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New managerialism and Australian police organizations: A cautionary research note

Margaret H. Vickers (Graduate School of Management, University of Western Sydney, Richmond, New South Wales, Australia)
Alexander Kouzmin (School of Management, Cranfield University, UK)

International Journal of Public Sector Management

ISSN: 0951-3558

Article publication date: 1 February 2001

2658

Abstract

Fundamental “purposes” of Australian police organizations are examined, not with a view to solving the complex and ongoing question of an accountable police mandate, but to consider the difficulty of its reconciliation with the new managerialism sweeping numerous public organizations in Australia – police organizations included. Briefly explores the purposes of policing and a problematic police culture as a lead in to a discussion on the possibly deleterious effects of new managerialism and its associated management faddism. Problems associated with the theory of managerialism, which police managers may not be aware of, are explored: managerialism and economic rationalism; management fads and tool tropism; managerialism as a thinly veiled control agenda; and the potential human costs to police officers arising from managerialist approaches. Suggestions are made for ways forward for police organizations which include a recognition of the down‐side of managerialism and a suggested shift away from a belief in a purely rationalistic organization to one which recognizes and accommodates an actor’s “voice” as a legitimate input to growth, learning and institutional development.

Keywords

Citation

Vickers, M.H. and Kouzmin, A. (2001), "New managerialism and Australian police organizations: A cautionary research note", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 7-26. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513550110387039

Publisher

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MCB UP Ltd

Copyright © 2001, MCB UP Limited

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