Dargie C
Public Administration, (UK), Spring 98 (76/1)
Start page: 161 No of pages: 17
Analyses the managerial roles of chief executives within the UK public sector, focusing on cases studies from local government and National Health Service Trusts. Based on analysing the working week of chief executives from two inner city councils and two inner city NHS Trusts, examines how their work is divided up (meetings, telephone calls, etc.); the main groups of people with whom the chief executives meet; and the content of their work. Uses Mintzberg’s analysis of informational, interpersonal and decisional roles to analyse the chief executives’ managerial roles, assessing the usefulness of Mintzberg’s theoretical work in this area. Concludes that Mintzberg’s model would need to be modified to include the impact of the political environment if it were to encompass the types of managerial roles carried out by public sector chief executives. Even so, doubts if the model can capture the complexity of public sector organizations.