000			02332pab a2200169 454500
008			180718b1996 xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
100			_aHarwick, B. Terence
245			_aA working model to help institutionalize quality improvements in local governments
260			_c1996
300			_ap.1891-913
520			_aThis article describes a working model designed to help leadership in public management,introduce quality improvements and eventually facilitate transformations to quality organizations (TQO). By quality improvements and transformations to quality organizations -- whether in government, public education, public health, or other fields of activity -- we mean those institutional changes which reliably achieve ever greater effectiveness in accomplishing mission and responsively achieve ever higher levels of measurable service to public "customers." This article discusses the development of an organizational assessment instrument which the authors designed for the County of Los Angeles. Building on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the President's Award in the USA, as well as on the review of other state and local criteria and comments received through a national review process, the authors formulated criteria of quality management with a view toward public service customers, particularly at local levels of government. The model described has been initially applied to conduct self-assessments in four departments of Los Angeles County. It is also intended for broader use by administrative practitioners and scholars interested in the organizational change process. This article reports the development of the working model and identifies some lessons learned. The purpose of this article is threefold: (1) to inform about quality developments in the County of Los Angeles, (2) to present the working model as a point of departure for dialogue about the role which quality criteria might play in strengthening local governments more broadly, and (3) to consider the working model's possible use in facilitating shared mutual learning across geographic and other boundaries electronically - Reproduced
650			_aLocal government - United States
650			_aLocal government
700			_aRussell, Marty
773			_aInternational Journal of Public Administration
909			_a32063
999			_c32063 _d32063