Suchergebnisse

For public libraries, as with most organisations, effective strategic planning is critical to longevity, facilitating cohesive and coordinated responses to ever present and ever changing political, economic, social, and technological (PEST) forces which shape and influence direction. However, strategic planning is widely recognised as a challenging activity, which can be both time consuming and unproductive, and there exists limited guidance regarding how to evaluate documented and disseminated strategic plans, particularly within the not-for-profit sector. In response, this research proposes and tests an inspection-based approach to the evaluation of strategic plans, based upon a rubric specifying the key attributes of each of the core components of a plan, combined with an appropriate assessment scale. The rubric provides a method to identify and assess completeness of strategic plan, extending to qualitative assessment of communication aspects such as specification and terminology, and synergistic aspects such as cohesion and integration. The method is successfully trialled across the devolved Scottish public library sector with the strategic plans of 28 of the 32 regional networks evaluated. 17 of 28 plans (61%) were found to be incomplete and/or to contain contradictory or uncoordinated components, with it recommended that Scottish public libraries improve not only completeness of plans, but also their precision, specificity, explicitness, coordination, and consistency, and overall mapping to library services. Recommendations are made for further widespread application of the rubric.

Acquisition research (Graduate School of Business & Public Policy) ; This research examined the federal government's historical use of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to determine whether or not Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC) should be applied to mobile assets. Third party financing of capital improvements through PPPs has resulted in reduced energy consumption and savings to tax-payers. For example, to modernize existing facilities, the government has used private corporations, such as Hannon-Armstrong, LLC, to overcome shortfalls in appropriated funds. Third party financing and ESPCs present viable solutions to modernizing and reducing the energy consumption of the government's mobile assets. The first part of this research examines Hannon Armstrong's fee for service contract solution to funding the vital fiber-optic link near the Arctic Circle. The second part explores the history of the Energy Saving Performance Contracts (ESPCs), which have helped reduce energy consumption throughout the federal government. Historically, this program has only been used for fixed assets. There is little debate over the success of these contracts in reducing energy consumption. The authors conclude that applying Energy Savings Performance Contracts to mobile assets could further reduce the energy consumption of the Department of Defense (DoD) and save tax-payers millions of dollars. ; Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.