The impact of management on NFP and FP social enterprises governed by government contracts and legislation

Austerity, staff inadequacy, and contracting‐out social services: How many government inquiries does it take to improve social policy outcomes in aged care?

“…The United Nations (UN) has nominated 'good health and well-being' as the third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG#3); however, its importance in public administration scholarship is limited to date (Brunetto et al, 2020). Within healthcare delivery, it is increasingly important because it affects sick leave, and in the worst cases, burnout and workers compensation claims (Brunetto et al, 2020). According to COR theory, personal resources are important for motivating employees.…”

“…Similar to policy implementation within public agencies, a policy directive is as strong or weak as the accompanying framework (funding, leadership, governance, and the discretion of streetlevel bureaucrats (SLBs)) (Winter, 2003). SLBs are increasingly defined as employees delivering public services both within public organisations and in organisations contracted to deliver the public service (Brunetto et al, 2020). However, the difference is the lack of government control once the contract is in the 'power domain' of the contractor, even when a governance framework is in place (Brown et al, 2018;Isaksson et al, 2017).…”

Rights‐based accountability in aged care organisations: The roles of beliefs and boundary controls

“…In 2012, NFP organisations (NFPs) provided 60% of services and for-profit organisations 30% (the remaining services being provided by state and local governments) (Baldwin et al, 2015). Brunetto et al (2021) report that in 2016 there were approximately 232,000 workers employed in residential aged care and, in their 2017-2018 data collection from a sample of 689 workers, 378 (55%) worked in NFP facilities.…”

“…Aged care providers have been criticised for providing little support for their employees to perform well in their work, leading to many workers in the sector feeling demoralised with their work being 'devalued' (ABC, 2021;Farr-Wharton et al, 2021;Hodgkin et al, 2017). Brunetto et al (2021Brunetto et al ( , p. 1218 note that although the employment and retention of skilled care workers is critical to the provision of quality care services, the work environment is 'a core contributing factor' to high turnover and, in turn, poor-quality care services. Concerned with accountability to both clients and employees of aged care organisations, Savy and Hodgkin (2021, p. 326) argue that the crisis in the sector 'elevates questions about the agency and rights of vulnerable residents, their families and direct care workers'.…”

“…Specifically, we investigate whether and how downward accountability (to clients) and lateral accountability (to employees) in aged care organisations are affected by internal management control, as that control is exercised by the organisations' management. Brunetto et al (2021), in their study of the delivery of residential aged care services by both NFP and for-profit organisations in Australia and the impact of management practices on care employee outcomes, note that it is only recently that public sector research has given attention to the effect of management practices on those outcomes, but that it is management and management practices, particularly with respect to accountability to employees (lateral accountability), that underpin accountability (or the lack thereof) to clients in the aged care setting (downward accountability). Simons (1995, p. 5) defines management control systems as 'the formal, information-based routines and procedures managers use to maintain or alter patterns in organisational activities'.…”