Managing Change in the Public Services

This book will provide a synthesis of state-of-the-art thinking amongst leading international academic experts based in the USA, Canada and the UK on managing change to improve the effectiveness of public service provision. The contributors are all leading international researchers, providing an overview of the increasingly complex nature of contemporary public service change in different national contexts. Special reference is made to the fields of education and health, the two largest, most complex and highly professionalized public services. Their reform is a long-term governmental priority in many western countries, which is proving problematic to implement. The book offers new thinking, supported by research evidence from different services and national contexts, on contemporary public service management. It will inform the work of trainers, advisers and consultants who provide external support to assist with managing change in the public services, and discusses how to manage complex and programmatic change across public services.

Mike Wallace is a Professor of Public Management at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. He researches the management of complex and programmatic public service change in a context of high accountability and permanent reform.

Michael Fertig is a Lecturer in Education at the University of Bath.

Eugene Schneller is a Professor at the School of Health Management and Policy, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University.