Book News



THE SEEDS OF INNOVATION: Cultivating the Synergy That Fosters New Ideas

(New York: American Management Association/AMACOM Books, June 2002, ISBN 0-8144-7146-3)

THE SEEDS OF INNOVATION is a comprehensive, one-stop innovation
resource.
This book is offers practical insights and specific action
steps to help you, your team, and your organization reach a higher level of
innovation. The approach presented looks at innovation as much more than simply new products or technologies. This book offers down-to-earth
advice on how everyone can contribute to dramatically increasing
innovation in all areas of the organization.

 

Click here for further information.


Developing Local Governance Networks in Europe 2002

Tony Bovaird, Elke Löffler and Salvador Parrado-Díez (Editors)

Nomos Publishers, Baden-Baden/Germany, 2002
Price: Euro 42,- 250 pp. ISBN 3-7890-7826-3

Please send your orders to: Nomos Publishers, Sales, D – 76520 Baden-Baden, Germany
Fax: (+49) (0)7221/2104-43
E-mail: nomos@nomos.de

This book provides a wide-ranging and up-to-date overview of network management as a key element of local governance in Europe. It illuminates changing relationships between public, private and voluntary actors at local level by means of a series of detailed best practice case studies and comparative studies from different European countries.

The concept and practice of local governance goes well beyond local government. Local governance moves beyond service provision to consider how all stakeholders in the local community work together to improve the welfare and quality of life of citizens and other actors. It looks at how citizens, businesses, voluntary organisations, the media and different levels of government agencies work together (and sometimes against each other) to affect the level of social capital, social enterpreneurship and trust in the local area.

The wide-ranging case studies showcase “good networking in local governance” in eleven European countries. They analyse how success has been achieved and discuss how lessons can be replicated elsewhere.

The book finishes with an agenda for enhancing the effectiveness of local governance in Europe. It proposes a research programme into comparative local governance which will help to promote evidence-based policy and practice.

This is the first book in the ‘Local Governance in Europe’ series being produced by the Study Group on Local Governance under the auspices of the European Group of Public Administration (EGPA). The book will be essential reading for researchers and students of public administration, management and political science as well as for change agents at local level.

Tony Bovaird is a Professor in Strategy and Public Services Management at Bristol Business School (University of the West of England, United Kingdom). Elke Löffler is a Senior Research Associate at the same institution. Salvador Parrado-Díez is a Lecturer at the Spanish University for Distance Learning (UNED) in Madrid.


A City Reframed. Managing Warsaw in the 1990s

Barbara Czarniawska

Sweden: Harwood Academic Publications

Description: Management of big cities is a relatively unresearched
area, as compared to city planning and city governance. A study of Warsaw city management
reveals the transformation process typically found in European countries in political and
economic transition. In “A City Reframed”, Czarniawska conceptualizes city
management as an action-net under transformation, where three types of actions are in
focus:

  1. “muddling through” or coping with daily problems;
  2. “reframing”, or changing the frame of interpretation of the world in order to
    take successful action and
  3. “anchoring” the testing of new ideas on potentially involved parties in order
    to secure cooperation or minimize resistance.

“Muddling through” is central to management in Warsaw, as it no doubt has
always been: it is this “muddling through” that makes cities function.

Contact: Gerard Greenway (gerard.greenway@gbmis.gbhap.com),
Tel: +44 (0) 118 952 0314


Public Management – 2000 Innovative Konzepte zur Fuehrung im oeffentlichen Sektor

Thom, Norbert / Ritz, Adrian

Gabler, Wiesbaden 2000
387 pp., 109 fig.
81 SFr. resp. 89 DM plus carriage charges

Can be ordered in any bookshop or on www.publicmanagement.unibe.ch


Civil Service Systems in Central and Eastern Europe 1999

Tony Verheyen (Editor)

I would like to draw your attention to a new book published by Edward
Elgar Publishing, Inc UK entitled CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEMS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE
(edited by T.Verheyen).

The book (a) comprises nine country studies carried out according to a research protocol
developed by the Civil Service Research Consortium, a joint initiative of the University
of Leiden and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University and (b)
provides actually the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the emerging civil
service systems in former communist countries.

Ordering information can be obtained from the publisher- hquinn@e-elgar.co.uk


PUBLIC MANAGEMENT IN BRITAIN 1999

Sylvia Horton and David Farnham (Editors)

Macmillan Press World, London and St Martin’s Press, New York 1999

Price and terms: Paperback $16.50 (05), Hardback $49.50 (05)
ISBN 0-333-73741-5 0-333-73740-7

This wide-ranging text analyses the key developments and changes in the management of
public services in Britain during the 1990s. Designed as a successor to the editors’
highly successful Managing the New Public Services, the book places public management and,
in particular, New Labour’s ‘Third Way’, in its economic, political and historical
context, including the impact of globalisation and European integration. Extended case
studies illustrate and highlight key stages in the transformation of management and the
book concludes with an evaluation and critique of two decades of managerial reform and a
discussion of the way forward in the new millennium.

The Macmillan Press World wide web site is at URL: http://www.macmillan-press.co.uk


Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of
Discovery and Invention 1996

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Harper Collins, 1996
356 pages

This book is about what makes life worth living. The creative excitement of the artist
at her easel or the scientist in the lab comes as close to the ideal fulfillment as we all
hope to, and so rarely do. Professor Csikszentmihalyi interviewed more than ninety of
possibly the most interesting people in the world – people like actor Ed Asner, authors
Robertson Davies and Nadine Gordimer, scientists Jonas Salk and Linus Pauling, and Senator
Eugene McCarthy – who have changed the way people in their fields think and work to find
out how creativity has been a force in their lives.

Here Professor Csikszentmihalyi builds on his flow theory, profiling individuals who
have found ways to make flow a permanent feature of their lives and at the same time have
contributed to society and culture.

Professor Csikszentmihalyi explores why creative people are often seen as selfish and
arrogant (even though they are not) and reveals that the idea of the tortured genius is
largely a myth. He argues that creativity needs to be cultivated not only in traditionally
creative fields like sciences and arts, but also in business, government, and education.

This book is not so much about everyday “creativity” that we all experience
but the kind of creativity of artists, scientists, and others that can transform our
culture and the way we look at the world. By studying the creative lives of exceptional
people, Professor Csikszentmihalyi shows us how we can all enhance our everyday lives. His
goal is to help us better understand a way of being that is more satisfying and
fulfilling.


Reinventing Government in the Information
Age: 1999
International Practice in IT-Enabled Public Sector Reform

Richard Heeks (Editor)

ISBN 0-415-19037-1

The study focuses on identifying and differentiating successful and unsuccessful
management approaches to use of IT for government and public sector reform. This is
complemented by a dozen case studies from the US, UK, mainland Europe and beyond, dealing
with a wide range of reform initiatives. The book provides an educators’ guide to using
the cases for individual and class training.

Further details and order/examination copy information from: http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm/rgia.htm

Dr Richard Heeks
Senior Lecturer, Information Systems & Development
Institute for Development Policy & Management
University of Manchester
Precinct Centre
Manchester M13 9GH U.K.
IDPM Web: http://www.man.ac.uk/idpm


TQM & Innovation 1999: Proceedings of the 4th
International Conference on ISO 9000 and TQM

The ICIT was inaugurated in the UK in April 96 by Sam Ho, the first professor of
Strategy & Quality in the country. Riding on the successes of the 1st-3rd ICIT, the
4th ICIT used “Learning for Innovation” as a theme for the further development
of ISO 9000 and TQM.

The 4th ICIT (7-9 Apr 1999) was attended by over 200 delegates from 20 countries,
including 100 overseas presenters including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan,
Netherlands, Singapore, UK & USA.

Editors of 16 supporting international journals have attended the conference as there
are good quality papers for their journal publications. The Conference Proceedings is
published as a 860-page hard-bound textbook titled “TQM & Innovation” (ISBN
962-85264-4-8).

Paper Sub-themes:

1. Innovation via TQM & Learning [12 papers]
2. ISO 9000 (incl. ver. 2000) [14 papers]
3. ISO 14000 & 5-S Practice [7 papers]
4. Business Process Re-engineering [13 papers]
5. Quality Function Deployment [8 papers]
6. Quality Tools & Techniques [13 papers]
7. Leadership & Organisational Development [8 papers]
8. TQM Learning & HRM [14 papers]
9. Business Excellence (BE) & Quality Awards [8 papers]
10. BE in Manufacturing & Construction [12 papers]
11. BE in Services & Education [12 papers]
12. BE in Public & Health [9 papers]

For abstracts of the 130 papers and further information, please visit:-
http://www.hkbu.edu.hk/~samho/4icit/index.htm

Prof. Sam Ho
Chair, 4th ICIT
School of Business, HK Baptist University.


Professions, New Public Management and the European Welfare 1999

Mike Dent, Maggie O’Neill and Carl Bagley (Editors)

STATE 1999
ISBN 1 897 898 46 0
Price: 15 £

As we move towards the millennium, public sector professionals across Europe find
themselves increasingly subject to managerial scrutiny and new systems of control. The
professions are in transition and the traditional boundaries are being redrawn. The
contributors to this volume review developments in the European scene, especially in
relation to the social services and the health professions. Public provision of the
welfare services has undergone radical changes over recent years. Initially driven by the
rhetoric of the market, the reconfiguration of these services has continued within the new
discourse of New Public Management. Such changes will continue to have significant
implications for the professions working within health and social services. Conceptions of
autonomy and accountability will continue to be redefined, as will the relationships
between professions, state and clients.

The collection is in three parts.
Part I reviews and analyses current developments at a macro level.
Part II explores commonalties and differences between a number of European countries and
systems.
Part III draws together four case studies that illustrate and extend the analysis of
professional work in nursing and social work.

The Contributors
Jim Barry, Sven Bislev, Maria Blomgren, Viola Burau, John Chandler, Heather Clark, Mike
Dent, John Harris, David Jary, Cecilia Lindholm, Yota Papageorgiou, Mike Saks, Dorte
Salskov-Iverson, Caroline Waks, Vicky White, Sue White, Peter Woolliams.

To order a copy please contact Staffordshire University Press on Tel:
+44 (0) 1782 295782 or email: C.L.Mason@staffs.ac.uk

Claire Mason
Staffordshire University Press


Global Warning 1998!

Olov Olson, James Guthrie, and Christopher Humphrey Global Warning!

Debating International Developments in New Public Financial
Management

CAPPELEN AKADEMISK FORLAG publishers, Norway Published 1998

(for details see http://www.gsm.mq.edu.au/pstc/globalwarning)

The continuing application of New Public Management,
“commercialisation” and privatisation of some public sector functions
in Australia and Internationally may deny access to services for the
economically disadvantaged, according to a new book discussing the impact of
developments in new public financial management.

The book is the outcome of a unique two year collaborative project involving
24 senior accounting academics from eleven different countries, including
Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States of America.

John Meyer, Professor of Sociology at Stanford University observes in his
foreword to the book that it will be of great interest and value to a wide
ranging audience – not only to those concerned with accounting and financial
management, but also to organisational researchers, political scientists and
sociologists.

“This book is about the rise and international impact of a social
movement trying to reform public management around the world along rational
and rationalistic lines. The roots of the movement are in professional
accounting, especially in the private sector. The effort is to bring models of
New Public Financial Management, with many associated accounting improvements,
into place in state and local public organizations. The movement has gained
considerable force in the last two decades, and has had widespread effects on
the ways public organizations are perceived, on policies governing them, and
sometimes on organizational practices.

Olov Olson, James Guthrie, and Christopher Humphrey, with colleagues from
eleven countries, have put together an extraordinary review of the rise of New
Public Management programs in these countries; on their march to more or less
successful adoption and implementation, and on their impact on policy and
practice. The project has been comparative in character, and the analyses look
at events in particular countries in light of, and often in contrast to, events
elsewhere.

 According to James Guthrie, Professor in Management at Macquarie
Graduate School of Management and one of the book’s editors, “Global
Warning!” is the result of a comprehensive two-year research project
encompassing eleven different countries.

“This book provides a much needed challenge to the rise and claimed
international success of new public financial management systems. Previous
research in the field has tended to focus on the accounting principles of
reform but we have chosen to address organisational, social and managerial
aspects as well”.

“Throughout the book we have tried to highlight the impact on society
of public financial management reform and the movement towards greater
efficiency and a bottom-line orientation within the public sector.”

“The book puts NPFM on trial in a way which it has never been in the
past. It replaces caricatured, broad brush depictions of different national
developments with a much needed detailed, comparative analysis of experiences
with NPFM. It questions what so often has gone unquestioned; exploring the
wide range of financial management techniques which lie at the heart of so
many new public management initiatives, yet which have been repeatedly glossed
over by leading public administration writers. It challenges prior theories
and assumptions concerning the global spread and claimed irresistibility of
NPFM. It shows how public financial management is a live debating subject,
bursting with critical policy implications for the provision of public
services”

 To order contact caf@cappelen.no


Voluntary Organizations and Innovation

Stephen P. Osborne

Routledge, London 1998
ISBN 0-415-18256-5

This book is based upon a major study of the innovative capacity of voluntary
organizations in the UK. It:

  • maps the extent of such activity
  • explores the key characteristics of the innovators and their innovations
  • tests four possible causal explanations of this capacity
  • develops an initial model of this innovative capacity
  • draws out the main recommendations fot managers in government and the voluntary sector
    in order to manage this capacity

It should be of interest to researchers about both the voluntary and the broader public
sector.

 Dr. Stephen P Osborne,
Reader in Public Management,
Director of the Research Degrees Programme
Aston Business School,
Aston University,
Birmingham
B4 7ET, UK.
Telephone: 0121 359 3011 [ext. 4599] [within UK]
+ 44 121 359 3011 [ext. 4599] [outside UK]
Fax : 0121 333 5620 [within UK]
+ 44 121 333 5620 [outside UK]
E-mail : s.p.osborne@aston.ac.uk


Two Reports by the Parliamentary Committee for the Future
in Finland

Committee for the Future of the Parliament of Finland, Helsinki: 1998

Report by the Committee for the Future on the Council of State (Government) Report
Part 2: Skill and Fair Plan–An Active and Responsible Finland.
Helsinki: 1998

Report on the Politics and Internet 2nd International Congress in Helsinki, Finland
January 6-9, 1999.
Helsinki: Committee for the Future and the National Fund for
Reseach and Development.

Both reports may be obtained from the Finnish Parliament FIN 00102.

Revised

November 2004 & 2009

 

 

Book Notes

Harry P Hatry,
Performance Measurement: Getting Results
The Urban Institute, 1999

This provides a comprehensive review of the history and technique of
performacne measurement in the USA in the past thirty years. He and his colleagues have
been involved in this endeavor and accumulated vast amount of knowledge. It clarifies
several patterns of measurement, and is full of hints for practioners. I am thinking of
translating it into Japanese.

Jan-Erik Lane
New Public Management
London: Routledge, 2000.

Textbook style, on the idea of NPM. Good for a student interested in
public management.

Peter Self
Rolling Back the Market: Economic Dogma and Political Choice
St. Martin’s Press, 2000.

Regret the death of Peter Self. The last book by Self was
theoretical but inspiring. I love his other books, particularly Government by the
Market?
(1993).

Furukawa, Shun’ichi, Ph. D.
Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences
University of Tsukuba
1-1-1 Tennohdai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8473, Japan

Tegrity

The big thing is Tegrity. Go to www.tegrity.com
This coupled with Infocourse will revolutionize teaching and training.

Tom Lynch,
Professor of Public Administration
Louisiana State University

 

Updated
November 16, 2001

 

 

Other Announcements

FUTURECASTS: Military Futurecast

Book Review of Can Japan Compete? by Michael
E. Porter, Hirotaka Takeuchi, &
Mariko Sakakibara.


To Futurecasts
readers:

Due to its relevance to recent tragic events, in its October issue,
FUTURECASTS online magazine – at www.futurecasts.com
– again presents its
Military Futurecast, with some additions particularly addressing recent events
in Kosovo and the war against international terrorism.

Also in the October issue, FUTURECASTS presents a Book Review: Robert
Conquest: “Reflections on a Ravaged Century,” accentuating the negatives of a
20th century history that had all too many of them.

In the November issue, FUTURECASTS will present a Book Review: Porter,
Takeuchi, & Sakakibara: “Can Japan Compete,” analyzing the strengths and
weaknesses of the Japanese economic model, and the radical reforms – both
strategic and tactical – needed for a restoration of economic vitality and
growth.

Regards, Dan Blatt, Publisher,
FUTURECASTS online magazine,
www.futurecasts.com
dblatt@rsvlonline.net


Public Management

Volume 2, Number 3 is available from Routledge, part of the Taylor
& Francis Group.
Also available online via the CatchWord service.
It contains the following articles:

EDITORIAL: Working with governance
Jan Kooiman

GOVERNANCE AND THE POLICY PROCESS IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE
Roger Sibeon

COMPETITION: How far can you go?
Manfred R?ber

THE CHALLENGE OF COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE
Chris Huxham

SELF-GOVERNANCE AS A MODE OF SOCIETAL GOVERNANCE
Jan Kooiman; Martijn Van Vliet

INSTITUTIONAL CO-GOVERNANCE AS A MODE OF CO- OPERATION BETWEEN
VARIOUS SOCIAL SERVICE CARRIERS AND PROVIDERS
Rainer Greca

THE ROLE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE OF THE UKRAINE:
Social-political governance perspective
Svitlana Kuts

A STRUCTURAL MODEL OF SOCIOPOLITICAL GOVERNANCE WITH AN EXAMPLE OF
APPLICATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Thomas R. Lawson

BOOK REVIEW

NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS


Subscribers can view this issue at:
http://www.catchword.com/rpsv/ catchword/routledg/1461667x/contp1.htm
This journal is available in RealPage or Adobe Acrobat formats.
You can download the latest version of the RealPage browser free from:
http://www.catchword.com/download.htm
and if you have RealPage installed on your system then just open the attached file to go
straight to the journal.

You can read more about this journal at:
http://www.catchword.com/titles/1461667x.htm

 

Updated November 06, 2001

Revised November 2009