Purpose – The article seeks to argue for an engaged civil service to foster a vibrant citizenry, essential in and of itself to sustain democracy especially during a time of turmoil. Design/methodology/approach – The article is based on an extensive review of the literature. Findings –...

There has been a surge in interest in public management development in the 1980s. Countries that had no management development programmes introduced new ones, while countries already having such programmes made far‐reaching changes to them. Initiatives have been costly precisely at a time when...

Argues that user involvement can provide the best basis for reforming the internal and external relationships of local government, supporting both the reinvigoration of public accountability and providing the only secure foundation for improvements in operational effectiveness. Considers and...

Ways in which work in the civil service is controlled are examined. A matrix of staff control procedures is outlined on the basis of their function: direct, detect, correct and motivate; and their impact: impersonal or personal. The role of the line manager as controller is then considered.

Competency management has become a new trend in the public sector. There is some doubt, however, if competency management is really something new or whether it is just old wine in new bottles. Academics seem to be more sceptical about its novelty than practitioners. This article attempts to...

Competency management is an idea that was developed in the private sector and transposed to the public sector during the 1990s. First this article examines the concept of competency‐based management, its claimed advantages over traditional approaches to personnel management and the problems...

Crosby suggested that “quality is free”. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the argument that, although it is not free, it can reduce costs. The UK’s Benefit Enquiry Line (BEL) for people with disabilities is used to illustrate this. The evolution of quality management systems...

This article shows that regulation of the employment relationship in European public services has tended to give more importance to collective bargaining than to unilateral employer regulation. Although collective bargaining is a general trend, it is not the same in every country. This article...

Comparative administrative study lacks agreed‐upon concepts for cross‐national analysis. This essay suggests “administrative culture” as a useful concept which has been overshadowed by two related concepts, “organizational culture” and “political culture.” The American experience...

Discusses the role of women in management in the Nigerian Civil Service (NCS). The number of men in management in the NCS far exceeds the number of women. Women also function in a Nigerian society permeated by gender stereotypes. Tries to answer the question: “Why is a woman less likely to...