Quality assurance, program evaluation, and auditing: different approaches to effective program management
Article Abstract:
This article examines the use of auditing, program evaluation, and quality assurance models of effective program management in a comparative perspective. The three models represent different approaches to effective management. The argument is made that quality assurance or continuous quality assessment - a term borrowed from industry - is a better management tool than program evaluation or auditing. Instead of depending on ad hoc or cyclical assessments, as is the practice in most auditing and program projects, quality assurance is an ongoing process with built-in problem or defect-prevention strategies. It is prospective, flexible, and not confronted with many of the theoretical entrapments and challenges faced by some evaluation and auditing models. When combined with certain program evaluation and auditing techniques, it can become a more encompassing and viable management control instrument. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1991
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Public managers and policy communities: learning to meet new challenges
Article Abstract:
Comprehending external environments is an increasingly important facet of the work of senior public servants. The purpose of this paper is to introduce concepts that will help practitioners and academic observers to describe and analyse the structure and dynamics of policy communities. The paper first draws from the political science literature to identify different networks in policy communities, considering how the role of public managers changes from network to network, and then models policy communities as "learning" entities consisting of advocacy coalitions responding to policy challenges in competitive and cooperative interactions. The paper concludes that public managers have a special stewardship function in facilitating more productive learning within policy communities. (Reprinted by permission of the publisher.)
Publication Name: Canadian Public Administration
Subject: Government
ISSN: 0008-4840
Year: 1992
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