Implementing NPM: a Complexity Perspective on Public Management Reform Trajectories

Abstract

Several of the earlier chapters indicated that NPM reforms are implemented in a variety of ways and have different effects in various European countries. The conclusion that the shape and effects of reforms vary according to the institutional contexts in which the reforms are implemented, seems to be valid. The implementation of the same type of reform in different contexts such as, for instance, the introduction of benchmarking methods (Chapter 7), the application of public-private partnerships (Chapter 5), and the creation of agencies for the production of public goods and services (Chapter 4), result in a whole range of new management approaches, organizational arrangements and outcomes.