More With Less: Maximizing Value in the Public Sector Bernard Marr & James Creelman, Palgrave Macmillan, $42.00, £27.00

The legendary organization management guru Peter Drucker once proclaimed that “change is like death and taxes” –unavoidable, but largely postponed by most organizations. Marr and Creelman from the Advanced Performance Institute (API) build on Drucker’s wisdom by applying it to the public sector environment. In the times of depleting financing and exploding budget deficits, the book tackles the new reality faced by the public sector. In the postcrisis world both private and public entities have been forced to maximize value with fewer available resources. The authors rightly point out that this task in the public domain is further complicated by the plurality of stakeholders whose interests need to be properly addressed. This multi-stakeholder nature often leads to an unrealistic number of strategic objectives and the consequent rise of inefficiencies. Aligning performance management with ‘lean initiatives’ that drive cost-cutting behavior requires the creation of Strategic Road Maps with the related key performance indicators (KPIs). The practical illustration of this traditionally private sector methodology is achieved by the extensive use of process flow diagrams and case studies of the best practices –from the Ministry of Works in Bahrain to the US Postal Service. The book has all the prerequisites to become a practical tool kit for key decision makers in the public domain. But as usual, the challenge lies in effective implementation. This is where Drucker would respond by reminding us that “plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.”

I. P.