Letter/Communication
Values in public management: Privatization and the public–private divide
European management journal, Vol.43(3), pp.341-343
06/2025
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Abstract
“All organizations are public,” claims Barry Bozeman in his 2004 book (Bozeman, 2004). Bold as the statement may sound, the truth behind it lies in the fluidity of the public–private nature of organizations, rather than the more polarized classifications of public and private sector management. Albeit shaped by political will and the administrative context in which we find ourselves, we are surrounded by hybrid public–private entities. These are most visible in contexts like public procurement processes (Skipworth et al., 2020), where public entities commission private contractors for specific aspects of public goods or public service delivery, and privatization, de-privatization, and re-municipalization reforms (Clifton et al., 2021; McDonald & Swyngedouw, 2019; Wadmann et al., 2019; Warner, 2024). In these, public enterprises are at the receiving end of business institutional logics (e.g., the critical infrastructure services in most OECD countries) or, occasionally, business logics are abandoned when operations or services are taken (usually “back”) into public ownership. The 1999 partial privatization of the Berlin Water Company that was reversed in 2012 (Beveridge, Huesker and Naumann, 2015) provides a vivid example of initial public acceptance of private values being quickly rejected by the public for whom key public values rose to prominence. Privatization was promoted as aligning with private sector values, namely efficiency, service improvement, cost control, freeing up public resources for other initiatives, and positioning Berlin as a key player in the globalization of critical public services. However, from 2001 the government became embroiled in the corruption and mismanagement of another privatized municipal entity. Water charges to the public escalated, whilst private partners received profits guaranteed by secret contracts. Moreover, private partners and successive governments strongly opposed legal actions by social organizations aimed at achieving transparency. By the time the Berlin re-municipalization process was completed, it became clear that public opinion had shifted in favor of public values—transparency, good governance, and public ownership of public assets—displacing the previously dominant private sector values (Beveridge & Naumann, 2015; Schiffler, 2015)...
Details
- Title
- Values in public management: Privatization and the public–private divide
- Creators
- Sorin Dan - University of VaasaTom S. Karlsson - University of GothenburgDavid E. Mills - Queensland University of Technology
- Publication Details
- European management journal, Vol.43(3), pp.341-343
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Number of pages
- 3
- Identifiers
- 991013276710202368
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Letter/Communication