The Link Between Open Performance Review and Appraisal System and Other Human Resource Systems in Tanzania: Insights from IDC

This study intended to evaluate whether Open Performance Review and Appraisal System (OPRAS) as a tool of managing performance in Tanzania Public Service as currently used has been linked with other Human Resource systems. The study employed a cross-sectional research design. A sample of 80 respondents was used. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. The data collected were analyzed and processed through the use of SPSS computer software and descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and tables were presented. The findings suggest that majority of participants reported that OPRAS as currently used in Iramba District Council (IDC) has not been linked with other human resource systems specifically training, career development, rewards and promotion. Thus, within the limitations of the study, it is concluded that Performance management system is not linked with other HR systems in Tanzanian Public Service. Thus hindering the intended intention of introducing OPRAS in Tanzanian Public service which are adoption and nurturing of the performance management culture in public service. Keywords: Human Resource Management, Performance Management, Public Service and OPRAS DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/11-8-13 Publication date:March 31st 201

GAMBARAN KADAR HEMOGLOBIN SEBAGAI SALAH SATU UJI SKRINING RISIKO KERACUNAN PESTISIDA PADA PETANI BAWANG MERAH

Pestisida merupakan bahan kimia, yang penggunaanya dapat mengakibatkan keracunan pestisida. Petani bawang merah memiliki risiko keracunan pestisida, keracunan pestisida dapat menurunkan kadar hemoglobin dalam darah. Penelitian ini bertujuan mengetahui gambaran kadar hemoglobin sebagai salah satu uji skrining risiko keracunan pestisida pada petani bawang merah. Jenis penelitian bersifat deskriptif dengan pendekatan cross sectional. Jumlah sampel sebanyak 30 subjek, dengan hasil penelitian kadar hemoglobin normal umur 35-42 tahun sebanyak 14 (88%) subjek dan mengalami penurunan hemoglobin sebanyak 2 (12%) subjek. Umur 43-50 tahun memiliki hemoglobin normal sebanyak 5 (36%) subjek dan mengalami penurunan hemoglobin sebanyak 9 (64%) subjek. Berdasarkan penggunaan APD, petani bawang yang merah tidak menggunakan APD sama sekali sebanyak 4 (13%) subjek dan semuanya mengalami penurunan hemoglobin. Petani menggunakan APD tetapi tidak lengkap sebanyak 25 (83%) subjek dengan hasil hemoglobin normal sebanyak 18 (72%) subjek dan mengalami penurunan hemoglobin sebanyak 7 (28%) subjek. Petani mengunakan APD lengkap hanya 1 (4%) subjek dan memiliki hasil hemoglobin yang normal yaitu 16,3 g/dL. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan petani bawang merah di Kelurahan Lakawan Kecamatan Anggeraja Kabupaten Enrekang, lebih banyak memiliki kadar hemoglobin normal yaitu sebanyak 19 (63%) subjek dan mengalami penurunan kadar hemoglobin sebanyak 11 (37%) subjek

Strategic Human Resource Management in Tanzania Public Service College: Reality or Rhetoric?

Management literatures now argue for the organizations to take more strategic approach to the management of people who are the most valued asset of the organization. However the discussion of Strategic Human Resource Management mainly took place on the business environment very little research has been done in the public sector especially in developing countries like Tanzania. This study therefore seeks to explore the extent to which strategic Human Resource Management exist in reality within Tanzania Public Service College (TPSC) by using the Ulrich’s HRM four-role Model Survey. A sample of 33 respondents was randomly selected from TPSC. In addition the study examines the potential barriers that may prevent HR personnel from acting strategically. The findings of the study show that HR personnel at TPSC were weak and unable to act strategically. Furthermore, the study revealed that lack of knowledge and strategic capacity among HR personnel, lack of involvement of HR Personnel from setting corporate goals and policies; lack of clear organizational structure and lack of strategic integration between HR strategy and business strategy hinders HR personnel at TPSC to act as strategic partners. Implications and recommendations are offered and future research agenda is proposed.   Keywords: Human Resource, Human Resource Management & Strategic Human Resource Managemen

Implementation of Open Performance Review and Appraisal System in Tanzania Local Government Authorities: Some Observations and Remarks

Open Performance Review and Appraisal System (OPRAS) was introduced by the Tanzania government in 2004 as a new innovation for managing individual’s performance in the Tanzania public service. OPRAS is viewed as an idiosyncratic tool in the history of Human Resource Management (HRM) in the Tanzanian public service among other tools for managing performance in the public service. OPRAS as proposed by Performance Improvement Model (PIM) is important to the adoption and nurturing of the performance management culture in the public service. Nevertheless, sketchy evidence reveals that despite  the Government  efforts  to  introduce  OPRAS,  it  has  not  been  in  a  position  to develop  a real and effective Open Performance  Review and  Appraisal System. With this in mind, this study intended to evaluate whether OPRAS as currently used in IDC (a focus of this study) is adequate to improve employees’ performance. The study employed a cross-sectional research design. A sample of 80 respondents was used. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. The data collected were analyzed and processed by use of SPSS computer software and descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and tables were presented. The findings suggest that majority of participants reported that OPRAS as currently used in IDC is not adequate at improving employees’ performance. Keywords: Local Government Authorities, Performance Management, OPRAS DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/53-05 Publication date:March 31st 201

Uplifting Motivation of Tanzanian Public Service Personnel for Improved Service Delivery: The Reflection of Public Service Motivation Theory

The widespread of public administration scholarship calls for the utilization of intrinsic motivational drivers to achieve high motivation among the public service personnel. However, this call has not been well received by many public bureaucracies especially in developing Africa. This study aimed at contributing to our understanding of the potency of intrinsic motivational drivers in motivating public Personnel in Tanzania from the lens of Public Service Motivation (PSM) theory. A case study design was employed and Ikungi District Council (IDC) was selected as a focal point of the study. Data were collected through interviews and 22 employees participated in the study. The findings indicate that public personnel are highly motivated by intrinsic factors as hypothesized by Public Service Motivation Theory. In their attempt of achieving high motivation among their employees the study recommend that, public institutions should take a critical respect to intrinsic factors of motivation rather than merely concentrating much on extrinsic motivation factors. Furthermore recruitment and selection processes in the public service should contemplate motivation dimensions hypothesized by public service motivation theory. Keywords: Public Service, Public Service Motivation, Intrinsic Motivation, Public Personnel DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/75-04 Publication date:August 31st 202

Pembuatan Sistem Informasi Kependudukan

Sistem informasi kependudukan berbasis komputer telah menjadi alternatif yang dapa.t membantu pemerintah kota dalam menyimpan, mengolah dan mengakses data. Dalam bidang pemerintahan, pa.da umumnya pengarsipan data-data mengenai informasi suatu pemerintah kota biasanya masih dilakukan dengan cara manual. Dengan cara seperti itu, jika pemerintah kota ingin mencari dan menganalisa data mengenai suatu hal, maka diperlukan waktu yang tidak sedikit. Pemerintah kota memerlukan suatu cara yang lebih praktis dalam menytmpan, mengolah dan mengakses berbagai macam informasi yang menyangkut keadaan kotanya. Dengan pembuatan sistem informasi kependudukan berbasis komputer ini, metode penyimpanan, pengolahan dan pengaksesan data lebih rapidan terstruktur. Dari administrasi kependudukan yang lebih baik itu, maka pemerintah kota bisa mengetahui statistik kependudukan hanya dengan memasukkan kategori data yang ingin ditampilkan. Selain itu mereka juga bisa meramalkan kecenderungan datanya di masa depan berdasarkan statistik kependudukan tersebut

The influence of Open Performance Review and Appraisal System on employees’ performance: The Experience from Iramba District Council

Open Performance Review and Appraisal System (OPRAS) were introduced by the Tanzania government in 2004 as a new innovation for managing individual performance in the Tanzania public service. OPRAS is viewed as an idiosyncratic tool in the history of Human Resource Management in the Tanzanian public service. OPRAS as proposed by Performance Improvement Model is important to the adoption and nurturing of the performance management culture in the public service. Nevertheless, sketchy evidence reveals that despite the Government efforts to introduce OPRAS, it has not been in a position to develop a real and effective Open Performance Review and Appraisal System. With this in mind, this study intended to evaluate whether OPRAS as currently used in IDC is adequate to improve employees’ performance. The study employed a cross-sectional research design. A sample of 80 respondents was used. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. The data collected were analyzed and processed by use of SPSS computer software and descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and tables were presented. The findings suggest that majority of participants reported that OPRAS as currently used in IDC is not adequate at improving employees’ performance. Also, majority of respondents agreed that OPRAS as currently practiced in IDC is not linked with other human resource systems specifically training, career development, rewards and promotion. Moreover, it was found that, the implementation of OPRAS in IDC is affected by a number of challenges which include: budget deficits, absence of regular feedback from supervisors, little dissemination of the knowledge of the tool among employees and supervisors and little emphasis from the top management of IDC

Pelaksanaan Tertib Administrasi Kependudukan pada Dinas Kependudukan dan Pencatatan Sipil Kabupaten Rokan Hulu (Studi Kasus Akta Kelahiran)

Implementation orderly population administration Department of Population and Civil Registration Rokan Hulu (Birth Certificate Case Study). Administration implemented by the government apparatus in settlement arise of birth certificate is not in accordance with a predetermined time. Employees do not serve applicants who apply and do not check the exact requirements and thorough file and not socialized to people about making birth certificates.This study uses the theory Hadari Mawawi on the theory there are 3 variables that include speed, accuracy and transparency / open. Furthermore, the factors that affect the implementation orderly population administration in the department of population and civil registration Rokan Hulu regency (Birth Certificate Case Studies), namely leadership, communication, and human resources. This study used a qualitative approach.The results of this study according to the theoretical concept of speed, accuracy and transparency is not very good for the field of population administration. It can be seen from three variables: the speed is not in accordance with a predetermined time, the accuracy of which the results showed serve the public transparent from the study found that lack of explanation and lack of socialization. While there are three factors that the problem is communication, so the lack of administrative staff to provide information to the public so they do not know the procedure for the birth certificate

Five Years Study of Recurrent Febrile Seizure Risk Factors

Background: Nearly one-third of febrile seizure patients suffered recurrent febrile seizures.  Several risk factors contribute to this recurrence, namely young age, family history of febrile seizures, low body temperature and rapid duration of fever before onset of seizures. Recently, the types of seizure and gender have been stated increasing risk of this recurrence. The objectives of this study was to identify the  risk factors of recurrent febrile seizures.Methods: A descriptive study was carried out by retrieving data from inpatient medical records during the period of January 1st, 2009 to December 31st, 2013 at one of the top referral hospitals in West Java, Indonesia.  Variables of this study were the first febrile seizure age, gender, type of febrile seizure, a family history of febrile seizure, a family history of epilepsy, body temperature when febrile seizure occurred and duration of fever before onset of seizure. The collected data were tabulated by frequency and percentage and displayed in tables.Results: Out of 154 patients with febrile seizures 58 suffered recurrent febrile seizures. Forty three percent had a first febrile seizure at the age of under12 months, 72% were male, 46% had fever less than 24 hours before the onset of seizure, 65% had complex febrile seizures, 28% had positive family history of febrile seizures, and 5% had positive family history of epilepsy. Conclusions: The risk factors for recurrent febrile seizures are young age, male, rapid duration of fever before onset of seizure and complex febrile seizure. DOI: 10.15850/amj.v4n2.108

Effects of tualang honey on kainic acid-induced morphological changes and glutamate transporter (EAAT2) expression in the cerebellum and striatum of rats

Excitotoxicity is a type of neuronal cell death induced by excessive glutamate or other excitatory amino acids and has been implicated in various neurodegenerative diseases. The excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2) is a major glutamate transporter responsible for nearly 90% of glutamate reuptake in the brain. Loss of EAAT2 causes accumulation of extracellular glutamate and excitotoxicity. Tualang honey (TH) is a Malaysian honey that has shown many beneficial effects in various disease models. The main objectives of this study were to evaluate the potential protective effects of Tualang honey on kainic acid-induced morphological changes and EAAT2 expression in the cerebellum and striatum of rats. A total of 48 male adult Sprague Dawley rats with the weight of 260-320g were randomly divided into four major groups (n = 12 per group) depending on the treatment received: control, KA, TH+KA and TPM+KA. Each major group was further divided into two subgroups depending on sacrifice time (24 hours or 5 days following KA administration) (n = 6 per subgroup). The rats were pre-treated orally with distilled water (groups control and KA), Tualang honey (1.0 g/kg; group TH+KA) or topiramate (40 mg/kg; group TPM+KA) for five times at 12 hours interval. The rats were then injected subcutaneously with KA (15 mg/kg; groups KA, TH+KA and TPM+KA) or normal saline (control) 30 minutes after the last oral treatment. An open field test was performed to assess the locomotor activity of rats before the rats were sacrificed at 24 hours or 5 days after the KA administration. The cerebellum and striatum were collected for histological and EAAT2 assessment. Significant reduction in the number of viable neurons and EAAT2 expression were observed in both cerebellum and striatum 24 hours following KA administration. KA-induced significant increase in locomotor activity, along with significantly reduced viable neurons in the cerebellum and EAAT2 expression in the striatum were observed 5 days following KA administration. Pre-treatment with TH increased the number of viable neurons and EAAT2 expression in the cerebellum and striatum. The effects were comparable to TPM, the control drug used in this study. These findings suggest that pre-treatment with TH showed some protective effects against KA-induced excitotoxicity via modulation of EAAT2 expression