Strategic Management in Public Services Organizations Concepts, Schools and Contemporary Issues

"I have been using this esteemed book for years for executive master's students in strategic public management. The second edition enriches the importance of 'context' for understanding public organizations by new mini-cases, and adds a very relevant chapter on collaborative governance, making the book even more topical."

Nicolette van Gestel, Tilburg University, The Netherlands

"The encyclopedic coverage of decades of research makes Ferlie and Ongaro's contribution an invaluable resource for scholars. The mini-cases, drawn from a variety of organizational and policy environments enrich the book and bring the subject of strategic management to life."

Jeffrey D. Straussman, University at Albany, USA

"Ferlie and Ongaro are to be congratulated on producing this exemplary volume. It is set to become the standard reference point for students and researchers alike."

Stephen P Osborne, University of Edinburgh, UK

"the authors have made a major contribution to the literature on public and nonprofit strategic management. Their book will be a must-read, must-cite resource for any serious scholar or doctoral student studying public and nonprofit strategic management."

John M. Bryson, University of Minnesota, USA

"In summary, this is a book that focuses on different schools of thought about strategic management. It addresses some very important topics: notably, the impact of strategic management on organisational performance and how lessons about successful strategic management can be transferred from one context to another. It stresses the need to look at the context of strategic management, and thereby points to a need to recognise that strategic management varies in practice. The book is, therefore, a warning against oversimplifying the nature of strategic management. Finally, it is a book that is upbeat about the future of strategic management as a subject of academic study and as a useful development in public administration."

Paul Joyce, Local Government Studies

"The book serves two main audiences. On one hand, it can be an excellent manual for graduate students in Public Management programs, especially sections 2 and 3, where the authors provide a complete overview of the schools of SM. On the other hand, it is also an advanced contribution for scholars in the field; they may be most interested in reading and discussing sections 6 (about the role of context(s)), 7 (the relationship between strategy and performance), and 9 (conclusions, where the SM in public sector is described as a "science" and "art and profession")."

Tommaso Agasisti, MIP Milan Polytechnic University, Italy

"One of the unique strengths of Ferlie's and Ongaro's work is that they make an, in our view largely successful, attempt at integrating and accommodating these diverse and somewhat controversial ambitions in a single - modestly sized - volume.... A second major strength of Ferlie's and Ongaro's book emanates from the emphasis it puts on illustrating theoretical deliberations by concrete and well-elaborated, in-depth examples.... Finally, the book provides a broad reflection with a conclusion chapter, which considers the nature of public strategic management in the public sector."

György Hajnal, Local Government Studies

"This book presents significant advances in the theoretical and practical understanding of public sector strategic management in its context. The book provides a contemporary public sector strategic perspective that is geared to comprehend the current and future challenges and provide sign posts for scholars and public sector actors to strategically act on the many contemporary challenges."

Giuseppe Grossi, Kristianstad University, Sweden