This article argues that Best Value is a form of Total Quality Management (TQM). At the core of Best Value are the TQM principles of customer focus, continuous improvement and team-working. To discover if Best Value will deliver the performance improvements expected of local government, the...

This study utilizes World Bank Governance Indicators to investigate government effectiveness in Asia, both regionally and across sub-regions. Several factors seem to influence the level of government effectiveness: accountability and voice, control of corruption, and wealth and income. The...

Governments and other organizations are confronted with more frequent and devastating crises and disasters as the environment within which they operate becomes more complex and tumultuous ( Hwang & Lichtenthal, 2000 ; Rosenthal & Kouzmin, 1997 ). Recent catastrophic events, such as the tsunami...