Qualifying for leadership or control masquerading as enlightenment?John Milliken
2002 International Journal of Public Sector Management
doi: 10.1108/09513550210430237
The 1988 Education Reform Act marked a fundamental shift in direction for the education service and represented a radical shift from the past. One of the major areas of change has been on existing relationships and the subsequent challenge to traditional structures and practices. Responsibilities and accountability have been decentralised to the individual institution. Subsequently this has led to pressure from sources, such as the Government and teaching profession, for a more articulate approach to leadership and management development. In 1990 Handy warned that not all staff are equally experienced or capable of leadership roles. Williams suggested that the position of principal/headteacher is not necessarily the most appropriate for some members of the teaching profession. This paper looks at a proposed initiative for the development of a qualification for headship in general and the implications for implementation in Northern Ireland in particular, and considers it against existing management literature and practice.
Strategies to resolve conflict in partnerships: reflections on UK urban regenerationJohn Diamond
2002 International Journal of Public Sector Management
doi: 10.1108/09513550210433919
Partnerships to lead on urban regeneration initiatives in the UK claim to facilitate inter‐agency working and local involvement. They are presented both as ways of ensuring the effective management of services within neighbourhoods and as potential “change agents” in the way they bring together different (and sometimes competing) interest groups. Regeneration partnerships are, therefore, often the sites of unresolved conflict. This paper, which draws upon interviews with local regeneration managers and local community representatives in Manchester explores possible strategies for resolving such conflict. In particular it suggests that the use of supervision in the public and community sector needs reforming in order to provide externality for those involved.
New roles for purchasing: researchers, detectives, teachers, doctors and architectsJ. Gordon Murray
2002 International Journal of Public Sector Management
doi: 10.1108/09513550210430264
Delivering best value for money is accepted as the primary UK public sector purchasing objective and indeed a statutory duty for many in sub‐central government. An investigation of a purchasing unit was carried out which aimed to establish how it sought to achieve best value for money. The investigation reflected a spectrum of five roles that purchasing have taken as “process” experts to assist in the achievement of best value for money, namely, researchers, detectives, teachers, doctors, and architects. The conclusion is that these roles represent a model that can be applied, regardless of sector, by professional purchasing managers as they seek to contribute, in a “hard core/soft core” purchasing structure, to the strategic objectives of their organisation. The paper should be of specific interest to those in the public sector undergoing structural or best value reviews of their purchasing function, seeking to compare and challenge existing approaches.
Bidding to host a major sports event The local organising committee perspectiveP.R. Emery
2002 International Journal of Public Sector Management
doi: 10.1108/09513550210430255
Major sports events have the potential to offer significant benefits to any city, but at the same time are likely to entail immense resource utilisation and enormous risk. Focussed at the organising committee level, and drawing upon general management and project management literature, aims to collect empirical data to identify current management practice used in the bidding process, and determine key factors in successful bidding. A self‐administered postal questionnaire was sent to 220 randomly selected major sports event organisers from ten different countries. Targeted at the chief executive officer level or equivalent, the questionnaire provided general contextual detail and focussed on present sports event management practices and processes. To gain more in‐depth understanding of successful applications, three semi‐structured interviews were administered in England. The findings reveal that the primary motivations behind local authority involvement are heightening area profile and sport promotion. Successful public sector applications were found to use bounded rational decision‐making, driven largely by political reasoning rather than detailed objective analysis. Specifically identifies and discusses five key factors behind successful national and international governing body approval.