Hill S, McNulty D
Health Manpower Management, (UK), Vol 24 No 1 98
Start page: 6 No of pages: 7
Considers whether transformational change, in the form of incorporation or merger, can assist the reshaping of an organization’s culture. 

The announcement that Peter Wanless has been appointed Director of Strategy and Communications for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport signals a major shift in the management of central departments. Traditionally work is organised in functional groupings in a combined policy and line management role. Responsibility for the big issues is fragmented and usually it is only at Grade 2 level that one individual becomes responsible. 

More light has been thrown on the innovative methods public agencies are to employ to breathe fresh life into schemes which get long term unemployed people into work.
Liverpool & Sefton’s Employment Zone, in the first such deal of its kind, sees the Ford Motor Company taking on and training unemployed people for up to six months at the full rate for the job, while they also work for a vocational qualification and a job reference. 

The Local Government Association is moving to deliver Labour’s hopes of IT as the solution to the communication challenges ahead. It has awarded a contract to BT to develop an advanced information service to improve communications between the association, local councils and the public.
The LGA represents more than 500 local authorities serving more than 50 million people.
LGAnet, as the network is called, involves a sophisticated Intranet, Extranet and Internet service. 

Peter Anthony
“This is a very thought-provoking book…Managers and academics alike will find their ideas of corporate culture challenged and broadened by Anthony’s critical assessment of the utility of corporate culture as the key to superior organizations.” - Personnel Psychology
Does the management of culture provide the key to a commitment to excellence? 

Mapping the New Governance: the Department of National Heritage and Cultural Politics in Britain
Taylor A
Public Administration, (UK), Autumn 97 (75/3)
Start page: 441 No of pages: 26
Examines the new structure of government in the UK which sees the responsibility of central executive as formulating policy and monitoring its implementation by autonomous agencies which operate at arm’s length from the executive. 

The Government says its own departments and local government must work harder to make life easier for small businesses.
Small Firms Minister Barbara Roche says she wants regulatory systems more transparent, accessible and business friendly. She has set out the Government’s commitment to small businesses in a new report on efforts in this sector, Action Update.
She said: “It is important that we must look to the future, and not rest on our achievements. 

Doubts have been cast over methods used by the Government to target Britain’s worst housing estates.
The Institute of Public Policy Research says millions of pounds could be being targeted at London’s less deprived council estates when much worse private, or privately rented, properties in the provinces are ignored.
And black and Asian Britons miss out as a result as they are much less likely to live in council properties, especially if based outside London. 

Francis S D, Alley P G
Business Process Re-engineering & Management Journal, (UK), Vol 2 No 11 96
Start page: 48 No of pages: 15
Summarizes the progress made to date on a business process re-engineering (BPR) project in the department of surgery of a publicly funded hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. 

A smart card has been launched which allows people to do business with the Government without the traditional mountain of paper to be signed.
The ‘Endorse’ card can be picked up from their local bank, and used to help newly self-employed people register their changed employment status on the internet.
A code on the card verifies the identity of users, and there’s no need for an official signature.