Our review of the public management literature suggests that there is an emerging understanding of the constituent elements of a better practice service delivery framework that is applicable to both urban and regional settings. The most common supply-side elements that are used to build an effective service delivery framework include:
- Service culture – normally directed by the host Department’s strategic vision and delivered through its leadership principles, APS values, business processes and performance framework. Once a service delivery system and realistic service level agreements have been established, there is no other component more integral to the long-term success of a service organisation than its culture.
- Organisational capacity and capability - even the best designed processes and systems will only be effective if carried out by organisations with the capacity, and people with the capability, to deliver. Organisational capacity and capability are key determinants of service excellence. In cases where services are augmented through forms of collaborative governance with States, territories or the community sector a focus needs to be placed on evaluating the quality of collaboration.
- Service quality – includes strategies, processes and performance management systems. The strategy and process design is fundamental to the design of the overall service management model.
- Service experience – is a little trickier as it involves both demand and supply-side interventions – the latter involves user intelligence, account management and continuous improvement and the former works on the basis that the user/stakeholder is part of the creation and delivery of the service and then designs processes built on that philosophy – this is called co-creation or co-design.
- Service innovation and forward thinking – is a supply-side intervention and ensures that the organisation has access to a strong evidence base on what works and has developed innovation systems to allow it to build effective knowledge networks to co-create new service products to stay ahead of the game.
By implication, this study explores whether these five elements are integrated effectively within current service systems and achieving ‘line of sight’ between goals, policies, programs, services and their achievement (see Lissack and Roos, 1999).