S. Maddock

Making modernisation work: new narratives, change strategies and people management in the public sector

Although politicians are desperate for innovation, few are brave enough to talk about how difficult it is to shift people away from predictable patterns of behaving and from conforming cultures. There is a tendency in national government to think radical and act conservative. The Labour government, in its modernisation policies, appears to be genuine in its desire for social inclusion and real change, but the thinking about how to persuade people to engage with this process is ill thought out. The conventional modes of delivering legislation, programmes and partnerships too often ignore the need to involve staff and communities. Modernisation and change are dependent on new forms of people‐management. The report draws on MBS Change Centre audit and consultancy within local partnerships including the Health Action Zones and on research funded by the ESRC Management Innovation Programme. Concludes that the improvement process will only succeed if government’s incentives and managerial frameworks sustain people‐relationships in communities and in public sector organisations. Concludes also that there is a lack of leadership and “know‐how” in the public sector about how to achieve transformation and that policy makers need to focus on managing the transformation process.

GENDER CULTURES: WOMEN’S CHOICES AND STRATEGIES AT WORK

Discusses how equality audits of local authorities reveal identifiable gender cultures, such as the “gentleman′s club”, the “locker room”, the “barrack yard”, the “gender‐blind”, and the “smart macho”. Describes how women and men feel that they and their colleagues have been influenced by these cultures, and how they reinforce persistent stereotypes about “women and work”. Gender cultures affect both men and women′s decisions and behaviour at work. The prevailing gender culture in one department may be different from that in another department in the same authority but most authorities had pockets of all the cultures described. The women managers interviewed recognized the dilemmas and difficulties women face when breaking with traditional norms within a workplace with pre‐ordained gender cultures. Reinforces the view that exclusive work culture is powerful in its negative influence over women′s development and promotion prospects, but that preconceptions and sexual stereotypes about men and women′s roles...

Barriers to transformation: Beyond bureaucracy and the market conditions for collaboration in health and social care

The post‐1990 health reforms in health and social care have resulted in quasi‐markets, centralized funding and an acceptance of top‐down managerialism.The analysis of contracting within the public sector has focused on the extent to which the market has affected equity, access and choice for users ‐ but it has also had a tremendous impact on staff, staff morale and their relationships. Whilst policy makers demand joint practice in order to deliver continuous care, the market culture has resulted in competitive or depressed behaviour amongst professional managers and support staff. The bureaucratic public administrations were criticized for reinforcing rigid departmentalization and a stagnant culture ‐ the contracting environment and reductionist performance management (NPM and managerialism) appear to be having a similar blocking effect on those staff developing new relationships and working beyond establishment boundaries. This paper outlines what are perceived to be the barriers to social transformation in health and social care services, as relayed by those actively engaged in building bridges across professions and agencies. The research input is based on a mid‐stream ESRC Management Innovation Project.

Modernization requires transformational skills: the need for a gender‐balanced workforce

Argues that public services modernization is dependent on a major shift of gender cultures in communities and in senior management and policy making. Highlights the need for transformational as opposed to transactional leadership, focusing on the critical roles of transforming managers and the gender cultures they work within. Concludes that gender balance is a euphemism for actually what is required, which is the transformation of both traditional male and female indentities.

Managing the development of partnerships in Health Action Zones

Within Britain the Blair Government has committed itself to a modernisation process within the public sector. This process involves rethinking how to organise services internally and how to integrate services across government. Policy makers are talking about “joined‐up” government, innovation and partnerships. In the UK there are now a plethora of partnerships and initiatives. The Health Action Zones (HAZ) were one of the first of such initiatives and as such present fertile ground for analysis of the modernisation process. This paper draws on the experience of those engaged in the HAZ partnerships and also on research conducted by the author on “conditions for partnership”. It appears that the conditions in the UK are not conducive for partnerships when national frameworks are focused on monitoring rather than on development, and when the measurement of partnership success is short term. Although the partnership and modernisation policy encourages innovation, the development of partnerships is hampered by internal blame cultures, poor change management and a development gap in thinking among policy makers.

Rhetoric and reality: the business case for equality and why it continues to be resisted

Successful companies of the future must be more responsive to customers. Managers are being forced to question traditional authoritarian management practices for business reasons. Discusses organizational effects of disadvantage and inequality, particularly in relation to women, but also in relation to black workers and those with disabilities. Discusses resistance to change by managers and the different perceptions of managers′ behaviour by themselves and by their employees. Discusses the practices organizations must adopt in the future. Equality measures are no longer a question just of social justice but are a business necessity if contracting is to develop around social values.

Transformational public leadership is collaborative

Purpose – This article seeks to advance the view that collaborative leadership can generate the relationships necessary to resolve the tensions between rising expectations, smaller budgets and more innovative solutions.Design/methodology/approach – The article contends that, in the 1980s and 1990s, the public sector learned how to manage project and performance from the private sector, but more recently company executives have started to recognize that public‐sector leaders are more adept at managing complexity and broader governance than they are.Findings – It is argued that many local public leaders are now more collaborative and much less insular and actively engaged in external partnerships as well as internal management.Practical implications – The article claims that the transformative capacity of collaborative leaders could forge the foundations of a new public eco‐system at the local level and create a foundation for both a healthier economy and society if given endorsement by central government.S...

The leadership role of women in social regeneration in the UK

Purpose – Proposes that arguing for greater access for women is essential but not sufficient to drive equality or the spirit of diversity.Design/methodology/approach – Explores the role that women and others can play in broadening agendas and in transforming managerial and regeneration practices.Findings – A few innovative chief executives are leading the way and showing what transforming leadership is about in practice. In spite of this the intransigent lack of diversity within decision‐making bodies produces a brake on positive social change.Originality/value – Provides an insight into the leadership role of women in social regeneration.

WOMEN’S FRUSTRATION WITH AND INFLUENCE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT IN THE UK: AN INVESTIGATION FROM A WOMAN MANAGER’S PERSPECTIVE

Looks at the frustrations of women managers within local government management in the UK over a period from 1989 to 1992. Forty women managers were intensively interviewed, and they unanimously agreed that gender relations at work affected not only them personally but also their work. The majority said that the gendered institutions and culture of their authorities encouraged a lack of planning and attention to detail, a lack of responsibility and a tendency to compete and blame colleagues. They perceived this as being damaging to services and staff. In the past this culture has rendered many women managers ineffectual and demoralized. However, by 1992 many more women had reached senior positions in local government and were beginning to transform their organizations by dismantling formal management structures and restructuring towards more open forms of management and shared values. All the women interviewed are aged between 35 and 50 and worked in Northern metropolitan authorities.

Faith in Systems or in People: Leadership, Change Strategies and Innovation in the Public Sector

The debate on public sector reform continues to be focused on policy, restructuring and targets rather than on the practical aspects of a new public framework that will support providers to implement change and transform public services. The challenge for government, as it has been since 1997, is how to create the conditions for innovation and service transformation. It is no longer enough to develop business models that will organise services more efficiently; public sector reform also requires an energising of people and democratic relationships. A reliance in government on centralised change levers and a faith in systems rather than people has led to modernisation becoming a technical process, detached from regional and local energies. The divide between national and local stakeholders has resulted in good policies being driven by a lack of concern for relationships across the public system, particularly between central and local players. It is government that sets the scene for reform through its policy, funding and performance management, yet too often Whitehall and politicians take themselves ‘out‐of‐the‐frame’ when conducting analysis. This article argues that modernisation levers are contested by many stakeholders, that government and its administration are critical stakeholders and that it is time to reconnect the local with the national in transformation.