Thought Papers
Alexander Thought Papers are accessible white papers used to encourage thought leadership. They aim to help you think through and explore new ways of improving the services you deliver to your communities.
Here is a list of our most current Thought Papers; please click the link at the end of each section to request a free copy.
“Beyond Efficiency to Transformation”
The current climate of fierce spending cuts offers an exciting opportunity to transform. We must invest in the kind of change that will mobilise all the intellectual assets across our organisations to create services that focus on prevention, reduce demand and provide only what our communities need and value.
This thought paper for people working in the public sector explores; the current drivers for change in each sector, the nature of the transformation that this points to and finally how and where to start.
Titles in this series
- “Beyond Efficiency to Transformation in District Councils”
- “Beyond Efficiency to Transformation in Fire & Rescue Services”
- “Beyond Efficiency to Transformation in Local Government”
- “Beyond Efficiency to Transformation in Policing”
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If you are not a member, please click here to request your free copy.
“Social Marketing”
Morally, socially, and economically, it is better to prevent an issue occurring rather than provide solutions to it. However, it is much easier to measure and see immediately the impact of solutions to a problem rather than preventative techniques, which rely on changing people’s behaviour.
Using theories and techniques from both marketing and the social sciences, social marketing helps organisations understand and work with their communities, positively affect their behaviour, prevent issues happening and measure the outcomes. Social Marketing allows public services to work better in partnership, be more efficient, reduce cost and deliver improved community outcomes.
This thought paper for people working in the public sector explores; the key social marketing principles and how they can improve service delivery in the public sector.
Titles in this series
- “Social Marketing in Policing”
- “Social Marketing in Local Government”
- “Social Marketing in the Public Sector”
- “Social Marketing in Fire and Rescue Services”
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If you are not a member, please click here to request your free copy.
“Process Improvement Methods for Public Services”
Process improvement in the public sector assumes various guises. On the one hand, those improvements can be incremental or radical, that is to say small or big. On the other hand, they can change the service delivery process (the way you get the service to the customer from day to day) and the organisational structure (the physical set-up of the buildings, offices, facilities etc, and the managerial systems that influence, perhaps dictate, the way that work should be done).
This thought paper for managers/leaders in the public sector explores; the key features of incremental and radical process improvements, whether they can be combined and guidelines for implementation.
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“Achieving Value For Money with Operations Management”
The challenge for organisations wishing to improve operational performance is twofold: to understand the kind of approaches and to make those approaches work. This is particularly important when achieving buy-in from the people who have to implement the new methods – most often front-line staff.
This thought paper for people working in the public sector explores the techniques, problems and solutions achieving the three Value for Money imperatives; Economy, Efficiency and Effectiveness.
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“Balanced Scorecard in the Public Sector”
The latest public-sector thinking is prefaced by the belief that things can be done better. New thinking demands that we are able to acutely hear what customers want and accurately see how our systems are delivering services.
The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a highly regarded, widely implemented management approach for strategic and service planning, which gets an accurate perception of performance and provides the foundation for process improvement.
This thought paper will walk you through the key principles of the Balanced Scorecard and give you an understanding of how it plays a crucial part in achieving significant improvements to society.
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If you are not a member, please click here to request your free copy.
“Continuous Improvement- An Introduction to Kaizen”
KAIZEN is a Japanese word, which means “gradually and in an orderly fashion” - effectively, continuous improvement. In a business environment, KAIZEN means everyone in an organisation working together to make sustained improvements quickly, easily and without expensive capital investment.
This thought paper for people working in the public sector will help you explore the key principles of Kaizen and give you useful tips on its implementation.
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If you are not a member, please click here to request your free copy.