<title>Abstract</title> Improved performance by public sector organizations is a political imperative in numerous countries. There are particular challenges in turnaround of poorly performing organizations. Theoretical explanations of the performance trajectories of public organizations, and especially the...

<title/> As the performance of public services is increasingly scrutinized, it is now commonplace for some schools, hospitals, local authorities and other public organizations to be deemed ‘failing’ and for attempts to be made at creating a turnaround in their performance. This article explores the...

<title/> This article provides early results from a long-term evaluation of the turnaround strategies by poorly-performing local authorities in England. The history and theory behind central government interventions into local government is reviewed, focusing on the Comprehensive Performance Assessment...

This article shows how interim managers use the ambiguity of being perceived as both an insider and outsider to an organization to manage difficult situations in the process of turnaround from poor performance. Their temporary involvement with an organization allows them to support staff, as...

This paper explores the ways in which technological innovation becomes adopted and incorporated into healthcare practice. Drawing upon the notion of ‘field of practices’, we examine how adoption is subject to spatially and temporally distributed reconfigurations across a multi-level set of...

This paper examines the relationship between senior management team culture and organizational performance in English acute hospitals (NHS Trusts) over three time periods between 2001/2002 and 2007/2008. We use a validated culture rating instrument, the Competing Values Framework, to measure...

This article considers the nature of risk in health care and the use the National Health Service (NHS) makes of risk management. It explores how the concept of risk has been challenged by the rise of ‘evidence-based’ health care, accompanied and accelerated by a decline in professional...