This title was first published in 2003. Since the 1980s, in Australia
and other developed nations, public sector management philosophies and
how the public sector is organized have changed dramatically. At the
same time, there have been many demands, and several attempts, to
preserve and promote ethical behaviour within the public sector - though
few go much beyond the publication of a code. Both developments require
an understanding of how public organizations operate in this new
environment. Organizational and management theory are seen as providing
important potential insights into the opportunities and pitfalls for
building ethics into the practices, culture and norms of public
organizations. This book brings together the experience and research of
a range of "reflective practitioners" and "engaged academics" in public
sector management, organizational theory, management theory, public
sector ethics and law. It addresses what management and organization
theory might suggest about the nature of public organizations and the
institutionalization of ethics.