Patrick Gibert

This book examines why many ambitious public management policies do not materialize. Comprehensive reforms do not generate relevant and lasting changes. Yet some evolutions may occur that actually improve the efficiency level inside public administrations. The book identifies how and why such processes may occur. It explores an innovative approach to the way reform policies inside the public sector are assessed. The opening chapters examine the contributions of different disciplines to the study of change in the public sector, before proposing a framework to better understand management developments. The book then reviews eight crosscutting central government programmes successively launched since the late 1960s, examines how these programmes were designed and constructed, and analyses the ways in which three toolkits are appropriated: dashboards and indicators, cost-benefit analysis, and ex post evaluation. The final chapters examine the links between the developmentof agencification and the way in which central government proceeds to implement it, and demonstrate why and how the structure of human resources is crucial for initiating change processes. Together, the book proposes lessons for public practitioners as well as for academic purposes.

This book examines why many ambitious public management policies do not materialize. Comprehensive reforms do not generate relevant and lasting changes. Yet some evolutions may occur that actually improve the efficiency level inside public administrations. The book identifies how and why such processes may occur. It explores an innovative approach to the way reform policies inside the public sector are assessed. The opening chapters examine the contributions of different disciplines to the study of change in the public sector, before proposing a framework to better understand management developments. The book then reviews eight crosscutting central government programmes successively launched since the late 1960s, examines how these programmes were designed and constructed, and analyses the ways in which three toolkits are appropriated: dashboards and indicators, cost-benefit analysis, and ex post evaluation. The final chapters examine the links between the developmentof agencification and the way in which central government proceeds to implement it, and demonstrate why and how the structure of human resources is crucial for initiating change processes. Together, the book proposes lessons for public practitioners as well as for academic purposes.

Technological change is exciting as much as it is daunting. The arrival of new digital tools affects consumption patterns, types of employment and working conditions, and can pose challenges to organizations and individuals alike. Indeed, although technological change is a factor for economic growth, it can also be an amplifier, or even a catalyst, of inequality. It is also a social change and interacts in complex ways: technology is both the source and the consequence of social transformation. To understand technological change and to harness its effects, this book studies transformations at different levels (societal, organizational and individual). In its analysis of the subject, it also draws on a number of disciplines of the human and social sciences, such as anthropology, sociology and psychology.

Une Promesse Trahie?

In today’s business environment, as organizations constantly seek to growth and develop through the optimization of their innovative and creative potential, understanding the critical issues and management practices in R & D is essential. This book provides a critical revaluation of the state of the art issues and concepts in R&D management. The views expressed are those of leading French researchers and professionals in this field, fed by empirical studies in national and international firms.