The role and use of accounting in the implementation of New Public Management ideas in Irish hospitals

This study examines the use of accounting information in the management of Irish hospitals. The Irish acute hospital sector is a significant consumer of public resources, absorbing almost half of the Department of Health & Children non-capital budget. This research was motivated by the absence of detailed studies on the use of accounting information in public sector management in Ireland. The need to provide a rich account of the complex relationship between organisational context and the functioning of accounting was identified. A qualitative research approach, using the case study method, was adopted. The New Public Management literature, together with the literatures on the professions and organisational trust, offered a conceptual perspective from which to examine accounting in the acute hospital sector.This research explores, analyses and explains the changes in accounting that have coincided with changes in management practices in four Irish hospitals, situated across two health board areas. It explores the prevalence of the New Public Management ideas and practices. It contends: that both contextual organisational factors and organisational trust influenced the adoption of the New Public Management ideas in these hospitals; that accounting control system development has lagged a rhetoric of demands for efficiency and effectiveness; that the accounting systems do not match the internal processes or structures of the organisations; that the need for information for management control has been overlooked; that accounting change has not followed increased calls for improved management of scarce resources; that each of the hospitals' budgetary systems have an outward appearance of rationality but fail to provide useful management information; that there is a secrecy and withholding of financial information from clinicians who are increasingly the focus for cost efficiencies; that each of the hospitals' accounting systems are tied to historical concerns for stewardship which permeated both the private and public sectors in the 1970's; and that whilst private sector accounting practices have developed to reflect new modes of managing, accounting practices in the two health boards and four hospitals have undergone little change

History and Logic Model NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Instrument Project Division (IPD) Schedule and Cost Study

No abstract availabl

NASA GSFC Opportunities for STEM Professionals Using the Vantage Point of Space

NASA has a variety of learning opportunities for STEM professionals. Three opportunities at GSFC are examined in this chapter: 1) standard summer research and development internship for undergraduates, 2) senior internship for undergraduate and graduate students and 3) a workshop series for informal learning center professionals. We describe these programs, examine their evolution with respect to most effective education practices and their assessment and evaluation, and identify the similarities and differences between them. The internship programs highlight authentic project-based research and development experiences with the senior internship providing a richer, deeper, and more demanding experience that has greater professional value. The workshops for informal learning center professionals on-the-other hand, focus on building knowledge of GSFC s science and engineering strengths among these professionals, and on building enduring partnerships between individuals (participants and GSFC scientist, engineers and educators) and between organizations (GSFC and the informal learning center). Finally, we examine the characteristics of these programs from a design and management perspective. Through this examination we identify a general structure that provides insight into more effective design and management of similar education programs

Accounting for austerity:The Troika in the Eurozone

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the Eurozone financial crisis by discussing the experiences of Greece, Ireland and Spain. It particularly examines the influence and actions of the Troika in the management of the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone. Design/methodology/approach - The primary source of information for this study has been the documents of the Greek, Irish and Spanish Governments (often only available in their native language) and the reports of EU bodies and the IMF, supplemented by media coverage, as deemed appropriate. This has been analysed on a comparative basis to contrast the experiences of these three countries. Findings - This study reveals how the Eurozone crisis has impacted on financially weak countries in this currency union. The fiscal conservatism of the Troika (the IMF, the EU and the European Central Bank) has had profound consequences for these economies, which have experienced dramatic cuts in public services. Research limitations/implications - This study has focused on the experiences of three countries in the Eurozone. There is a case for extending this analysis to other Eurozone countries. Practical implications - There are two approaches to recession - governments can stimulate demand by infrastructure spending or take the financial conservatism route of reducing public expenditure and public sector borrowing. However, the severity of the crisis undermines the first approach and there are uncertain outcomes with the second approach. This paper shows the effects of adopting financial conservatism as a strategy in this crisis. Social implications - The austerity programmes pursued by the governments in this study have led to unemployment, migration of skilled workers, collapse in property markets, failing banks and social unrest. Originality/value - This study takes an accounting perspective on the Eurozone crisis. This offers a distinctive interpretation of events. This study examines the merits of widely used theories in studies of public sector change namely legitimation and resource dependency theory intertwined with power and offers insights into how meaningful they are in explaining the dramatic influence of austerity programmes in the Eurozone

The Success Story of the Eurozone Crisis? Ireland's Austerity Measures

This paper examines the response of the Irish government to the Eurozone fiscal crisis. This paper discusses the external financial assistance programme sought and implemented, economic recovery to date, and the impacts of austerity in Ireland. As Ireland nears the end of the Programme of Support' from Europe the contention that Ireland is a success story is explored. The paper reveals the primacy of financial cutbacks in the Irish response and the limited efforts at public management reforms

Comparative Isotope Ecology of African Great Apes

The isotope ecology of great apes is a useful reference for palaeodietary reconstructions in fossil hominins. As extant apes live in C3 dominated habitats, variation in isotope signatures is assumed to be low compared to hominoids also exploiting C4-plant resources. However, isotopic differences between sites and between and within individuals were poorly understood due to the lack of vegetation baseline data. In this comparative study we included all species of free-ranging African great apes (Pan troglodytes, Pan paniscus, Gorilla gorilla gorilla and Gorilla beringeri beringei). We explore differences in isotope baselines across different habitats and how isotopic signatures in apes can be related to feeding niches (faunivory and folivory). Secondly, we illustrate how stable isotopic variation within African ape populations compares to other primates, including hominins from the fossil record, and discuss possible implications for dietary flexibility. Using 815 carbon and nitrogen isotope data from 155 sectioned hair samples and an additional collection of 189 fruit samples we compare six different great ape sites. We investigate the relationship between vegetation baselines and climatic variables, and subsequently correct great ape isotope data to a standardized plant baseline from the respective sites. We gained temporal isotopic profiles of individual animals by sectioning hair along its growth trajectory. Isotopic signatures of great apes differed between sites, mainly as vegetation isotope baselines were correlated with site-specific climatic conditions. We show that controlling for plant isotopic characteristics at a given site is essential for data interpretation. When controlling for plant baseline effects, we found distinct isotopic profiles for each great ape population. Based on evidence from habituated groups and sympatric great ape species these differences could be related to faunivory and folivory. Dietary flexibility in extant apes varies between species and populations, but temporal isotopic variation was overall lower than in species shifting from C3 to C4-resources, including fossil hominins and extant primates

Monoskop Exhibition Library

The Exhibition Library reimagines the medium of art exhibition as well as that of art catalogue. Catalogues carry exhibitions through time and space, figuring as tropes for imagining arrangements and the course of works and settings they describe. However, they rarely give us a clue about what really happened, since they are often made before the show opens. Rather than documenting it, they often stand on their own, almost as if another work on display, truly as an artistic medium on its own. For this work, artists, designers, curators, poets and collectives created thirty catalogues of imaginary exhibitions. Exploring both the potential and impossible in art, the resulting exhibition library also serves as a “library of exhibitions.

Understanding eGovernment implementation from an NPM strategic reform perspective

New Public Management (NPM) is a set of private sector management principles which have had a significant impact in the shaping of policy reform agendas in many governments. This article seeks to understand the influence of NPM in a public management reform context and explore the resulting practical and theoretical implications of NPM for e-government. In doing so, this article develops a benefits framework in order to analyse the extent to which NPM has contributed to the attainment of e-government goals. Two case studies are presented detailing the implementation of e-government initiatives in Ireland. Each case provides a differing perspective on the influence of the modernisation agenda in Ireland and the attainment of e-government benefits. Finally, the study provides insightful discussion on the impact of NPM reform initiatives on the success of e-government and the inherent organisational and social challenges.peer-reviewe