Public Shared Service Centers : A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis of US Public Sector Organizations

by Gerd Schwarz

A Shared Service Center (SSC) is a semi-autonomous organizational unit that carries out back-office functions – such as IT, finance, or HR – for multiple internal clients. Many public sector organizations adopt SSCs due to budgetary pressures. This book is based on the most comprehensive study about public shared services to date. Gerd Schwarz applies transaction cost theory to understand the theoretical and empirical foundations of public shared services and analyzes SSCs compared to the main alternatives for performing back-office activities, i.e., carrying them out within individual agencies or outsourcing to a private service provider. He details planned and realized cost and quality effects of SSCs, distinguishing between nascent and mature SSCs. The author also provides recommendations regarding the SSC organizational architecture, e.g., the location strategy, governance structure, pricing of services, and whether services should be optional or mandatory for the customers. Contents · Comparative advantages and disadvantages of SSCs · Cost and quality effects of SSCs · Outsourcing of back-office services · Case studies of the State of Illinois, the State of Ohio, and NASA Target Groups: · Researchers and students of business and public administration, especially organization theory · Managers who want to establish new SSCs or improve existing SSCs The Author Dr. Gerd Schwarz is an Assistant Professor in Strategic Management at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China and a Fellow at Harvard University. .

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Year of publication:	2014
Authors:	Schwarz, Gerd
Publisher:	Wiesbaden : Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden
Subject:	Öffentliche Verwaltung \| Public administration \| USA \| United States \| Interne Dienstleistung \| Internal services \| Transaktionskosten \| Transaction costs \| Öffentlicher Sektor \| Zentrale Dienstleistung
Description of contents:	Description [swbplus.bsz-bw.de]

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Extent:	Online-Ressource (XX, 330 p. 62 illus, online resource)
Series:	Management, Organisation und ökonomische Analyse ; 16 SpringerLink / Bücher
Type of publication:	Book / Working Paper
Language:	English
Notes:	Description based upon print version of record Foreword; Preface; Table of Contents; List of Figures; List of Tables; List of Abbreviations; 1 Introduction; 1.1 Motivation and objective; 1.2 Literature review; 1.2.1 Shared services in the private sector; 1.2.2 Shared services in the public sector; 1.3 Methodology; 1.3.1 Theoretical perspective; 1.3.2 Hypothesis generation; 1.3.3 Empirical research design; 1.3.4 Descriptive sample statistics; 1.3.5 Limits to empirical research; 1.4 Chapter outline; 2 The public sector; 2.1 Theory of the state; 2.2 A historical sketch; 2.3 Public-private distinctions; 2.3.1 Public good; 2.3.2 Ownership 2.3.3 Funding2.3.4 Public interest; 2.4 Politics and administration; 2.4.1 The politics-administration dichotomy; 2.4.2 Political control; 2.5 Government agencies; 2.5.1 Bureaucratic organizations; 2.5.2 Idiosyncrasies of public agencies; 2.6 New public management; 2.6.1 Origins and characteristics; 2.6.2 New public management in the US; 2.6.3 Critical assessment of new public management; 3 Shared services; 3.1 Decomposition of activities; 3.1.1 Primary activities; 3.1.2 Support activities; 3.2 Definitions; 3.3 Shared services in the private sector 3.3.1 Functional and multi-divisional organizational form3.3.2 Historic predecessors; 3.3.3 Rise of shared services; 3.3.4 Evidence; 3.4 Shared services in the public sector; 3.4.1 Rationale; 3.4.2 Evidence; 3.4.3 Mini case studies; 4 Comparative economic organization of support services: shared services versus government agencies; 4.1 Comparative advantages and disadvantages of shared services; 4.1.1 Production costs; 4.1.2 Transaction costs; 4.1.3 Political costs; 4.1.4 Empirical results; 4.2 Comparative advantages and disadvantages of government agencies; 5 Shared services architecture 5.1 Location strategy5.1.1 Concentration; 5.1.2 Location type; 5.1.3 Site selection; 5.2 Organizational structure; 5.2.1 Vertical differentiation; 5.2.2 Horizontal differentiation; 5.3 Incentive structure; 5.3.1 Performance measurement and evaluation; 5.3.2 Rewards; 6 Cost and quality effects of shared services; 6.1 Cost effect; 6.1.1 Planned cost effect; 6.1.2 Total realized cost effect; 6.1.3 Segment-specific realized cost effect; 6.1.4 Predictors of realized cost effect; 6.2 Quality effect; 6.2.1 Planned quality effect; 6.2.2 Total realized quality effect 6.2.3 Segment-specific realized quality effect6.2.4 Predictors of realized quality effect; 7 US public sector idiosyncrasies regarding the outsourcing of support services; 7.1 Background; 7.2 Inherently governmental activities; 7.3 Commercial activities; 7.3.1 Non-competable commercial activities; 7.3.2 Competable commercial activities; 7.4 Empirical results; 7.4.1 Categorization; 7.4.2 Outsourced back-office services; 8 Comparative economic organization of support services: outsourcing versus shared services; 8.1 Comparative advantages and disadvantages of an external service provider 8.1.1 Production costs
ISBN:	978-3-8349-4480-1 ; 978-3-8349-4479-5
Other identifiers:	10.1007/978-3-8349-4480-1 [DOI]
Source:	ECONIS - Online Catalogue of the ZBW

Persistent link: https://www.econbiz.de/10014020686