Developing Public Managers in the UK

Abstract

Looks at how radical some of the “Thatcherite” reforms in public management have been, and explores the structural changes to public sector organizations. Briefly examines the introduction of executive agencies in central government; the quasi‐market into the health service and competitive tendering in local government, together with privatization of utilities and the impact of European integration. Focusing on public “human services”, reviews a model of such organizations which has been used to underpin a successful postgraduate programme aimed at human services professionals and managers. Using the notion of domains – of policy, management and services – the programme has sought to integrate both practitioner experience and academic disciplines. Concludes by arguing that a diversity of management programmes are needed to cater for diverse experiences of public management and that recent trends in the UK to strait‐jacket management education within a single generic framework are counter‐productive.

Citation

Talbot, C. (1993), "Developing Public Managers in the UK", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 6 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513559310046784