Accountability for public sector it projects and the senior responsible owner: a theoretical background and research agenda

The history of public sector IT capital projects is littered with examples of projects that have been delivered late, or have exceeded their budgets, or have proved unsuitable for their intended use. Such projects include the computerised passport processing system, the National Insurance Recording System and the Libra project (Comptroller and Auditor General, 1999,2001, 2003). Other projects such as the Benefits Card Payment project (Comptroller and Auditor General, 2000) have been cancelled prior to completion after the expenditure of significant sums of public money, having made little progress over an extended period of time. These project failures and their consequent negative impacts on the delivery of public services have been widely reported in an almost continuous stream of newspaper headlines. This succession of revelations about the problems of public sector IT capital projects has been accompanied by high levels of political and public concerns that the benefits of the projects are lost and that large sums of public money are being wasted. In the first part of the paper we argue that there has been a historical focus on institutional accountability at the expense of research into individual accountability. We explore how and why the traditional doctrine of civil servant accountability has declined, with a resultant increased emphasis on both the accountability of civil servants and on managerial performance. We examine the effects of managerialism on the changing subject of civil servant accountability and on the emergence of the SRO role. We formalize our arguments by developing two propositions that illustrate the basic flaws in the SRO concept that arise from subjective and cognitive aspects of understanding. In the second part of the paper we explore the potential and limitations of five different approaches to the study of SRO accountability that might take into account its cognitive and subjective components. We conclude that one of the five - experientialism, or phenomenography - offers to overcome the limitations of the others. We present three further theoretical propositions using phenomenographic principles to illustrate the argument for the existence of a range of understandings of SRO accountability. We conclude that the subjective and cognitive limitations outlined open the way for further research into the field of accountability and the management of IT projects across the public sector.School of Managemen

A phenomenographic study of British civil servants' conceptions of accountability

In the United Kingdom civil servants have traditionally been accountable to their managerial and political superiors for probity and due process in the execution of their duties. Recent parliamentary and administrative reforms have changed this view. Individual civil servants are now additionally accountable to a range of external groups for the results of their work. This change is reflected in the role of Senior Responsible Owner (SRO), a civil servant accountable to a management team for the achievement of a predefined project outcome. This thesis challenges the idea that accountability is a unitary concept that can be defined by others and delegated in this way. The subjective nature of human understanding suggests theoretical grounds for the existence of different conceptions of accountability among different individuals for a given outcome. In this research I have applied the analytical approach known as phenomenography to the study of these different conceptions. The approach has been widely used, mainly in fields outside management, to establish the bounded number of qualitatively different ways in which a given aspect of reality is conceived by different individuals. Analysis of interviews with 30 SROs from 12 government departments revealed four different conceptions of accountability, each with multiple attributes. The conceptions can be arranged in a hierarchy of increasing richness and complexity. This research contributes to theoretical knowledge of the concept of accountability in the field of public administration in four ways. First, the study adds time to the known attributes of accountability. Second, the study confirms sanctions as an attribute of accountability. Third, the hierarchy of four conceptions of accountability throws new light on the subject that calls into question the unitary view. Fourth, the results refute the notion of a schismogenic paradox of accountability and provide empirical support for meanings of accountability that transcend this paradox.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Inter subject variability and reproducibility of diffusion tensor imaging within and between different imaging sessions.

The aim of these studies was to provide reference data on intersubject variability and reproducibility of diffusion tensor imaging. Healthy volunteers underwent imaging on two occasions using the same 3T Siemens Verio magnetic resonance scanner. At each session two identical diffusion tensor sequences were obtained along with standard structural imaging. Fractional anisotropy, apparent diffusion coefficient, axial and radial diffusivity maps were created and regions of interest applied in normalised space. The baseline data from all 26 volunteers were used to calculate the intersubject variability, while within session and between session reproducibility were calculated from all the available data. The reproducibility of measurements were used to calculate the overall and within session 95% prediction interval for zero change. The within and between session reproducibility data were lower than the values for intersubject variability, and were different across the brain. The regional mean (range) coefficient of variation figures for within session reproducibility were 2.1 (0.9-5.5%), 1.2 (0.4-3.9%), 1.2 (0.4-3.8%) and 1.8 (0.4-4.3%) for fractional anisotropy, apparent diffusion coefficient, axial and radial diffusivity, and were lower than between session reproducibility measurements (2.4 (1.1-5.9%), 1.9 (0.7-5.7%), 1.7 (0.7-4.7%) and 2.4 (0.9-5.8%); p<0.001). The calculated overall and within session 95% prediction intervals for zero change were similar. This study provides additional reference data concerning intersubject variability and reproducibility of diffusion tensor imaging conducted within the same imaging session and different imaging sessions. These data can be utilised in interventional studies to quantify change within a single imaging session, or to assess the significance of change in longitudinal studies of brain injury and disease.RCUK, Wellcome, OtherThis is the published version. It was originally published by PLoS in PLoS ONE here: http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0065941

Comparison of inter subject variability and reproducibility of whole brain proton spectroscopy.

The aim of these studies was to provide reference data on intersubject variability and reproducibility of metabolite ratios for Choline/Creatine (Cho/Cr), N-acetyl aspartate/Choline (NAA/Cho) and N-acetyl aspartate/Creatine (NAA/Cr), and individual signal-intensity normalised metabolite concentrations of NAA, Cho and Cr. Healthy volunteers underwent imaging on two occasions using the same 3T Siemens Verio magnetic resonance scanner. At each session two identical Metabolic Imaging and Data Acquisition Software (MIDAS) sequences were obtained along with standard structural imaging. Metabolite maps were created and regions of interest applied in normalised space. The baseline data from all 32 volunteers were used to calculate the intersubject variability, while within session and between session reproducibility were calculated from all the available data. The reproducibility of measurements were used to calculate the overall and within session 95% prediction interval for zero change. The within and between session reproducibility data were lower than the values for intersubject variability, and were variable across the different brain regions. The within and between session reproducibility measurements were similar for Cho/Cr, NAA/Choline, Cho and Cr (11.8%, 11.4%, 14.3 and 10.6% vs. 11.9%, 11.4%, 13.5% and 10.5% respectively), but for NAA/Creatine and NAA between session reproducibility was lower (9.3% and 9.1% vs. 10.1% and 9.9%; p <0.05). This study provides additional reference data that can be utilised in interventional studies to quantify change within a single imaging session, or to assess the significance of change in longitudinal studies of brain injury and disease.TV Veenith was supported by clinical research training fellowship from the National Institute of Academic Anaesthesia and Raymond Beverly Sackler studentship. VFJN is supported by an NIHR academic clinical fellowship. JPC was supported by Wellcome trust project grant. DKM is supported by an NIHR Senior Investigator Award. This work was supported by a Medical Research Council (UK) Program Grant (Acute brain injury: heterogeneity of mechanisms, therapeutic targets and outcome effects (G9439390 ID 65883)), the UK National Institute of Health Research Biomedical Research Centre at Cambridge, and the Technology Platform funding provided by the UK Department of Health.This article was originally published in PLoS ONE (Veenith TV, Mada M, Carter E, Grossac J, Newcombe V, et al. (2014) Comparison of Inter Subject Variability and Reproducibility of Whole Brain Proton Spectroscopy. PLoS ONE 9(12): e115304. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115304

Project sponsor competence in the UK public sector: A systematic review

Masters by ResearchThis thesis reviews the literature on project sponsorship, competence and accountability in the public sector. It adopts a systematic review methodology, which aims to find, evaluate, analyse and synthesize literature on a transparent, replicable basis. Based on a set of keywords derived from a scoping study and practitioner inputs, a series of keyword searches were conducted on a number of databases. The literature found was evaluated for relevance and rigour against a set of specified source, content and quality criteria. I developed new content criteria in response to new uses of keywords in the literature. I also used the reference lists in the material that passed all the criteria to find further literature, which I also reviewed for rigour and relevance against the source, content and quality criteria. Systematic review is therefore a deductive process, which changed my understanding of the research subject form a general one to a more specific one. I found project sponsorship to be a common role in many areas where project management is used. My synthesis of the literature suggested that the role is a powerful, risk-taking one, requiring leadership and ownership. Competence is a divided , ambiguous concept, with current approaches limited by virtue of their rational, dualistic ontology. Accountability is fundamental to any understanding the role of the project sponsor in the public sector, but is a difficult, changing concept, capable of being viewed from either a process or an organizational perspective. I found significant research gaps in the project sponsorship literature. It has been the subject of little direct research. Whilst there is some understanding of the role in relation to the project, the wider aspects of the role and what may constitute competence in the the role are fertile areas for further research

A phenomenographic study of British civil servants' conceptions of accountability

In the United Kingdom civil servants have traditionally been accountable to their managerial and political superiors for probity and due process in the execution of their duties. Recent parliamentary and administrative reforms have changed this view. Individual civil servants are now additionally accountable to a range of external groups for the results of their work. This change is reflected in the role of Senior Responsible Owner (SRO), a civil servant accountable to a management team for the achievement of a predefined project outcome. This thesis challenges the idea that accountability is a unitary concept that can be defined by others and delegated in this way. The subjective nature of human understanding suggests theoretical grounds for the existence of different conceptions of accountability among different individuals for a given outcome. In this research I have applied the analytical approach known as phenomenography to the study of these different conceptions. The approach has been widely used, mainly in fields outside management, to establish the bounded number of qualitatively different ways in which a given aspect of reality is conceived by different individuals. Analysis of interviews with 30 SROs from 12 government departments revealed four different conceptions of accountability, each with multiple attributes. The conceptions can be arranged in a hierarchy of increasing richness and complexity. This research contributes to theoretical knowledge of the concept of accountability in the field of public administration in four ways. First, the study adds time to the known attributes of accountability. Second, the study confirms sanctions as an attribute of accountability. Third, the hierarchy of four conceptions of accountability throws new light on the subject that calls into question the unitary view. Fourth, the results refute the notion of a schismogenic paradox of accountability and provide empirical support for meanings of accountability that transcend this paradox

Performers, trackers, lemmings and the lost: Sustained false optimism in forecasting project outcomes - Evidence from a quasi-experiment

The consistently successful delivery of projects remains an ambition that many organisations do not achieve. Whilst the reasons behind project failure are many, one recognised factor is the ‘planning fallacy’ – over-optimism in the planning phase of a project. Whilst the planning phase of a project may be a battle for acceptance and resource allocation, the execution phase is a battle for delivery. Based on both qualitative and quantitative data gathered from a project management simulation, this study set out to establish whether optimism bias persists beyond the planning phase and into the execution phase, and, if so, to explore the reasons why. The results confirm the extent and impact of optimism bias in initial project planning. More importantly, the contribution of this study is to demonstrate on-going or sustained false op

Contextual Intelligence in Programme and Project Management: A preliminary framework for configuring resources to meet strategic objectives

Additional research, design and data collection was carried out by David Partington and Arnoud Franken, Cranfield School of ManagementThe purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly it explores a key development from Operations Management, (Hayes and Wheelwright, 1985) and tests whether it provides insights into the practices of Programme and Project Management (PPM). Through an empirical study, it is found to provide a number of important insights, including that, in general, PPM is limited to a ‘stage two’ performance aspiration on the Hayes & Wheelwright four-point scale for competitive manufacturing, with a prevailing focus on conformance to standards. The resulting question is, ‘how does an organisation develop its PPM capability beyond stage two? Achieving stage three and beyond requires that resources are configured, not to conform to a standard, but to meet the strategic needs as defined by the organisation and any end ‘customers’ for the work. Secondly, the paper considers the research question, ‘what elements of an organisation designed for programme and project-based working can be configured to meet particular strategic requirements?’ It describes the investigation of this question in a field study of 11 cases to determine the nature of the elements of configurability, and hence to generate key decision areas for PPM. The results of this study provide a preliminary framework for determining what would constitute stage 3 - effectiveness in programme and project-based operations (PPOs). The paper concludes that the theoretical insights from Operations Management used in this paper offer a future direction for research on PPOs and sets out a research agenda

Use of diffusion tensor imaging to assess the impact of normobaric hyperoxia within at-risk pericontusional tissue after traumatic brain injury

Ischemia and metabolic dysfunction remain important causes of neuronal loss after head injury, and we have shown that normobaric hyperoxia may rescue such metabolic compromise. This study examines the impact of hyperoxia within injured brain using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Fourteen patients underwent DTI at baseline and after 1 hour of 80% oxygen. Using the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) we assessed the impact of hyperoxia within contusions and a 1 cm border zone of normal appearing pericontusion, and within a rim of perilesional reduced ADC consistent with cytotoxic edema and metabolic compromise. Seven healthy volunteers underwent imaging at 21%, 60%, and 100% oxygen. In volunteers there was no ADC change with hyperoxia, and contusion and pericontusion ADC values were higher than volunteers (P < 0.01). There was no ADC change after hyperoxia within contusion, but an increase within pericontusion (P < 0.05). We identified a rim of perilesional cytotoxic edema in 13 patients, and hyperoxia resulted in an ADC increase towards normal (P=0.02). We demonstrate that hyperoxia may result in benefit within the perilesional rim of cytotoxic edema. Future studies should address whether a longer period of hyperoxia has a favorable impact on the evolution of tissue injury