Evaluation of Private-Sector Asset Management Practices

Author(s):  
Shaumik Pal ◽  
P. S. Sriraj ◽  
Libby Ogard ◽  
Sue McNeil

The focus of the transportation industry, in both the public and private sectors, has slowly been changing from construction and expansion to that of preservation, as a result of various factors. Private-sector industries have made strides in asset management that could be beneficial to the public sector. Private-sector asset management principles and concepts that would form an integral part of any asset management program employed by state transportation agencies and that are transferable to the public sector, especially state departments of transportation, are identified. An overview of best practices in asset management in the private sector is presented. Thus, lessons learned are identified based on a synthesis of case studies. The analysis has been done by carefully examining asset management practices of seven near-transportation private-sector companies. Included are case studies from two railroads, two airlines, two energy companies, and one railcar leasing company. The case studies highlight the need for communication, tools, and education as well as an information technology foundation from which asset management can be practiced effectively.

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1405-1422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Rafael Minetto Maceta ◽  
Fernando Tobal Berssaneti

Purpose Project portfolio management (PPM) is a managerial technique used to seek the strategic goals of organizations improving their performance. The public sector has some characteristics that differ from the private sector, since their management approaches are different. The purpose of this paper is to compare the PPM’s practices and techniques in the public and private sectors. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses the study case methodology through eight case studies that were undertaken in Brazil: four in public and four in private sectors. The field research used semi-structured interviews that were analyzed using the NVivo software. Findings In both sectors, strategic alignment is the goal of PPM, and the same tools are employed. The public sector displays better process documentation and lower risk awareness than the private sector, showing an improvement point for the public sector. The selection and prioritization criteria differ from each sector, showing the difference in the strategic goals of public and private sectors. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this paper are related to the number of organizations studied; however, the case studies represent organizations from different sectors and industries maximizing heterogeneity, but focusing on Brazil. Social implications The prioritization and effective allocation of projects spending in the Brazilian public sector could be improved with the comparison of their current practices with the ones used in private sector, increasing its transparency and cost allocation. Originality/value This study broadens the understanding of PPM in the public sector, which is a gap in the academic literature, comparing its practices with those used in the private sector.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moumita Acharyya ◽  
Tanuja Agarwala

PurposeThe paper aims to understand the different motivations / reasons for engaging in CSR initiatives by the organizations. In addition, the study also examines the relationship between CSR motivations and corporate social performance (CSP).Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from two power sector organizations: one was a private sector firm and the other was a public sector firm. A comparative analysis of the variables with respect to private and public sector organizations was conducted. A questionnaire survey was administered among 370 employees working in the power sector, with 199 executives from public sector and 171 from private sector.Findings“Philanthropic” motivation emerged as the most dominant CSR motivation among both the public and private sector firms. The private sector firm was found to be significantly higher with respect to “philanthropic”, “enlightened self-interest” and “normative” CSR motivations when compared with the public sector firms. Findings suggest that public and private sector firms differed significantly on four CSR motivations, namely, “philanthropic”, “enlightened self-interest”, “normative” and “coercive”. The CSP score was significantly different among the two power sector firms of public and private sectors. The private sector firm had a higher CSP level than the public sector undertaking.Research limitations/implicationsFurther studies in the domain need to address differences in CSR motivations and CSP across other sectors to understand the role of industry characteristics in influencing social development targets of organizations. Research also needs to focus on demonstrating the relationship between CSP and financial performance of the firms. Further, the HR outcomes of CSR initiatives and measurement of CSP indicators, such as attracting and retaining talent, employee commitment and organizational climate factors, need to be assessed.Originality/valueThe social issues are now directly linked with the business model to ensure consistency and community development. The results reveal a need for “enlightened self-interest” which is the second dominant CSR motivation among the organizations. The study makes a novel contribution by determining that competitive and coercive motivations are not functional as part of organizational CSR strategy. CSR can never be forced as the very idea is to do social good. Eventually, the CSR approach demands a commitment from within. The organizations need to emphasize more voluntary engagement of employees and go beyond statutory requirements for realizing the true CSR benefits.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  

Purpose The authors assumed PSM would be higher in the public sector, but they set up a trial to find out if this was the case. Design/methodology/approach To test their theories, the authors conducted two independent surveys. The first consisted of 220 usable responses from public sector employees in Changsha, China. The second survey involved 260 usable responses from private sector employees taking an MBA course at a university in the Changsha district. A questionnaire was used to assess attitudes. Findings The results found no significant difference between the impact of public sector motivation (PSM) on employee performance across the public and private sectors. The data showed that PSM had a significant impact on self-reported employee performance, but the relationship did not differ much between sectors. Meanwhile, it was in the private sector that PSM had the greatest impact on intention to leave. Originality/value The authors said the research project was one of the first to test if the concept of PSM operated in the same way across sectors. It also contributed, they said, to the ongoing debate about PSM in China.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1287-1291
Author(s):  
John Promise Chiparo ◽  
◽  
Marian Tukuta ◽  
Michael Musanzikwa ◽  
◽  
...  

The purpose of this paper reviews the influence of Vehicle Fleet Management Practices, (VFMP). A systematic review of papers was performed analysing 56 articles from year 2014 to 2021. Vehicle Fleet Management Practices research has garnered interest from both academics and industrialists in both the public and private sector. This is demonstrated by the increasing number of academic papers published in recent years. The article discusses interesting findings, suggests and lays down a number of directions for future research. In addition, limitations of this work are presented. The conclusion of this study provides sufficient evidence on the need for further research addressing the interaction between vehicle fleet management practices and service delivery in public entities.


Author(s):  
Nicholas Virzi ◽  
Juan Portillo ◽  
Mariela Aguirre

The chapter will be a case study from an Ordoliberal perspective of the conception, implementation and policy output of the newly created Private Council of Competitiveness (PCC) in Guatemala, a country wracked by mistrust of the public sector by the private sector. The PCC was founded as a private sector initiative, in conjunction with academia, to work with the government to spawn new efforts aimed at augmenting Guatemala's national competitiveness, by fomenting innovation, entrepreneurship and closer ties between academia and the public and private sectors. The chapter utilizes first hand interviews with the members of the PCC and key public sector players, academics, and other top representatives from the private sector to show how working together built the trust necessary to make the PCC a successful working body with the potential to produce important initiatives in matters of competitiveness, innovation and entrepreneurship.


Author(s):  
Amaya Erro-Garcés ◽  
Maria Elena Aramendía-Muneta

Three public European case studies are presented as an evaluation of a preliminary test of an adapted questionnaire to measure open social innovation. Findings include the differences and similarities between public and private performance. Public practitioners integrate these experiences later than private. The reasons for engaging in open innovation are different: whereas improving citizens´ relationships is the major public reason, creating partnerships is the private driver. Finally, technologies help open innovation in both public and private cases. Furthermore, it may be concluded that there is a lack of open social innovation professionals that leads to a barrier in the development of these policies in the public sector.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean D. Darling ◽  
J. Barton Cunningham

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify unique values and competencies linked to private and public sector environments. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on critical incident interviews with a sample of senior leaders who had experience in both the public and private sectors. Findings The findings illustrate distinct public and private sector relevant competencies that reflect the unique values of their organizations and the character of the organization’s environments. This paper suggests a range of distinct public sector competencies including: managing competing interests, managing the political environment, communicating in a political environment, interpersonal motivational skills, adding value for clients, and impact assessment in decision-making. These were very different than those identified as critical for the private sector environment: business acumen, visionary leadership, marketing communication, market acumen, interpersonal communication, client service, and timely and opportunistic decision-making. Private sector competencies reflect private sector environments where goals need to be specifically defined and implemented in a timely manner related to making a profit and surviving in a competitive environment. Public sector competencies are driven by environments exhibiting more complex and unresolvable problems and the need to respond to conflicting publics and serving the public good while surviving in a political environment. Originality/value A key message of this study is that competency frameworks need to be connected to the organization’s unique environments and the values that managers are seeking to achieve. This is particularly important for public organizations that have more complex and changing environments.


Author(s):  
Andreas Wörgötter ◽  
Sihle Nomdebevana

AbstractThis paper investigates the public-private remuneration patterns in South Africa with time-series methods for the first time since the introduction of an inflation-targeting framework in 2000. Co-integration tests and analysis confirm that there is a stable, long-run relationship between nominal and real remuneration in the public and private sector. The adjustment to the deviations from this long-run relationship is strong and significant for public-sector remuneration, while private-sector wages neither respond to deviations from the long-run relationship nor lagged changes in public-sector remuneration. The causal direction from private- to public-sector remuneration does not change if real earnings are calculated with the gross domestic product deflator. This is confirmed by simple Granger-causality tests.


1988 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard B Freeman

The institutional structure of the American labor market changed remarkably from the 1950s and 1960s to the 1980s. What explains the decline in union representation of private wage and salary workers? Why have unions expanded in the public sector while contracting in the private sector? Is the economy-wide fall in density a phenomenon common to developed capitalist economies, or is it unique to the United States? To what extent should economists alter their views about what unions do to the economy in light of the fact that they increasingly do it in the public sector? To answer these questions I examine a wide variety of evidence on the union status of public and private workers. I contrast trends in unionization in the United States with trends in other developed countries, particularly Canada, and use these contrasts and the divergence between unions in the public and private sectors of the United States to evaluate proposed explanations.


1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen LaVan ◽  
Marsha Katz ◽  
Maura S. Malloy ◽  
Peter Stonebraker

Various approaches have been developed as methods to reduce comparable worth differences. These include judicial (increased enforcement, lawsuits, and legislation), interest group activities (collective bargaining, non-unionized negotiations, and public awareness activities), and actions of public administrators (job evaluations and voluntary pay adjustments). However, the number of comparable worth lawsuits against public sector organizations continues to increase. This study compares public sector litigation to that which occurred in the private sector. Findings include that private sector organizations have moved towards the more quantitative job evaluation methods and away from the job classification method, which public sector employers in the litigated cases used. While pay was of focal interest in the public sector, judgments tended not to support the awarding of monetary compensation in the public sector. The issue of lack of training opportunities was more prevalent as a basis for litigations in the private sector, but litigation with respect to promotion was found only in public sector cases.


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