Prelims

Half Title Page

Change and Continuity Management in the Public Sector

Title Page

Change and Continuity Management in the Public Sector: The DALI Model for Effective Decision-Making

By

Rebecca Dalli Gonzi

University of Malta, Malta

Edited by

Simon Grima

University of Malta, Malta

United Kingdom – North America – Japan India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2019

Copyright © 2019 Emerald Publishing Limited

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78973-168-2 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-78973-167-5 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-78973-169-9 (Epub)

Dedication

To God, the completer of all things.

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

List of Abbreviations

ATM

Antecedent Conditions, Target Strategies, Measure Progress and Impact

APEC

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

BBC

British Broadcasting Corporation

BCM

Business Continuity Management

BRP

Business Resumption Plans

BSI

British Standards Institution

CCS

Civil Contingencies Secretariat

CCT

compulsory competitive tendering

CDC

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention

CFRA

Chief Fire and Rescue

CMI

Chartered Management Institute

CNDR

Corporate Network for Disaster Response

COOP

The Continuity of Operations

CPNI

Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure

DOH

Department of Health

ED

Emergency Departments

EFQM

European Foundation for Quality Management

EMS

emergency medical services

EPISTEL

Environment, Political, Informatic, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal

ERGOE

vacuation responsiveness by government organisations

FEMA

Federal Emergency Management Agency

FRS

Fire and Rescue Service

GWU

General Workers Union (Malta)

IBM

International Business Machines Corporation

ICU

Intensive Care Unit

MAG

Ministerial Advisory Group

MAM

Medical Association of Malta

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

NHS

National Health Service

NPF

National Performance Framework

NPM

New Public Management

PEST

Political, Economic, Social and Technological

PIM

Pakistan Institute of Management

PSI

Public Sector Intranet

PMPA

Public Management and Policy Association

PwC

PriceWaterhouseCoopers

RCA

Root Cause Analysis

SA

Situational Awareness

SOP

Standard Operating Procedures

SWOT

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats

TQM

Total Quality Management

UHM

Unjoni Haddiema Maghqudin The Voice of the Workers, Malta

UNHCR

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

UN

United Nations

Foreword

The public sector has grown towards large departments and staff volumes that are too big to adapt to sudden change because of bureaucratic paths and stagnant circles created through the years. Staff are swamped by operational work with little or no time for pre-planning, except at strategic or senior leadership, which, is also caught up by overloaded meetings and unrealistic timeframes. The key to this lies with staff in organisational levels facing day-to-day change, offering insight which was never tapped into, collected or analysed.

This book focusses on how this data (if collated) can be utilised by strategic teams for feed back into processes that require change for internal efficiency. This can be done through an assessment of what the customer needs when receiving a government service, particularly when resources are compromised. During a crisis, response is one which translates itself into ‘all hands-on deck’ as staff teams are required to meet expectations of the system which is a point of overload. Interestingly enough, departments have protocols in place for when crisis happens but nothing to trigger when overload happens and staff or resources are at a crisis.

Thus, the gap to be addressed is one which exists between providing the needs of the service sector internally and accommodating the external needs of changing markets. This eight-point model seems to fit in well with what currently exists on the market as it is built upon a methodology which allows the end user to carry out a situational analysis in bridging towards meeting such customer expectations.

The solution requires one to use an eight-step process by first phase taking on an internal view of current departmental capacities, followed by a second phase which aims to push change through by overcoming regulatory hurdles. Finally, in completing the proposed solution, a third phase offers a standardised system for ‘doing things’ which is prepared and concluded upon for future use.

The most attractive benefit of using this model is in providing a solution to resource scarcity. Mismanaged resources keep the public sector inefficient and underutilised, especially when scarcity hits because of a shock to the system which disturbs the natural equilibrium of the organisation. When the quality of resources is jeopardised because of short-time frames or unrealistic ministerial demands, the impact on organisations, citizens and the environment is taxing.

This model introduces ‘contingency planning’ as part of the overall strategic plan. Partners who would benefit from this work include hospital management, general administrative services, public management, university or social welfare administrations and emergency responders.

The model generates quality change with the aim to better employee relations, improve transparency for successful outcomes, challenge fake data, improve vertical management relations, build better communicating teams, identify gaps and highlight the current professionalisation strategy as required.

Rebecca Dalli Gonzi

University of Malta, Malta

Underlying the New Public Management (NPM) is a strong ideological faith in the primacy of private sector principles and values and a belief that public service provision is improved by the introduction of the NPM doctrinal elements identified by Hood (1991) which have served to transform both the organisational structures of public organisations, decision-making and the processes by which public services are delivered. Over the past 30 years the doctrinal elements have varied from country to country and at present there is a greater emphasis on those elements of NPM which focus on economy and efficiency in the delivery of public service as most developed economies are concerned with the impact of public expenditure on the economy and the borrowing requirements of governments.

Underpinning these different recommendations is the important requirement that public service agencies must pay much greater attention to the way in which they use the financial and human resources at their disposal. The emphasis in the new public management is very much on cutting the cost of public service provision, while, at the same time increasing its quality (i.e. doing more with less).

This view of the NPM was to prove highly influential, not just in the UK, but in a wide range of nationals across the globe whose governments were embarking on public service reforms. In all cases, the principal driver of reform under the NPM has been the overriding concern with the performance of those organisations responsible for the delivery of public services.

Public management embodies the important belief that public sector organisations should increasingly be subjected to rigorous measures of performance. This means that these organisations must pay closer attention to what it is they are doing (i.e. objectives). Subjecting public managers to performance evaluation introduces disciplinary mechanisms which compel public sector bodies to focus on their specific responsibilities and carry out those tasks efficiently and effectively. As the public management school of thought argues, performance measurement also enables public sector bodies to be held directly to account for their activities. Under the regime of performance measurement, public sector organisations should be committed to an ethos of continuous improvement in levels and standards of service delivery.

Allied to performance measurement is the need for a focus on results rather than processes. For too long, public sector organisations failed to concern themselves with their outputs (i.e. the quality of services). Rather, the focus was on inputs, given that political debates on public sector matters usually revolved around the question of resources. Under the new public management, the focus is shifted to that of results. The important question for the proactive public manager is what he or she actually achieves with the resources available. As such, the most important concern of the public manager is with results. The desire of governments is to deliver better public service at less cost to the public purse (more for less).

There is more emphasis in public management today on the need for economy and efficiency gains than there ever has been. There was a firm belief in the UK that quality standards could be maintained and efficiency gains made (same for less). However, contemporary practice is more about doing less with less and many services as a consequence are experiencing funding cuts and rationalisation of public service provision. Public managers have to make decisions about doing things differently and in the future doing things in such a different way, may require fundamental changes in organisational structures and decision-making processes.

Dr. Bobby Mackie, BA, MSc, DPA, PhD, FCIPD

Senior Lecturer in Public Service Management and Doctorate Supervisor

University of the West of Scotland, UK

The unique privilege of leading Malta as Prime Minister for nine years is something that cannot be described in a few words. This is more so when placed within the context of major political changes that included Malta’s first steps as an EU member state and the challenge to adapt its laws, its policies and its overall culture in line with the European ones; Malta’s decision to join the Eurozone by not later than the 1 January 2008; Malta’s ability to handle the myriad challenges faced during the international economic and financial crisis and of course Malta’s reaction to the events during the Arab Spring and in particular during the Libya Crisis.

In all these instances, major policy decisions had to be taken all of which impacted the Maltese population, its economic models, its business community and its social safety net in a manner that was unprecedented and at a pace that was breathtaking.

The public sector was a common denominator – by way of key stakeholder – in all these instances. Nothing could be done without the full and total participation of the public sector when preparing for the changes, analysing the impact, handling the fallout, dealing with the unexpected and maximising on opportunities.

This is precisely why a proper analysis of Malta’s public sector and its management during these roller coaster years is of major relevance for those among us who wish Malta well for the future. In essence, an exercise that analysis the mistakes that were made, the pitfalls that could have been avoided, but also the successes achieved against all odds even when compared to other countries of much stronger, wider and deeper resources than this island – the smallest member state of the EU 28.

I trust that Rebecca’s monograph achieves this aim and proves to be a useful tool for all concerned.

Dr Lawrence Gonzi

Former Prime Minister of Malta (2004–2008; 2008–2013)