Preface

A meeting of International Public Management Network members in Siena, Italy in 1997 introduced the opportunity to convene an IPMN conference in Sydney in 2000. It may have been easy for the host to whom the proposal was made, James Guthrie, to support the idea. However, in the intervening period a number of individuals and organizations would contribute significant time and resources to make the event actually happen. In addition, given the expectation that many members of IPMN journeying to Sydney would enjoy the chance to learn more about New Zealand as well as Australia, IPMN extended an invitation to Rob Laking, Director of the Public Management Programme at Victoria University of Wellington, to co-host a workshop to follow the conference in Sydney. Through the efforts of many, the Sydney IPMN Conference was held on March 4–6, 2000, ably hosted by Professors James Guthrie and Peter Steane at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM), Macquarie University, and the New Zealand Workshop followed on March 10 in Wellington.

The conference featured plenary addresses by Professor Christopher Hood, London School of Economics and Political Science, Professor Jonathan Boston of Victoria University of Wellington and David Shand from the World Bank, and the presentation of more than two dozen papers based on research on a variety of topics and national settings, all related to the conference theme, “Learning From Experience with New Public Management”. A closing panel session provided conclusions relative to the theme and the paper presentations rendered by Professor Lawrence R. Jones, Naval Postgraduate School, Professor Hood and Professor Boston. The Wellington workshop was introduced by Rob Laking and featured presentations by high-level officials from the three key central agencies of New Zealand government and an academic critique on the theme learning from public sector reform in New Zealand.

It would not have been possible to publish this book comprised of the conference and workshop papers without the support and commitment of a good many colleagues, associates, friends and family. In the first instance, we would like to express our thanks to the organizations that supported the events. Macquarie University provided conference financial support and a research grant for one of the international speakers. Macquarie Graduate School of Management provided staff assistance essential to hosting the conference. In particular, we want to thank Michelle Garcia at MGSM for her administrative skill and initiative in making sure that all the conference activities and events were indeed very special. The Public Management Programme at Victoria University of Wellington provided financial and very much appreciated staff support for the workshop. Financial assistance also was provided by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command through support for the Wagner Chair in Public Management at the Naval Postgraduate School.

In addition, thanks go out to all conference and workshop attendees who presented papers, participated in the dialogue, and listened patiently. Their devotion of intellectual energy, creativity and initiative in examining evidence and arguments, and in attempting to generate new ideas through the progression of presentations and discussion, contributed to an excellent sharing of knowledge among a leading group of public management scholars and practitioners. And the work didn’t end when these events were over. The thirty-one chapters in the two-part volume of this book include the works of forty-two authors. All performed within publication deadlines and many responded with encouragement to tough editorial advice on rewriting of conference papers.

We would like to thank the many colleagues that we have encountered through IPMN sponsored events and other public management conferences over the past decade. Without the support and creativity of this growing international network of scholars, we would not be able to sustain our enthusiasm in efforts to understand the various and puzzling facets of public sector management reform around the globe.

Finally, please note acknowledgement that earlier versions of chapters in this book by Boston, Gill, Gregory, Kibblewhite, Laking, Neale and Anderson, and Scott were published in the International Public Management Journal, volume 3, number 1, 2000, and that earlier versions of chapters by Jensen, Jones and Mussari, Kelly and Wanna, Putterill and Speer, Roberts, Schedler, and Wescott were published in the International Public Management Review, volume 1, number 1, 2000.

Lawrence R. Jones

Monterey, California

James Guthrie

Sydney, Australia

Peter Steane

Sydney, Australia