Conceptualising and contextualising public sector operations management

Abstract

The pressure to improve the productivity and performance of public services has led to many calls from industrialists, management consultants and policy officers for the application of operations management practices to the public sector. However, the underlying question posed by this special issue is, are the concepts and models of operations management appropriate to public services? Based on the articles in this special issue, this article seeks to conceptualise and contextualise operations management within the public sector. The articles cover performance management, supply chain and advanced manufacturing technology covering a range of public sector organisations from healthcare to local government. The issue spans several continents including Europe, Australasia and America demonstrating the far reaching implementation of operations management concepts in public services. This article reflects on the articles presented in this special issue in order to illustrate that currently operations management in the public sector is concerned with context, complexity and the adaption and development of new theories and frameworks. In this article we draw attention to the challenges of managing operations in the public sector and the degree to which operations management is context dependent, stating an agenda for future research.

Keywords:

• operations management
• public sector
• reconceptualisation