Managing Risks To Improve Public Services

In recent years a great deal of effort has been put into improving risk management in departments and in 2002 this was given further impetus when a two year risk programme was launched by the Prime Minister. This report looks at the progress made since the previous NAO report in 2000 (HC 864 1999-2000, ISBN 0105569488). It is based on a survey of the 20 main Whitehall departments, focus groups of 27 departmental risk managers, comparisons with the private sector, academic research and five case studies. The general conclusion is that significant improvement has been made but more needs to be done to make effective risk management a central part of general management processes. The ability to take risks and innovate, keep projects on track and handle complex service delivery needs to be further developed.

Through a series of case studies and selected special topics, Public Sector Enterprise Risk Management presents examples from leading Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) programs on overcoming bureaucratic obstacles, developing a positive risk culture, and making ERM a valuable part of day-to-day management. Specifically designed to help government risk managers, with concepts and approaches to help them advance risk management beyond the basics, the book: Provides a balanced mix of concepts, instruction and examples; Addresses topics that go beyond the basics of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program design and implementation; Includes insights from leading practitioners and other senior officials. Many government organizations can refer to the growing body of materials that provide examples of ERM processes and procedures. Far fewer reference materials and examples exist to help organizations develop a risk-mature organizational culture that is critical to the long-term success and strategic value that ERM represents to government organizations. Public Sector Enterprise Risk Management begins to fill that void and is intended to help public sector risk managers overcome barriers that inhibit ERM from becoming an active contributor to major decisions that top officials must make.

Any activity undertaken, whether by individuals, companies or government departments, involves a degree of risk. In recent years a great deal of effort has been put into improving risk management in government departments, and in November 2002 a two year initiative was launched by the Prime Minister to improve standards and practice across government. Following on from the NAO report on this issue (HCP 1078-I and II, session 2003-04; ISBN 0102930368) published in October 2004, the Committee's report makes a number of recommendations intended to help achieve further progress. In particular, it examines the challenges faced by departments in improving their risk management practices, and what can be to address these challenges.

In this book Markus Bodemann bridges the differences between public and private sector in aspects of management, especially risk management. A survey to draw a line between both sectors describes the current status of applied management tools and their effects. To cope with future developments, or at least to be prepared, risk management could be one tool. By using the yearly status reports the author works out the bandwidth of the impact of desired and undesired developments in public sector and the causation for more risk awareness for sustainable development in local public administration. ​

Every decision that is made by managers and policy-makers in a public sector organization requires an evaluation and a judgement of the risks involved. This vital requirement has been recognised in the growth of risk management. However, risks can never be fully prevented, which means that public managers also have to be crisis managers. Today’s crises develop in unseen ways; they escalate rapidly and transform through the interdependencies of modern society, and their frequency is growing: the global financial crisis, the European volcanic ash cloud, the Japanese tsunami and subsequent Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown, the Christchurch earthquake and the Queensland floods. All highlight the extreme challenges that public sector organizations across the world have had to face in recent years. Risk and Crisis Management in the Public Sector Second Edition responds to these challenges by presenting the only guide for public managers and public management students which combines lessons about risk and crisis management together in a single, accessible text. It equips readers and public managers with the knowledge and skills to understand key issues and debates, as well as the capacity to treat risks and better prepare for, respond to and recover from crisis episodes. This exciting new edition enhances the original text with contemporary cases and a greater focus on the international, trans-boundary and multi-agency dimensions of risk and crisis management. These enhancements reflect the fact that today’s public manager must increasingly operate within a global and interdependent governance context.

The work of a manager in a service organisation is not the same as the work of a manager in an organisation that manufactures goods. Managing Public Services, Implementing Changes – A Thoughtful Approach 2e, is for students and managers who intend to work in a service organisation whether it is owned publicly of privately. This book concentrates on how managers can change things for the better and explains ‘why’ as well as ‘how’. The second edition has been fully updated to address challenges facing public services with new material on managing cuts, managing risk, managing innovation, producing funding applications, Lean Management and process review. A new chapter on managing social enterprise and generating social capital has also been added. This text is both solidly practical and theoretically challenging and is supported by strong pedagogical features including: case studies and illustrative vignettes from public service managers working in Europe, Asia, Australia and the US; exercises and review questions. Students will develop learning skills that enable them to transfer their learning from one situation to another and thinking skills that enable them adapt the way that they apply their learning as circumstances change. This comprehensive text has been specifically designed and developed to meet the needs of students studying public services management at undergraduate and postgraduate level. It allows the reader to develop transferable skills in thinking and learning as they work through the book and gives greater awareness of the benefits of continuous learning for staff and managers.

The OECD Public Integrity Handbook provides guidance to government, business and civil society on implementing the OECD Recommendation on Public Integrity. The Handbook clarifies what the Recommendation’s thirteen principles mean in practice and identifies challenges in implementing them.

Discover analytical tools and practices to help improve the quality of risk management in government organizations Federal agencies increasingly recognize the importance of active risk management to help ensure that they can carry out their missions. High impact events, once thought to occur only rarely, now occur with surprising frequency. Managing Risk in Government Agencies and Programs provides insight into the increasingly critical role of effective risk management, while offering analytical tools and promising practices that can help improve the quality of risk management in government organizations. Includes chapters that contribute to the knowledge of government executives and managers who want to establish or implement risk management, and especially Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), in their agencies Features chapters written by federal risk managers, public administration practitioners, and scholars Showing government officials how to improve their organization's risk management capabilities, Managing Risk in Government Agencies and Programs meets a growing demand from federal departments and agencies that find themselves increasingly embarrassed by risky events that raise questions about their ability to carry out their missions.