Public expenditure and public accountability

Within a parliamentary democracy, both the Executive and Legislature have key roles in ensuring public accountability for budgetary decisions. The internal budgetary processes of the United Kingdom Government have developed the PESC system of planning public expenditure over a rolling five year period at constant prices. At the same time, the effectiveness of parliamentary financial procedures, far removed from the decision processes, has further declined. The key weaknesses are identified as: (1) the almost complete divorce between parliamentary discussion of expenditure and that of taxation; (2) the manner in which the Government's survival might be imperilled by defeat even on minor items, which limits the activities of Government backbenchers; (3) the unequal knowledge and resources of Government and Parliament, accentuated by British traditions of official secrecy; and (4) the failure of Parliament to seize those opportunities which are available (e.g. debates on the annual Public Expenditure White Paper). Proposals have been made for reform of financial procedures and for a new system of select committees by the Expenditure and Procedure Committees. These are evaluated and given a cautious approval. The emphasis is on the aim of integrating parliamentary debate of the expenditure and revenue sides of the public budget. A single budgetary document is proposed. Multi-year tax forecasts, and the underlying medium term economic assessment, should be published. ‘Tax expenditures’ should be carefully costed and linked to the relevant expenditure programmes. These reforms would provide a more coherent and comprehensive framework for public debate of budgetary decisions.     

Strategic planning for public relations

Public relations is a key activity for most chairmen of public companies and nationalized industries. It is somewhat suprising therefore how few large companies consider developing an explicit public relations strategy as part of their overall business plan. The reason for this may be partly due to the relatively low regard which senior line managers have for public relations managers and partly because there is a lack of understanding of the nature and use of public relations as a tool of strategic management. The purpose of this article is to discuss why and how business planners should pay more attention to developing explicit public relations strategies for their organizations.     

Strategic issues for charities and philanthropies

This article explores the need for charities and philanthropic bodies to develop strategies which emphasize efficiency and service and the examples and evidence presented highlight some important issues for fundraisers. The most obvious implication is the need for charitable bodies to institute environmental scanning and strategic planning.     

Key strategic issues for public corporations

The public sector organisations play a dominant role in the economies of many countries and they are particularly important in developing economies. However, management in such organisations face special problems in corporate planning. In particular, they have as yet no clear-cut definition of their social and economic objectives, no accepted way of pricing so as to deal with ‘social overheads’ and no valid way of measuring performance in industries where low profitability is to be expected.     

Strategic issues for the Trustee Savings Banks

Since the mid-1970s, the TSB Group has changed from a group of 73 savings banks offering basic deposit services to one of the U.K.'s leading financial service groups. The object of this article is to outline the background to the U.K. savings bank movement, the TSB Group's strategy in the period 1976–1984 and current business issues. The article is divided into four sections: The Background to the U.K. Savings Bank Movement; TSB in Transition 1976–1984; The TSB Group Reconstruction; TSB in the 1980s and 1990s.     

Managing public policy issues

The role of the public sector has expanded significantly in the last 40 years. The ability to anticipate public policy changes has become a critical component of an organization's environmental scanning activities. Today, every segment of society is affected by the development of government policies and programmes. Organizations that correctly anticipate government actions can achieve significant benefits and minimize loss potentials. Given the size and role of government, a significant literature has emerged which attempts to analyse and assess likely public policy developments. The objective of this article is to develop a simplified format, based on this literature, which will allow organizations to develop a check list against which potential public policy actions may be assessed.     

Emerging themes in distance learning research and practice: some food for thought

With the rapid spread of distance learning as a medium for delivering instruction, the practice of distance learning has outpaced research. This paper describes major themes identified in a review of selected research papers published in the past five years. Themes include the following: definitions of distance learning and why it should be studied; identification of the major learning theories on which research is based; how collaboration can be achieved via distance learning; the role that learner characteristics play in the success of distance learning systems, and issues related to measuring the effectiveness of distance learning. The authors conclude that more research is needed to identify critical success factors for distance learning.     

Strategic management of public and non-market corporations

The author has developed a strategic framework for the management of ‘non-market corporations’ which he thinks better meets their peculiarities and specific needs by framing them in a relatively tight and rigorous socio-economic system relating to their internal logic. He believes that the proposed approach should provide the basis for a more constructive relationship between such corporations and the community at large and for better levels of performance     

Strategic implications of consumer food safety preferences

This study examines the tradeoffs consumers are willing to make relative to food safety attributes and other product attributes, such as quality and price, and develops implications for both the government and private sector firms. Conjoint analysis was used to elicit consumers’ preferences for fresh Red Delicious apples. The attributes studied include price, product quality as depicted by the level of defects, a variable representing the level of pesticide usage and the associated cancer risk, and a variable representing different levels of government inspection.The results indicated that most consumers have a strong preference for increased food safety. Government policy options that are explored include stricter production standards, improved regulatory monitoring, and government-defined labels. Private industry options that are examined include grower labels, retailer labels, and third party labels.     

TQM: Some issues for deliberation

In this note, the author puts forth some fundamental but generic issues arising from evolving theories and practices of TQM and suggests an agenda for furtherance of research.     

Private sector management of food safety: public regulation and the role of private controls

Private sector responses to the challenge of managing food safety are explored. This paper clarifies the objectives of this special issue, introducing the key issues in each of the following articles. The degree and manner of regulatory compliance, an important element of any strategic food safety management decision, are discussed. Separate of the response to regulations, the incentives of firms to implement advanced management systems are documented. The paper pays particular attention to firm efforts to minimize the potential for product recalls.     

Social trends: Urgent issues for management

This article describes some of the factors which changed the old order during the 1970s and led to today's conditions. To some extent the problem of unemployment is bound to be a permanent factor, but a healthy and efficient industry is vital for consumers and producers and industrial regeneration is of the greatest importance. Initiatives should be taken by government to organize action and discussion to deal with the problems on a regional basis.     

战略维度间的匹配关系与企业战略定位选择——基于战略群组理论视角

基于战略群组理论视角,分析了企业战略定位中不同战略维度的匹配问题。以境内外交易所上市的中国互联网企业为样本,选取移动互联业务比重和IT投入强度这两个关键战略维度,采用面板数据回归模型检验了研究假设。研究发现,当企业的移动互联业务比重和IT投入强度同时处于较高水平时,这一战略组合能为企业带来高绩效,是一种合理的战略位置;另一合理的战略位置则是较低的移动互联业务比重配以较低的IT投入强度,它也明显好于一者较高、另一者较低的战略组合。以上结果表明,战略定位的关键是实现不同战略维度决策之间的合理匹配,从战略组合的角度理解行业中的战略位置。研究结论不仅有助于理解移动互联市场的竞争战略与绩效,也验证了战略群组理论在战略定位研究中的重要意义,对战略组合的分析不可简化为对各战略维度的单独分析。     

Strategic planning for MIS

This article report on a study of the strategic decision to develop computerized management information systems (MIS) in 32 business organizations. THe findings suggest that this decision is a complex policy decision which involves protracted environmental negotiations, a high and escalating commitment of organizational resources, and extensive organizational preparation. Eleven organizational and environmental factors which influence the decision are identified through a literature review. The influence of these factors on the success of the decision is examined and recommendations are made for managing the decision-making process to insure improved decision outcomes.     

Strategic planning for distribution

The process of long range planning is relatively new to both the corporation and the distribution area. Until recent years the distribution function was considered a functional area which reacted to, rather than anticipated, corporate marketing effort. New technology in data processing and other areas has provided the support capability for developing both tactical and strategic planning. With this increased capability has come a new responsibility for distribution management to be future oriented—to anticipate the appropriate support role of physical distribution in supporting both short term and long term corporate goals.