German lessons in local government: The opportunities and pitfalls of managing change

Abstract

Management change in local authorities has increased interest in lessons from abroad The German Land Nordrhein‐Westfalen offers particularly fruitful scope for comparison because it is undertaking a change which is also being contemplated here. Its local authorities are abandoning their leadership structure, which consisted of a mayor elected by the council and a chief executive officer appointed as the administrative head of the local government, replacing it with American‐style directly elected executive mayors. The old and new offices are assessed both in terms of their roles as co‐ordinators of internal management and as ambassadors to business and other governments for their communities.