Public agencies in the UK and elsewhere are increasingly required to set outcome targets as a strategy for improving their services. A crucial element of this 'results orientation' is a clear definition of the desired outcomes and a specification of appropriate performance indicators. A recent...

A unique longitudinal study of Britain's managers conducted in 1980, 1990 and 2000 permits comparisons of managerial attitudes and behaviour in industrial relations over twenty years. We find clear evidence of the relationship between macro-level political and economic movements of the period...

Innovation is a central part of the UK Government's programme to improve public services. However, there is little evidence on how innovation is managed in public service organizations. Drawing upon theories of the management of innovation and longitudinal case studies, this article demonstrates...

ABSTRACTThis article offers an exploratory and descriptive analysis of the characteristics of inter‐disciplinary sustainability studies (ISSs). The paper explores the academic and disciplinary nature of inter‐disciplinary inquiry and studies themes, imperatives and methodologies, together...

Bibliographic methods offer an advanced microscope-like tool to probe specific fields of inquiry. In this article, we use these methodological tools to demonstrate how a seminal article diffused and influenced the intellectual structure of the public administration (PA) field. We do this by...

This document presents the views of the participants of a two day workshop discussing the future of red tape research. To the greatest extent possible, the authors have tried to accurately represent the consensus view that emerged. But as is in any discourse of a moderately large number of...

We extend the theory of government agency survival from separation of powers to parliamentary government systems. We suggest that agencies are at increased risk following a transition in government, prime minister, or departmental minister and in cases where the actors in the political executive...

The authors report the results of the first quantitative study of senior management turnover in English local authorities. Consistent with existing management theory, rates of executive succession were found to be higher in an adverse external environment, and where organizational performance is...

Problems of public service 'failure' are high on the political agenda in the UK, and many national and local organizations are searching for effective turnaround strategies. Although little research on turnaround in the public sector has been undertaken, there is a substantial number of studies...