Strategic Management in Public Services Organizations sets out to connect two traditionally disparate academic literatures of public services management and strategic management. The authors argue that some schools of strategic management are now of enhanced relevance for contemporary public services organizations, especially when considering the successive New Public Management reforms. This initial observation has important consequences for the requisite work practices, skills and knowledge bases of current public managers, as they will be increasingly asked to act as strategic as well as operational managers.
Strategic Management in Public Services Organizations takes a strongly comparative and international perspective addressing the fundamental issue of strategic management within diverse public administrative traditions. The impact of strategic management on the performance of public agencies is examined and it is argued that the appropriate use of strategic management models depends on the politico administrative and the cultural context of where the public services organization operates; concluding that there is no one simple best way to strategically lead public organizations.
This is an advanced textbook aimed at the postgraduate level, particularly students on MPAs and MBAs with a Public Sector option or MScs in Public Policy and Public Sector Management.