2017 International Conference on Public Administration & International Symposium on West African Studies (12th ICPA&1st ISWAS)

Whether grappling with natural disasters or delivering day-to-day public services as education or health care, public bodies increasingly must work with other organizations to get the job done. Similarly, government managers themselves often need to identify and address risks in ways that require cooperating across multiple organizations to reduce the potential for serious harm.

The growth of complexity is a major reason for these developments—that is, increased complexity in the types of services that public bodies deliver; waves of technology; and organizational sprawl. To the extent that complexity leads to problems that extend beyond any one organization’s boundaries, these problems are likely to be with us for a long time.

2017 ICPA will address ways of managing governmental organizations to focus problems or deliver services that require cooperation across organizational boundaries. What kinds of governance work best to ensure collaborative efforts across governmental organizations—or between government and such private organizations as NGOs, for-profit contractors and other third-parties—that ensure effective public service delivery? How should these relationships be structured? Can new technologies help to bridge organizational gaps and provide public services seamlessly?

Papers and proposals that address Managing across Organizational Boundaries: Innovation and Collaboration are welcome, especially those that use case studies and comparative analyses between and within countries to illustrate promising practices and significant lessons. We are especially receptive to proposals that focus on the sub-themes below. However, we encourage all submissions that bring new ideas to any aspect of the overall conference theme

Conference & Symposium Committee

Honorary Conference Chairpersons

Professor XIA Shu-zhang, SUN YAT-SEN University, P.R. China

Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, Vice-Chancellor, University of Ghana (UG), Ghana

Professor Joseph Ghartey Ampiah, Vice-Chancellor, University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana

Professor Nabanyin Pratt, Vice-Chancellor, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Ghana

Conference Chairpersons

Janice Lachance, 2017-2018 President, American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), USA

Mr. William Shields, Executive Director, American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), USA

Professor Samuel Agyei-Mensah, Provost, College of Humanities of University of Ghana (UG), Ghana

Dr. Gao Xiaoping, Fellow, Vice-President and Secretary-general of Chinese Public Administration Society (2004-2016), P.R.China

Professor Tang Zhi-wei, Dean of School of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), P.R. China

Professor Zhao Shu-rong, School of Political Science and Public Administration, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), P.R. China

Conference Executive Chairpersons

Professor Samuel Adams, Acting Rector, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Ghana

Professor Rosemond Boohene, Dean, Centre for International Education, University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana

Associate Professor Charity Sylvia Akotia, Dean of School of Social Sciences, College of Humanities of University of Ghana (UG), Ghana

Academic Committee Chairpersons

Thomas H. Stanton, Past President of the Association for Federal Enterprise Risk Management (AFERM) and Fellow of Johns Hopkins University, USA

Professor Zhou Zhiren, Secretary of the Party committee of School of Government (2012-2016), Peking University, P.R. China

Professor Zhu Xiaoning, Dean of School of Political Science and Public Administration (2002-2016), University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC), P.R. China

The 12^th ICPA will select and recommend the best papers for publication in one of the following journals subject to blind reviews：

Public Administration Review (PAR)—the best paper that focuses on identifying and analyzing current public administration trends in theory and practice.

Chinese Public Administration—the best paper that focuses on international comparative study.

Chinese Public Administration Review (CPAR)—the best paper that focuses on public administration and public policy topics with significant theoretical and practical implications.