Evaluating the feasibility of outsourcing Public Services as a strategy to improve service delivery in local authorities in a developing Country

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of outsourcing public services as a strategy to improve the quality of service delivery by local authorities. The aim was to find out the causes for the poor service delivery by local authorities. A quantitative research approach was used and questionnaires were used to collect data from the respondents of the study. A chi-squared tests was used to determine the relationship between outsourcing and services quality. The key findings were that the causes for poor service delivery by local authorities were corruption, lack of citizen participation, lack of funds and political interference. Outsourcing was seen to bring quality and affordable services for the public while costs savings and emergence of hidden costs were the financial implications unveiled for the local authorities. Social costs, accountability for public service delivery and quality shading were cited to be the outsourcing challenges. A strong positive relationship between outsourcing and quality of services was determined. Outsourcing was seen as a feasible strategy to use so as to improve service delivery by local authorities

IT Governance: Status and Level of Implementation in Zimbabwean Urban Local Authorities

Information Technology has become an indispensable tool in enabling business processes. The study sought to assess the status and level of implementation of IT governance in Local authorities in Zimbabwe. Three local authorities were used as  case studies and respondents were purposively selected from Councillors of the three local authorities . Interviews were then conducted with senior personnel; Chamber Secretary, Town Clerk and the  Treasurer. In order to assess the status and level of implementation, reference was made to the Institute of Information technology (ITGI) governance framework. It was discovered that, the Local authorities in Zimbabwe’s IT functions are not aligned to business strategies. Urban Local authorities in Zimbabwe need to properly take on board IT in order to improve service delivery. Keywords: Local authorities, IT governance, Service delivery, business strategy, ITG

Pension fund size (Asset Size) and fund investment performance in Zimbabwe: does size really matter?

AbstractThe main purpose of this paper was to investigate the effects of the size of a pension fund on its investment performance (efficiency) in Zimbabwe from 2010 to 2013 post multicurrency era. This is an empirical study based on quantitative data that includes the returns of the portfolio of pension funds and their asset sizes. This is a deductive approach that lets the researcher tests hypotheses and theory. The research sample was 20 stand-alone pension funds and 9 fund administered pension funds using a cluster sample. Data analysis revealed to a greater extent that no relationship exists between the pension fund size and its investment performance based on the data that was presented on Zimbabwean pension fund. The implications of the above results mean that data on pension funds coming from third world economies like that of Zimbabwe cannot be used to predict the performance of pension funds because a lot of factors come into play and that the markets are not efficien

Meeting the funding gap in urban local authorities in Zimbabwe: a case study of Gweru city council

The decentralization of local authorities in Zimbabwe has resulted in local authorities being thrown to the deep end in terms of meeting societal needs. The ever increasing population coupled with the financial crisis both on the global stage and at local level makes it difficult for Zimbabwean local authorities to continue relying on traditional sources of finance for service delivery, sustainability and social development. The aim of the study was to explore alternative financing options and to gain an insight into administrative and legal systems that negate Gweru City Council’s revenue mobilization strategies. The data was collected using document review and follow up interviews with the Treasury personnel. It was noted that the legal and administrative systems were major impediments in the quest for local authority to boost its revenue base. This calls for the expansion of existing revenue sources and development of a policy framework which encourages Public-Private Partnerships

The impact of labour force reduction on financial performance of manufacturing companies:

This research was conducted with the aim of determining the impact of employing labour force reduction initiatives on financial performance of manufacturing companies. The research focused on Playtime Manufacturers a garment manufacturing company that has been reducing its labour force since 2012. The researchers adopted a quantitative methodology. Primary data was collected from the total target population through questionnaires. A census was used to ensure that there was no bias and that findings could be generalised to the entire organisation with accuracy. The first major finding was that manufacturing companies in this developing country use layoffs, furloughs, outsourcing and delayering as labour force reduction methods. The second finding was the importance of communication and employee involvement in preventing production efficiency drops and production costs increases. The third finding was that employee’s had adverse emotional reactions after labour force reduction initiatives however the emotions did not manifest to physical reactions such as strikes and employee turnover. The fourth finding was that labour force reduction diminishes production efficiency in the short run (1-3 years). However, production efficiency improved in the long run (4-5 years) after labour force reduction. The final finding was that labour force reduction is positively related to financial performance as measured by Return On Total Assets (ROTA)