PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR MANAGERS OVER 20 YEARS: A TEST OF THE ‘ CONVERGENCE THESIS ’
MICHAEL POOLE , ROGER MANSFIELD AND JULIAN GOULD-WILLIAMS
This paper sets out to test the ‘ convergence thesis ’ in respect of managers in the public and private sectors in Britain. New Public Management (NPM) initiatives have had the objective of making managerial behaviour in public sector organiza-tions more similar to that in the private sector. Based on unique national surveys undertaken in 1980, 1990 and 2000, using quite large random samples of fellows and members of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI), comparisons are made to investigate whether ‘ convergence ’ between public and private sector managers has actually occurred. The patterns are found to be complex and, although there are some signs of convergence, the two sectors continue to exhibit similarities, persistent dif-ferences and parallel movements evident in managerial attitudes, behaviour and experiences.
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, changes associated with New Public Management (NPM) have been designed to ensure that public organizations are increasingly simi-lar to their private sector counterparts (see Box 1999; Boyne 2002 ). This has been related to the introduction of such practices as total quality manage-ment and performance-related pay. Moreover, these have, in turn, followed on from a range of measures designed to ‘ commercialize ’ the public sector by means of quasi-markets, competitive tendering, performance manage-ment and consumer choice (see Boyne et al. 1999 ).
Michael Poole is Professor of Human Resource Management, Roger Mansfi eld is Professor of Business Administration and Julian Gould-Williams is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University.
Underlying these movements has been the assumption by successive governments that the emergent management and employment relations practices in the private sector are generally ‘ superior ’ to the forms of adminis-t ration in traditional public sector organizations ( Rhodes 1994; Bach 2002 ). Theoretically, too, these developments have been associated with the thesis of a substantial ‘ convergence ’ towards the private sector model.
However, there has been a dearth of empirical studies to test the con-vergence thesis. After all, cross-sectional research only permits similarities and differences between public and private sectors to be identifi ed and not long-term movements. In the employment relations area, there are valuable data stemming from the Workplace Employment Relations Survey series ( Millward et al. 2000 ), but longitudinal evidence focusing on managers and their attitudes and behaviour within key areas of the convergence debate is limited (for an earlier analysis, see Poole et al. 1995 ). The purpose of this paper, then, is to present unique data to test the convergence thesis using samples of the membership of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) over the 20-year period 1980 – 2000. Longitudinal data sets enable us to establish to what extent (if any) convergence has occurred between public and private sectors. Moreover, given that the data are based on large samples of respondents at three points in time, the study enables complex patterns of continuity and change to be charted, explored and developed.
THE CONVERGENCE THESIS
The convergence thesis is highly complex (see, for example, Pollitt 2001 ) but for our purposes it is premised on the assumption that private sector mana-gerial attitudes and behaviour are increasingly being emulated in publicly administered organizations. However, the defi nitions of public and private sector are not always clear-cut and certainly not uni-dimensional. For in-stance, differences between the two sectors may relate not just to ownership but also to funding and controls ( Boyne 2002 ). Moreover, the within -sector differences between employing organizations may remain considerable: those in the public sector, for example, between public corporations, central and local government ( Winchester and Bach 1999 ).
The convergence thesis is particularly linked with the rise of New Public Management (NPM) which, as Pollitt (2003) has argued, comprises a number of interlinked elements. These include: a shift of management systems from inputs and processes to outputs and outcomes; more measurement and quantifi cation; a preference for more ‘ lean ’ , ‘ fl at ’ and autonomous organiza-tions; the use of contracts; a wider deployment of markets; an emphasis on service quality and a consumer orientation; a blurring of the frontiers be-tween public, market and voluntary sectors; and a shift to individualism from collectivism ( Pollitt 2003 , pp. 27 – 8). In some versions, it is also related to so-called global convergence based on the increasing reliance worldwide on markets rather than the state as a means of resource allocation. However,
even in this respect, as Pollitt (2001) has forcefully argued elsewhere, con-vergence can apply at the levels of debate, reform decisions, actual practices or results.
More generally, too, convergence has been understood in terms of a global movement to New Public Management linked with the rise of ‘ entrepre-neurial government ’ ( Osborne and Gaebler 1992 ). But as Pollitt (2001) has convincingly argued, this position is too determinist and functionalist; considerable diversity may still be evident in public management inter-nationally. Deploying the notion of institutional isomorphism ( Powell and DiMaggio 1991 ), he also argues that convergence may relate to government fashions and symbolism rather than to the functional ‘ necessity ’ for organ i-zational effi ciency. Again, it may involve words and concepts rather than organizational actions and there may be a signifi cant gap between policy and implementation ( Pollitt 2001 ). Above all, there may still be evidence of diversity, variety and historical continuity rather than convergence. Moreover, even when there are common pressures for change, they may not affect countries (and by extension organizations within countries) in identical ways (Pollitt and Bouckaert 2004).
In employment relations theory, there has also been a long-standing de-bate on convergence that not only mirrors ones on New Public Management, but is sometimes encapsulated in the term ‘ converging divergences ’ ( Katz and Darbishire 2000 ). The most obvious recent manifestations have been a decline in trade union strength and a rise in income inequality. Earlier debates on convergence were linked with what was perceived to be the common global implications for employment relations of the forces of technology ( Kerr et al. 1960 ). But more recent analyses have viewed markets and global competition, the internationalization of knowledge and production and ‘ new ’ technology, as powerful convergent forces (for a review, see Adams and Meltz 1993 ). Nonetheless, in comparative analysis, the emphasis on diversity in industrial relations institutions rather than on their uniformity is still stressed ( Poole 2003 ) and in ways which are remarkably similar to those on public management reform (Pollitt and Bouckaert 2004).
Indeed, there are divergent views in the literature on the extent to which convergence, particularly in terms of actual practices and results, has oc-curred. At the extremes, these comprise the alternative views that the public sector remains essentially different from private business or that public, pri-vate and non-profi t organizations have become largely identical. Convergence may apply at a number of levels and may be most evident in rhetoric rather than in attitudes and behaviour let alone organizational or institutional change. Moreover, a ‘ public service ethos ’ may still be suffi ciently strong to impede convergence in culture and ethics within public sector organizations. Convergence can also take a number of forms and not just simply entail the increasing adoption in the public sector of private sector models. Some movement, based on governmental regulation, towards a public sector model may have occurred. Moreover, there may be convergent tendencies
that are mutual. Movement in the same direction over time may also be evident with the public and private sectors either remaining dissimilar or, alternatively, gradually moving closer together.
But what is clear from the present review is that there has been insuffi cient empirical research testing the notion of convergence. Rainey and Bozeman (2000) have produced a valuable review here and have examined empirical evidence in relation to goal complexity and goal ambiguity, organizational structure, formalization of personnel and purchasing process and work-related attitudes and values (particularly whether or not there is greater reported dissatisfaction in the public sector). Moreover, as the authors concluded, on the data available, convergence is frequently at odds with a priori knowledge on this issue. Again, even when there has been clear evi-dence of New Public Management techniques such as cost cutting and work intensifi cation being applied, there is evidence of at least a short-term re-silience of a ‘ public sector ethos ’ ( Hebson et al. 2003; Kirkpatrick and Hoque 2005 ). At all events, a genuine test of convergence in practices and results critically depends on having a basis in longitudinal rather than cross-sectional research and this is seen as a vital contribution of this paper.
It is important to stress, too, that there are many reasons why a simple convergence thesis may be diffi cult to sustain. First of all, the overall patterns of ownership and control of organizations still differ appreciably between the two sectors. Thus, in the public sector, the importance of private owner and shareholder interests still does not have the same meaning as in the private sector; nor is there any real opportunity for public sector managers to share in the rewards and risks of business through, say, managerial share ownership within the employing organization ( Poole et al. 2003 ). Similarly, traditional public sector managers ’ commitment to serve the interests of the public, despite New Public Management initiatives, is reinforced by the very ownership structure of the employing organization. This may, in turn, impact on the link between NPM and public servants ’ ethics (Maesschalk 2004).
Fundamentally, too, there has been an increasing interest in broader stake-holder notions of the modern fi rm and wider society that could affect both types of manager and complicate the idea of a uni-directional convergence on the private sector model. Indeed, despite criticisms, early managerialist thinkers such as Berle (1960) considered that, with a separation of ownership from control in the modern enterprise, managers could be expected to pro-mote a broad range of stakeholder interests. More recently, as Stoney and Winstanley (2001) have observed, stakeholder theory has embraced a range of ideas that have centred on appropriate patterns of corporate governance. Indeed, not least in the private sector, an emphasis on corporate social responsibility and multi-stakeholder initiatives has increasingly developed and in some views is linked with a decline in the countervailing forces of a regulatory state and infl uential trade unions (ILO 2003).
In terms of organizational stakeholders in the last decade or so, an em-phasis on ‘ human capital theory ’ has also emerged, refl ecting an increasing
recognition of the value of all employees to the fi rm. This is linked with the interest of human resource management (see, for example, Pfeffer 1998; Guest 2001 ) that again may apply to both sectors. Moreover, a focus on sup-ply chain management has developed, with particular emphasis on the re-verse supply chain linked with suppliers rather than customers ( Blackburn et al. 2004; Krikke et al. 2004 ), that may well impact on both public and pri-vate sector organizations.
Further background movements make ideas of a straightforward conver-gence on the private sector model diffi cult to sustain. A focus on profession-alism may still remain strong in the public sector and may have tempered the effects of ‘ new managerialism ’ or ‘ New Public Management ’ . Indeed, as Winchester and Bach (1999: 33) have noted in the public sector:
[the] management process has always been dispersed among ‘ professions ’ with considerable autonomy in defi ning and monitoring service stan-dards, senior ‘ administrators ’ exercising hierarchical responsibilities for budgets and political accountability, and a wide range of ‘ functional ’ man-agers-- and the reforms have affected these groups in different ways.
Hence, while public sector managers may have benefi ted from devolution of power and embraced some entrepreneurial and customer orientations, professional values may still be signifi cant in shaping attitudes and behaviour.
A further critical point is to stress that considerable change has also oc-curred in the private sector. Indeed, from the 1990s onwards, managers have been subjected to substantial delayering and downsizing in their organiza-tions and this has almost certainly affected private and public sector managers ’ attitudes ( Lindbeck and Snower 1996 ). Flatter organization structures linked with delayering within fi rms have affected career prospects, not least those of middle managers. Moreover, although there may have been some em-powerment to those who remain, this has been at the cost of longer hours of work, much wider roles and, arguably, a deteriorating effect on life-style as well ( Thomas and Dunkerley 1999 ). More generally, too, as Sellers (2003) has observed, privatized companies may still be affected by government in-tervention. Indeed, various reports on corporate governance have appeared that include for private sector, public limited companies (PLCs), mandatory audit and remuneration committees. These changes and the very attention to governance are indicative of an attempt to make parts of the private sector conform to a public sector model, reinforcing the point that the idea of a simple convergence to the private sector model takes no account of a broader, more complex set of developments.
Employment (or industrial) relations may be an important indicator of the convergence thesis and this, therefore, merits detailed consideration at this point. Attempts to reform public sector employment relations have been a feature in a wide range of countries, including many of those in Europe as well as the United States, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada ( Dell ’
Aringa et al. 2001; Bordogna 2003 ). In the United States, for instance, pres-sures have increased for improved effi ciency of services coupled with an emphasis on a smaller government presence. It may well be the case that public sector employment growth and trade union density have on balance been affected only in a limited way by these pressures ( Brock and Lipsky 2003; Thomason and Burton 2003 ). However, in recent years, international interest in employment relations ’ changes in the public sector has clearly intensifi ed.
What are the main changes that have affected employment relations in public sector organizations? In the UK, successive Conservative administra-tions adopted three main approaches to re-shaping the public sector: (1) management reforms entailing the devolution of management authority; (2) compulsory competitive tendering; and (3) internal markets. Moreover, many public sector managers appear to be receptive to the ‘ rhetoric ’ of de-volution and in many cases their status and rewards increased ( Winchester and Bach 1999 , p. 33). ‘ New ’ Labour, however, abolished competitive tender-ing in local government, with partnership, citizen involvement and ‘ best value ’ becoming the increasing priorities in the public sector ( Boyne et al. 2001; Parkinson 2004 ).
This overall momentum of change has been seen to affect employment relations in the public sector in a number of ways. First of all, in terms of labour markets, earlier notions of the obligation to be a ‘ good employer ’ by offering greater job security, more clearly defi ned career prospects and benefi ts were replaced by ‘ market testing ’ . As a result, fl exible employment practices, performance-related pay and quality management became fea-tures of public sector employment relations and, of course, were seen as evi-dence of convergence on the private sector model. In terms of remuneration, ‘ affordability ’ replaced earlier notions of fair comparison; pay was increas-ingly linked with performance, individual and team bonuses were encour-aged and issues of recruitment and retention surfaced to defend selectivity in pay ( Bach 2002 ). Of course, the government still claims to be a good em-ployer (see Modernising Government 1999; Wilson ( Report to the Prime Minister ) 1999). Indeed, in Modernising Government (1999), there is an explicit commit-ment to tackle the under-representation of women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities and build the capacity for innovation. In the same report, there is an emphasis on a creative approach to fi nancial and other incentives for public sector staff, even though, in line with the convergence thesis, there is also the consumer-oriented approach to ‘ deliver public services to meet the needs of the citizens, not the convenience of service providers ’ ( Modernising Government , Section 3, p . 1).
Local managers also appear to have taken on greater responsibility for employment relations, especially in the area of pay and conditions of work. In the 1980s these were typically established by national level collective agreements. With the rise of self-managing trusts in the National Health Service, the reorganization of local government and grant-maintained status
within state education, however, this situation may have dramatically al-tered (see Millward et al. 2000 ). Thus local bargaining over pay and condi-tions has almost doubled in the public sector from 36 per cent of establishments in 1990 to 60 per cent by 1998. This contrasted with far smaller shifts to local bargaining within the private sector ( Millward et al. 2000 , pp. 62 – 4). However, the extent of decentralization of collective bargaining in the public sector is still debatable ( Kirkpatrick and Hoque 2005 ).
Changes in the employment relationship may also be evident in public sector managers altering their behaviour towards trade unions. Some man-agers appear to have adopted more abrasive styles. Some have espoused human resource management techniques, for example, rewards relating to performance. Others have retained a commitment to ‘ consensus manage-ment ’ but emphasized the constraints that they are under that require con-cessions from the unions ( Winchester and Bach 1999 ). In any event, trade union density, although still far greater in the public than in the private sec-tor, has fallen from 84 per cent in 1980 to 72 per cent in 1990 and to only 57 per cent in 1998. Collective bargaining in the public sector has also declined from 94 per cent in 1984 to 71 per cent in 1990 and to 63 per cent in 1998 ( Millward et al. 2000 , p. 194). This is seen to be linked with the government ending collective bargaining pay for many health professionals with a simi-lar situation occurring in the education sector. Moreover, this situation has been accentuated by the privatization of a number of public utilities in which collective bargaining was extensively instituted ( Millward et al. 2000 , p. 195) Furthermore, although again higher in public sector organizations than in their private sector equivalents, a substantial decline in the incidence of a number of types of representative employee participation, such as joint consultative committees, appears to have occurred over the same period ( Millward et al. 2000 ). Nonetheless, various types of direct employee involve-ment (and notably regular meetings between senior management and the workforce, problem-solving groups and briefi ng groups) do appear to have increased over time even though this is most apparent in the private rather than in the public sector ( Millward et al. 2000 , pp. 118 – 21). Against this, however, problem-solving groups, suggestion schemes and formal surveys of employees are more common in the public sector ( Cully, et al. , 1999: 68 ).
In industrial relations, another partially convergent development that is somewhat different from New Public Management has been the emergence of partnership agreements. Of course, the effectiveness of these agreements is debatable (see Guest and Peccei 2001; Kelly 2004 ) and they seem unlikely to contribute signifi cantly to trade union re-vitalization. However, as part of a trend to promote labour-management cooperation, these have emerged in a number of industries in both public and private sectors (see Kelly 2004 , p. 274). Indeed, key public sector cases here are the Civil Service, the National Health Service, the Prison Service and the Royal Mail.
‘ New ’ Labour generally embraced most of these changes although the emphasis has shifted to performance management rather than markets ( Bach
2002 ). If anything, there has been an increased role for the private sector in the fi nance and provision of public services, originally as established under the Conservatives ’ Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and privatization policies. However, it should be stressed that some individual rights at work have been bolstered by legislation and, under the Employment Act, statutory minimum dispute resolution has been established. Moreover, over the years, a discourse of pragmatism and modernization has gained ascendancy ( Boyne et al. 2001 ). However, a variety of approaches to understanding New Labour ’ s modernization programme have been identifi ed, including some that can be called incoherence and ideology based on the ‘ Third Way ’ and managerial-ism (see Perri 6 and Peck 2004).
Concern has also increased about the quality of the public services and the fact that the earnings of managers and employees in the public sector have increased in recent years ( Bach 2002 ). However, an interest in national com-petitiveness, Labour ’ s attachment to ‘ business-friendly ’ credentials, and the devolution of responsibility for employment relations ’ issues to line managers has, if anything, intensifi ed the reform programme initiated by the Conserva-tives and reinforced the idea of a substantial convergence towards private sector employment relations ( Winchester and Bach 1999; Bach 2002 ).
The central research question addressed in this paper, then, is to what extent the convergence thesis can be sustained on the basis of the unique longitudinal data on Britain ’ s managers that we present. We particularly wish to assess the complexities in the convergence thesis and whether varied patterns of movement can be detected over time. The proposition that sub-stantial differences between public and private sectors are still identifi able will also be examined. Moreover, although we cannot assess in detail whether convergence is more evident in words and concepts rather than organiza-tional actions, we have data on attitudes, behaviour and institutions and even on the extent of a continuing commitment to a ‘ public sector ethos ’ . In other words, we can analyse a number of forms of a clearly complex convergence thesis. The results are systematically analysed in relation to the main back-ground themes that have covered the following: (1) stakeholder interests; (2) professionalism and organizational experiences; and (3) employment relations (including collective bargaining and employee participation).
METHODS AND RESULTS
To test the convergence thesis in any satisfactory manner clearly requires longitudinal data. This is available as a result of the authors ’ long-term collaborative relationship with the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). The methods deployed in this research are based on postal questionnaires. Most of the items were designed by the authors but some stemmed from ideas from the CMI. In 2000, questionnaires were posted to a 3000 random sample of fellows and members of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) following the similar processes of 1980 and 1990 (see Mansfi eld and
Poole 1991; Poole et al. 2001 ). Although confi ned to CMI members, our managerial respondents came from a wide geographical spread and from different employment sectors (for example, commerce, service industry, manufacturing, public administration and education). They also came from diverse general and functional backgrounds (for example, general manage-ment, strategic management, production, sales, marketing and so on). There is a propensity for CMI members to be relatively senior, although this is a consistent characteristic of our respondents over the years. Thus, in 1980, 59.7 per cent of respondents indicated that they were either senior manage-ment or board members. The fi gure for 1990 was 68 per cent and for 2000 was 60.4 per cent. The percentage of respondents who could be classifi ed as public sector managers was fairly consistent over the years (1980: 30.4 per cent; 1990: 23.1 per cent; 2000: 27 per cent) and certainly there were suffi cient numbers for meaningful comparisons to be made with the private sector. Chartered Management Institute members who work for public organiza-tions work in both central and local government, the police, fi re and ambu-lance services, the health service and social work, education (where incumbents have a substantial administrative or managerial role) and the armed forces. Hence a broad range of both public and private sector activ-ities are encompassed in our nationally based samples.
The number of respondents for the 2000 survey was 1291 (a 43 per cent response rate). This rate was an improvement on the 1990 survey (a 41 per cent response rate) but lower than the 1980 survey (a 52 per cent response rate). In each sample year, response rates were assessed as good for a postal questionnaire. This partly stems from CMI endorsement in a covering letter (although in the 2000 survey the response rate of 43 per cent was only achieved after a second posting). There is clearly some distortion from using CMI as a sample base, but the main biases are likely to be in having a more educated and professional set of managerial respondents compared with the population of Britain ’ s managers as a whole. Moreover, when respondents are responding on the characteristics of their organizations (for example, if there is management involvement in collective bargaining) any sample bias is unlikely to be of major consequence. Although some new questions were added in the 2000 survey (and some omitted from the 1980 and1990 surveys) the bulk of the questions were the same in order to ensure a unique set of data on Britain ’ s managers ’ attitudes and behaviour over the 20-year period. For the purpose of this paper, the analysis is essentially based on identical questions used in 1980, 1990 and 2000.
The longitudinal research that has been conducted is valuable for interpret-ing long-term patterns of continuity and change which, in this case, entails consideration of the extent to which convergence of private and public sector managers ’ attitudes and behaviour can be identifi ed. However, there are prob-lems of method that arise in conducting this type of research. First of all, in the private sector in particular, there are more managers in small fi rms and fewer in manufacturing industry than 20 years ago and this can affect attitudes. For
example, in 2000, 29.5 per cent of respondents reported that they worked in small organizations (up to 99 employees) compared with 16.9 per cent in 1980. Moreover, managers in the 2000 sample were far more mobile between fi rms than in 1980. Thus, in 2000, only 4.9 per cent of managers had worked for just one employer compared with 14.1 per cent in 1980, while 29.7 per cent of the 2000 cohort reported having between 6 and 10 employers com-pared with only 14.1 per cent in 1980. Secondly, although questions may re-main the same, they may not be interpreted in a consistent manner over time. In addition, some questions asked in earlier surveys may not be as relevant in a new era. For example, as a result of the decline in the infl uence of trade unions, respondents may not attach as much importance to certain employment relations issues, such as collective bargaining, as they did 20 years ago. But none of this is to deny the special value of longitudinal research, and, above all, in enabling tests of convergence and other long-term trends and movements.
STAKEHOLDER INTERESTS
In classical debates on ownership and control, great importance was attached to managers ’ perceptions of different stakeholder interests in the fi rm and which of these interests they would promote in their employing organiza-tion. Hence, in each survey year (1980, 1990, 2000) we asked our respondents which interests they considered that management should promote and iden-tifi ed the following groupings: owners and shareholders, managers, other employee groups, consumers, suppliers and the public at large. The relevant data are set out in table 1.
It will be seen that, on owners and shareholders, the evidence, unsurpris-ingly, shows that an emphasis on these interests is particularly pronounced in the private sector. Indeed, in 1980 these were foremost among private sector managers ’ preferences (79.7 per cent agreeing that management should be promoting these interests; a percentage which rose to 83.1 per cent in 1990). However, although in 2000, 80 per cent of private sector managers still endorsed this set of interests, those strongly agreeing with them fell from 51 per cent in 1990 to 21.1 per cent in 2000 and this was despite the wider com-mitment to shareholder value that was being promoted during the period. As is to be expected, in all survey years, public sector managers were sig-nifi cantly less likely than their private sector counterparts to endorse the promotion of this set of interests, something which is most apparent in 2000 (53 per cent compared with 71 per cent in 1980). For the ‘ strongly agree ’ category, the differences between the public and private sectors remain pre-dictably signifi cant in all survey years. However, if there is any evidence of convergence, it is towards a declining emphasis on owner and shareholder interests in both sectors. This is an interesting and surprising fi nding given the supposedly greater emphasis over time on ‘ shareholder value ’ and the rise of public-private initiatives.
For managers and other employee groups, the results are not markedly different, except in 2000 where there is evidence of an increasing endorse-ment of these interests by both sets of managers. However, it is generally the case that private sector managers are more likely than their public sector equivalents to endorse these two sets of interests. Nevertheless, the focus on consumers by both sets of managers is interesting: indeed, this organiza-tional interest is now the one most emphasized by both sets of managers (2000: private sector 86.6 per cent; public sector 88.9 per cent) (see also table 1 , above). What our data suggests over time is that, regardless of sector, there has been a parallel movement among Britain ’ s managers to increasingly stress the relative importance of ‘ consumer sovereignty ’ .
Managers ’ views on suppliers are among some of the most interesting of all our surveys ’ fi ndings over the 20-year study period. In 1980 and 1990, neither public nor private sector managers emphasized these interests: indeed, the neutral or mid-point category on the scale was the one to be emphasized most by both sets of managers. But, by 2000, there was an appreciable rise among both sets of managers in terms of the endorsement of the interests of suppliers (private sector 64.1 per cent; public sector 53 per cent) (see table 1 , above). Hence, while the signifi cant differences between the sectors should be recognized, the most interesting change is the very substantial increase in the overall importance attached to suppliers ’ interests among both types of managers, probably refl ecting the overall attention paid to supply chain development over the period of the research.
With respect to the public at large, the traditional public sector emphasis on this group of interests is evident in the pronounced and highly signifi cant differences that were observed among respondents in each of our survey years.Over time, private sector managers have increasingly endorsed the interests of the public (1980: 41.6 per cent; 1990: 50.5 per cent; 2000: 58.7 per cent); however, this still remains markedly different from the patterns evident in the public sector (1980: 61.5 per cent; 1990: 73.5 per cent; 2000: 88.7 per cent). A public service ethos among managers in both sectors thus appears to have increased rather than decreased. Indeed, for private-sector managers, the neutral mid-point was the one most commonly identifi ed with in 1980 and 1990. Above all, despite the New Public Management initiatives, this ethos is increasingly central to the preferences of public sector managers in terms of the interests they consider their organizations should be promot-ing. In short, there is evidence here of some convergence towards the tradi-tional public sector model.
PROFESSIONALISM AND ASSESSMENTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL EXPERIENCES
Turning to issues of professionalism and managerial assessments of their organizational experiences, the results here are set out in table 2. In terms of professionalism, there is little apparent difference between managers in the
public and private sectors. It is the case that our measure of professionalism is based on managerial attitudes and not on their actual qualifi cations. None-theless it is instructive that, in 2000, 95.2 per cent of private sector managers claimed professional status compared with 94.5 per cent of those in the pub-lic sector. Over the years, both types of manager have consistently regarded themselves as professional and, although this may be partly a refl ection of CMI membership rather than Britain ’ s managers generally, the lack of any signifi cant differences between the sectors is another noteworthy fi nding of our research.
Table 2 also sets out the results on respondents ’ attitudes to a variety of items that assess views on their employing organizations. Of course, these are assessments by respondents and not necessarily their actual experiences but, on most items, there are signifi cant public-private sector differences. In terms of handling managers ’ individual grievances, the differences over the 20 years between the sectors are not pronounced. Indeed, what is evident is the tendency of both types of manager increasingly to report negative experi-ences (1980: private sector 27.3 per cent, public sector 31.5 per cent; 2000: private sector 40.4 per cent, public sector 46.3 per cent). The same general argument applies to undermining managers ’ prerogative to manage; top management no longer treating middle managers as individuals; and mana-gerial jobs becoming more routine and lacking scope for managerial action. In all of these cases, managers in both sectors report increasing levels of dis-satisfaction. However, in each of our survey years there are signifi cant dif-ferences between the sectors in terms of undermining managerial prerogative. In 2000, 57.3 per cent of public sector managers agreed with this statement compared with 35.8 per cent of their private sector counterparts. Importantly, too, those strongly disagreeing with this statement fell in the private sector from 27.6 per cent in 1980 to only 9.7 per cent in 2000 and in the public sector from 12.5 per cent to a mere 3.4 per cent. In respect of top management no longer treating middle managers as individuals, this applies to 33.7 per cent of public sector managers compared with 26.6 per cent in the private sector. Again, for the percentage of respondents strongly disagreeing with this state-ment in the private sector, the relevant fi gures were, in 1980, 38.1 per cent, and in 2000, 13.8 per cent. In the public sector, the respective percentages were 23.9 per cent in 1980 and only 8.8 per cent in 2000. In terms of manage-rial work becoming more routine and lacking scope for managerial initiative and action, in 2000, the relevant percentages are 33.7 per cent for public sec-tor respondents and 26.8 per cent of those in the public sector. Additionally, if we take the strongly disagree category, there was an appreciable decrease in both sectors (private sector, 1980: 44.1 per cent; 2000, 22.0 per cent; public sector, 1980, 28.7 per cent; 2000, 13.6 per cent). Although the questions were only asked in 2000, the percentages of respondents in the public and private sectors who reported signifi cant delayering for middle management are similar (61 per cent in both cases). Moreover, in 2000, 65 per cent of private sector managers and 67 per cent of their public sector counterparts agreed
with the statement that ‘ in recent years my job has become less secure ’ . These data reinforce the thesis of substantial organizational change in both sectors.
In general, however, both public and private sector managers report higher levels of organizational dissatisfaction over the 20-year period, but generally the experiences of public sector managers are the least positive. Thus there are parallel movements but a pattern of continuing divergence over the time period studied. Moreover, given that managers in the public sector have been seen to be the principal benefi ciaries of New Public Management initia-tives, these fi ndings are clearly of considerable importance.
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
We have argued that the employment relations ’ experiences of managers may be a particularly valuable context for examining the convergence thesis because of the major changes that have occurred in the public sector in this area over the study years. However, this is an argument that is only partially sustained by our data, which are set out in the areas of collective bargaining, the existence of trade unions and/or staff associations at the managers ’ level, managerial trade union or staff association membership and involvement in various forms of employee participation. Table 3 sets out the patterns of public and private sector managers ’ experience of collective bargaining. In terms of formal collective bargaining, it will be seen that there were signifi -cant and predictable differences between the two sectors in 1980 (public sector managers 37.4 per cent; private sector managers 23.3 per cent). In 1990 and 2000 the differences between the sectors are no longer signifi cant but, typically, the vast majority of both types of manager now have no experience of formal collective bargaining (2000: public sector 7.3 per cent; private sector 8.4 per cent). The same situation applies for informal meetings with union representatives. There are signifi cant differences between the experiences of the two types of manager in 1980 (public sector 62.4 per cent, private sector 42 per cent) yet both types of manager report almost identical but far lower patterns of informal meetings with union representatives in 2000 (public sector 14.8 per cent; private sector 14.2 per cent). The situation in respect of handling individual grievances brought by union representatives is, how-ever, rather different. In the private sector, concurrent with the decline of trade unionism generally, the situation is one of declining experience from one survey year to the next (1980: 38.8 per cent; 1990:32.2 per cent; 2000: 18.1 per cent). However, in the public sector, not only are managers more likely to handle individual grievances brought by union representatives than their counterparts in the private sector but the experience here was of a rise in such incidents between 1980 (49.7 per cent) and 1990 (61.4 per cent) only for there to be a sharp decline by 2000 (34.3 per cent). Public sector managers are more likely than those in the private sector to handle individual griev-ances brought by union representatives but there is an extremely complex and far from consistent pattern over our survey years.
* signifi cant at the .05 level. ** signifi cant at the .01 level. *** signifi cant at the .001 level.
Another interesting aspect of managerial experiences of employment rela-tions in the public and private sectors is the traditionally different and dis-tinctive patterns of managerial unionism. Public-private sector differences can both be expected here and expected even if this has changed over time because, in the public sector at any rate, managerial salaries were tradition-ally settled, at a national level, through collective bargaining agreements. Hence, if we turn fi rst to examine the existence of trade unions and/or staff associations for managers in public and private sector organizations, it is scarcely surprising that pronounced differences are evident in all our survey years. Thus, as seen in table 4, in terms of the existence of a trade union at the managers ’ level, in the public sector, 49.7 per cent of respondents re-ported this situation in 1980 and this pattern remained fairly constant in 1990 (47.3 per cent) and 2000 (51.4 per cent). By contrast, in the private sector the respective and appreciably lower fi gures were: 1980 (11 per cent), 1990 (9.4 per cent) and 2000 (9.5 per cent). Similarly, if we take the situation of no trade union or staff association at the managers ’ level this applies to only a minor-ity of public sector managers (1980: 17.9 per cent; 1990: 16 per cent; 2000: 23.6 per cent) but to the vast majority of private sector managers (1980: 78 per cent; 1990: 81.2 per cent; 2000: 78.3 per cent). The employment relations experiences of public and private sector managers in terms of the existence
of trade unions and staff associations for managers thus shows little evidence of an appreciable convergence but, rather, persistent and extremely pro-nounced differences over the survey years.
However, in terms of actual managerial membership of trade unions the situation is rather different. Table 5 sets out a comparison of managers ’ mem-bership of trade unions and/or staff associations. Predictably, the experi-ences of the two sectors are markedly different in all survey years. Reported levels of public sector managerial unionism were 48.1 per cent in 1980, 35.9 per cent in 1990 and 37.3 per cent in 2000. This contrasted with the far lower levels evident in the private sector: 8.1 per cent in 1980; 7 per cent in 1990; 9 per cent in 2000. In the private sector, too, the percentage of respondents who reported that they were neither a member of a trade union nor of a staff association was fairly constant over time (1980: 87.5 per cent; 1990: 87.5 per cent; 2000: 84 per cent). However, while signifi cantly different in all survey
TABLE 4 Comparisons of the existence of trade union and/or staff associations at the managers ’ level in private and public sector organizations
Item Year Sector n % Difference within sectors over time
Z Difference between private and public sector organizations
years, the propensity for public sector managers themselves to be neither members of trade unions nor of staff associations increased from 28.7 per cent in 1980 to 38.9 per cent in 1990 and to 44.5 per cent in 2000.
Hence, while the overall pattern is for there to be pronounced differences between managerial union and staff association membership in the respec-tive surveys, there is, in this aspect of employment relations, actually some evidence of a two-way convergence (slightly higher managerial unionism in the private sector; signifi cantly lower overall collectivism in the public sector).
Does managerial involvement in various forms of employee participation in the public and private sectors differ over time? To answer this question, respondents were asked whether they were involved in regular meetings between supervisors and work groups (1990 and 2000), joint consultation/works council committees (all years) and management committees where
TABLE 5 Comparisons of public and private sector managers ’ membership of trade unions and/or staff associations
Item Year Sector n % Difference within sectors over time
Z Difference between private and public sector organizations
there was employee or union representation (all years). The results are set out in table 6 where it is seen that, in 1990, 73 per cent of public sector man-agers reported their involvement in regular meetings between supervisors and work groups, a situation that was almost identical in 2000 (74 per cent). The majority of private sector managers (1990: 61 per cent; 2000: 64 per cent) also reported such experiences but this type of employee participation is consistently more common in the public sector. However, in terms of joint consultation/works council committees, while there are persistent differ-ences between the sectors over the years, there is evidence of a parallel move-ment in that managers in both sectors report lower levels of involvement in 2000 compared with earlier years. Hence, as is again shown in table 6 , among public sector managers, those experiencing joint consultation/works council committees rose in 1990 (51 per cent) compared with 1980 (46 per cent) only to fall appreciably to 38 per cent in 2000. In the private sector, 33 per cent of respondents reported this type of experience in 1980 compared with 30 per cent in 1990 and only 19 per cent in 2000; our results here, however, may have been affected by changes in the samples of managers. Specifi cally, in 2000, there were many more smaller organizations than in the previous
TABLE 6 Public and private sector managerial involvement in various forms of employee participation
Item Year Sector n Difference within sectors over time
% Z Difference between private and public sector organizations
survey years. There are also interesting patterns evident for management committees where there is employee or union involvement. In both sectors, the experience of this sort of employee participation rose between 1980 and 1990 (public sector 33 per cent, 54 per cent; private sector 23 per cent, 29 per cent) only to fall back in both cases by 2000 (public sector 41 per cent; private sector 21 per cent). Hence, while signifi cant differences between the experi-ences of managers in the public and private sectors are evident in all our survey years, there is no real evidence of either convergence or of a consistent long-term pattern applying to both sectors. Rather, the evidence supports the notion of a complex pattern over time.
CONCLUSIONS
There has been increasing international interest in changes, introduced by a variety of governments, in the management of the public sector, and in the implications of these for a convergence towards the so-called private sector model. Based on unique longitudinal data on Britain ’ s managers, the evi-dence presented in this paper reveals that, in terms of public sector manag-ers ’ attitudes and behaviour, the thesis of a straightforward convergence towards the private sector is diffi cult to sustain. Rather, the pattern is highly complex; indeed, there are indications of convergence, continuing similarity, divergence (or at least continuing dissimilarity) and parallel movements. In summary, we deal with these in turn.
Convergence is, as we have argued, a complex thesis (see Pollitt 2001 ). In terms of the issues developed in this paper, our focus is particularly on actual practices or results rather than on debate or reform decisions. However, convergence may apply to institutions as well as to attitudes and behaviour. Moreover, institutional convergence is most evident in the decline of collec-tive bargaining in both sectors. Thus, as is to be expected from a ‘ conver-gence thesis ’ , signifi cant differences between the public and private sectors ’ managerial experiences of formal as well as informal collective bargaining disappear over time. However, this convergent trend masks a parallel move-ment of a substantial reduction in managerial involvement in collective bargaining in both sectors that is linked with the appreciable decline in the density of trade unionism in Britain as a whole. Moreover, a further indica-tion of convergence is that, if we take the index of an absence of managerial collectivism (managers being neither members of trade unions nor of staff associations), public sector managers have become far more similar to their private sector counterparts. Nonetheless, managerial union membership re-mains signifi cantly different between the two sectors in all survey years.
There are some longitudinal similarities. The most obvious is the absence of any signifi cant difference in the extent to which managers claim profes-sional status. Moreover, it is certainly not the case that public sector manag-ers have higher levels of professional identity or that these have diminished over time and converged on the private sector model. Nevertheless, these
patterns might have been anticipated by the traditional dispersal of manage-rial decisions among professional groups in the public sector and by a grad-ual transformation of this situation alongside the emergence of entrepreneurial and consumer orientations. Admittedly, the longitudinal consistencies here may be a refl ection of our particular samples since it is scarcely surprising that Chartered Management Institute members have high levels of profes-sional identity. However, given the emphasis in the literature on the sup-posed differences here (see, for example, Winchester and Bach 1999 ), these fi ndings from our surveys are of considerable importance.
Divergence (or, strictly, continuing dissimilarity) in public and private sector managers ’ attitudes and behaviour remains of consequence. This is in part evident in perceptions of stakeholder interests since, despite some changes over time, there is a consistently greater propensity for private sec-tor managers to emphasize owners and shareholders and for public sector managers to be committed to the public at large. In terms of attitudes, the theory that a public sector ethos among public sector managers has substan-tially declined in Britain is not endorsed. During the 20 years covered by our research, public sector managers also reported aspects of their organizational experiences to be less satisfactory than their private sector counterparts. This is interesting because, in line with the ‘ convergence thesis ’ , public sector managers have been identifi ed as the principal benefi ciaries of the devolu-tion of power within the public sector ( Winchester and Bach 1999 ). In addi-tion, the existence of a trade union at the managers ’ level remains remarkably and consistently different in the 1980 – 2000 period even though there has been a considerable decline in trade union density in the public sector over time ( Millward et al. 2000 ). Again, despite complex patterns, the various forms of representative employee participation identifi ed in our surveys are far more common in the public than in the private sector, a fi nding reinforced by other representative national studies ( Millward et al. 2000 ) and by research on human resource management issues in the two sectors ( Boyne et al. 1999 ).
Finally, there are parallel movements. Both types of manager now regard consumers as the most important single organizational stakeholder, suggest-ing that the forces of open markets and globalization have had an extremely pervasive impact. Human capital theory may have also increasingly affected the attitudes of both sets of managers towards the relevance of employee groups (see Guest 2001 ). Despite a higher level of commitment in the private sector, the focus on suppliers ’ interests in 2000 is a development that applied in both sectors. The pronounced interest in reverse supply chains and in supply chain development generally over the last decade or so is evident in both sets of managers ’ attitudes ( Blackburn et al. 2004 ) Although reported levels of organizational dissatisfaction are higher in the public sector, the extent to which, for example, managerial work has become more routine and lacking in scope for managerial initiative and action is a feature that applies to both sectors.
What are the wider theoretical implications of our longitudinal research? First of all, it does seem that ownership remains important in shaping mana-gerial objectives and, for the public sector in particular, a public sector ethos remains extremely important among managerial priorities. Moreover, it is vital to note here that public sector managers do not have the same oppor-tunities as their private sector equivalents to participate in rewards linked with ownership such as profi t-sharing and shareholding schemes ( Poole et al. 2001 ). Second, despite recognition of the complexity of the convergence debate ( Pollitt 2001 ), a particular problem has been the tendency to focus primarily on changes in the public sector. In reality, organizational restruc-turing has been of far-reaching importance in the private sector, with considerable delayering and downsizing appreciably affecting managers in many countries. By extension, too, our fi ndings are consistent with the argu-ments of American writers such as Sellers (2003) who have also emphasized that there has been increasing government intervention in private sector businesses and not least in privatized companies. This reinforces the view that there are instances of a genuine two-way convergence rather than a one-sided movement to a private sector model. Thirdly, there are broader movements, linked with New Public Management, that impact on manage-rial attitudes and behaviour that may well be more important than specifi c public sector changes. In relative terms, an emphasis on ‘ consumer sover-eignty ’ appears to have been a parallel movement affected by broader inter-national changes rather than by national political pressures alone. Moreover, in employment relations, the decline in trade unions (again an international phenomenon) has affected public-private patterns in ways which cannot be attributed solely to government – management relationships.
Other important developments have been a growing importance attached to corporate social responsibility, stakeholder ‘ theory ’ and the discourses on partnership (some of which have been stimulated by transnational bodies such as the EU). A commitment to improve corporate social responsibility has been refl ected in the review of UK company law ( Modernising Company Law 2002) and is part of a broadening agenda for corporate governance reform (see, for example, McCann et al. 2003 ). This is linked, too, with argu-ments for a change in companies ’ attitudes to their stakeholders ( Wheeler and Sillanpaa 1997 ). There are a wide range of stakeholder theories that include rights, the organization ’ s corporate governance, the state ’ s public policy and international regulations (for a review, see Stoney and Winstanley 2001 ). Moreover, our evidence from the 1990s does suggest that managers from both the public and private sectors now favour the promotion of a broad range of stakeholder interests. This is a development, too, that is consistent with the predictions of classical managerialist thinkers such as Berle (1960) . Partnership notions, too, are complex, embracing such ideas as public-private partnerships, partnerships between the government and the people and, in the area of work, partnerships as an approach to managing relations between employers and employees ( Guest and Peccei 2001 ). Of
course, whether or not this implies any convergence in culture and ethics is diffi cult to determine from our data but it is almost certain that attitudinal, behavioural and even institutional convergence are being affected by broader forces than New Public Management and that these are impacting on both public and private sector organizations.
Indeed, the debates on convergence have in our view overemphasized the extent to which specifi c, albeit persistent, changes introduced by successive British governments affect managerial attitudes and behaviour. Rather, it is our contention that to focus excessively on governmental policies is to un-deremphasize important international, economic and political movements that apply to both public and private sector managers. It is also our view that changes within organizations shaped by different managerial choices are of considerable consequence and, again, apply to both sectors. This is not of course to propose that there is no evidence of convergence towards a pri-vate sector model, even though this is a far from straightforward pattern of movement. It is to argue for a more complex analysis based around notions of divergence, similarities and parallel movements as well as convergence over time. Above all, it is to highlight the considerable importance of longi-tudinal research in allowing the analyst to uncover a far more interesting and complex picture than is implied in oversimplifi ed versions of the ‘ con-vergence thesis ’ .
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors wish to thank the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) (earlier the Institute of Management and still earlier the British Institute of Management) and the Economic and Social Research Council (project R000223260) for supporting this research. They also thank Professor George Boyne for his helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper and Dr Peter Morgan and Dr Saeed Heravi for their advice on appropriate statistical methods.
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Date received 28 October 2004. Date accepted 19 October 2005. Date edited 26 August 2006.
