Public services governance and management

The Public Services Governance and Management (PSGM) Research Group focuses on how public services are governed, managed, organised and transformed across public, private and not-for-profit settings.

Our work examines how governance arrangements, management practices, professional expertise, digital technologies, leadership and accountability shape the delivery and performance of public services. We are especially interested in how these issues affect service quality, efficiency, user experience, employee wellbeing, professional work and public value.

The group’s research spans several connected areas:

Public management, governance and organisational performance

This includes work on public sector reform, organisational performance, administrative burden, digital transformation, leadership, board composition, professional management and the role of internal and external sources of expertise in improving service delivery.

Healthcare leadership, teams and employee wellbeing

Current work examines compassionate leadership, leadership development, team functioning, senior and supervisory support, employee wellbeing, absenteeism, work pressure, feeling valued in teams, autonomy, patient satisfaction and innovation in healthcare teams. This includes evaluation work with healthcare organisations and research using NHS datasets.

Consultancy, expertise and knowledge in public services

This includes external consultancy in the NHS, internal consultancy networks, and the governance of consultancy use in public services. Members also study how different forms of internal and external expertise shape policy, organisational change and public service transformation.

Digital transformation, AI and public services

Members research digital innovation and the changing role of technology in public services. This includes, for example, digital health, artificial intelligence in healthcare and policing, emergency services technology, online patient communities, medical expertise, cyber resilience, digital infrastructures, energy digitalisation, and the use of predictive analytics in public and social welfare services.

Accounting, performance measurement and public accountability

This includes work on management accounting, performance measurement, tax compliance, public accountability and management control in public service contexts. Current interests include, for example, costing and management control systems in NHS providers, cooperative tax compliance, ethical accounting, performance measurement, and the role of accounting technologies in shaping organisational and public outcomes.

Inequality, social justice and public value

Members also examine public services through critical, ethical and social justice perspectives. This includes, for example, work on social inequalities, gender, precarious work, alternative organisations, community-based approaches, participatory research, public engagement, innovation policy, social purpose, and the common good.

 

Through these areas, the group aims to support interdisciplinary discussion, develop collaborations across the Business School and wider University, and engage with organisations and policy communities involved in the governance and delivery of public services.

 

Current and recent work

• Governance and use of internal and external management consultancy in public services, including external consultancy in public healthcare, internal consultancy networks in the NHS, public sector consultancy accountability, and consultancy as policy entrepreneurship in areas such as climate change. Current work includes engagement with the NHS, Cabinet Office, National Audit Office and UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab. See work by Andrew Sturdy and Gianluca Veronesi.

 

• Governance, performance and reform in public sector organisations, with a particular focus on healthcare. Current work examines administrative burden, dynamic capabilities, digital transformation, organisational performance, top management team composition, recruitment and performance outcomes, and cognitive complexity in public sector leadership. See work by Gianluca Veronesi.

 

• Healthcare leadership, team functioning and employee wellbeing, including organisational culture, compassionate leadership, leadership development, senior and supervisory support, work pressure, teamwork, absenteeism, autonomy, patient satisfaction, and innovation in healthcare teams. See work by Thomas West.

 

• Management accounting, costing, performance measurement and management control in public service and healthcare settings, including NHS costing systems, hospital accounting practices, productivity agendas, ethical accounting, performance measurement systems, and the governance of large companies’ tax collection. See work by Yilong Chen, Chiara Bottausci, and Claire Decottignies.

 

• Digital spaces, technology and the reconfiguration of expertise in healthcare and public services, including online patient communities, lay expertise, professional authority, patient-professional relationships, artificial intelligence in healthcare, medical and conversational AI in healthcare, AI in policing, and technology implementation and evaluation in emergency services. See work by Roberta Bernardi, Fatema Zaghloul, Wen Zhang, and Zicheng Li.

 

• Public engagement, digital innovation and critical infrastructure, including cyber resilience, cyber security regulation, energy digitalisation, digital twins, expertise, sustainability and the governance of critical infrastructure. See work by Ola Michalec.

 

• Decision-making, collaboration and problem framing in cross-functional and multi-organisational teams, including decision support, behavioural operations research, public sector engagement, and AI-supported multidisciplinary team decision making in healthcare. See work by Alberto Franco.

 

• Social justice, inequality and alternative forms of organising, including participatory research, critical perspectives on leadership, precarious work, community-based approaches to health inequalities, social welfare, community technology, predictive analytics in child welfare, and socio-digital futures. See work by Sheena Vachhani, Matt Dowse, and Zoe Sanderson.