Institutional amnesia: A paradox of the 'information age'?

Prometheus: Critical Studies in Innovation

Volumn 18, Issue 1, 2000, Pages 5-16

  Pollitt, Christopher ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Information age; Institutional amnesia; Public sector; Re structuring; Reengineering

Indexed keywords

INFORMATION SYSTEM; INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK;

EID: 85169767497     PISSN: 08109028     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/08109020050000627     Document Type: Article

References (55)

1. An earlier version of this paper was delivered as my inaugural professorial speech at Erasmus University on 25 November 1999. I wish to acknowledge the help I received in preparing for that occasion from Albert Meijer, Mirko Noordegraaf and Sandra van Thiel.
2. The texts were J. Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1996; E. Ferlie, L Ashbumer, L Fitzgerald and A. Pettigrew, The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996; A. Halachmi and G. Bouckaert (eds), The Enduring Challenges in Public Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995; O. Hughes, Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1998; W. Kickert and F. van Vught (eds), Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1995; L. Metcalfe and S. Richards, Improving Public Management, enlarged edition, European Institute of Public Administration/Sage, 1990; D. Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; S. Ranson and J. Stewart, Management for the Public Domain: Enabling the Learning Society, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1994; D. Savoie, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1994; and Zifcak, New managerialism: administrative reform in Whitehall and Canberra, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1994.
3. The texts were J. Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1996; E. Ferlie, L Ashbumer, L Fitzgerald and A. Pettigrew, The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996; A. Halachmi and G. Bouckaert (eds), The Enduring Challenges in Public Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995; O. Hughes, Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1998; W. Kickert and F. van Vught (eds), Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1995; L. Metcalfe and S. Richards, Improving Public Management, enlarged edition, European Institute of Public Administration/Sage, 1990; D. Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; S. Ranson and J. Stewart, Management for the Public Domain: Enabling the Learning Society, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1994; D. Savoie, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1994; and Zifcak, New managerialism: administrative reform in Whitehall and Canberra, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1994.
4. The texts were J. Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1996; E. Ferlie, L Ashbumer, L Fitzgerald and A. Pettigrew, The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996; A. Halachmi and G. Bouckaert (eds), The Enduring Challenges in Public Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995; O. Hughes, Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1998; W. Kickert and F. van Vught (eds), Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1995; L. Metcalfe and S. Richards, Improving Public Management, enlarged edition, European Institute of Public Administration/Sage, 1990; D. Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; S. Ranson and J. Stewart, Management for the Public Domain: Enabling the Learning Society, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1994; D. Savoie, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1994; and Zifcak, New managerialism: administrative reform in Whitehall and Canberra, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1994.
5. The texts were J. Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1996; E. Ferlie, L Ashbumer, L Fitzgerald and A. Pettigrew, The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996; A. Halachmi and G. Bouckaert (eds), The Enduring Challenges in Public Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995; O. Hughes, Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1998; W. Kickert and F. van Vught (eds), Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1995; L. Metcalfe and S. Richards, Improving Public Management, enlarged edition, European Institute of Public Administration/Sage, 1990; D. Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; S. Ranson and J. Stewart, Management for the Public Domain: Enabling the Learning Society, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1994; D. Savoie, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1994; and Zifcak, New managerialism: administrative reform in Whitehall and Canberra, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1994.
6. The texts were J. Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1996; E. Ferlie, L Ashbumer, L Fitzgerald and A. Pettigrew, The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996; A. Halachmi and G. Bouckaert (eds), The Enduring Challenges in Public Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995; O. Hughes, Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1998; W. Kickert and F. van Vught (eds), Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1995; L. Metcalfe and S. Richards, Improving Public Management, enlarged edition, European Institute of Public Administration/Sage, 1990; D. Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; S. Ranson and J. Stewart, Management for the Public Domain: Enabling the Learning Society, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1994; D. Savoie, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1994; and Zifcak, New managerialism: administrative reform in Whitehall and Canberra, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1994.
7. The texts were J. Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1996; E. Ferlie, L Ashbumer, L Fitzgerald and A. Pettigrew, The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996; A. Halachmi and G. Bouckaert (eds), The Enduring Challenges in Public Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995; O. Hughes, Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1998; W. Kickert and F. van Vught (eds), Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1995; L. Metcalfe and S. Richards, Improving Public Management, enlarged edition, European Institute of Public Administration/Sage, 1990; D. Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; S. Ranson and J. Stewart, Management for the Public Domain: Enabling the Learning Society, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1994; D. Savoie, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1994; and Zifcak, New managerialism: administrative reform in Whitehall and Canberra, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1994.
8. The texts were J. Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1996; E. Ferlie, L Ashbumer, L Fitzgerald and A. Pettigrew, The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996; A. Halachmi and G. Bouckaert (eds), The Enduring Challenges in Public Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995; O. Hughes, Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1998; W. Kickert and F. van Vught (eds), Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1995; L. Metcalfe and S. Richards, Improving Public Management, enlarged edition, European Institute of Public Administration/Sage, 1990; D. Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; S. Ranson and J. Stewart, Management for the Public Domain: Enabling the Learning Society, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1994; D. Savoie, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1994; and Zifcak, New managerialism: administrative reform in Whitehall and Canberra, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1994.
9. The texts were J. Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1996; E. Ferlie, L Ashbumer, L Fitzgerald and A. Pettigrew, The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996; A. Halachmi and G. Bouckaert (eds), The Enduring Challenges in Public Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995; O. Hughes, Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1998; W. Kickert and F. van Vught (eds), Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1995; L. Metcalfe and S. Richards, Improving Public Management, enlarged edition, European Institute of Public Administration/Sage, 1990; D. Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; S. Ranson and J. Stewart, Management for the Public Domain: Enabling the Learning Society, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1994; D. Savoie, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1994; and Zifcak, New managerialism: administrative reform in Whitehall and Canberra, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1994.
10. The texts were J. Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1996; E. Ferlie, L Ashbumer, L Fitzgerald and A. Pettigrew, The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996; A. Halachmi and G. Bouckaert (eds), The Enduring Challenges in Public Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995; O. Hughes, Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1998; W. Kickert and F. van Vught (eds), Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1995; L. Metcalfe and S. Richards, Improving Public Management, enlarged edition, European Institute of Public Administration/Sage, 1990; D. Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; S. Ranson and J. Stewart, Management for the Public Domain: Enabling the Learning Society, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1994; D. Savoie, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1994; and Zifcak, New managerialism: administrative reform in Whitehall and Canberra, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1994.
11. The texts were J. Boston, J. Martin, J. Pallot and P. Walsh, Public Management: The New Zealand Model, Oxford University Press, Auckland, 1996; E. Ferlie, L Ashbumer, L Fitzgerald and A. Pettigrew, The New Public Management in Action, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1996; A. Halachmi and G. Bouckaert (eds), The Enduring Challenges in Public Management, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 1995; O. Hughes, Public Management and Administration: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1998; W. Kickert and F. van Vught (eds), Public Policy and Administration Sciences in the Netherlands, Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1995; L. Metcalfe and S. Richards, Improving Public Management, enlarged edition, European Institute of Public Administration/Sage, 1990; D. Osborne and T. Gaebler, Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1992; S. Ranson and J. Stewart, Management for the Public Domain: Enabling the Learning Society, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1994; D. Savoie, Thatcher, Reagan, Mulroney: In Search of a New Bureaucracy, University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1994; and Zifcak, New managerialism: administrative reform in Whitehall and Canberra, Open University Press, Buckingham, 1994.
12. R. Goodin (ed.), The Theory of Institutional Design, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996.
13. J. Olsen and G. B. Peters (eds), Lessons from Experience: Experience Learning in Administrative Reforms in Eight Democracies, Scandinavian University Press, Oslo, 1996, esp. pp. 4-6.
14. M. Douglas, Making Institutions Work, Basic Books, New York, 1987, p. 71.
15. J. van der Bent, Organisatieleren:een zoektocht naar de geheugendragers en de roi van organsiatiegeheugen in veranderingsprocessen (Organizational Learning: An Exploration of Organizational Memory and its Role in Organizational Change Processes), PhD thesis at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, November 1999.
16. R. Rose, Lesson-drawing in Public Policy: A Guide to Learning Across Time and Space, Chatham House, Chatham, NJ, 1993.
17. M. May and E. Brunsdon, 'Social services and community care', in S. Horton and D. Famham (eds), Public Management in Britain, Macmillan, Basingstoke, 1999, pp. 232-44 (quote from pp. 235-36).
18. Boston et al., op. cit.
19. C. Pollitt and G. Bouckaert, Public Afanagement Reform: A Comparative Analysis, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000.
20. F. Verhaak, 'Shifting frames of reference in Dutch autonomisation reforms', in W. Kickert (ed.), Public Management and Administrative Reform in Western Europe, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, UK, pp. 159-79.
21. M. Noordegraaf, Attentionl Work and Behavior of Public Managers Amidst Ambiguity, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, 1999, p. 292.
22. C. Hall, C. Scott and C. Hood, Telecommunications Regulation: Culture, Chaos and Interdependence Inside the Regulatory Process, Routledge, London, 1999.
23. T. Gilliam, Brazil, 1985 (a film starring Jonathan Pryce, Robert de Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Ian Richardson, Peter Vaughan and Kim Greist - video distributed by Warner Home Video (UK) Ltd); F. Kafka, The Castle, translated from German by Willa and Edwin Muir, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1957; G. Orwell, 1984, Heron Books, London, 1970.
24. T. Gilliam, Brazil, 1985 (a film starring Jonathan Pryce, Robert de Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Ian Richardson, Peter Vaughan and Kim Greist - video distributed by Warner Home Video (UK) Ltd); F. Kafka, The Castle, translated from German by Willa and Edwin Muir, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1957; G. Orwell, 1984, Heron Books, London, 1970.
25. T. Gilliam, Brazil, 1985 (a film starring Jonathan Pryce, Robert de Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Ian Richardson, Peter Vaughan and Kim Greist - video distributed by Warner Home Video (UK) Ltd); F. Kafka, The Castle, translated from German by Willa and Edwin Muir, Penguin, Harmondsworth, 1957; G. Orwell, 1984, Heron Books, London, 1970.
26. J. Rothenberg, 'Ensuring the longevity of digital documents', Scientific American, 272, 1, 1995, pp. 42-47.
27. A. Meijer, 'Heeft het openbaar bestuur in de toemkomst nog een verleden?', Openbaar Bestuur, Jaargang 8, 8, Augustus 1998, pp. 9-13.
28. A. Meijer, 'Why did you build that road just there? Consequences of the use of geographical information systems for public accountability'. Paper presented to the European Group for Public Administration conference, Paris, August 1998.
29. Hall et al., op. cit.
30. See, e.g., W. Kickert, E.-H. Klijn and J. Koppenjan (eds), Managing Complex Networks: Strategies for the Public Sector, Sage, London, 1997.
31. See, e.g., V. Kouwenhoven, 'The rise of public private partnership: a model for the management of public private cooperation', in J. Kooiman (ed.), Modern Governance: New Government-Society Interactions, Sage, London, 1993, pp. 119-30.
32. Canadian Centre for Management Development, seminar discussion, Ottawa, November 1998.
33. A senior manager with a UK 'Next Steps' government agency, complaining about the agency's parent department, quoted in B. Hogwood, D. Judge and M. McVicar, 'Too much of a good thing? The pathology of accountability'. Paper presented at the Political Studies Association annual conference, Keele, Staffordshire, 7-9 April 1998, p. 19.
34. M. Zbaracki, 'The rhetoric and reality of Total Quality Management', Administrative Science Quarterly, 43, 1998, p. 629.
35. See, e.g., National Health Service Executive, Business Process Re-engineering in the NHS, Acute Provider Centre of Information Systems, Winchester, 1997; T. Packwood, C. Pollitt and S. Roberts, 'Good medicine? A case study of business process re-engineering in a hospital', Policy and Politics, 26, 4, 1998, pp. 401-15.
36. See, e.g., National Health Service Executive, Business Process Re-engineering in the NHS, Acute Provider Centre of Information Systems, Winchester, 1997; T. Packwood, C. Pollitt and S. Roberts, 'Good medicine? A case study of business process re-engineering in a hospital', Policy and Politics, 26, 4, 1998, pp. 401-15.
37. M. Hammer and J. Champy, Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution, Nicholas Brealey, London, 1995.
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid, p. 2.
40. P. Case, Reengineering the End of History: A Critique of Business Process Reengineering, CRIGT Discussion Paper No.52, Brunel University, UK, 1995, pp. 11 and 20.
41. See, e.g., Prime Minister and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Modernising Government, Cm4310, The Stationery Office, London, 1999, p. 39; http://www.cabinet-ofnce.gov.uk/eeg; OECD, Benchmarking, Evaluation and Strategic Management in the Public Sector, PUMA/OECD, Paris, 1997.
42. See, e.g., Prime Minister and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Modernising Government, Cm4310, The Stationery Office, London, 1999, p. 39; http://www.cabinet-ofnce.gov.uk/eeg; OECD, Benchmarking, Evaluation and Strategic Management in the Public Sector, PUMA/OECD, Paris, 1997.
43. N. Brunsson, The Organization of Hypocrisy: Talk, Decisions and Actions in Organizations, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1989, p. 226.
44. C. Hood and M. Jackson, Administraitve Argument, Dartmouth, Aldershot, 1991, p. 19.
45. D. North, Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990; P. Pierson, 'Path dependence, increasing returns, and the study of politics'. Paper presented as the Jean Monnet Visiting Professor Lecture, European University Institute, April (revised October) 1997; P. Pierson, 'Not just what but when: Issues of timing and sequence in comparative politics. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association meetings, Boston, September 1998.
46. D. North, Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990; P. Pierson, 'Path dependence, increasing returns, and the study of politics'. Paper presented as the Jean Monnet Visiting Professor Lecture, European University Institute, April (revised October) 1997; P. Pierson, 'Not just what but when: Issues of timing and sequence in comparative politics. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association meetings, Boston, September 1998.
47. D. North, Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990; P. Pierson, 'Path dependence, increasing returns, and the study of politics'. Paper presented as the Jean Monnet Visiting Professor Lecture, European University Institute, April (revised October) 1997; P. Pierson, 'Not just what but when: Issues of timing and sequence in comparative politics. Paper presented at the American Political Science Association meetings, Boston, September 1998.
48. R. Premfors, 'Reshaping the democratic state: Swedish experiences in a comparative perspective', Public Administration, 76, 1, Spring 1998, pp. 141-59.
49. Pollitt and Bouchaert, op. cit.
50. J. Elster, Sour Grapes: Studies in the Subversion of Rationality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1983, p. 48.
51. C. Hood, The Limits of Administration, Wiley, London, 1976; C. Hood, The Art of the State: Culture, Rhetoric and Public Management, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998.
52. C. Hood, The Limits of Administration, Wiley, London, 1976; C. Hood, The Art of the State: Culture, Rhetoric and Public Management, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998.
53. Hood, 1998, op. cit., pp. 16-17.
54. Douglas, op. cit., p. 76.
55. Pollitt and Bouckaert, op. cit.