This book presents the latest research on three issues of crucial importance to Asian cities: governance, livability, and sustainability. Together, these issues canvass the salient trends defining Asian urbanization and are explored through an eclectic compendium of studies that represent the many voices of this diverse region. Examining the processes and implications of Asian urbanization, the book interweaves practical cases with theories and empirical rigor while lending insight and complexity into the towering challenges of urban governance. The book targets a broad audience including thinkers, practitioners, and students.

Planning a new or refurbished public library means considering not only facilities for collections, services, staff and users, but examining also the local context, reviewing the library image, and developing relationships with other community facilities and agencies. This book examines the entire gamut of challenges confronting the planning and development of contemporary public libraries; their mission, their roles, and key issues such as lifelong learning, social inclusion, community and cultural needs, regeneration and funding. The helpful presentation and readable style guides the librarian through the preliminary information-gathering and decision-making process that ensures a successful library building for all concerned. Using practical case studies, plans and photographs, the author tackles the critical issues of siting, size, plans and design concepts, and provides a helpful guide to weighing up the alternatives of refurbished, converted and new buildings. Separate chapters focus on the planning, briefing and construction process; security, safety and sustainability; key characteristics of successful buildings; identity, decor and signage; and interior layout and facilities. The text draws together a vast resource of real library examples from all over the world which provide best practice models and lessons to learn. For funding authorities, librarians and architects of public libraries this is a highly informative book that will help to ensure wise decision-making and prevent costly mistakes.

Public Libraries in the 21st Century presents a comprehensive analysis of the impact of recent policy initiatives directly targeted at public libraries along with broader developments in the public sector environment within which they operate. Key features include: c An exploration of the context within which public libraries are operating and analysis of their role in local and national life; c Examples of best practice in service delivery; c Evaluation of the challenges and opportunities confronting public library managers; c Wide ranging coverage, including information from published and unpublished sources, supplemented by interviews with key stakeholders in the public library sector. The book provides a unique and thorough guide to the contemporary discourses surrounding issues of identity, social purpose, value and strategy facing the public library service.

Exploring the role of public sector audit in emerging democracies and developing countries, this book provides an account of the relationship between the public sector auditor, the legislature and executive government. In particular, it introduces public sector audit's capacity to assess government agencies' compliance with the law and their management of taxpayer or internationally funded programs and services. The volume: c Explores the Australian model of public sector audit. c Provides a definition of a supreme Audit Institution (SAI) and the role and responsibilities of the public sector auditor. c Examines the authority necessary for the SAI to function effectively. c Discusses likely future reform of the SAI's legal framework. c Illustrates how audit can be used to strengthen democratic institutions in emerging market economies. It will be of use to researchers, academics and students interested in the critical issues surrounding audit in general and public sector audit in particular. It will also be a valuable guide to practitioners in this area.

It takes 17 years on average to bring new medical treatments ideas into evidence-based clinical practice. The growing replicability crisis in science further delays these "new miracles." Blockchain can improve science and accelerate medical research while bringing a new layer of trust to healthcare. This book is about science, its value to medicine, and how we can use blockchain to improve the quality and impact of both. The book looks at science and medicine from an insider's perspective and describes the processes, successes, shortcomings and opportunities in an accessible way for a broad audience. It weaves this a non-technical look at the emerging world of blockchain technology; what it is, where it is useful, and how it can improve science and medicine. It lays out a roadmap for this application to transform how we develop knowledge about health and medicine to improve our lives. In the first part, Blockchain isn't Tech, the authors look at blockchain/distributed ledger technology along with critical trade-offs and current explorations of its utility. They give an overview of use cases for the technology across industries, including finance, manufacturing and healthcare, with interviews and insights from leaders across government, academia, and tech/health industry both big and start-up. In the second part, Science is Easy, the authors look at science as a process and how this drives advancement in medicine. They shed a light on some of science's shortcomings, including the reproducibility crisis and problems with misaligned incentives (i.e. publish or perish). They apply a breakdown of critical components to the functional steps in the scientific process and outline how the open science movement is looking to improve these, while highlighting the limit of these fixes with current technology, incentives and structure of science. In the third part, DAO of Science, the authors look at how blockchain applied to open science can impact medical research. They examine how this distributed approach can provide better quality science, value-based research and faster medical miracles. Finally, they provide a vision of the future of distributed medical research and give a roadmap of steps to get there.

The ninth edition of Public Administration: Understanding Management, Politics, and Law in the Public Sector grounds students in the fundamentals of public administration while embracing its complexity. It describes, explains, and analyzes public administration through the lenses of three well-established perspectives: management, politics, and law. In addition to thoroughly refreshed examples and case studies, significant updates to this new edition include the following: The discussion of management has been collapsed into a single category, contemporary public management, to better reflect the blending of traditional/orthodox and new public management approaches in the field. Significant changes to federal administration initiated by the Trump administration, the emergence of "hyper-" partisanship, major court decisions affecting public administration, and newer scholarship and foci in public administration. A thoroughly rewritten chapter on budgeting and public finance. New public governance material is incorporated throughout the book, including collaborative models for coordinating administration with private organizations, particularly nonprofits. Additional attention is paid to public participation in public administration, including public administration's potential contribution to strengthening democratic citizenship. Thorough discussion of the latest managerial techniques and concepts as well as the contemporary performance orientation in the public sector. Downloadable instructor support materials including Key Points, Discussion and/or Test Questions, Multiple Choice Questions, True or False Questions, and an Answer Key to accompany each chapter in the book. Together these revisions reinvigorate the book yet retain its core structure, ideas, and familiarity for students and instructors alike. While the new edition retains its focus on the U.S. context, the focus on managerial, legislative, and judicial functions lends itself well to public administration in many developed nations, making the book a popular choice with instructors around the globe. This time-tested and fully up-to-date textbook is required reading for all students of public administration, public management, and nonprofit management.

Licence To Loot is a fast-paced, hard-hitting investigation into parastatal looting, written by journalist Stephan Hofstatter. At the centre of the story is Eskom, the largest power utility in Africa, which could determine the success or failure of South Africa’s economy.

Hofstatter’s story begins in 2016, with the Guptas’ controversial purchase of Optimum coal mine and Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe’s key role in the deal. From there it takes the reader on a journey from secret meetings in London hotel rooms to a clandestinely purchased bolthole on a Dubai golf estate, uncovering the corrupt acquisition of a private jet along the way. From the diary entries of a Saxonwold security guard to first-hand accounts of backroom dealmaking, it traces the origins of a shadowy network between the Guptas and Eskom that ultimately allowed the family to extract billions of rands from the parastatal.

Licence To Loot reveals the complicated deals and machinations underpinning state capture and the subsequent ministerial and board appointments that ceded the control of the country’s parastatals, including Eskom, Transnet, SAA and Denel, to Gupta-linked moneymen.

The book is particularly relevant in the current political climate as it focuses on the impact of state capture, not just its origins, and takes the story beyond the Zuma presidency.

The IPO Decision is an exciting new book that clarifies how the initial public offering (IPO) process actually works. It separates fact from fiction and imposes a logical structure on the most up-to-date IPO-related research. All major topics pertaining to the going-public process are included: IPO timing, the financial, strategic, and corporate governance benefits and costs of public ownership, corporate restructuring, valuation, the role of the investment bank in the primary and secondary markets, the optimality of IPO mechanisms (book-building vs. auctions), analyst coverage, and the long-run performance of IPOs. IPOs garnered unprecedented positive attention in the 1990s for their spectacular returns and central role in entrepreneurial activity. Subsequent revelations of unscrupulous IPO allocation and promotion practices cast a less favorable shadow. The latest significant event in the IPO market is Google's unconventional use of an auction for its offering. Public discussion and debate about these developments has often taken place in an information vacuum, leading to misunderstandings and false conclusions. Unparalleled in its scope, The IPO Decision presents the findings from theoretical and empirical research in a rigorous yet accessible manner. In doing so, it develops the intellectual foundation necessary for a constructive dialogue about reforming the IPO process. Scholars, students and industry professionals interested in the economics of IPOs will find this volume a comprehensive and engaging addition to their library.

Although all primary care organisations have to develop business plans at every level, for many this is a new experience. This book will show the reader how., The Business Planning Tool Kit is a practical, comprehensive book that contains all the reader needs to know about business planning in primary care. The book includes topics on what to include in a business plan, personnel, finances, premises and information management. It is an interactive guide including links to websites that have practical templates for the reader to download and use. It takes general practitioners, practice managers, and managers in primary care groups, trusts, and health authorities through the business planning process in a clear, straightforward way., This book provides a whole new way of looking at how general practice can be managed and it does so in the form of a manual which gives whoever takes on the task the tools to do so. The layout of the book is a joy. Every section has sheets on which staff members can write their comments on the issue in hand. Users of this book are likely to find themselves in a healthier practice because of it.' Andrew Polmear, in the Foreword

This title was first published in 2000: Serving the State is an invaluable two-volume exploration of global trends in public administration education and training. Volume 2 of this important reference work explores traditions and contexts. Included for examination are the French and Islamic traditions, The Netherlands, Scandinavia, Latin America, Small Island States and former communist countries such as Poland and the Ukraine as well as other countries undergoing rapid economic change.

This title was first published in 2001: This innovative text applies new institutional economics, public choice theory, and new public management concepts to the political arena of the Mexican administration. Including cutting-edge benchmarking analysis about best practices of human resources and the modernization of the public sector, the book also considers the history and situation of other countries from the Mexican perspective, especially those of Latin America and the OECD. An essential text for all those with an interest in public policy or Latin American politics.

There are an estimated 40,000 international Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), working in an enormous global aid industry; official development assistance alone reached GBP90bn in 2014. This is supplemented by huge voluntary giving - the UK public, for example, give around GBP1bn a year to overseas causes. These organisations face a unique challenge from fraud and corruption. Operating in the world's most under-developed and fragile environments, with minimal infrastructure and trust-based cultures, the risk is high. And, being wholly reliant on donors and supporters for income, so are the stakes. Researchers make different estimates of the scale of the problem facing the sector. Some research implies that losses to the global aid budget caused by occupational fraud and abuse may be in the billions of pounds, while those to the British public's voluntary overseas donations could be in the tens of millions. For many sector professionals working in the developing world, these estimates are readily believable. Fighting Fraud and Corruption in the Humanitarian and Global Development Sector by Oliver May is a timely, accessible and relevant how-to guide, which explores the scale and nature of the threat, debunks pervasive myths, and shows readers how to help their NGOs to better deter, prevent, detect and respond to fraud and corruption.

Health care utilization routinely generates vast amounts of data from sources ranging from electronic medical records, insurance claims, vital signs, and patient-reported outcomes. Predicting health outcomes using data modeling approaches is an emerging field that can reveal important insights into disproportionate spending patterns. This book presents data driven methods, especially machine learning, for understanding and approaching the high utilizers problem, using the example of a large public insurance program. It describes important goals for data driven approaches from different aspects of the high utilizer problem, and identifies challenges uniquely posed by this problem. Key Features: Introduces basic elements of health care data, especially for administrative claims data, including disease code, procedure codes, and drug codes Provides tailored supervised and unsupervised machine learning approaches for understanding and predicting the high utilizers Presents descriptive data driven methods for the high utilizer population Identifies a best-fitting linear and tree-based regression model to account for patients' acute and chronic condition loads and demographic characteristics

This workbook reflects a number of important regulatory changes that have occurred in the past 13 years, as well as the new landscape of healthcare reform. It serves as an important resource for case managers, administrators, physicians and others who play a role in the case management process.

This title was first published in 2003.This book explores many of the major issues of concern to researchers studying trade unionism. It offers: a definition, elaboration and contextualisation of militancy (industrial, union and worker); an examination of the relationship between workplace unionism and the wider body of the union; a study of factionalism and industrial and political consciousness: and an analysis of the construction and mobilisation of conflict and cooperation (social partnership). These themes are considered through examining the relatively militant response of British postal workers to increased commercialisation of their industry. By comparing this response to that of postal workers in nine other major industrial countries, the study provides an explanation of why UK postal workers have been relatively successful in resisting new management techniques and privatisation through militancy and oppositionalism. One aspect given particular attention is the uneasy relationship within the postal workers' union between shop floor militancy and the social partnership approach followed by the union's leadership.

This title was first published in 2001. This study explores the operation of the Treuhandanstalt, the trust agency responsible for implementing the massive privatization programme launched in the former East Germany in 1990. It evaluates the level of satisfaction that stakeholder groups typically felt with regard to the agency, its actions and its achievements.

This handbook prepares readers to build the medical tourism service line, integrate physicians and other service providers, develop a safe and effective quality and patient-centered infrastructure, document processes and workflows, evaluate reimbursement contracts, and measure outcomes.

This book provides a balanced 360 degree view of consumer directed health care. It provides insight, analysis, and original research to help us see more clearly the important dimension in the future of American health care.

This book provides sample physician employment contracts and explains how each contract works. It is helpful for physicians and administrators who wish to prepare themselves for the contract and employment decisions that lie ahead of them.

* Has broad international reach, and gives voice to those involved in policing around the world * Communicates insights from internationally known editors and contributors * A unique collection covering vital law enforcement issues of our time

This title was first published in 2000: This timely volume makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of the issues faced by developing countries embarking on the path of democracy and economic development. Accountability in public management and administration is an essential element in the decision making process. It provides a comprehensive study of public institutions and their management in a developing context.

This book provides expert guidance on using feedback as a performance improvement tool. It includes many simple tools readers can use to improve feedback in their work unit. The book suggests that feedback works best when the giver and receiver realize that they are in a dance together.

Builds a coherent picture of ethical public management and provides students with a robust toolkit for making ethical decisions in a variety of settings. Thoroughly covers the essential topics and problems in public service ethics, and brings the theories and techniques of ethical management into sharp focus through compelling practical examples. Provides students with opportunities to apply concepts with exercises and case studies that illustrate real ethical problems confronting public managers. Fully updated with examples that interest students, including the Green New Deal, Black Lives Matter, the Biden administration, and the ethical challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and response.

Research in Public Administration and Public Management has distinctive features that influence the choices and application of research methods. The standard methodologies for researching from the social sciences can be difficult to follow in the complex world of the public sector. In a dynamic political context, the focus lies on solving societal problems whilst also using methodological principles to do scientifically sound research. The second edition of Research Methods in Public Administration and Public Management represents a comprehensive guide to undertaking and using research in Public Management and Administration. It is succinct but covers a wide variety of research strategies, including action research, experiments, case studies, desk research, systematic literature reviews and more. It pays attention to issues of design, sampling, research ethics and data management. This textbook does explain the role of theory, but also offers many international examples and practical exercises. It takes the reader through the journey of research, starting with the problem definition, choice of theory, research design options and tools to achieve impactful research. New and revised material includes, but is not limited to: A closer look at popular methods like the experiment and the systematic literature review; A deeper examination of research ethics and data management; New examples from a wide range of countries; Updated 'Further Reading' material and additional useful websites. This exciting new edition will be core reading for students at all levels as well as practitioners who are carrying out research on Public Management and Administration.

Environment and sustainable development challenges are a matter of global concern. Trillions of dollars of mostly public money are invested every year in domestic and international policies and programs to address these challenges. The effectiveness of these policies and programs is critical to environmental sustainability. Performance audits that examine the effectiveness of governmental policies and programs heavily influence their implementation. Despite this, performance auditing in the environment field has received very little academic attention. This book takes a closer look at performance auditing of public sector environmental policies and programs. It examines trends in global environmental performance auditing; and how it is currently practiced drawing on a global survey and case studies from Canada, India and Australia. In doing so, it identifies issues and challenges faced by Supreme Audit Institutions in undertaking these performance audits. This book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners of sustainable development, environmental auditing and public sector auditing as well as to donor organisations engaged in these areas.