By Hal G. RaineyIn the third edition of his award-winning book, Hal G. Rainey provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of research on public organizations and management. Drawing on a review of the most current research about government organizations and managers-and about effective and ineffective practices in government – this important resource offers specific suggestions for managing these challenges in today’s public organizations. Using illustrative, real-life vignettes and examples, the book provides expert analysis of organizational design, goals, power, effectiveness, leadership, motivation and work attitudes and decision making.

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Managers find it difficult to switch off when they are on holiday. According to research by the Chartered Management Institute 45% contact their employers by choice when on annual leave.The majority of managers have more than 5 weeks holiday entitlement each year, but increasing work commitments mean that 40 per cent of managers do not take up their full holiday allowance. The figures are higher in the manufacturing and retail sectors where 73% of entitlement is taken, but lowest in the public sector where the figure is only 39%. 4% of public sector workers take “about” half of the days they have available.

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The potential benefits of e-Government will not be realized without a radical re-think is the key message from the Independent think tank The Work Foundation. In a report ‘SmartGov – Renewing Electronic Government for Improved Service Delivery’ it says that e-government has the potential not only to transform public services, but to fix the credibility gap between what people want and what they get from Government. This would then help to overcome the spiral of dissatisfaction and low voter turnout.e-Government is about creating a new form of political legitimacy, but theories about what it is for include saving money and eliminating benefit fraud. The report argues that it is about re-working government to better suit modern life. It offers a philosophy for re-invention of the state and a mechanism for renewal comparable to such significant realignments of public services as nationalization and privatization.

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