States that public administration reform has been a global phenomenon over the last two decades, but that its justification, impact and effectiveness are strongly contested. Reveals that evidence across developed countries varies, but in developing countries conclusions are more difficult to...

One of the central tenets of “new public management” is that it is universally applicable. Indeed the European Union advocates the adoption of such management approaches for countries seeking entry to the EU. This paper questions this position with reference to the introduction of change in...

Over the past decade Australian local government has undergone drastic change. The sheer pace of reform has made it difficult for practitioners and scholars alike to document and evaluate these rapid changes and even most recent extant analyses are now dated. Given the urgent need to review...

There has been limited examination of the impact of public sector restructuring on affected officials. This paper seeks to address the imbalance. It discusses the case of the New Zealand Health Funding Authority, dissolved and merged in 2000 as part of a major health sector restructuring...

The differing perspectives of decision makers in a newly‐amalgamated municipality may hinder the reduction of costs or introduction of efficient organizational change. Accepting differences may be essential, at least initially, to achieve efficiencies. During amalgamation the pursuit of...

Purpose – The objectives of the study are to identify and understand the environment, relationships and barriers for the key stakeholders in changing their workplace environment, and to negotiate and create an action plan to address the effectiveness issues in relation to rolling out CANDO...

Purpose – Aims to analyse the reactions of front‐line staff to the use of the “customer” label in Jobcentre Plus, the new agency charged with structural and cultural reform of benefit administration in the UK and to highlight some key challenges and possibilities faced by “new public...

Purpose – This paper aims to characterize the French public hospitals (FPHs) according to their strategic behaviour. Until recently, FPHs used to ignore strategic issues, for their mission was clearly defined by regulating authorities and their activities were quasi‐automatically funded by...

Purpose – This study aims to demonstrate the interaction of the regulatory environment and market forces with rapid technological change in the transformation of SOEs, as exemplified by Telecom NZ. Design/methodology/approach – This case study analysis explicates resource dependency and...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the Portuguese public sector organizations' familiarity with, and willingness to utilize, project management tools, as these organizations attempt to enhance their operational performance through carefully crafted organizational change....