A recent special edition of the Journal of Public Administration published a series of papers, which emanated from a consultancy project in the Northern Cape. The authors and editors believed that this publication would raise new issues in the local government sphere. ...

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2021-Jun-11 10:05:47

It is argued in this article that most of these papers are examples of how research of this nature should not be undertaken by scholars and that they represent an abdication of rather than a compromise of academic rigour. While scholars should be encouraged to write up their experiences of consultancy, this should be presented in a proper academic format rather than in consultant terminology. Indeed, some of the articles in top international Public Administration journals such as Internationa ...

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2021-Jun-11 10:01:26

The world is experiencing a major technological revolution and there is a new economy unleashing productivity and creating prosperity, but in a very uneven pattern. Knowledge and information are the keys to productivity and connectivity is the key to global competitiveness. Development in the information society is, above all, the development of capacity to process knowledge-based information efficiently and to apply it to production and to the enhancement of the quality of life. Under the in ...

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2021-Jun-11 09:56:33

Change in managing government entities takes place at breathtaking speed. Governments are currently moving away from public administration towards public management and towards a more businesslike approach in managing their affairs. Developments such as the new public management, the adoption of corporate governance in the public sector and the proclamation of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (PFMA) highlight the shift of a business outlook on management processes. During the past few ...

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2021-Jun-11 09:51:22

It could be argued that the quest for integration is at the core of sustainable development implementation issues. Although there is no simple answer to the integration challenge there is no doubt that organisational integration and coordination comprise a critical ingredient in any prescription package. The reasons why it is difficult to achieve integration is encapsulated by the notion of the 'limits to governance' which describe the organisational complexities and constraints facin ...

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2021-Jun-11 09:46:05

The provision of public utilities in developing countries is both essential and controversial. The responsibility of providing these utilities generally lies at the door of the government, although different options of provision are possible. The state, private sector or a combination of the two could provide it. The literature behind these different options will briefly be reviewed. From the literature it is evident that the choice of who should provide these utilities are not clear-cut. A c ...

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2021-Jun-11 09:41:05

In recent years reform in South Africa's public sector has compelled public managers to take the interests of various stakeholder groups into consideration when dealing with "strategic" issues. Given the degree of uncertainty that invariably accompanies public sector reform, real-time management is critical in dealing with issues as they arise. With regard to the processing of any strategic issue put forward as a priority, two normative paradigms are proposed as guidelines for d ...

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2021-Jun-11 09:36:04