Managing Core Public Services

This major text for students of public services management combines well-developed management theory with research from a range of countries including Germany, Holland, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden and the UK. Acknowledgements.

List of Tables.

List of Figures.

Glossary of Terms.

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations.

1. Introduction.

2. Managing the Core Public Services.

3. Service Delivery - Meeting Citizen Needs.

4. Managing Resources for Social Gain.

5. Strategic Control of Core Public Services.

6. Organizational Structures for Effective Service Delivery.

7. Managing Professionals.

8. Review of Reform Programmes.

References.

Appendix.

Index.

David McKevitt is Senior Lecturer at the University of Limerick, Eire. He is also the co-editor of Cases in Public Services Management with Alan Lawton (Blackwell, 1995). This major text for students of public sector management combines well-developed management theory with research from a range of countries including Germany, Holland, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden and the UK. The comparative focus highlights common problems and common factors in successful management across these countries.

The author integrates three traditionally separate concepts in public sector management, arguing for the development of a different kind of management than that appropriate for private enterprise:

• The notion of differential information between providers and clients in service delivery
• The notion of a core public service
• The notion of professionalism in service delivery

Throughout, the text focuses on how theory can be applied to management issues and practice, drawing on the direct reports and experiences of managers wherever possible and employing case studies with self-assessment questions to further understanding.

Public services managers who are concerned to improve their management practice or students who are seeking to understand how the particular characteristics of core public services management shape management practice, will particularly welcome this text.