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Public Management & Delivery - SPY00023M

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  • Department: Social Policy and Social Work
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Enrico Reuter
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: M
  • Academic year of delivery: 2021-22

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Autumn Term 2021-22

Module aims

  • To develop writing and academic integrity skills
  • To analyse the major trends and reforms that have been affecting the management of public services in recent decades
  • To review the impact of these trends and reforms on the context of public management including:

o The role of, and skills required of, the public service manager
o Forms of governance and accountability including the boundaries between public, private and non-governmental sectors

  • To evaluate the issues that public managers need to address in the light of this context including:

o measuring and managing performance
o human resources management
o ethics
o leadership

Module learning outcomes

By the end of this module you should be able to:

  • Explain the nature and impact of New Public Management, including its implications for the structure and values of public services
  • Demonstrate development of writing and academic integrity skills
  • Understand in particular the influence of private sector approaches in public management, and the differences between managing in public and private contexts
  • Distinguish between accountability via markets and via political systems, including the different nature of relationships between citizens and the state
  • Discuss the concepts of governance and networks and their implications for public management
  • Appreciate the extent to which public services have been affected by global trends and influences
  • Analyse and evaluate your own organisational experience in relation to the ground covered by the module

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Public Management & Delivery - Assignment		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

Non-compensatable

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Public Management & Delivery - Assignment		 N/A 100

Module feedback

The lead marker (the module tutor) will include comments about the content, structure, and evidence used etc. to provide you with constructive information that will enable you to improve on future work. The feedback a tutor can offer can be invaluable to your studies, so it is important you read this carefully

We aim to return your marked work to you within one month of its submission.

Feedback will be given in three ways:

(1) Comments within the actual text will highlight specific points and examples that the marker wants to draw to your attention.

(2) The marking criteria will be highlighted to show how your assignment has been rated against those criteria. This will enable you to calibrate your performance against a consistent scale, and therefore to aim to improve in specific areas.

(3) Finally the marker will provide a narrative summary in which the main points will be set out and any major areas for improvement highlighted.

Indicative reading

Bryson, J.M., Crosby, B.C. and Bloomberg, L. (2014) Public Value Governance: Moving beyond traditional public administration and the New Public Management, Public Administration Review, Vol. 74, No. 4, pp. 445-456.

Ferlie, E., Lynn, L. E. and Pollitt, C., (eds) (2005) The Oxford Handbook of Public Management, Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 1-22.

Hughes, O. (2003) Public Management and Administration, London, Palgrave MacMillan

Lewis, J.M. (2015) “The politics and consequences of performance measurement” Policy and Society, 34:1, pp.1-12

Lowe, T (2013) New development: The paradox of outcomes—the more we measure, the less we understand, Public Money & Management, 33:3, pp 213-216


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.