A New Theory for Public Service Management? Toward a (Public) Service-Dominant Approach

TLDR

Current public management theory is argued to be ill‑suited, with two fatal flaws: an intra‑organizational focus and reliance on manufacturing‑sector theory that ignores the inter‑organizational nature of public services. The paper proposes a public‑service‑dominant approach, positioning it as an innovative contribution to public management theory in the New Public Governance era. The authors outline implications across four public‑management domains and set a research agenda for future public‑service‑dominant theory. This approach better reflects contemporary public‑management reality and leverages substantive service‑dominant theory more relevant than the prior manufacturing focus.

Abstract

This article argues that current public management theory is not fit for purpose—if it ever has been. It argues that it contains two fatal flaws—it focuses on intraorganizational processes at a time when the reality of public services delivery is interorganizational, and it draws upon management theory derived from the experience of the manufacturing sector and which ignores the reality of public services as “services.” The article subsequently argues for a “public service dominant” approach. This not only more accurately reflects the reality of contemporary public management but also draws upon a body of substantive service-dominant theory that is more relevant to public management than the previous manufacturing focus. We argue that this approach makes an innovative contribution to public management theory in the era of the New Public Governance. The article concludes by exploring the implications of this approach in four domains of public management and by setting a research agenda for a public-service dominant theory for the future.