The Public

Introduction In its quest to deliver to the public and reduce cost, Ontario province has had a series of Public-private partnerships programs over the years. These projects have shown tremendous success in areas mandated to attend.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Public-Private Partnership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In these arrangements, privately owned companies are contracted to carry out projects for the provincial government. In the whole of Canada, over 100 Public-Private Participation transactions have occurred in the last 20 years. To establish the extent of experience in public-private participation in Ontario, SuperBuild initiative is critically analyzed. A few years ago Ontario’s provincial government launched SuperBuild initiative in its budget which targeted infrastructural improvements. The SuperBuild program emphasized private public partnership as the basis of its success . The partnership targeted private sector, broader public and authorities such as municipalities, universities and other government institutions in the province. The initiative was planned to take a period of five years costing at least $ 20 billion. To finance the project, Ontario’s provincial government invested $ ten billion while private sector and other partners contributed additional $ 10 billion within a period of five years. Main priorities for the SuperBuild project were to improve hospitals and healthcare centers, schools, water, transportation infrastructure and environmental protection projects. Ontario SuperBuild Corporation was mandated by provincial government to perform all duties concerning these projects. Some of its duties included capital planning and policy development, evaluating and recommending necessary changes, develop strategies and report publicly on SuperBuild investment Priorities, plans and results.Advertising Looking for research paper on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Membership of the cooperation was drawn from private and public sectors in a bid to make it inclusive (Ontario SuperBuild, 2011). Infrastructure Ontario was established by an act of parliament in 2005 to fast-track the projects. To ensure success of Public–private partnership, some guidelines were put in place. These guidelines have been in used for the infrastructure projects in Ontario to ensure certain thresholds are met (Murphy, 2008). The same guidelines have been used in other projects. The Public-Private Partnership (P3s) Approach Ontario’s infrastructure is worth close to $ 200 billion. About half is owned by public while the remaining half is owned by private organizations. All of them are publicly regulated. Even though the infrastructure is thought to be sufficient, there has been need to expand, improve and manage them to ensure that they serve their purposes as intended. Roads, railways, waterways, hospitals and technological infrastructure require maintenance and improvements. The level of investment at the time was not enough to satisfy current and future needs of the province. With the need to have a long term planning and financial innovation, Public-Private partnership was the most convenient initiative which could be successfully supported by SuperBuild to achieve its goals (Ontario SuperBuild, 2011). P3 approach includes service or management contracts, design-build construction projects, design-build-operate transfer concessions, design-build-own-finance-transfer concession and/or divestiture.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on The Public-Private Partnership specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Benefits of P3s Benefits of public-private partnerships in Ontario includes risk sharing, improving service levels, reducing cost and improving revenue, gaining access to new sources of capitals, gaining access to better skills, realizing value of under-utilized assets and realizing economic-development opportunities. To undertake Public-Private Participation in Ontario, three considerations are made. These considerations are vital to the success of Public-Private Participation. The first is political considerations. This is the climate which the projects are evaluated, financed and their benefits to the public are realized. Another consideration is the climate which ensures that public must maintain ownership and determine priorities of the project. The final consideration is the climate under which disputes are resolved (Ontario SuperBuild, 2011). Procurement and implementation generate numerous disputes which require arbitration. Distribution of responsibilities is based on which party is best suited to play which role. These considerations must be in place to avoid political representation in the project. Use of digitalization has enhanced tr ansparency in government dealings and political landscape in Canadian system. Members of public are encouraged to air their views on prevailing public debates. Internet use has been a key contributor to public participation in issues being debated in Ontario (Dutil et al., 2010). Establishment of Criteria The criterion which has been used in Ontario to select a viable project over the years has been a series. It involves:Advertising Looking for research paper on government? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Financial terms which are acceptable to both the government and private sector that must be used to carry out projects to completion. Technical solutions to carry out the project must be available through Public-Private Participation. Operational- if there are hurdles associated with operations which might hinders full implementation of the project in question. If the project will be accepted by public. Implementation- that there are no barriers to carrying out the project. Timing –if there are possible constrains which can pre-empt P3 procurements. The decision to build Brampton Civic Hospital was made in 1996 by the Health Services Restructuring Commission using the above criterion. The criterion was not entirely followed but was later reviewed by Infrastructure Ontario (IO) to be used in subsequent projects. There were changes in leadership which affected the initial implementation of the project. The election of supportive government was the main advantage into the impl ementation of this project that was proposed several years earlier (Loxley and Loxley, 2010). Implementation and operations challenges Most project in P3 fail because of poor procurement which results in flaws in implementation and operational challenges. Procurement Principles In Ontario, appropriate strike between value and fairness is a vital requirement in successful design and implementation of procurement process. Most private organization want to maximize monetary gains while public want fairness and value for money from the process (Dutil et al., 2010). Principles have been developed to guide the process and ensure that all bidders have equal opportunities and sufficient information is disclosed. It also ensures that evaluation process is established before bidding process begins and pre-established evaluation process is followed. The main principles are to ensure that public policies are established and communicated before Request for Proposal is issued and identify public policy trade-offs to be made. Public policies are made in private while perspectives of public sector and potential bidders are addressed. Appropriate responses to significant labour-force issues are developed and a fair Public-private participation procurement process is designed. ‘Value for money’ is established, confidentiality of public and private partnership is maintained and bidders are provided with full and plain disclosure, enhancing staff functions by retaining consultants. Project Organization Organized responsibility structure and approval process is used in projects. This is because of the large number of people involved in these processes. Some particular responsibilities and practices procedure are used in Ontario to ensure fairness and quality of product. The roles of staff include functions in teams like Project Team, Evaluation Team, Due-Diligence Team, Steering Committee, Process Auditor, Executive (cabinet, municipal councils, school and hospital bo ards, etc.) and Ongoing Management. Project Plan Objectives and scopes of projects are explained to relevant parties before a process of selecting partner is started. Projects team engage in debates of various tradeoffs and constrains of the projects to define clearly the objectives, goals and requirements of each project. (Ontario SuperBuild, 2011). The project team will make consultation with management, outside experts, and other stakeholders to deliberate these issues in details. A Public-private participation project plan undergoes four phases which include scoping the project, selection process, negotiations, implementation and operation. Project Scope The project scope is defined at the beginning of the project. The scope is defined in respect to Financial, Technical, Operational, Acceptability, Implementation and Timing (Ontario SuperBuild, 2011). Selection Process Selection process is developed and documented after project scope is established. Project team comes up with a plan to start the process. This will ensure that the best partner is selected and minimum challenges are expected from public and other organizations. Tailored process must be used basing on the nature (scope) of the project. (Ontario, SuperBuild, 2011). Negotiations A majority of organizations in Ontario maximize the use of strategy in procurement process and negotiate later during final agreement. They eventually lose because they do not want any reverse of the won bids. The one who succeed in negotiations is bidder who offers the best financial price for a project (Ontario SuperBuild, 2011). Sometimes negotiations are customized to suit the project in question. In ensuring successful negotiations, it is necessary to use a project team which is empowered and ready to walk away from a bad offer. The commitments made must be measurable and appropriate proponents perspectives are addressed. Implementation and Operations In Private-Public participation, private contractor is not paid until a substantial amount of work has been completed. This accelerates construction and completion of a project (Murphy, 2008). Delayed deliveries can result in penalties. This has made most of the private contractors to deliver on-time and on-budget. However, Private sector can back-track commitments made during negotiations or sometimes ignore the agreements during implementation process. Since public sector is poor in contract administration, it is required to sort off implementation issues at different phases of project which includes development/construction, operations, at the end of term. It is important that successful bidders are monitored, procedure is followed and commitment is delivered. However, development or construction administration in Private-public participation can be ambiguous and difficult. The cost of construction changed several times during the time of construction of Brampton Civic Hospital. According to Barrows and others (2011), the total change amounte d to 13% overrun with respect to government estimates by the end of the project. After completion, the hospital had a capacity of 479 funded beds in December 2007. When shifting operations from the old hospital to the new facility, two deaths of patients were reported resulting in a public uproar. There were claims that there was shortage of staff and patients had to wait for long before being attended to. Public-private participation arrangement was blamed for the situation. This was rectified after some time (Barrows et al. 2011), Conclusion Different views have been given concerning Public-private participation in Ontario and other places in Canada and around the world. Despite numerous inconsistencies in its delivery of services and goods, it has benefits. According to Loxley and Loxley (2010), with view of numerous projects undertaken under Public-Private partnership, majority of them have not delivered results as intended. To make these conclusions, the two examined projects w hich included schools, hospitals, water treatment plants and service oriented projects. It is thought that P3s projects save a lot of money because of risk being transferred to contractor. However, Loxley and Loxley found out that most contractors undertaking the projects finally use more money than if they had been undertaken by government. This was clearly portrayed by Brampton Civic Hospital project with 13% increase in cost (Barrows et al. 2011), Service oriented projects under public-private participation finally provide poor services to clients and public. They believe that if public servants provided these services or built the facilities in question, the quality would have improved while cost reduces. Accounting by government officials are misleading with the aim of making the projects look palatable which is not the case in the real sense. This is attributed to hidden interests between government officials and private operators. Costs are inflated with the aim of making mor e money from public coffers. These results in unrealistic profits recorded by private operators or contractors (Loxley and Loxley, 2010). Success of private-public participation can be measured and determined if proper mechanisms are put in place. Delivering of good services to the public can only be improved through Public-private partnerships because government does not have the capacity to undertake all projects (Dutil et al. 2010). Service culture can be built through cooperation between public, private sector and general public. With the use of internet becoming common, basic public participation in political and other decisions are enhanced. Public involvement in political decisions may increase service delivery especially in politically determined services. In Ontario, public-private participation has recorded success in both service and infrastructural sectors. Several projects undertaken under public-private partnership participations are completed and workings with few dis crepancies being recorded. Water, health, educational and several other sectors have benefitted from Public-private participation in Ontario. Although initial projects carried out under P3 recorded a few technical and operational problems, subsequent projects were better. Use of Public-private participation in future needs improvements both in organization and accountability to realize optimum benefits. Recommendations According to Barrows and others (2011), Brampton Civic Hospital project was a pilot P3 project undertaken when government employees and members of public had little experience with Public-private participation. Therefore, to counter political rhetoric, there should be a clear communication plan since P3 is a new model in Ontario and other places. Community management (including unique needs) should be improved to counter accusations after full implementation of projects. Methods for managing risks should be improved and followed effectively. Risk management and estima te should be given to knowledgeable and experienced participants to effectively transfer and assess risks. Generic risks associated with Policy, Design and Construction, and Maintenance and operations must be reviewed and improved. Since P3 is growing, people need to be educated on its working, purpose and their roles. This will improve procurements and implementation of future projects. There is need for holistic design in e-government structure and means of airing views by public (Dutil et al. 2007). Innovation in this section must involve both government and other stakeholders in its design. This must include responsibilities of employees in public sector in enhancing relationship with the government, capacities of private sector in both reforms and ongoing relational capacities and broadening participation from the current number to involve majority members of public. Works Cited Barrows, David, Ian Macdonald, Atipol Supapol, Olivia Dalton-Jez, and Simone Harvey-Rioux. â€Å"Pu blic Private Partnerships in Canadian Healthcare A Case Study of the Brampton Civic Hospital.† OECD 3. (2011): 55-140. Dutil, Patrice, Cosmo Howard, John Langford, and Jeffrey Roy. â€Å"Rethinking Government-Public Relationships in a Digital World.† Journal of Information Technology Politics 4.1, (2007): 77- 90. Dutil, Patrice, Cosmo Howard, John Langford, and Jeffrey Roy. The Service State Rhetoric, Reality and Promise. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2010. Print. Loxley, John and Salim Loxley. Public Service Private Profits. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Fernwood Publishing, 2010. Print. Murphy, Timothy J. â€Å"The Case for Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure.† Canadian Public Administration 51.1 (2008): 99-126. Ontario, SuperBuild 2011, A Guide to Public-Private Partnerships for Infrastructure Projects. PDF file. Web. This research paper on The Public-Private Partnership was written and submitted by user Kamille Crosby to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

How To Revise A Novel A Step-by-Step Guide

How To Revise A Novel A Step-by-Step Guide How To Revise A Novel: Taking Your Manuscript From Scruffy To Spliffy Last updated: 2017/07/11A week after NaNoWriMo, it is time for you to go back to your novel and ruthlessly revise it. To help you with that, we asked our specialist developmental editor Maria D’Marco to share her top tips on how to revise a novel. Follow them and you might be able to turn your first draft into material worthy of submission.The first thing to keep in mind once you have finished your first draft is that the writing process is not over. You have to accept that creating ever-improving iterations of your manuscript takes time. Your goal here is not perfection (you’ll have to work with a pro editor to get there), it is balance; so do not get hung up on minutiae and work quickly through your drafts.How to revise a novel in 9 key stagesThere is one underlying concept that should drive your revision process: the foundation of Continuity and Relationships, or how everything relates to every other thing in the story.Of course, you shouldn’t try to tackle ev erything at once; instead you should avoid mind-boggle by approaching your re-writes progressively, stage-by-stage.Share this infographic! Click below  to tweet about it or Pin it on your board 🙂 The first 4 stages of the revision process are primarily developmental and should be tackled as individual reviews and re-writes. Each stage will potentially represent a new iteration of the draft. A novice author should expect to perform at least 3 total revisions of their manuscript, before moving into the writing reviews (the last 2 stages). Character reviews are the most time-intensive, deservedly so.Time LineAs the author, you have a running timeline or chronology for your story. It is vital to remember that the reader is not privy to this timeline until you share it with them. Do not leave them to their own devices! This is your story- lead the way!Again, consistency is your gate-keeper, so your revision must ensure that your time line makes sense, supports the story, and has no "whaaa?" factors. You can also check for innovative ways to introduce your time line, which may enlighten as to the time of day, day of the week, month, year, season, etc. Using well-known events can es tablish multiple time points, as well as having a character who is a bit (or very) obsessed with time and checks watches and clocks regularly.CharactersYou have an intimate knowledge of all your characters- well, most likely anyway. To capture their essence on the page and ensure continuity, follow each character through the entire manuscript. Do their actions make sense? Do they contribute to every scene they occupy? Do they elicit emotion? Do they create a turn in the plot (however small)? Are they clichà ©? Does their dialogue add to the scene or the progression of the story?Each character must have a purpose to the story, so perform your revision by 'seeing' the story through their eyes and enriching their interactions, actions, and dialogue as you go.Environments ScenesYou 'see' the environment of every scene vividly, but have you created that vivid environment for the reader? You know the season, the time of day, the placement of each character (plus their mindset importanc e to the scene) within the scene, what the character is wearing, how the action will progress within the scene, etc.As you revise, is every environment and scene written to engage the reader's imagination? And are they imagining what you want and need them to imagine?From worldbuilding to a space the character only occupies for a moment, you must scrutinize each environmental element for opportunities to enrich your story and build a stronger draft.Transitions PacingThese are related elements that can be sticky to refine. The need to identify any lack of consistency in the movement of the story is the goal.Transitions, whether paragraph breaks, chapter breaks, or scene changes are finessed partitions that conclude or leave things hanging and set up or anticipate moves within the story. Transitions can come at the end of a paragraph, chapter, or scene, but can also occur at other times, particularly as set up or anticipatory dialogue or 'hint dropping'.Pacing ties to transitions, as well as to types of scenes, and can keep readers breathless and excited, bored to tears, or precariously tormented between the two. It is the engagement factor that determines the rate at which your story is absorbed. Some refer to pacing as 'flow', not to be confused with 'readability', which refers to comprehension.Revise your story transitions, re-writing to improve focus and positioning, while cementing pivotal transitions that function as story turning points. A 'log' of transitions can help track the movement of the story. This same log can be a complementary tool in your pacing review, allowing you to further indentify and re-write material to support story continuity.Assumed KnowledgeThis is, to me, the greatest pitfall in authoring any novel- or any other type of writing. We have a wealth of knowledge about our book, from personal experience and observations to careful research. We have saturated our minds with endless details, as well as visions of our story, characters, and environments. We then write from that empowered position; and often, assumption of knowledge skewers our story.In every revision, along with the foundation of continuity and relationships, be mindful of assumed knowledge. Shore up the information presented to the reader when necessary so the reader can experience your story from your deeper perspective.Sentence Starts StructuresStrictly a writing review, with the objective of exposing repetitive writing habits. Such habits can dramatically affect your story, as they eventually become predictable to the reader, which then makes them aware of you, the author, instead of your story.Everyone has writing habits. They are tied to our accustomed way of communicating. Some are so ingrained that they become known as our 'style'.This revision isn't meant to dilute your style, your special voice, or any other uniqueness in your writing. Instead, you will be checking for unimaginative sentence starts, obtuse or convoluted sentence structur es, and repetitive phrases or words or use of character names, among other things.Continuity isn't bettered by starting nearly every sentence with a pronoun or a character's name. Combining related concepts in a complex sentence can enrich a transition or deepen emoting. Creating 40-50 word sentences that over-explain, confuse, or present concepts at cross-purposes can tire a reader and even cause them to abandon your story.Identify when, where, and if these lame or aggravating writing habits appear in your story, and then re-write to strengthen your story.DialogueYou probably can envision most of the conversations held between your characters, but have you framed these conversations in an engaging way, avoided using actions or reactions as dialogue tags (we can grimace, but cannot 'grimace' words), or ensured that a conversation actually contributes to the story?Once again, continuity and the relationship of dialogue to the scene and story should guide you in your revision and re-w rites. Consider the entirety of the scene, what it is meant to accomplish, and if the dialogue promotes that goal. Does the dialogue expand and deepen the understanding of the story, the characters, and the relationships between all?An additional review aspect is to identify any instances where dialogue is used as an info-dump, back-story or otherwise. Determine if that material is better presented as narrative. Dialogue that informs is fine, as long as it is the most appropriate and powerful way to present the information.Are you looking for more advice on how to revise your novel? Check out some of our  other editors' advice on the Kobo blog.Of course, nothing trumps working with editing professionals. And we happen to have the best ones (like Maria) on Reedsy, so check out our marketplace here.