Senior-Level Recruitment
Arkin A, Mullen J
People Management, (UK), 30 Apr 98 (4/9)
Start page: 28 No of pages: 6
Assesses the evidence that the ‘old boy’ network is still prevalent in recruitment for senior posts in the UK civil service and other public and private sector organizations. Quotes from those who believe that women and people from ethnic minorities have been excluded from top civil service appointments and those who believe that the system is procedurally fair. 

Lessons for the UK from the US experience
Smyth J D The International Journal of Public Sector Management, (UK), Vol 10 No 1/2 97 Start page: 21 No of pages: 26
Compares competitive tendering practices in the UK and the USA in the procurement of public services, reporting on field research in the USA aimed at identifying: where and how competition is used in the procurement of public services; whether the practice is effective for long-term care; and whether there are any lessons for the UK. 

Breaking Free of Bureaucracy
Leadbeater C
Financial Times, (UK), 28 Apr1998 Start page: 16 No of pages: 1
Spotlights the activities of Norma Redfearn, head teacher of West Walker primary school in Newcastle (north-east England) since 1986, and described as a civic entrepreneur; describes the desperate state that the school was in when she joined, and explains how education of families as well as pupils has acted as a catalyst in reviving the school and the community. 

Woods G, Lantsheer C, Clark R E The Learning Organization, (UK), Vol 5 No 2 98 Start page: 74 No of pages: 9
Reports research that indicates the training which has a ‘customer service’ focus produces different knowledge and organizational results from training which is job and task focused. Describes a training programme that focused on customer satisfaction, designed for the European Patent Office and assesses the success of this approach to training. 

McDougall M
The International Journal of Public Sector Management, (UK), Vol 11 No 1 98. Start page: 71 No of pages: 10
Describes the case study of a public sector organization aimed at exploring views on the implications and outcomes of devolving the responsibility for gender management to line managers. 

Bennett N, Ketchen D J, Schultz E B
Human Resource Management, (USA), Spring 98 (37/1)
Start page: 3 No of pages: 14
Analyses the environmental, strategic and organizational factors that affect the likelihood that an organization will integrate its human resource function in its decision making. 

Barker A
Public Administration, (UK), Spring 98 (76/1)
Start page: 1 No of pages: 24
Examines the divide made in UK government theory between policy, decided by government ministers, and administration/operations, carried out by the Civil Service and government agencies, and asks if this division is useful in sensitive areas of government, such as the prison service. 

Chapman R A
Public Money & Management, (UK), Jan-Mar 98 Vol 18 No 1
Start page: 9 No of pages: 5
Reflects on the nature of ethics in public service; considers the essence of decisions, constraints on these and pressures from outside of and within the administrative system; looks at the implications of the system of government and its constitution for ethics. 

Callendar G, Johnston J
Public Administration and Development, (UK), Feb 97 (17/1)
Start page: 55 No of pages: 16
Discusses the Australian government’s public sector reform initiatives, introduced over the last ten years, in order to achieve national competitive advantage, including downsizing, corporate management and commercialization, based on an economic rationalist-managerialist style of governance. 

Vowler J
Computer Weekly, (UK), 23 Apr 1998
Start page: 36 No of pages: 2
Looks at the potential dangers associated with failure to deal effectively with the millennium bug, and considers the contingency planning that should be carried out to minimize the impact of that failure.