What does it mean to improve the performance of public services?
Different theoretical models of performance improvement
How to measure the performance improvement of public services?
What role do external factors play in the improvement process?
What relations exist between regulation and performance?
The role of management control systems in improving the performance
of public transit companies
The role of leadership in improving the organizational effectiveness of
public transit companies
Organizational culture and performance
The italian public transit reform process
International experiences or public transit reform: the uk deregulation
The turnaround of italian public transit companies
Case studies.
A. DELLA PORTA, A. GITTO (a cura di) La riforma del Trasporto Pubblico
locale in Italia nella prospettiva aziendale, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2013.
The course focus on bus public transport service and in particular on the
economics of italian public transit companies. The objective of this course
is to provide students with an overview of the operating context,
leadership challenges, strategies and management tools that are used in
today's italian public transit organizations to improve both their economic
and financial performance and the quality of the service. Local public
transport companies are under enormous pressures from many
stakeholders to improve both their financial sustainability, and the quality
of the service. The goal of the course is to critically examine the main
dilemmas that characterize this particular service in order to offer the
participants the knowledge and skills necessary to understand the main
service improvement levers and their effectiveness. The available
empirical national and international evidence will be examined in depth.
Through the use of case studies the service improvement levers used will
be critically evaluated in order to understand its pros and cons.
After completion of the course the student should be able to
Learning outcomes:
1. recognize the different theoretical models for improving public
services;
2. understand the difficulty of the performance measurement process in
local public transport companies;
3. understand the relative importance of internal and external factors in
favoring or hindering the improvement processes of the local public
transport service;
4. understand the turnaround levers available to managers of local public
transport companies.
Skills and abilities:
1. identify the critical success factors of the local public transport service;
2. identify the key performance indicators to monitor the improvement of
the local public transport service;
3. recognize the importance of management control systems in
encouraging organizational changes.
Values and attitudes:
1. critically reflect on the tension between sociality and economy of the
local public transport service;
2. critically evaluate and reflect on the effectiveness of the different
solutions proposed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the
local public transport service.
Basic knowledge of business administration.
Lessons, case studies critical discussion, seminars with testimonials.
Office hours on Tuesday from 4 to 6 pm.
Email armando.dellaporta@unich.it.
Non attending students: study of the recommended text.
Attending students: the assessment consists of two parts: group work
and oral examinations. The final grade is based on an assessment of all
the parts of the examination
1.presentation and discussion of a case study (with attached report of
max 6 pages) (60% exam);
2. Oral exam (40% exam).
What does it mean to improve the performance of public services?
Different theoretical models of performance improvement
How to measure the performance improvement of public services?
What role do external factors play in the improvement process?
What relations exist between regulation and performance?
The role of management control systems in improving the performance
of public transit companies
The role of leadership in improving the organizational effectiveness of
public transit companies
Organizational culture and performance
The italian public transit reform process
International experiences or public transit reform: the uk deregulation
The turnaround of italian public transit companies
Case studies.