34 EROPA Bulletin
Vol. 34 Nos. 3-4 (July-December 2013)
Governability (Management)...
Because of this innovation, the Saga Prefecture
won the 2010 UN Public Service Awards under the
category “Fostering Participation in Policymaking
Decision through Innovative Mechanisms.”
(From page 33)
the LGU or LGU groups (leagues) is necessary.
Conducting a survey with the program graduates as
respondents, Prof. Carinugan found that the programs
have enhanced the capacity local officials in the
performing their functions. Respondents reported that
the impacts of the training programs were manifested
in the improved delivery of services in their respective
localities. However, the innovations and creativeness
that local officials have applied in their respective
LGUs were, only partly attributed to the HEIs’
programs. The research recommended that the HEIs
should complement—not compete with—each other
in order to maximize the benefits out of these capacity
building programs.
Collaboration Testing: Open, Onsite, GovernmentCitizen Collaboration Practice in Saga Prefecture
In this presentation, Mr. Kohzo Iwanaga discussed an
innovative mechanism for CSO participation in the
Saga Prefecture called the “Collaboration Testing.”
This program allows
“Because of Saga
the participation of
Genki Hiroba, the Saga
and collaboration
Prefecture won the
with CSOs by means
2010 UN Public Service
of outsourcing
Awards under the category
some government
“Fostering Participation
functions. According
in Policymaking Decision
to Mr. Iwanaga, the
through Innovative
increasing demands
and needs of the public Mechanisms.”
prompted the local
government to expand
the participation avenues of CSOs which include
the citizens and other community-based groups.
Collaboration testing is based on the principles
of disclosure of information (openness), mutual
understanding (onsite), and strong will to realize
collaboration proposals. Mr. Iwanaga cited the Saga
Genki Hiroba general counter at the Prefectural
Government Office, which is outsourced to CSOs.
Figures from the presentation indicated that visitors
to the Prefectural Government increased by 43% one
year after the Saga Genki Hiroba started its operations.
Although this mechanism has been on-going for
years now, Mr. Iwanaga related that there remain
some problems and challenges. These include the
lack of capability of the CSO particularly in financial
and manpower resources. Another challenge is the
lack of government budgetary provisions in some
cases, so CSOs become dissatisfied when approved
collaboration proposal projects are not implemented.
Improving Public Service Motivation in Vietnam:
The Role of
Administrative
Leadership
Professor Thu Trang
Nguyen analyzed the
role of administrative
leadership and
individual competence
of the administration
leader in Vietnam
within the context
public sector motivation (PSM) and human resource
development. She hypothesized that: i) low quality
of administrative leadership is associated with the
decrease in work motivation of the public service; and
ii) improving administrative leadership contributes to
a higher level of PSM. Professor Nguyen pointed out
that the low level of PSM in Vietnam has resulted in
heavy “brain-drain” in the public sector, with about
16,000 voluntary resignations recorded from 2003
to 2008. Moreover, there is difficulty in attracting
highly competent new entrants and retaining skilled
and experienced officers. In 10 years, only 103 out
of 1203 young talents were accepted in Hanoi public
organizations. Based on a World Bank study, among
the reasons cited for leaving the public sector were:
improper remuneration (50%); no encouragement,
reward, and development (36.1%); unexpected
experiences (20.8%); seeking opportunities to show
off capacity (18.1%); and discrimination (12.5%).
These are all related
(Continued on the next page)