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...

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to explore the interrelationship between workplace stress, coping and resiliency and their influence on employee health and productivity. Design/methodology/approach – This general review includes an examination of selected theoretical models within...

Purpose – To compare and contrast the changes introduced in Canada and Switzerland as a result of public management reforms and explore the ethical challenges they entail. Design/methodology/approach – This is a case study of two countries based in part on secondary sources but also on...

Purpose – This research paper analyses the extent to which national systems are following “new pay” trends, or whether there are still traditional features, which reflect the specificity of employment in the public sector and the psychological contracts of public servants....