n regoje seecom_nebojsa_regojepresentation
TRANSCRIPT
UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND
Bristol Business School
EVALUATION OF THE PUBLIC RELATION
OFFICES OF THE FIVE STATE INSTITUTIONS
OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
By
Nebojsa Regoje
The dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of
Arts in Management (Public Administration Reform).
January 2010
PERSONAL INTEREST
The researcher worked as the Head of the Public Relation Office of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia-Herzegovina and he was not actively
performing that duty at the time of the research. He wanted to explore possibilities of
combining his personal knowledge and experience gained while executing that duty
with the theoretical concepts he become aware of during MA in Management (Public
Administration Reform) programme with the purpose of achieving better public
service.
OBJECTIVES
It is hoped that this research will accomplish the following objectives:
O1: - to identify measurables suitable for evaluation of the PR offices of
the state institutions;
O2: - to establish the opinion of the external customers about the PR
offices of the five chosen state institutions;
O3: - to determine the measure of relevance of services offered by PR
offices;
O4: - to compare the processes and practices of different PR offices in
order to establish "best practice" that will serve as improvement target;
O5: - to examine possibilities for finding areas of the processes in which
improvements are desirable and/or needed;
O6: - to give recommendations for further development of the services;
O7: - to build a model of performance evaluation that could be used in the
future for assessment of the PR offices.
POLAR REPRESENTATION OF THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
(Source: Slack et al., 2007, Figure 2.10a, p. 54)
2.2.2 IMPORTANCE AND PERFORMANCE
The polar representation gives a picture of the present situation of the
performance objectives against the wished one or the competitions. However, it does
not point towards the priority improvement areas. Slack et al. (2007) suggests that
improvement priorities should be judged either by requirements of clients or
performance of competition. Introduction of some kind of measure of importance to
the customers to the performance objectives measurement provides two dimensions
template as a tool in determining the priority areas of operations that need
improvement.
The first dimension, importance to the customers, is assessed through three
categories, qualifiers, order winners, and less important factors, each further divided
into three points representing strong, medium, and weak position making actual nine-
point evaluation scale (Slack et al., 2007).
The second dimension, the performance objectives measurement, is reflected
through assessment of the performance on each objective against other or the
competitors (Slack et al., 2007; Johnston and Clark, 2005). Performance on each of
individual factors is judged as better, same, or worse than others. In a similar way as
importance scale, nine-point performance scale is derived by rating each of three
categories as strong, medium, or weak.
"The importance-performance matrix" (Slack et al., 2007, p. 589) is a
technique that brings together scores that indicate the relative importance and relative
performance of different competitive factors in order to prioritise them as candidates
for improvements. Each competitive factor is positioned inside the matrix according
to scores or ratings (Figure 2). The performance against the competitors and the
importance to the customers, rated on a nine-point scale, are plotted on a graphic that
is divided into the zones of improvements priority. The four zones are regarded as
"excess?", "appropriate", "improve", and "urgent-action" (Slack and Lewis, 2008).
THE IMPORTANCE-PERFORMANCE MATRIX (Source: Slack and Lewis, 2008, Figure 6.7, p. 179)
The "appropriate" zone has as its lower boundary the line that represents minimal
acceptability. Moving performance above of this line is the first objective that should
be considered in any improvements process. The factors that are placed inside this
area should be considered satisfactory, but the trend of improvements should be to
move towards the upper sector of this zone.
The "improve" zone contains factors that need improvements. The factors located to
the right of this zone and those near the border with urgent-action zone are more
EVALUATION OF COOPERATION WITH PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICES OF B&H STATE INSTITUTIONS
Criteria Parliamentary Assembly
Presidency of B&H
Council of Ministers
Court of B&H
MFA B&H
How soon after an event public announcements are delivered
Relevance and reliability of information from announcements
Quality of announcements (language, style, photographs)
Quality of response upon your questions (speed, reliability, completeness, correctness)
General readiness for cooperation (accessibility, return of calls, means of communication)
COMMENT: (if any)
- Enter evaluation for each question and each institution using 1 (bad) to 5 (excellent). - Filled questionnaire please return to [email protected]. - For additional explanations call 062/106160.
2.00
3.00
4.00SPEED
RELEVANCE
QUALITYRESPONSIVENESS
GENERAL
PARLIAMENTPRESIDENCYCOUNCILCOURTMFAAVERAGE
3.3 PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS
Results of the research consist of quantitative data, obtained by the first and
the second survey, and qualitative data, obtained by the two surveys and interviews.
In this section, all of the results were presented in the forms that allow analysis of the
data that were commented in order to facilitate process of drawing conclusions and
formulating recommendations.
3.3.1 THE FIRST SURVEY
Numerical data of the first survey were sorted in the table in Appendix 9 and
presented graphically on the Chart 2.
SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS (Adapted from Slack et al., 2007, figure 2.10, p. 54)
3.18
2.94
3.293.43 3.38
3.25
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
PARLIAMENT PRESIDENCY COUNCIL COURT MFA OVERALL
Institution
Ave
rage
Sco
re
Comparing average ratings of all of the institutions for different criteria
(Appendix 9 and Chart 2) reveal that the Court has scored better than others on three
criteria, Quality (3.23) together with MFA, Relevance (3.93) and Responsiveness
(3.20), while the Parliament has the highest General score (3.56). An average rating
of MFA for Speed (3.48) is better than average scores of the other institutions.
MFA's rating is not the lowest on any of the criteria, while the Presidency has all the
lowest ratings for individual criteria other than Speed (3.28), where the Parliament
(2.97) has the lowest score.
The average rating of MFA for all of the criteria (3.38) is above Overall (3.25)
and the second best, only 0.05 behind the Court of B-H (3.43) that has the highest
average rating (Chart 3). The lowest average rating has the Presidency at 2.94, while
the Council of the Ministers and the Parliament have the same average score of 3.29,
closest to Overall. It is interesting to note that the Council has also individual criteria
averages close to Overall (Chart 2).
AVERAGE RATINGS OF EACH INSTITUTION FOR ALL CRITERIA
3.30
3.60
3.052.98
3.28 3.25
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
SPEED RELEVANCE QUALITY RESPONSIVENESS GENERAL AVERAGE
Criteria
Ave
rage
Sco
re
There is a very high rating for Relevance (3.60), higher than any other criteria
(Chart 4). This is a logical consequence of a very high interest of media for the news
coming from the top state institutions and that is the only criterion for which all
individual scores of all of the institutions are above 3. The scores for Responsiveness
(2.98) and Quality (3.05) are below Average and that is indication of the media's
dissatisfaction with PR offices' activity in this area.
AVERAGE RATINGS OF EACH CRITERION FOR ALL INSTITUTION
It is interesting and useful to analyse comments (Appendix 11) submitted by
respondents. They reveal several issues deemed to be problematic and, while in some
of the cases the PR offices cannot change anything, in some other cases the
comments show the way in which improvements should be directed.
Several objections were about unequal respect of the three languages and two
alphabets that are in official use in the country (answers No. 15, 22) while MFA was
EVALUATION OF COOPERATION WITH PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICES OF B&H STATE INSTITUTIONS
TYPE OF MEDIA
News Agency Daily Papers
Periodical Magazine Radio
Television Please choose a type of media by deleting unsuitable options.
- Please rank the criteria by numerical evaluation so that each mark is used only once: five (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT), four (IMPORTANT), three (RELATIVELY IMPORTANT), two (SMALL IMPORTANCE), or one (THE LEAST IMPORTANT). - Filled questionnaire please return to [email protected]. - For additional explanations call 062/106160.
Criteria Mark How soon after an event public announcements are delivered 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Relevance and reliability of information from announcements 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Quality of announcements (language, style, photographs) 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Quality of response upon your questions (speed, reliability, completeness, correctness) 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
General readiness for cooperation (accessibility, return of calls, means of communication) 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
COMMENTS: (if any) SUGGESTIONS: (if any)
3.06
3.88
2.00
3.092.97
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
SPEED RELEVANCE QUALITY RESPONSIVENESS GENERALCriteria
Cus
tom
ers'
Impo
rtan
ce
the journalists' world, delay in reception of requested information is equal to not
receiving it at all.
AVERAGE RANKINGS OF EACH CRITERION
The second survey provided qualitative information, in addition to the
quantitative. Respondents gave some very interesting comments and suggestions,
attached in translated form in the Appendix 12.
Several of them commented on the chosen criteria, explaining that all of them
are of almost equal importance (answers No. 2, 8, 9, and 15) while others simply
emphasise which are the most important for them (14, 17, and 22). Good illustration
of importance of the criteria is shown by a sentence from the comment of respondent
number 15:
What do you need for reliable information at 7:30 for News at 7?
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
4.00
4.50
5.00
0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00
Importance for Customers
Perf
orm
ance
Aga
inst
Com
petit
ion
d) THE COURT OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
IMPORTANCE-PERFORMANCE MATRIX (Adapted from Slack and Lewis, 2008, Figure 6.7, p. 179)
THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
2.00
QUALITY
2.97
GENERAL
3.06
SPEED
3.09
RESPONSIVENESS
3.88
RELEVANCE
Key: Importance for customers, values and symbols
Appendix 13: INTERVIEW GUIDE
Institution: Interviewee(s) name(s): Interviewee(s) position(s): Date and duration of interview: Place of interview:
1. BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION:
- outline of the purpose of research
- presentation of the importance-performance matrix
- comments
2. OFFICE PERSONNEL:
- position of the office in the structure of the institution
- number of employees according the systematisation and actual situation
- educational and professional background
- additional training and development in PR and/or management skills
- compensation, rewards, penalties, motivation
3. EQUIPMENT:
- currant situation within the office
- use of modern IT technology
- communication equipment
4. COOPERATION:
- other offices and/or individuals from the same institution
- cooperation with PR offices of other institutions
- relation with the media
5. PRODUCTION OF PRESS STATEMENTS / ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- process of production (preparations, presence to an actual event, photographing)
- technical issues (typing, translating and/or proofreading, printing)
- consultations and/or approval before delivery
- delivery
6. ANSWERING QUESTIONS AND RESPONDING ON REQUESTS FROM
MEDIA:
- means of receiving questions and delivering answers
- obtaining the information needed for the answer
- consultations and/or approval to answer
- average time from reception to delivery
7. OTHER TASKS:
- organisation of press conferences
- promotions, special events, briefings
- travel with the officials
8. EVALUATION OF THE WORK:
- presence in media / clipping analysis
- satisfaction of the superiors
- satisfaction of media people
- what is the goal of PR
9. CLOSING:
- any other comment, question that was not asked
- synthesise findings
- reiterate how I will use this information
- thank the participant(s)
in the chapter 2.0 Literature Review. The chapter 3.0 Practical Examination
contains descriptions of the methodology and the research design as well as
the presentation of the results. The final chapter 4.0 Discussion,
Recommendations, and Conclusions wraps up the findings culminating in the
eleven steps programme for introduction of lean thinking and implementation
of improvements.
The performance evaluation model could be formulated in the four
stages:
1. Definition of the measurables
The same performance indicators or factors used in this project could
be used for any non-profit service oriented organisation as they are developed
on the basis of the main characteristics of the services. Of course, the factors
could be adjusted to better describe needs of the customers in the other
research cases.
2. Practical research
The mixed-methods research used in this study could be adjusted so
that the balance between qualitative and quantitative data better serve the
organisation under the examination.
3. Presentation and analysis of data
Clear presentation of data, using graphical and/or tabular presentation
used in this project, make analysis of the data easier which aid the process of
making conclusions.
4. Implementation of improvements
The final stage is introduction of lean thinking following the eleven
steps programme and implementation of the improvements.
In the focus of PR offices should be journalists, i.e. public (tax-payers that pay them),
rather than bosses who change after elections.
Classification was created on the basis of the theoretical considerations
explained in the section 2.2.2 Importance and Performance. The same
literature review section supported the discussion of the quantitative data in
the section 4.1 Discussion/RQ3.
Analysis of the qualitative data from the two surveys and the
interviews revealed processes that contain wastes that should be eliminated.
The findings (Appendices 11, 12, and 14 to 18) were presented in the 3.3
Presentation of the Results and commented in the section 4.1 Discussion/RQ3
on the basis of 2.3.1 Waste.
O6: Recommendations for further development of the services were given
as the eleven steps programme:
1. "Learn about Lean"
2. "Commit to Lean"
3. "What does the customer really need?"
4. "Choose the Value Stream"
5. "Which steps create value and which generate waste
6. "Map the Current State"
7. "Determine Lean Metrics"
8. "Map the Future State"
9. "What process improvements will be necessary to achieve the
future state?" and "How can work flow with fewer interruptions?"
10. "Create Kaizen Plans"
11. "Implement Kaizen Plans".
The programme was based on the theoretical concepts described in
the section 2.3.2 Value Stream Mapping and presented in the section 4.2
Recommendations.
O7: The final and ultimate objective to build a model of performance
evaluation that could be used in the future for assessment of the PR offices
was built through-out the entire dissertation. Theoretical foundations were set
R E F E R E N C E S Keyte, B and Locher, D (2004) The Complete Lean Enterprise: Value Stream Mapping for
Administrative and Office Processes, Productivity Press, New York. Regoje, N (2008) Operations and Information Management - Assignment: Public Relations Office of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia-Herzegovina - Performance Measurement, University of the West of England, Bristol.
Slack, N, Chamberss, P and Johnston R (2007) Operations Management (5th edn), Pearson Education
Limited, Essex. Slack, N and Lewis, M (2008) Operations Strategy (2nd edn), Pearson Education Limited, Essex. Tapping, D, Luyster, T and Shuker, T (2002) Value Stream Management - Eight Steps to Planning,
Mapping, and Sustaining Lean Improvements, Productivity Press, New York. Tapping, D and Shuker, T (2003) Value Stream Management for the Lean Office - Eight Steps to
Planning, Mapping, and Sustaining Lean Improvements in Administrative Areas, Productivity Press, New York.