Robert Willis

The (un)intended outcome of public sector performance measurement

Purpose – To consider the extent to which regimes of performance measurement in the public sector are fit for purpose, and the likely outcomes for public services and public sector workers of such performance measurement systems.Design/methodology/approach – The article considers four key issues: the context and content of performance measurement in the public sector, the specific examples of health care and higher education, the limitations of performance measurement systems, and the likely outcomes of performance measurement systems.Findings – Current systems of performance measurement in the public sector are unlikely to have a significant influence on improving services. The most likely outcomes of these systems is further commodification of services and deprofessionalisation of public sector workers.Originality/value – The article builds on established literature and offers a systematic metaphor‐driven critique of performance management in the public sector, and discusses the implications of this.

Missing the Point? Management education and entrepreneurship

The growth in management education generally, and entrepreneurship education specifically, has occurred at the same time as increasing importance is attached to management both as an activity for academic investigation and as a practical activity in both public and private sectors. This paper argues that the intellectual foundations of this growth are unsupported by a significant volume of evidence and so it is unlikely that the hope for economic outcomes will be achieved. In the specific case of entrepreneurship education, this paper recommends that the tension between prescription and recognition of the activity needs to be resolved by both academics and policy makers before the benefits of education in this area can be realised.

Is higher education in the UK becoming more competitive

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to consider the extent to which recent changes in the UKs higher education sector are likely to increase the level of competition and change the behaviour of UK higher education institutions.Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on a conceptual framework developed to understand competitive conditions and behaviours in order to provide an analytical device to guide the narrative of the paper. The paper draws on a number of national and international sources.Findings – It is likely that competition between UK higher education institutions will intensify in the future especially in light of the introduction of student tuition fees and this will lead to further changes in behaviour.Originality/value – The paper offers an original approach and conceptual basis to make a contribution to a growing debate about the future of the UK higher education sector.

A snapshot of strategy research 2002‐2006

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to assess both the philosophical underpinnings and contributions to knowledge made by research in the field of strategy in the five years between 2002 and 2006.Design/methodology/approach – The paper begins with a review of the literature on the philosophy, purpose, process and outcome of management research which leads to the development of a conceptual model. Following this, almost 4,000 articles from 23 journals are assessed on the basis of their philosophical underpinnings and contribution to knowledge. Findings are reported and implications are discussed.Findings – Most strategy research, especially in higher ranked journals, comes from a positivist perspective. Across all journals, most contributions to knowledge are in the form of stretching theory. There is a limited amount of reflective work in the strategy literature.Practical implications – Given the form and content of strategy research, it is increasingly unlikely that research will make the crossover from t...

The Crisis of Cost Recovery and the Waste of the Industrialised Nations

This paper argues the case for shifting the problem of advanced country competitivity onto the terrain of social accounting. It introduces new concepts such as cost recovery and social settlement, before presenting a range of empirical evidence which demonstrates the nature and extent of the current Western crisis about cash generation. The argument and evidence has important implications for policy. Under present conditions, free trade between high and low wage countries is likely to increase disemployment and encourage a pathological mutation of corporate behaviour and social institutions in the advanced countries.

A new model for managing change: the holistic view

Purpose – In an age where organizational transformation is becoming more important to both the theory and practice of strategic management, the aim of this paper is to provide a model through which organizational transformation and strategic change can be understood in an holistic manner.Design/methodology/approach – In developing a model to explain organizational transformation, the paper draws on two different theoretical traditions. First, the paper draws on theories of political revolutions and, second, the paper draws on interpretative theories, in particular, speech act theory.Findings – The paper argues that in order to provide a realistic understanding of how and why an organization has attempted a transformational strategy it is important to consider four issues: the event which triggered the transformation, the program and process through which transformation was attempted, the outcome of the transformational strategy, and the myths which have been built up around the transformation.Originality/...

Organisations, transformability and the dynamics of strategy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relationship between three concepts: organisations, transformability and the dynamics of strategy. These three concepts together with their interrelationships are central in explaining the life cycle of organisations, their survival and renewal.Design/methodology/approach – The development of this explanation has been based on bringing together a diversity of perspectives. Each perspective provides a horizon of understanding by directing attention in a particular way. The benefits of this approach are that it avoids the pitfalls of one‐dimensionalism. This approach more accurately reflects the multi‐faceted reality within which organisations operate.Findings – Discusses, compares and contextualises the findings and approaches of the papers in this special issue.Originality/value – The perspectives considered represent a small sample of the diversity that exists. However, this sample as serves a starting‐point in developing a wider, more holistic de...

Insatiable demand or academic supply: the intellectual context of entrepreneurship education

Purpose – To consider whether the growth in management and entrepreneurship education is driven by (external) demand or (internal) academic supply.Design/methodology/approach – Three key elements of the intellectual context of management and entrepreneurship education are considered: the apparent causal relationship between improved management and economic performance; the privilege afforded to management as an agent of change in the context of globalisation; reforms in the public sector which define problems in terms of management rather than resources.Findings – There is a lack of clarity as to whether the purpose of entrepreneurship education is about promoting higher levels of activity or better recognising entrepreneurial activity.Originality/value – The paper offers an alternative perspective on entrepreneurship education through an examination of its purpose rather than its form and content.

British Pharmaceuticals: a cautionary tale

British pharmaccuticals is generally represented as a successful sector which illustrates the potential of knowledge-intensive, high-valve-added activities. This article presents a revisionist account based on evidence and argument. Pharmaceuticals is a small sector which combines high-value-added and average wages to benefit capital not labour. The knowledge base in the laboratory creates imitative product with marketing then applied to capture social expenditure. When product-market growth slows, the sector restructures defensively without solving its problems.

A European perspective on the revolutionary school of management

The current obsession with globalization and technological change has given rise to a new school of management, the revolutionary school. This school uses language appropriated from the political concept of revolution and argues that the key role of management is the transformation of their organizations. The article considers the extent to which the European business environment has been transformed and the extent to which transformation is possible under difficult market conditions such as those faced by the European car industry. The article concludes that under the structural conditions of saturation and slow or cyclical growth, organizational transformation is unlikely to be successful.