Emerging and Potential Trends in Public Management: An Age of Austerity: Volume 1

There is an important intellectual and conceptual challenge for many of us working across the broad field of public sector management. Part of this challenge stems from the observation that there are three connected but separate profound policy and political changes taking place. Firstly, there is the impact of neo-liberalism as an ideological project and as a model(s) of managing national economies and social and welfare policy. We recognise that there are competing definitions of neo-liberalism and that we need to be careful about over-generalising its effect and its coherence. But, it does seem to us that by taking a longer term view we can see how the language and ideas of the primacy of markets and, in particular, markets in social and welfare policy have become dominant. This is not to say that in some places there is no resistance to these ideas and we can observe in the European Union how for a long time there was very explicit resistance to the ideas of the New Right. But the desire to weaken the role of the state as funder and provider of welfare services and the emergence of a counterview that markets and the privatisation of the welfare sector is the most appropriate choice is a demonstration of an ideological shift.

Purpose – The chapter provides a review of the debates about the discipline of public administration and public management as art, craft, and science. Thus, the chapter includes a conceptualization of public administration and a discussion of public administration and public management research, scholarship, and practice. The review of the discipline includes a historical perspective and contemporary debates of public administration, new public management (NPM), public sector management, and governance in order to discuss the future trajectories and trends of the discipline.

Design/Methodology/Approach – A range of historical, seminal, and recently published scholarly works are reviewed and discussed, including also an analysis based on primary and secondary research of journal databases, conference proceedings, academic schools, and websites relevant to the discipline.

Findings – The study of government in various guises – whether public administration, public management, governance, public policy – will continue to develop, evolve, and fascinate scholars and practitioners. There will be a continued interest and study of the business of government with three possible trends: (1) a narrow focus on technocratic, managerial approaches in an attempt to provide solutions for more effective and efficient government; (2) a multidisciplinary approach to addressing complex social problems or “wicked policy” problems across narrow specialized interests for “greater principles” of society; and (3) methodological pluralism in the study of government, which may add to the depth or fragmentation of the discipline.

Research limitations/Implications – The research is limited to a review with some primary and secondary research. It provides scholars and practitioners with the conceptualization of public administration, public management and governance. The chapter provides a critical perspective of the state of research and scholarship with an argument that academics need to move beyond parochial debates within the discipline and provide practitioners with empirically based solutions to increasingly complex social and “wicked policy” problems.

Practical implications – This chapter provides scholars, students, and practitioners with (1) a conceptual understanding of public administration, public management, NPM and governance; (2) a historical and contemporary perspective of the discipline; and (3) a critical perspective of research and scholarship that will provide a debate on the state of discipline.

Originality/Value – The chapter is a synthesis and review of the discipline in terms of research and scholarship drawing upon international perspectives to provide a critical debate for scholars and practitioners.

Purpose – The primary purpose of this chapter is to explore the potential implications of the 2008 banking crisis for university business and management schools and to reflect upon the organizational and pedagogic possibilities highlighted by the changes discussed.

Design/Approach – The chapter draws upon an extensive literature review.

Findings – The chapter argues that the crisis has long-term, profound implications for practitioners, policymakers, and political elites as well as those working in higher education business and management education. The authors suggest that these changes have yet to be clearly understood or appreciated across the sector and that they represent a severe test for elites working in universities.

Research implications – The chapter describes a possible organizational model for business schools and explores a different paradigm for public management education in universities.

Originality – The chapter is intentionally speculative.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to consider “equality mainstreaming” as an international policy and to explore some of the implications this raises for public management.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The methodology is based on literature review looking at the way gender mainstreaming practices have developed a wider application to equality mainstreaming. Examining the relationship between mainstreaming and evidence-based management, it comments on the challenges this poses for public management.

Findings – Equality mainstreaming and its implications have been largely absent from public management discourse despite the growth of equality mainstreaming in international policy.

Research limitations/Implications – Research in public management should address mainstreaming and its potential for social change.

Practical implications – This chapter brings this issue to the forefront in an effort to engage academics and public managers.

Social implications – This chapter raises theoretical questions about mainstreaming and social change in favor of equality. It is a starting point for further research on public management as a tool for shifting organizational and societal values.

Originality/Value – The chapter provides an overview of previous literature and policy development in this area and then moves on to explore the implications of extending mainstreaming as a concept to other policy areas and examines both challenges and opportunities raised by this approach for the management of values in public services.

Purpose – This chapter aims to provide an overview of public administration practices in Brazil for the last 200 years, highlighting its main characteristics and the relationship between state and society. The chapter begins with the arrival of the Portuguese Crown in Brazil in 1808 and describes the main events up to the end of the President Lula's period of government.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The ideas presented in this essay originate from a review of extant literature as well as from the testimony of the authors who have researched and participated as active actors in the process in the last 20 years.

Practical implications – A source of information for those studying the evolution of the Brazilian public administration. The essay presents several phases of how political ideology has influenced public services delivery, pinpointing the impact of patrimonialism, bureaucracy, and managerialism on the government's daily activities.

Originality/Value – This is an original chapter that discusses recent Brazilian political and administrative history in order to ascertain a comprehensive picture of the main events and achievements that have led to the current state of affairs. The chapter is a valuable source of reference for analysis of the different periods of public administration in Brazil.

Purpose – This chapter addresses a range of questions about public management reform in ‘Napoleonic’ administrative systems. It starts by addressing the descriptive question about what trajectories of reform occurred, and then explores what has been the fundamental stance toward new public management (NPM) (rejected, imported and implemented, or filtered and translated). I also discuss how reforms have changed the relative power base and role interpretation of the main actors in public management reform, and analyze the strategic approaches employed toward the reform of public management in these countries. Finally, I assess some key strategic alternatives for policy-makers as regards the reform of public management in the face of the long-term effects of the fiscal crisis that has struck these countries since 2010.

Design/Methodology/Approach – This chapter is based on a combination of literature reviews and opinions from the experts in the field who are surveyed – selected experts are all renowned scholars or leading practitioners, knowledgeable of public sector reform in the countries subject to investigation.

Findings – The chapter concludes that NPM-inspired reforms have to some extent been attempted; particularly, the role of tenured officials seems to have changed substantially, especially in their relationship with elected officials. However, NPM doctrines have been mainly filtered and translated into the local politico-administrative dynamics and codes of interpretation, and quite often they have been hollowed out. Particularly, the role of tenured officials seems to have changed substantially, especially in their relationship with elected officials. In terms of strategic approaches, there seems to have been much “maintaining” and some “modernizing,” although with important differences between countries (Italy being an especially difficult case to classify). The fiscal crisis and the changes in European governance might lead to a profoundly different state of affairs in which the interconnection between changes in European Union (EU) governance and public sector reform might become more closely interconnected than they used to be.

Research limitations/Implications – The contribution is mainly speculative, and urges for empirical research to be undertaken, particularly on the issue of the interconnection between changes in EU governance and public sector reform.

Originality/Value – The contribution provides a distinctive and critical perspective on public sector reform in an underinvestigated cluster of countries.

Purpose – This chapter reviews the approaches to the decentralization of services and the devolution of decision-making to local structures outlined by the New Labour government in the United Kingdom. The chapter draws upon earlier attempts by Town Halls in urban areas to introduce new forms of governance and decision-making as a way of providing a context to New Labour's plans.

Methodology/Approach – The chapter provides a detailed review and analysis of the literature and discusses the different models of governance and concepts of power and uses this analysis to identify 10 key lessons for policymakers.

Findings – The 10 key lessons for policymakers and practitioners that are identified and discussed include the role of local political leaders; the convergence of political and managerial leadership; defining the level and pace of community participation; and stressing the importance of continual training, learning, and evaluation.

Research implications – The chapter sets out a possible framework for review, research, and evaluation including cultural change, civil renewal, policy connectivity, and commitment and pace of change. The chapter defines these terms and the terms offer a way of looking at different initiatives and approaches at the level of City Hall.

Originality/Value of the chapter – The chapter sets the framework for a conceptual and empirical study of different approaches to double devolution within the United Kingdom and also outside of it.

Purpose – To provide a select perspective from India in terms of its Civil Services, leadership, and its unique challenges.

Design/Methodology/Approach – This chapter features an interview with L. V. Saptharishi, Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. The interview was conducted under the aegis of the GLOBE project (Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour Effectiveness Research Programme).

Findings – Being a developing country and an emerging economic power, India has a set of unique challenges in the form of setting up agile organizational systems, policy formulation, and implementation. The new approach that has emerged is debureaucratizing the institutions, improving quality, market focus, and value addition.

Research limitations/Implications – This is not an exhaustive chapter as it is based on a single interview.

Practical implications – This is a unique piece as it focuses on the unique experiences of an important bureaucrat from India.

Originality/Value – This chapter is helpful for academicians and practitioners alike to understand the business- and leadership-related issues in India, particularly from a bureaucrat's point of view. This is an original piece of work.

Purpose – This chapter looks fundamentally at public management reform in Australia since the early 1980s within an international context.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The approach of this chapter is historical and theoretical, tracing the change from traditional public administration to public management in one country.

Findings – It is principally concluded that, unlike the experience in many countries, public management reform has generally worked well in Australia. However, where to go next is more problematic. The society seems to have lost an appetite for further change, but the public services are still being pressured to deliver more and more efficiency a verity that is rather relentless.

Originality/Value – The majority of previous studies have been highly critical of public management reform. This study shows that in a specific context real reform can be delivered.

Purpose – This chapter argues that “Partnership Learning to learn” across different disciplinary and professional boundaries is integral to good practice and is necessary in order to promote and to support multidisciplinary practice and education.

Design/Methodology – The chapter draws upon empirical data collected as part of a research project based at Liverpool Hope University (United Kingdom) and previous work undertaken by the authors.

Findings – This chapter explores the models of leadership associated with good or promising collaboration. It suggests that this is likely to include an explicit understanding of the rationale, its role, and purpose; that debate and opposition are encouraged; and that space and time are created to facilitate structured conversations. Finally, a model of engaging with collaborative inquiry needs to be systematically developed.

Research implications – The chapter argues that this model offers insights into how good teacher education and professional development across different settings and disciplines can be promoted. In this chapter, the authors argue that working across boundaries is defined as involving academics, teachers, “experts,” and students.

Practical implications – The chapter suggests that this model of collaborative inquiry and practice has significant implications for how we might model our approach to professional and practitioner education and learning across different professional settings and boundaries.

Originality – The chapter draws upon existing and ongoing development work that has implications for holistic change within organizations.

There is a central theme to this collection of essays and reflections, which is that we are in a period of profound and significant change. And whilst some elements of this period of change derive from the instability of the financial and banking sectors, there is a more important set of changes taking place. We think that these changes open the possibility of imagining an alternative to the market-based relationships of the past 30 years. We have characterised these relationships as ones which reflect the dominant ideology of neo-liberalism and that within advanced capitalist economies these relationships have determined social, welfare and public policy decisions. And a key part of this has been the dominance of a different discourse on the nature of civil society, the relationship between the individual, the market and the state, and that, as a consequence, the role of public agencies and institutions as a crude welfare safety net has been undermined over time. The crash of 2008, we suggest, had a profoundly destabilising impact on this social/political settlement. It appears to have accelerated the rush towards market-led solutions and the retreat of the ‘public’ from within public conversation.