Strategies for public service turnaround: Lessons from the private sector?

Administration and Society

Volumn 38, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 365-388

  Boyne, George A ^a,b  

^a CARDIFF UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

^b CARDIFF UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Organizational turnaround; Pubic service strategies; Public and private sectors

Indexed keywords

EID: 33744820567     PISSN: 00953997     EISSN: 15523039     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0095399705286004     Document Type: Review

References (84)

1. Arogyaswamy, K., Barker, V., & Yasai-Ardekani, M. (1995). Firm turnarounds: An integrative two-stage model. Journal of Management Studies, 32, 493-525.
2. Audit Commission. (2002). A force for change: Central government intervention in failing local government services. London: HMSO.
3. Bache, I. (2003). Not everything that matters is measurable and not everything that is measurable matters: How and why local education authorities "fail." Local Government Studies, 29 (4). 76-94.
4. Barker, V., & Mone, M. (1994). Retrenchment: Cause of turnaround or consequence of decline? Strategic Management Journal, 15, 395-405.
5. Barker, V., Mone, M., Mueller, G., & Freeman, S. (1998). Does it add up? An empirical study of the value of downsizing for firm turnaround. In D. Ketchen (Ed.), Turnaround research: Past accomplishments and future challenges (pp. 57-82). London: JAI.
6. Barker, V., Patterson, P., & Mueller, G. (2001). Organizational causes and strategic consequences of the extent of top management team replacement during turnaround attempts. Journal of Management Studies, 38, 235-269.
7. Barr, P., Stimpert, J., & Huff, A. (1992). Cognitive change, strategic action and organizational renewal. Strategic Management Journal, 13, 15-36.
8. Borins, S. (1998). Innovating with integrity. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
9. Boyne, G. A. (2002). Public and private management: What's the difference? Journal of Management Studies, 39, 97-122.
10. Boyne, G. A. (2003a). Sources of public service improvement: A critical review and research agenda. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 13, 367-394.
11. Boyne, G. A. (2003b). What is public service improvement? Public Administration, 81, 211-228.
12. Boyne, G. A., Farrell, C., Law, J., Powell, M., & Walker, R. (2003). Evaluating public management reforms: Principles and practice. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
13. Boyne, G. A., & Walker, R. (2004). Strategy content and public service organizations. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 14, 231-252.
14. Bozeman, B. (1987). All organizations are public. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
15. Bruton, G., Ahlstrom, D., & Wan, J. (2003). Turnaround in east Asian firms: Evidence from ethnic overseas Chinese communities. Strategic Management Journal, 24, 519-540.
16. Bruton, G., & Wan, J. (1994). Operating turnarounds and high technology firms. Journal of High Technology Management Research, 5, 261-278.
17. Carmines, E., & Stimson, J. (1989). Issue evolution. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
18. Chowdhury, S. (2002). Turnaround: A stage theory perspective. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 19, 249-266.
19. Chowdhury, S., & Lang, J. (1994). Turnaround actions, contingency influences and profitability: The case for slack and capital intensity. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 11, 205-213.
20. Chowdhury, S., & Lang, J. (1996). Turnaround in small firms: An assessment of efficiency strategies. Journal of Business Research, 46, 169-178.
21. Contino, R., & Lorusso, R. (1982). The theory z turnaround of a public agency. Public Administration Review, 42, 56-72.
22. Dawley, D., Hoffman, J., & Lamont, B. (2002). Choice situation, refocusing and post-bankruptcy performance. Journal of Management, 28, 695-717.
23. Decker, J., & Paulson, S. (1988). Performance improvement in a public utility. Public Productivity Review, 11 (3). 51-65.
24. Donaldson, L. (1999). Performance driven organizational change. London: Sage.
25. Downs, A. (1967). Inside bureaucracy. Boston: Little, Brown.
26. Durham, J., & Smith, H. (1982). Toward a general theory of organizational deterioration. Administration & Society, 14, 373-400.
27. Evans, J., & Green, C. (2000). Marketing strategy, constituent influence, and resource allocation: An application of the miles and snow typology to closely held firms in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Journal of Business Research, 50, 225-231.
28. Ferlie, E., McLaughlin, K., & Osborne, S. (Eds.). (2002). The new public management: Current trends and future prospects. London: Routledge.
29. Goodsell, C. (1994). The case for bureaucracy. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.
30. Grinyer, P., Mayes, D., & McKiernan, P. (1988). Sharp benders. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
31. Hambrick, D. (1985). Turnaround strategies. In W. Guth (Ed.), Handbook of business strategy (pp. 3-32). Boston: Warren, Gorham and Lamont.
32. Hambrick, D., & Schecter, S. (1983). Turnaround strategies for mature industrial-product business units. Academy of Management Journal, 26, 231-248.
33. Hargrove, E., & Glidewell, J. (Eds.). (1990). Impossible jobs in public management. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.
34. Harker, M., & Sharma, B. (1999). Leadership and the company turnaround process. Leadership and Organizational Development Journals, 31 (6). 36-47.
35. Hoffman, R. (1989). Strategies of corporate turnaround: What do we know about them? Journal of General Management, 14, 46-66.
36. Holzer, M. (1988). Productivity in, garbage out: Sanitation gains in New York. Public Productivity Review, 11 (3). 37-50.
37. Kaufman, H. (1976). Are government organizations immortal? Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
38. Ketchen, D. (Ed.). (1998). Turnaround research: Past accomplishments and future challenges. London: JAI.
39. Lewis, D. (2002). The politics of agency termination: Confronting the myth of agency mortality. Journal of Politics, 64, 89-107.
40. Light, P. (1997). The tides of reform. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
41. Lohrke, F., & Bedeian, A. (1998). Managerial responses to declining performance: Turnaround investment strategies and critical contingencies. In D. Ketchen (Ed.), Turnaround research: Past accomplished and future challenges (pp. 3-20). London: JAI.
42. McCurdy, H. (1991). Organizational decline: NASA and the life cycle of bureaus. Public Administration Review, 51, 308-315.
43. McKiernan, P. (2002). Turnarounds. In D. Faulkner & A. Campbell (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of strategy (pp. 267-318). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
44. Meier, K., & Bohte, J. (2003). Not with a bang, but a whimper: Explaining organizational failures. Administration & Society, 35, 1-18.
45. Meier, K., & O'Toole, L. (2001). Managerial strategies and behaviour in networks: A model with evidence from U.S. public education. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 11, 271-293.
46. Meier, K., & O'Toole, L. (2002). Public management and organizational performance: The effect of managerial quality. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 21, 629-643.
47. Meyer, M., & Zucker, L. (1989). Permanently failing organizations. London: Sage.
48. Miller, D. (1994). What happens after success: The perils of excellence. Journal of Management Studies, 31, 325-358.
49. Mintzberg, H., Ahlstrand, B., & Lampel, J. (1998). Strategy safari. London: Prentice Hall.
50. Moore, M. (1995). Creating public value. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
51. Mueller, G., & Barker, V. (1997). Upper echelons and board characteristics of turnaround and nonturnaround declining firms. Journal of Business Research, 39, 119-134.
52. Nash, D. (2002). Improving No Child Left Behind: Achieving excellence and equity in partnership with the states. Rutgers Law Review, 55, 239-270.
53. Nutt, P., & Backoff, R. (1993). Organizational publicness and its implications for strategic management. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 3, 209-231.
54. O'Neill, H. (1986a). An analysis of the turnaround strategy in commercial banking. Journal of Management Studies, 23, 165-188.
55. O'Neill, H. (1986b). Turnaround and recovery: What strategy do you need? Long Range Planning, 19 (1). 80-88.
56. O'Toole, L., & Meier, K. (2003). Plus ca change: Public management, personnel stability and organizational performance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 13, 42-64.
57. Pant, L. (1991). An investigation of industry and firm structural characteristics in corporate turnaround. Journal of Management Studies, 28, 623-643.
58. Pearce, J., & Robbins, K. (1993). Toward improved theory and research on business turnaround. Journal of Management, 19, 613-636.
59. Pearce, J., & Robbins, K. (1994a). Entrepreneurial recovery strategies of small market share manufacturers. Journal of Business Venturing, 9, 91-108.
60. Pearce, J., & Robbins, K. (1994b). Retrenchment remains the foundation of business turnaround. Strategic Management Journal, 15, 407-417.
61. Perry, J., & Rainey, H. (1988). The public-private distinction in organization theory: A critique and research strategy. Academy of Management Review, 13, 182-201.
62. Peters, B. G., & Hogwood, B. (1988). The death of immortality: Births, deaths and metamorphoses in the U.S. federal bureaucracy, 1933-1982. American Review of Public Administration, 18, 119-133.
63. Poister, T. (1988). Success stories in revitalizing public agencies. Public Productivity Review, 11 (3). 27-36.
64. Pollitt, C., & Bouckaert, G. (2000). Public management reform. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
65. Rainey, G., & Rainey, H. (1986). Breaching the hierarchical imperative: The modularization of the social security claims process. In D. Calista (Ed.), Bureaucratic and governmental reform (pp. 171-195). London: JAI.
66. Rainey, H. (2003). Understanding and managing public organizations (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
67. Rainey, H., & Bozeman, B. (2000). Comparing public and private organizations: Empirical research and the power of the a priori. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 10, 447-469.
68. Ring, P., & Perry, J. (1985). Strategic management in public and private organizations: Implications of distinctive contexts and constraints. Academy of Management Review, 10, 276-286.
69. Robbins, K., & Pearce, J. (1992). Turnaround: Retrenchment and recovery. Strategic Management Journal, 13, 287-309.
70. Schendel, D., & Patton, G. (1976). Corporate stagnation and turnaround. Journal of Economics and Business, 28, 236-241.
71. Shook, C. (1998). Turning around turnaround research: The value of process in advancing knowledge. In D. Ketchen (Ed.), Turnaround research: Past accomplishments and future challenges (pp. 261-280). London: JAI.
72. Short, J., Palmer, T., & Stimpert, L. (1998). Getting back on track: Performance referents affecting the turnaround process. In D. Ketchen (Ed.), Turnaround research: Past accomplishments and future challenges (pp. 153-176). London: JAI.
73. Sitkin, S. (1992). Learning through failure: The strategy of small losses. In B. Staw & L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behaviour (Vol. 14, pp. 73-98). London: JAI.
74. Slatter, S. (1984). Corporate recovery. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.
75. Staw, B., Sanderlands, L., & Dutton, J. (1981). Threat rigidity effects in organizational behaviour: A multilevel analysis. Administrative Science Quarterly, 26, 501-524.
76. Stephens, J. (1988). Turnaround at the Alabama Rehabilitation Agency. Public Productivity Review, 11 (3). 67-84.
77. Stewart, J., & Kringas, P. (2003). Change management - strategy and values in six agencies from the Australian public service. Public Administration Review, 63, 675-688.
78. Stopford, J., & Baden-Fuller, C. (1990). Corporate rejuvenation. Journal of Management Studies, 27, 399-415.
79. Sudarsanam, S., & Lai, J. (2001). Corporate financial distress and turnaround strategies: An empirical analysis. British Journal of Management, 12, 183-200.
80. Thietart, R. (1988). Success strategies for business that reform poorly. Interfaces, 18, 32-45.
81. Wechsler, B., & Backoff, R. (1986). Policy making and administration in state agencies: Strategic management approaches. Public Administration Review, 46, 321-327.
82. Weitzel, W., & Jonsonn, E. (1989). Decline in organizations: A literature integration and extension. Administrative Science Quarterly, 34, 91-109.
83. Wilson, J. (1989). Bureaucracy. New York: Basic Books.
84. Winn, J. (1993). Performance measures for corporate decline and turnaround. Journal of General Management, 19, 48-63.