methodology/approach – A cross case analysis of seven organisations, four from the financial services sector and three from the retail sector, forms the basis of the empirical evidence. In total 62 management interviews and 87 focus group participants contributed to the development of the case studies.Findings – Recognition of the business benefits of a managerial gender mix at a senior organisational level emerges as a significant enabler, as does the congeniality of the organisational context in terms of transformational management styles and supportive organisational cultures that limit ...

How do supplier relationships contribute to success in conference and events management

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to report the findings from a survey of UK conference and event managers, which highlights the benefits that can accrue from supplier management within this sector.Design/methodology/approach – A survey of venue managers covering a cross‐section of venue types was used.Findings – A significant proportion of venue managers report having long‐term supplier relationships, placing considerable value on the non‐financial benefits that can accrue from long‐term supplier relations featuring mutual trust and good working relationships. These include consistency, responsiveness and flexibility in service delivery. Additionally, the familiarity of regular suppliers with the venue and its procedures, can lead to seamless service delivery to the customer and free‐up venue managers time.Research limitations/implications – The research design provides a one‐sided view of supplier relationships.Practical implications – Attention is drawn to the performance benefits arising from buildin...

Funder demands for quality management in the non-profit sector: challenges and responses in a non-profit infrastructure network

External pressure by funders can be a catalyst for a more proactive and strategic approach to quality management in the non-profit sector, however it can also lead to cynical responses which do little to promote learning and improvement. This case study of a national infrastructure organization that supports a network of local non-profit organizations provides insight into the attitudes and challenges that can arise from such external, top-down pressure.

Skills utilisation in Scotland: exploring the views of managers and employees

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore empirically manager and employee views on employees’ skills utilisation in organisations in Scotland. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaires to managers and employees, plus three case studies comprising manager interviews and employee focus groups. Findings – Highly significant differences are found between manager and employee views on: the match of employee skills to their current jobs; the extent of utilisation of employees’ skills; and opportunities for promotion. The main difference in views is on the match of employee skills to their current jobs, with employees opining more than managers that employees’ skills exceed the requirements of their job. Also, for managers and employees alike, the meaning of skills utilisation is obscure despite the language of skills being widely used in organisations. Research limitations/implications – The scale of the empirical research is possibly limited. There is potential for manager and employee bias. A case...

The development of sector‐based quality assurance standards in the UK: diverging or dovetailing?

In 1979, the UK set the standard on which the universally recognised ISO 9000 series was based. Part of the rationale for the creation of a generic quality assurance standard was that it would supplant the need for independent customer inspections, avoid duplications of audits, and coordinate the various national approaches to quality standards. Ironically, however, as the award has grown internationally, there has been a corresponding growth in the number and type of quality standards available to UK organisations. This paper reviews the development of sector‐based quality assurance standards in the UK leisure, hospitality and food industries and draws conclusions on the extent to which the various standards can be aligned. It is found that whereas industry‐specific standards in the food industry dovetail with generic standards, there is a degree of overlap in the hospitality and leisure sectors.