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Examines the relationships and problems that exist between the theory and practice of human resource development in the public sector. Aims at enhancing the capability of human resource management systems to adapt and respond proactively to a constantly changing environment in the 1990s and beyond. Identifies and analyses the evolution and development of human resource management systems in the Barbados public sector with special reference to the role of the personnel agencies, systemic as well as sectoral problems, policy/political constraints and the relationships between management capability and national development.

The paper discusses the balance between values and economic efficiency in the public sector in comparison with the private sector. The argument is that the public sector, hence the public welfare service institutions, can learn much from the private service sector, hence the private service firms with regard to the relation to values, ethics, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and efficiency in order to improve the balance between values and efficiency in the public sector.

The paper discusses the concept of balance in relation to the development of the management of private service companies as a useful alternative to new public management (NPM). It discusses this with regard to three issues: the evolution of the management of private companies; what can the public sector, hence the public welfare institutions, learn from the evolution of management of private companies? How would it be possible for governments to work for an alternative to NPM, on the basis of the experiences of management of private companies, improving the balance between values and economic efficiency in the public sector?

It is argued that a deadlock in the development of efficiency management in the public sector, hence in the public welfare service institutions, is created. It is argued, furthermore, that this deadlock to a great extent, paradoxically, is created because of the focusing on NPM for almost two decades as the most important tool to develop efficiency management in the public sector. Finally, it is argued that the experiences in private companies regarding how to find a proper balance between values, ethics, CSR and economic efficiency can be very helpful in developing a strategy within the public sector to unlock the deadlock regarding the development of efficiency management. That is why the experiences of management of the private services companies can become a constructive alternative to the experiences of NPM in the public sector at the level of welfare institutions.

There would be potential for more research on CSR, business ethics and values‐driven management in relation to the public sector.

The paper offers new insight into the relation between values, CSR and management models in the private and in the public sector.

This paper aims to analyse the state of performance management in the Portuguese public sector as part of the efforts towards public administration reform.

Theoretically, the authors took Bouckaert and Halligan's (2008, pp. 35–39) approach into consideration to analyse the adoption of performance management practices. This approach was supplemented by an adaptation of Pollitt and Bouckaert's (2011, p. 33) framework to analyse the context for administrative reforms. The used data analysis techniques include documentary analysis (namely legislation and evaluation reports of reform efforts), secondary data analysis and a survey conducted with 296 Portuguese top public managers.

The findings show that Portuguese public sector organisations adopted several tools to measure performance over the years, but failed to incorporate performance information into their management practices or to properly use it for either internal or external purposes. Concerning the ideal types proposed by Bouckaert and Halligan (2008, p. 36), Portugal is considered to fit the “performance administration” ideal type, even though it is moving closer to the “managements of performance” ideal type.

This is one of the first comprehensive studies on the state of performance management in Portugal framed within the broader context of public sector reforms. The findings will be of interest both to scholars who study public administration reforms and performance management and to Portuguese policy makers and public managers who are interested in understanding and improving the way performance information is measured, incorporated and used in that sector.

Since the 1980s, performance measurement and management (PMM) has been described as an essential element of new public management (NPM) reforms. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of the art and future research opportunities for PMM in public sector management.

The paper carried out a bibliometric literature review using two main techniques named (1) performance analysis and (2) science mapping techniques. It investigated the academic research area describing the main publications' trend, the conceptual structure and its evolution from 1996 to 2019.

The results highlighted the growing relevance of PMM research in public organisations and confirmed a great interest of the business, management and accounting literature on PMM in public sector management. Furthermore, the results also described a conceptual structure of the public PMM literature analysed and its evolution being too generic to answer public organisations' needs. The results identified five main research gaps and research opportunities.

Although the adoption of rigorous bibliometric techniques was recognised as being useful for assessing the academic research study, the paper describes the business, management and accounting literature contributing to new theoretical and practical future opportunities.

Performance management is the ‘Achilles heel’ of many reforms and public management practices and requires changes. Governance in general and co-production in particular impose an organizational setting which requires rethinking performance management, which is still conceptually embedded in New Public Management paradigm. This chapter builds on the latest co-production framework and service-dominant logic and outlines new challenges for rethinking performance measurement and management. It also discusses how public service design (PSD) may interact with them. As a result the need to shift between performance control loops has been emphasized, suggesting that service design may significantly support internal ex-nunc performance management. Although it should be facilitated in addressing some of the performance challenges, an outline of a framework for appropriate method has also been proposed.

It is a point of continuing debate whether the study of public administration can in any circumstances be graced by a disciplinary label. Rhodes (1996), for example, has argued that the study of British public administration was traditionally insular, dominated for a long period by an institutionalist tradition characterized by an interest in administrative engineering, but a distaste for theory. As Rhodes also observes, this position emphasized, albeit in a traditional sense, the political and ethical context of administration public administration existed within a wider framework of accountability relationships and political and moral responsibilities. We might add to this the way government and public administration was seen as linked within a framework of administrative law, which, while not formalized in the sense of continental Europe, was important.

Change in the public sector appears to be often met with practices borrowed from the private sector. However, implementing private sector practices is challenging (Brown, Waterhouse, & Flynn, 2003), as, for example, the range of stakeholders and their legitimate demands are greater in the public sector (Wæraas & Byrkjeflot, 2012; Leitch & Davenport, 2002), and due to the political nature of affairs, there is more complexity and uncertainty (Sanders & Canel, 2013). In fact, when it comes to change, the public sector can be very different from the private sector due to its often more bureaucratic processes, political nature of decisions and obligations for both transparency and equality.

This chapter focuses on three core areas of organisational change communication: organisational culture, employees and management. The chapter reports findings from a systematic literature review of articles from 1990 to 2016 using thematic analysis in order to answer three research questions: Is change in the public sector different from change in the private sector? What is the perceived role of communication for public sector change efforts? What insights can be found from previous literature about three topics connected with change communication: employees, organisational culture and management?

To begin, we ask whether it is actually true that public sector change differs from private sector change. Then we will examine the results of the literature review on each of these three aspects: (1) organisational culture, (2) public sector employees and (3) change management. We will summarise our findings and will conclude with three propositions for future studies on public sector change communication, which all highlight the rising importance of engagement.

Purpose – This study focuses on the relationship between local governments and public sector joint ventures (JVs). Public sector JVs are separate administrative entities that undertake public service activities on behalf of local governments. The aim of this study is to examine the vertical management control packages that are used by local governments to control the relationship with their public sector JVs.

Design/methodology/approach – Two case studies have been conducted in two public sector JVs, owned jointly by more than 20 local governments. The analysis of the two cases is informed by an integrated conceptual framework describing how transactional and relational factors influence control, trust, and risk in the context of public sector JVs.

Findings – The case studies provide a nuanced understanding of the interplay between the vertical management control packages, trust between the parents and the public sector JVs, and risks as perceived by the local governments. The case findings not only reveal how local governments struggle with adequate outcome control but also highlight how and why they rely on behavioral control. A related finding is that while the probability of poor business performance does not have a significant impact on the design of the vertical control packages, the social impact of failure has the potential to create a sense of urgency with regard to changes in the design of vertical management control packages.

Originality/value – This study adds to the literature on interorganizational relationships by providing insight into the use of vertical management control packages in the specific, but relevant, setting of public sector JVs.

The purpose of this chapter is to consider a public value(s) approach as a response to the challenges besetting public management and to investigate the implications of such an approach for management education.

The chapter investigates the concepts of public value and public values and their influence on the norms and practices of public management. It then focuses on the way in which management education has responded to a changing context resulting in innovation and realignment in order to enable public managers to espouse public values and achieve public value. The chapter concludes by exploring the philosophical and practical impact of a public value(s) approach in mid-career public management education.

A public value(s) approach provides not only a relevant discursive framework for public managers but also an appropriate mode of management for the changeable context in which they work. This changes their expectations of mid-career education and influences programme content and pedagogy, enabling innovation and experimentation.

The chapter identifies and analyses the benefits, outcomes and challenges of the public values(s) approach in the mid-career classroom.