Quality services in local government: A bottom-up approach

Journal of Management Development

Volumn 15, Issue 2, 1996, Pages 80-96

  Gaster, Lucy ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Decentralization; Local government; Public sector; Quality; Service; United Kingdom

Indexed keywords

EID: 84986178256     PISSN: 02621711     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1108/02621719610109159     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. Gaster, L., Quality at the Front Line, School for Advanced Urban Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, 1991.
2. Gaster, L., “Quality and decentralization: are they connected?”, Policy and Politics, Vol. 19 No. 4, 1991, pp. 257-67.
3. Gaster, L., “Quality, devolution and decentralization”, in Sanderson, I. (Ed.), Management for Quality in Local Government, Longman, Harlow, 1992.
4. Gaster, L., “Quality, choice and efficiency: the case of Harlow’s neighbourhood offices”, Local Government Policy Making, Vol. 20 No. 4, 1994, pp. 18-23.
5. The research by the author reported in this article was funded by the Management Practice Division of the Local Government Management Board in Luton, UK. Entitled Management Skills in Decentralized Environments, Local Government Management Board, Luton, October, 1995.
6. By “gurus”, I mean people whose views appear to have been influential in private sector quality and whose approach is based on personal conviction - a missionary approach - at least as much as on, say, systematic research and analysis. Quality gurus include W. E. eming, J. Juran, P. Crosby, K. Ishikawa, J. S. Oakland and Tom Peters.
7. Stewart, J.Managing Difference: The Analysis of Service Characteristics, Local Government Management Board, Luton, 1992.
8. Dalley, G., Baldwin, S., Carr-Hill, R., Hennessey, S. and Smedley, E., Quality Management Initiatives in the National Health Service: Strategic Approaches to Improving Quality, QMI Series No. 3, Centre for Health Economics, York University, York, 1991.
9. Joss, R., Kogan, M., Henkel, M. and Spink, M., Evaluation of Total Quality Management Projects in the National Health Services, Interim Reports, Centre for Evaluation of Public Policy and Practice, Brunel University, Middlesex, 1991, 1992, 1993.
10. Centre for the Evaluation of Public Policy and Practice, Considering Quality: An Analytical Guide to the Literature on Quality and Standards in The Public Services, CEPPP, Brunel University, Middlesex, 1992.
11. O/vretveit, J., Health Service Quality - An Introduction to Quality Methods for Health Services, Blackwell, Oxford, 1992.
12. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, “Background paper”, Symposium on Service Quality Initiatives in OECD Member Countries, OECD, Paris, November 1994.
13. Gaster, L., Quality in Public Services: Managers’ Choices, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1995.
14. Gaster, L., “Quality improvement in local service contracts: environmental services in Harlow”, in Pollitt, C. and Bouckaert, G. (Eds), Quality Improvement in European Public Services, Sage, London, 1995, ch. 6.
15. Gaster, L. and Taylor, M., Learning from Consumers and Citizens, Local Government Management Board, Luton, 1993.
16. Pollitt, C. and Bouckaert, G., Quality Improvement in European Public Services, Sage, London, 1995.
17. Donabedian, A., The Definition of Quality and Approaches to its Assessment, Vol 1 of Explorations in Quality Assessment and Monitoring, Health Administration Press, Ann Arbor, MI, 1980.
18. Stewart, J. and Walsh, K., The Search for Quality, Local Government Management Board, Luton, 1989.
19. Taylor, M., Langan, J. and Hoggett, P., Encouraging Diversity: Voluntary and Private Organizations in Community Care, Arena, Aldershot, 1995.
20. Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V.A. and Berry, L.L., “A conceptual model of service quality and its implications for future research”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49, Fall 1985, pp. 41-50.
21. Marsh, S., “Cautionary tales of managing in the internal market: a comparative look at public and private sector experience of support services”, The Journal of Management Development, Vol. 15 No. 2, 1996, pp. 69-79.
22. Burns, D., Hambleton, R. and Hoggett, P., The Politics of Decentralization, Macmillan, London, 1994.
23. Gaster, L. and Hoggett, P., “Neighbourhood decentralization and local management”, in Thomas, N., Deakin, N. and Doling, J. (Eds), Learning from Innovation, Birmingham Academic Press, University of Birmingham, 1993, ch. 9.
24. Newman, I., “Decentralization and democratisation: the role of the centre”, unpublished dissertation, University of Birmingham Public Service MBA, 1994.
25. Pratchett, L. and Wingfield, M., The Public Service Ethos in Local Government: A Research Report, Commission for Local Democracy and Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, London, 1994.
26. Chandler, J.A., Gregory, M. and Turner, R., Decentralization and Devolution in England and Wales, Local Government Management Board, Luton, 1995.
27. Martin, L., Taylor, M. and Gaster, L., Client, Enabler and Purchaser Roles, Local Government Management Board, Luton, 1995.
28. Gaster, L. and O'Toole, M., Local Government Decentralization: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?, Working Paper 125, School for Advanced Urban Studies, University of Bristol, 1995, p. 7.
29. Deakin, N., “Accentuating the apostrophe: the Citizen’s Charter”, Policy Studies, Vol. 15 No. 3, 1994, pp. 48-58.
30. Lowndes, V., “Decentralisation: the potential and the pitfalls”, Local Government Policy Making, Vol. 18 No. 2, 1991, pp. 19-29.
31. Audit Commission, Putting Quality on the Map: Measuring and Appraising Quality in the Public Service, Occasional Paper 18, Audit Commission, London, 1993.