Purpose – Set against a background of numerous institutionally funded programmes with a focus on gender mainstreaming, the purpose of this paper is to draw on institutional theory as an alternative lens to explain why such programmes often fail to achieve the desired outcomes....

Discusses a case where an assessment centre programme played a key role in a process of management change in a county council social services department, responding to the Government’s “Care in the Community” initiatives. “New think” management required a paradigm shift – not just...