at the workplace level there is evidence to suggest that partnership working is often
based on a restricted form of union involvement (Bach 2004 ). Related concerns
about management commitment, the degree of union representativeness, and the
expertise of both parties have been viewed as barriers to partnership working in
the US federal government (Masters and Albright 2003 : 203 ).
TheWnal form of partnership relates to new modes of service delivery and in
particular to an approach which is based on the provision of services by a range of
organizations working together. Within the public sector, this inter-organizational
working has been equated with a ‘joined-up’ approach within government, but it
has also embraced joint working between organizations in the public, independ-
ent, and private sectors. These forms of partnership mark a retreat from key
elements of the NPM approach with a reliance on disaggregated service units
giving way to a greater emphasis on integrated working. Moreover, the privileging
of market forces and private sector practices now succumbs to a more pragmatic,
mixed approach where ‘what works best is used.’ This approach is not conWned to
the UK as recent experience in the Netherlands and elsewhere testiWes (Kickert
2003 ).
Within the public sector, a ‘joined-up’ approach has heralded a reaYrmation of
national employment relations institutions. This is reXected in national pay agree-
ments in health and local government which provide a framework for major pay
reform. It has also been apparent in the development of more coordinated and
integrated approaches to HRM in these parts of the public service with the
development of national HR strategies. In addition, greater cross-organizational
working raises possible tensions between HR values, systems, and practices. As
agencies from diVerent (sub) sectors come together, how do they align their deeply
embedded HR approaches? For example, the UK government’s attempt to develop
an integrated workforce devoted to children raises questions related to how major
procedural and substantives diVerences in pay between social workers, teachers,
and various health workers are to be addressed.
- 3 Performance
Public service performance has remained central to the reform agenda across
OECD countries (OECD 2003 ). However, there have been shifts in discourse and
practice which have seen aspects of the NPM approach deepened and others given a
diVerent emphasis. Organizational performance has been increasingly related not
only to the eYcient but also the eVective use of resources as reXected in higher-
quality public services. To this end, a continued, if not greater, reliance has been
placed on performance targets allied to a more explicit recognition that improved
organizational performance in a service context is dependent on improved
employee performance. The irony lies in the fact that a service culture still driven
484 stephen bach and ian kessler