How Autonomous are Public Corporations in Hong Kong? The Case of the Airport Authority

This article examines the degree of autonomy of Hong Kong’s Airport Authority (AA). Traditionally, airport management in Hong Kong was the responsibility of the government’s Civil Aviation Department. The AA was established in 1995 to manage the new international airport at Chek Lap Kok which opened in 1998. It was expected to run as a commercial enterprise but, because of its strategic importance, there was concern that it should not become an independent empire detached from government control. As a hybrid type of organization, the AA has moved steadily towards full commercialization. The government has also put its privatization on the agenda. Its transformation may have some implications for the redefinition of the future autonomy boundaries of public corporations in Hong Kong.

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The governance of social enterprises: Mission drift and accountability challenges in hybrid organizations

We examine the challenges of governance facing organizations that pursue a social mission through the use of market mechanisms. These hybrid organizations, often referred to as social enterprises, combine aspects of both charity and business at their core. In this paper we distinguish between two ideal types of such hybrids, differentiated and integrated, and we conceptualize two key challenges of governance they face: accountability for dual performance objectives and accountability to multiple principal stakeholders. We revisit the potential and limitations of recently introduced legal forms to address these challenges. We then theorize about the importance of organizational governance and the role of governing boards in particular, in prioritizing and aligning potentially conflicting objectives and interests in order to avoid mission drift and to maintain organizational hybridity in social enterprises. Finally, we discuss future research directions and the implications of this work for rethinking traditional categories of organizations, namely business and charity.     

Examining implementation and preliminary performance indicators of veterans treatment courts: The Kentucky experience

Veterans’ Treatment Courts (VTCs) are posited as a solution to offer rehabilitation for veterans involved in the criminal justice system. Despite the pervasive implementation of VTCs, there is little research focused specifically on VTC implementation and outcomes, which are based on other problem-solving court models such as drug court. The current study presents qualitative process evaluation data from key stakeholders (n = 21) and veteran participants (n = 4) to show accomplishments, challenges, and lessons learned during first-year implementation at two VTC sites. Quantitative performance data is also presented on veteran participants (n = 19) served during the first year to show: types of services, monitoring, judicial interaction, sanctions/therapeutic responses, and rewards, as well as preliminary data on recidivism. Qualitative data, from both key stakeholders and veteran participants, suggests that offering rehabilitation via various program components, services/referrals, and accountability are critical to the success of the VTC. Data also provides valuable lessons learned for VTC implementation including communication, collaboration, information/protocols, and resources. Performance data shows that a variety of services are utilized and that frequent judicial interaction, drug testing, and sanctions are cornerstones of the VTC. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.     

Accountability in action?: the case of a database purchasing decision 1

The increasing prevalence of audit in university settings has raised concerns about the potentially adverse effects of invasive measures of performance upon the conduct of research and generation of knowledge. What sustains the current commitment to audit? It is argued that in order to address this question we need to understand how and to what extent notions of accountability are played out in practice. This is illustrated through the analysis of materials from an ethnographic study of ‘good management practice’ in the deployment of technologies in university settings. The paper examines the ways in which ideas of accountability — involving considerations such as ‘value for money’— inform the practical processes of deciding about the purchase of a new database technology.     

香港特区政府的问责制改革

香港特区政府于2002年7月开始实行主要官员问责制改革。这项旨在适应社会和市民对政府的问责性要求和提高政府能力的改革措施的推行,构建了一种在非责任政府体制下的行政责任追究制度。“问责制”实施两年来,虽然也存在一些问题,但改革的路向是正确的。它在香港政治发展的历史上首次彰明,政府及其主要官员要以民意为依归,要向民意负责。     

Closed Circuits of Interaction?

Are CCTV images of such evidential strength that they speak for themselves? If not, then for whom do they speak? CCTV cameras form a growing presence in Britain's high streets. There are estimated to be 2.5 million cameras in operation in Britain, there is an increase in legislation relating to cameras and there is increasing concern amongst civil liberties groups about cameras' effects. Claims are frequently made such as 'if you are doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about' and 'CCTV evidence is clear to see.' These claims depend upon acceptance of the proposal that CCTV images are simply left to speak for themselves and that CCTV staff do little interpretative work. However, to investigate these claims, we need to ask: How do CCTV systems actually operate in practice. How are identities for CCTV images made 'clear', accounted for and mobilized? What work is done to promote the notion that we have nothing to worry about with CCTV? How do issues such as 'surveillance', 'privacy' and 'public' become implicated within these identity production processes? This article seeks to tackle these questions through the interrogation of a single story involving a high-street CCTV system, local police, local residents, a national television company and civil liberties group. This analysis of interactivity (based on a broadly ethno-methodological remit) augments current sociological accounts of CCTV. Instead of accepting panoptic metaphors as a means of understanding CCTV, the article will open up the closed circuit of CCTV through an analysis of the pantopticon in practice.     

Interdisciplinary bar for the public interest: What CSR and NGO frameworks contribute to the public relations of British and European activists

This paper outlines the ways in which various literatures and exemplary organizations (Business for Social Responsibility, the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management, and the Global Compact) define, set principles, and provide frameworks for corporate social responsibility (CSR). It also explores British broadcasters’ accountability mechanisms and the extent to which U.K. broadcasting activist NGOs view them as adequate CSR. The activists studied were six British broadcasting-centered and Scottish cultural NGOs that lobby in the EU and at home. The data suggested that these activists’ public relations has pro-social, pro-democratic effects and that the CSR/NGO literatures and organizational frameworks provided may enable broadcasting activists and targets to more effectively pursue CSR.     

The office of scientific integrity investigations: The importance of data analysis

Certified Public Accountants serve as independent auditors of financial statements. They perform information‐integrity testing for the economy and society, adding creditability to financial statements prepared by organizations’ management. Investors, creditors, and others rely on these financial statements and the audit report to make business decisions. Auditing work involves gathering evidence (research) and forming an opinion (reporting results) about the “fairness”; of financial statements according to regulatory, legal, and professional rules. As researchers, auditors are subject to a complex network of mechanisms to promote accountability in their work. These mechanisms exist at environmental, professional, and audit‐firm levels. They combine to influence the judgments of individual auditors.