Public management: 30 years on
International Journal of Public Sector Management
ISSN: 0951-3558
Article publication date: 14 August 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a conceptual survey of transformation in the management of the public sector over the past 30 years.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper provides a comparison of the bureaucratic form of public administration with more flexible forms of public management.
Findings
The major change from an administrative model is that public managers are personally responsible for the delivery of results; from that starting point different countries have implemented reforms in their own way. The 30-year timeframe points to the need to reconceptualize ideas of New Public Management (NPM) argued here to have been unhelpful for understanding public management.
Originality/value
The importance of NPM has been exaggerated previously. The argument here is that public management includes an enduring set of reforms, NPM does not.
Keywords
Citation
Hughes, O. (2017), "Public management: 30 years on", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 30 No. 6-7, pp. 547-554. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-06-2017-0174
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited