Implications of new public management and modernization on control: The case of an English regional probation service

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of new public management and modernization reform policies on control in the probation service.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper takes interpretivist, qualitative approach. It is based on ethnographic data, collected over a one‐year period in an English regional probation service. In the course of the fieldwork, 45 employees were interviewed. Data were also collected through participant observation and analysis of formal documents.

Findings

The paper suggests that new public management and modernization reform policies are interpreted by organizational actors as control mechanisms per se.

Originality/value

Findings can be relevant for understanding the “control” side of the reform policies in the public sector. To date those policies have been mainly considered as driven by change rather than by control.

Citation

Palermo, O.A., Cohen, L., Loan‐Clarke, J. and Mellahi, K. (2010), "Implications of new public management and modernization on control: The case of an English regional probation service", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 23 No. 6, pp. 535-548. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513551011069013