- Email: [email protected]
Management in the public sector: Challenge and change
o
increasing the proportion of higher-margin in the sales mix (p. 202)
products
The Information chapter stresses that information must be delivered to the right people at the right time in a form they can understand and use (p. 206). It is suggested that systems ‘are like roads. Very expensive. And it’s no good building them until you know exactly where they’re going to wind up’ (p. 212). The Managing change chapter suggests that the hallmark of a good manager is the ability to successfully manage change (p. 219). It argues that the current turbulent environment is forcing organizations to adapt to change at an ever increasing rate. Consequently, this creates opportunities for those businesses who are able to re-engineer their operations in order to fit their changing environment: At the heart of business re-engineering lies the notion of discontinuous thinking-identifying and abandoning the outdated rules and fundamental assumptions that underlie current business operations. (p. 225)
The book suggests that it may be easier for an organization to adapt to radical rather than gradual change (p. 222). This may be because radical change probably forces a business to react whereas a delayed response to gradual change may come too late. The ‘Learning’ from mistakes chapter emphasizes how getting ahead means taking risks. It adds: The willingness to get up after getting knocked down and to learn from failure is perhaps the single most enduring feature of greatness in managers. It is this mixture of determination to succeed allied to the ability to learn the lessons of failure which recurs in the history of success. (p. 242)
The book quotes Richard
Branson who concludes:
If there’s one thing above all from which I’ve learnt how to survive in business, its been from making mistakes-and the more mistakes you make the more you learn. (p. 244)
This book is probably in the popular (rather than academic) category. Nevertheless, it still acts as a useful refresher for academics who have most likely read a lot of the material before. The text is possibly aimed at all management ranks and is very reminiscent of the generalist (Shorter or lo-Day MBA) type books which seek to cover a very wide management area within one reasonably short publication. Questions about the book concern the appropriateness of its structure and the collection and suitability of the quotes. Is the structure logical? Are the quotes
nothing more than just a simple collection of tit-bits or is the whole greater than the sum of the parts? Will the quotes enable managers to improve their performance? I found the book to be quite well structured and the quotes are well chosen from a vast array of famous academics and practitioners (e.g. Adair, Handy, Kay, Kotler, Ohmae, Porter, Forte, Harvey-Jones, Iacocca, Roddick, Sculley, Sugar, etc.). 1 did in fact feel that the whole was greater than the sum of the parts ! Nevertheless, the many chapter and sub-chapter introductions presented by Cannon typically summarize the key points which are later made within the quotes. Consequently, why did he bother quoting at all? Should Cannon have written (rather than edited) a book of this kind? Furthermore, (and perhaps, surprisingly) the quotes do not include page references and therefore it may prove time consuming trying to trace them from within the book and journal sources. The list of references at the end of the publication does not help in this regard. Some of the discussions about the organizations were very brief and consequently it was only possible to gain a brief overview about what had happened. This weakness is a consequence of aiming for breadth rather than depth in this publication. In conclusion, 1 must state that I enjoyed reading this book. It has enabled me to reminisce about the very many readings I have done over the years in academia. The book is particularly useful to those busy managers who want a broad overview of key readings in the general area of management and who haven’t got the time (or the inclination) to read the books and journals quoted in-depth. It should enable managers to improve their performance and (as suggested by Richard Branson in the Foreword) should provide good bedside reading. GARY STOCKPORT The Management Group of the Faculty of Commerce and Administration, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Management in the Public Sector: Challenge and Change, KESTER ISAAC-HENRY, CHRIS PAINTER, and CHRIS BARNES. Chapman E14.95
and Hall.
Long Range Planning Vol. 27
(1993)
209
pp.,
December 1994
The book is a collection of articles on public service management which I would place into two types. Group one examines themes: performance measurement, information technology, human resources and managing change. The second type of article focuses quite strategically on an area of public service through which the authors examine a recurrent theme-the erosion of local elected accountability in the UK. They are : education, the police, and the relationship of local government in the UK to the EC. The collection is ‘topped and tailed’ by an introduction and a conclusion. At the end of each article there is a list of ‘questions/discussion topics’. Four articles also suggest a practical assignment. There are references at the end of each article and a bibliography at the end of the book which seems to be a composite of the separated lists of references. Fundamentally the book is a critical examination of the government’s market oriented policies and the responses to them in the public services. On the positive side of this evaluation the book identifies things like: A shift in the balance and consumers. Much creative delivered.
of power between producers
thinking
about
how
services
are
The potential of the enabling concept which separates strategic from operational considerations. But on the negative side the authors identify: Choice being more form than substance as evidence emerges of it remaining the norm for producers to choose (e.g. schools select pupils, GP select on behalf of patients, etc.). Demoralized workforces quality of service.
being unable
to provide
Greater danger of losing sight of the public service mission with weakened political accountability. While the book provides useful material through which to explore these themes I felt its greatest strength lay in the articles on schools, the police and the EC. The schools article contains an excellent analysis of policy development, pulls out four assumptions and examines each in turn using research material. Policy Book Reviews
assumes schools can market their products and the research shows this to be a reasonable assumption. The policy assumptions which the authors find rather more problematic are : 0
consumer
choice is the way to improve quality,
q independent
o
performance
schools foster competition
indicators
are possible,
with each other.
The article on the police presents the contradiction between inefficient central government funding and control mechanisms and the simultaneous demand from central government for better information about performance. There is a very interesting analysis of the problems confronting measurement of performance in the police. The question which could have been probed is whether performance measurement depends on a culture and management arrangements within which managers want to measure performance because it makes sense. Were such conditions to have been realized within the police, would ways to deal with the problems and limitations of performance measurement have been found? The article shows just how far the police are from such a culture. The article on the EC is about local government. It provides much useful information about compliance/ enforcement, funding, and local government setting EC agendas. The extent to which UK central government policies towards local authorities are out of sync with the rest of Europe is made clear. That UK local authorities find the EC far more attractive than does central government could have been related to the author’ s evaluation of market policies. For teaching purposes the articles on the schools, the police and the EC seem to me to offer more than the four articles on change, human resource, performance measurement and IT. In the latter students will stumble across one or two models/frameworks and some case studies (which I found weak). Public sector journals have featured quite a number of articles on the management of change which the article in this text does not acknowledge. The article on performance measurement does not add to the literature already available. The article on human resource seemed to me the weakest of all. It would be more accurate to see it as an account of decentralization. Like the article on the police, the one on IT also explores a powerful contradiction: vast sums spent of
the public sector without any of the value for money and quality assurance discipline which has proved such a pre-occupation to managers both purchasing and providing service. I felt the importance of information to public sector organizations could have been approached without such weight being placed on the ‘technology’. How to infrastructure the technology so that it is functional to integrated systems development, and management of information pertinent to the organization and its core functions. This could have been emphasized and the relationship with quality, performance, and information could have been brought out. This is a book which gets readers to ask questions about the current policy framework. However, it does not really explore its key theme, the weakening directly elected accountability, nor does it outline the main policy options for the future. But it does usefully point to some of the strengths and weaknesses of market oriented policies. IT throughout
JIM COWAN
Wandsworth
Borough Council
Signs of Grace, GEORGE GOYDER, The Cynet (1993) 216 pp., E15.00. The Just Enterprise, GEORGE GOYDER, Adamantine (1993), 122 pp., E16.95.
Press Press
There is growing concern regarding the development of improved business ethics. Many books are now being published on this subject and chairs are being set up in Universities. This is welcome news but much of this work lacks an overall philosophy and an historical perspective. One person who has provided the necessary basis is George Goyder. His autobiography describes how he developed an ethical approach as an executive and his latest book The Just Enterprise provides us with the information needed to restructure and reform companies so that all employees can play a major role. Signs of Grace The first signs of George Goyder developing a reforming and caring attitude was when he was studying at the London School of Economics and became involved with a Working Men’s club in Lambetb which he regarded as much his university
as the LSE. This was an area of extreme poverty and high unemployment. It was also a very violent area proving the link between poverty and crime. In 1930 he went to the USA to work for a paper company. He returned to England as managing director of the English subsidiary of the International Paper Company and only retired from business in 1973. During the Second World War he was put in charge of rationing news print so that all papers could continue to be published. The problem that the country faced was that all paper supplies were cut off from Scandinavia and had to come from across the Atlantic. Despite working at an executive level during this long period he was also able to find time to become involved with reform in the business sector, in the Church of England and in political issues. With Herbert Morrison he attempted to reform the trade unions. George Woodcock also attempted to do this and retired a disappointed man. The irony is that the TUC helped establish company unions in Germany which is one of the reasons for the success of its economy. George Goyder also advised the Labour party not to develop their nationalization policy. He later became involved with the Liberals. His books on management include The Future of Private Enterprise in 1951 and The Responsible Company in 1961, to be followed by The Responsible Worker in 1975. All these books sold well and these ideas were included in The Just Enterprise in 1987. However, the climate had changed and his views were ignored. His wife Rosmary Goyder adds a supplement to this autobiography which provides an interesting background to the events and states ‘that the ideas put forward in it [The Just Enterprise] are radical and have influenced many people, but the Thatcher years did not provide a favourable climate for a new philosophy of industry.’ The Just Enterprise If we are to create the wealth needed to solve our growing social problems we do need a new philosophy for enterprise. That is why the Adamantine Press have republished this book as the first book in their 21st Century Classics Series and I am proud to be involved with this publication. The only difference to the 1987 edition is that the index has been improved and the type face enlarged. What is clear is that the views expressed are very relevant today and must not be ignored. Long Range Plamdng Vol. 27
December 1994
increasing the proportion of higher-margin in the sales mix (p. 202)
products
The Information chapter stresses that information must be delivered to the right people at the right time in a form they can understand and use (p. 206). It is suggested that systems ‘are like roads. Very expensive. And it’s no good building them until you know exactly where they’re going to wind up’ (p. 212). The Managing change chapter suggests that the hallmark of a good manager is the ability to successfully manage change (p. 219). It argues that the current turbulent environment is forcing organizations to adapt to change at an ever increasing rate. Consequently, this creates opportunities for those businesses who are able to re-engineer their operations in order to fit their changing environment: At the heart of business re-engineering lies the notion of discontinuous thinking-identifying and abandoning the outdated rules and fundamental assumptions that underlie current business operations. (p. 225)
The book suggests that it may be easier for an organization to adapt to radical rather than gradual change (p. 222). This may be because radical change probably forces a business to react whereas a delayed response to gradual change may come too late. The ‘Learning’ from mistakes chapter emphasizes how getting ahead means taking risks. It adds: The willingness to get up after getting knocked down and to learn from failure is perhaps the single most enduring feature of greatness in managers. It is this mixture of determination to succeed allied to the ability to learn the lessons of failure which recurs in the history of success. (p. 242)
The book quotes Richard
Branson who concludes:
If there’s one thing above all from which I’ve learnt how to survive in business, its been from making mistakes-and the more mistakes you make the more you learn. (p. 244)
This book is probably in the popular (rather than academic) category. Nevertheless, it still acts as a useful refresher for academics who have most likely read a lot of the material before. The text is possibly aimed at all management ranks and is very reminiscent of the generalist (Shorter or lo-Day MBA) type books which seek to cover a very wide management area within one reasonably short publication. Questions about the book concern the appropriateness of its structure and the collection and suitability of the quotes. Is the structure logical? Are the quotes
nothing more than just a simple collection of tit-bits or is the whole greater than the sum of the parts? Will the quotes enable managers to improve their performance? I found the book to be quite well structured and the quotes are well chosen from a vast array of famous academics and practitioners (e.g. Adair, Handy, Kay, Kotler, Ohmae, Porter, Forte, Harvey-Jones, Iacocca, Roddick, Sculley, Sugar, etc.). 1 did in fact feel that the whole was greater than the sum of the parts ! Nevertheless, the many chapter and sub-chapter introductions presented by Cannon typically summarize the key points which are later made within the quotes. Consequently, why did he bother quoting at all? Should Cannon have written (rather than edited) a book of this kind? Furthermore, (and perhaps, surprisingly) the quotes do not include page references and therefore it may prove time consuming trying to trace them from within the book and journal sources. The list of references at the end of the publication does not help in this regard. Some of the discussions about the organizations were very brief and consequently it was only possible to gain a brief overview about what had happened. This weakness is a consequence of aiming for breadth rather than depth in this publication. In conclusion, 1 must state that I enjoyed reading this book. It has enabled me to reminisce about the very many readings I have done over the years in academia. The book is particularly useful to those busy managers who want a broad overview of key readings in the general area of management and who haven’t got the time (or the inclination) to read the books and journals quoted in-depth. It should enable managers to improve their performance and (as suggested by Richard Branson in the Foreword) should provide good bedside reading. GARY STOCKPORT The Management Group of the Faculty of Commerce and Administration, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
Management in the Public Sector: Challenge and Change, KESTER ISAAC-HENRY, CHRIS PAINTER, and CHRIS BARNES. Chapman E14.95
and Hall.
Long Range Planning Vol. 27
(1993)
209
pp.,
December 1994
The book is a collection of articles on public service management which I would place into two types. Group one examines themes: performance measurement, information technology, human resources and managing change. The second type of article focuses quite strategically on an area of public service through which the authors examine a recurrent theme-the erosion of local elected accountability in the UK. They are : education, the police, and the relationship of local government in the UK to the EC. The collection is ‘topped and tailed’ by an introduction and a conclusion. At the end of each article there is a list of ‘questions/discussion topics’. Four articles also suggest a practical assignment. There are references at the end of each article and a bibliography at the end of the book which seems to be a composite of the separated lists of references. Fundamentally the book is a critical examination of the government’s market oriented policies and the responses to them in the public services. On the positive side of this evaluation the book identifies things like: A shift in the balance and consumers. Much creative delivered.
of power between producers
thinking
about
how
services
are
The potential of the enabling concept which separates strategic from operational considerations. But on the negative side the authors identify: Choice being more form than substance as evidence emerges of it remaining the norm for producers to choose (e.g. schools select pupils, GP select on behalf of patients, etc.). Demoralized workforces quality of service.
being unable
to provide
Greater danger of losing sight of the public service mission with weakened political accountability. While the book provides useful material through which to explore these themes I felt its greatest strength lay in the articles on schools, the police and the EC. The schools article contains an excellent analysis of policy development, pulls out four assumptions and examines each in turn using research material. Policy Book Reviews
assumes schools can market their products and the research shows this to be a reasonable assumption. The policy assumptions which the authors find rather more problematic are : 0
consumer
choice is the way to improve quality,
q independent
o
performance
schools foster competition
indicators
are possible,
with each other.
The article on the police presents the contradiction between inefficient central government funding and control mechanisms and the simultaneous demand from central government for better information about performance. There is a very interesting analysis of the problems confronting measurement of performance in the police. The question which could have been probed is whether performance measurement depends on a culture and management arrangements within which managers want to measure performance because it makes sense. Were such conditions to have been realized within the police, would ways to deal with the problems and limitations of performance measurement have been found? The article shows just how far the police are from such a culture. The article on the EC is about local government. It provides much useful information about compliance/ enforcement, funding, and local government setting EC agendas. The extent to which UK central government policies towards local authorities are out of sync with the rest of Europe is made clear. That UK local authorities find the EC far more attractive than does central government could have been related to the author’ s evaluation of market policies. For teaching purposes the articles on the schools, the police and the EC seem to me to offer more than the four articles on change, human resource, performance measurement and IT. In the latter students will stumble across one or two models/frameworks and some case studies (which I found weak). Public sector journals have featured quite a number of articles on the management of change which the article in this text does not acknowledge. The article on performance measurement does not add to the literature already available. The article on human resource seemed to me the weakest of all. It would be more accurate to see it as an account of decentralization. Like the article on the police, the one on IT also explores a powerful contradiction: vast sums spent of
the public sector without any of the value for money and quality assurance discipline which has proved such a pre-occupation to managers both purchasing and providing service. I felt the importance of information to public sector organizations could have been approached without such weight being placed on the ‘technology’. How to infrastructure the technology so that it is functional to integrated systems development, and management of information pertinent to the organization and its core functions. This could have been emphasized and the relationship with quality, performance, and information could have been brought out. This is a book which gets readers to ask questions about the current policy framework. However, it does not really explore its key theme, the weakening directly elected accountability, nor does it outline the main policy options for the future. But it does usefully point to some of the strengths and weaknesses of market oriented policies. IT throughout
JIM COWAN
Wandsworth
Borough Council
Signs of Grace, GEORGE GOYDER, The Cynet (1993) 216 pp., E15.00. The Just Enterprise, GEORGE GOYDER, Adamantine (1993), 122 pp., E16.95.
Press Press
There is growing concern regarding the development of improved business ethics. Many books are now being published on this subject and chairs are being set up in Universities. This is welcome news but much of this work lacks an overall philosophy and an historical perspective. One person who has provided the necessary basis is George Goyder. His autobiography describes how he developed an ethical approach as an executive and his latest book The Just Enterprise provides us with the information needed to restructure and reform companies so that all employees can play a major role. Signs of Grace The first signs of George Goyder developing a reforming and caring attitude was when he was studying at the London School of Economics and became involved with a Working Men’s club in Lambetb which he regarded as much his university
as the LSE. This was an area of extreme poverty and high unemployment. It was also a very violent area proving the link between poverty and crime. In 1930 he went to the USA to work for a paper company. He returned to England as managing director of the English subsidiary of the International Paper Company and only retired from business in 1973. During the Second World War he was put in charge of rationing news print so that all papers could continue to be published. The problem that the country faced was that all paper supplies were cut off from Scandinavia and had to come from across the Atlantic. Despite working at an executive level during this long period he was also able to find time to become involved with reform in the business sector, in the Church of England and in political issues. With Herbert Morrison he attempted to reform the trade unions. George Woodcock also attempted to do this and retired a disappointed man. The irony is that the TUC helped establish company unions in Germany which is one of the reasons for the success of its economy. George Goyder also advised the Labour party not to develop their nationalization policy. He later became involved with the Liberals. His books on management include The Future of Private Enterprise in 1951 and The Responsible Company in 1961, to be followed by The Responsible Worker in 1975. All these books sold well and these ideas were included in The Just Enterprise in 1987. However, the climate had changed and his views were ignored. His wife Rosmary Goyder adds a supplement to this autobiography which provides an interesting background to the events and states ‘that the ideas put forward in it [The Just Enterprise] are radical and have influenced many people, but the Thatcher years did not provide a favourable climate for a new philosophy of industry.’ The Just Enterprise If we are to create the wealth needed to solve our growing social problems we do need a new philosophy for enterprise. That is why the Adamantine Press have republished this book as the first book in their 21st Century Classics Series and I am proud to be involved with this publication. The only difference to the 1987 edition is that the index has been improved and the type face enlarged. What is clear is that the views expressed are very relevant today and must not be ignored. Long Range Plamdng Vol. 27
December 1994