Public management involves leading, coordinating, and stimulating public agencies and programs to deliver excellent performance. Research and practice of public management have developed rapidly in recent years, drawing on the fields of public policy, public administration, and business management. In carrying out their crucial roles in shaping what government delivers, public managers today must confront daunting challenges imposed by shifting policy agendas, constrained financial resources combined with with constant public demands for a rich array of public services, and increasing interdependence among public, private, and third-sector institutions and actors. At the same time, these challenges and other developments offer exciting opportunities for improving knowledge and practice in public management, for the benefit of everyone. In this volume, leading scholars contribute advances in the theory, methods, and practice in this burgeoning field.

The selections address four key topics:-The nature and impact of public management;-Creative new methods for public management research;-Reform, reinvention, innovation, and change;-New models and frameworks for understanding and improving public management

Jeffrey L. Brudney, Laurence J. O'Toole, Jr., and Hal G. Rainey are professors of political science and public administration at the University of Georgia.

"Anyone interested in assessing the vitality and strength of the field of public management need look no farther than this book. There is no orthodoxy here. Indeed, the book is a far-ranging and provocative exploration of the issues in play—and the big puzzles that remain to be solved."

Preface

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: Public Management in an Era of Complexity and ChallengeJeffrey L. Brudney, Lawrence J. O'Toole, Jr., and Hal G. Rainey, University of Georgia

Part I: A Symposium: In Government, Does Management Matter

Introduction to Part ILawrence E. Lynn, Jr., University of Chicago

2. Different Public Managements? Implications of Structural Context in Hierarchies and NetworksLawrence J. O'Toole, Jr., University of Georgia

3. Is Silly Putty Manageable? Looking for the Links between Culture, Management and ContextAnne M. Khademian

4. Public Management, Administrative Leadership, and Policy ChoiceThomas H. Hammond, Michigan State University, and Jack H. Knott, University of Illinois

Part II: Methodological Frontiers in Understanding Public Management

5. Optimal Performance versus Risk Aversion: An Application of Substantively Weighted Analytical TechniquesKenneth J. Meier, Texas A&M University, Jeff Gill, California Polytechnic University, and George Waller, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

6. The Art of Partnering across Sectors: The Influence of Centrality Strategies of State R&D ProjectsGordon Kingsley, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Julia Melkers, Georgia State University

7. Stories from the Front Lines of Public Managment: Street-Level Workers as Responsible ActorsSteven Maynard-Moody, University of Kansas, and Suzanne Leland, Kansas State University

Part III: Reform, Reinvention, Innovation and Change

8. Making Sense of ChangeEugene B. McGregor, Jr., Indiana University

9. Local Heroes? Reinvention Labs in the Department of DefenseMark T. Green, University of Colorado at Denver, Lawrence R. Jones, Naval Postgraduate School, and Fred Thompson, Willamette University

10. Reforming State Social Services through Contracting: Linking Implementation and Organizational CultureBarbara S. Romzek and Jocelyn M. Johnston, University of Kansas

11. Quasi Markets and Strategic Change in Public OrganizationsJames R. Thompson, University of Illinois-Chicago

Part IV: Models and Frameworks: New Approaches to Public Management

12. Organizational Configurations: Four Approaches to Public Sector ManagementNancy C. Roberts, Naval Postgraduate School

13. Dissecting the Black Box: Toward a Model and Measures of Government Management PerformancePatricia W. Ingraham and Amy E. Kneedler, Syracuse University

14. Concluding PerspectivesJeffrey L. Brudney, Lawrence J. O'Toole, Jr., and Hal G. Rainey, University of Georgia

Biographies of Authors

Bibliography

Index