Conclusion: Public Sector Entrepreneurship: The Future Research Agenda

At the outset of this collected edition I emphasised the importance of the public sector and way in which public leaders are working alongside a multitude of stakeholders to deal with numerous global and internal environment forces; primarily amongst these are on-going budgetary and fiscal constraints. The pressures for reform, from above and below, have forced public leaders to work in partnership with other agencies and actors to develop novel ways of determining delivery, evaluation and measurement of services. Creating public/social value is now an essential part of a comprehensive approach to thinking about continuous improvement and a way of understanding how modern governance can deliver effective public services to wider society. One way of ensuring that this happens is to be open to new ways of transforming governance and public service delivery in co-production with stakeholders. Moreover, there is an expectation of on-going re-invention, re-assessment and re-imagining a future public service, due to the likelihood of further limited state intervention, and a need to rethink all operations, systems and ways of doing things. Public services have changed cultures, behaviours and ways of doing things to become more akin to private and commercial sectors of the economy, but more recently, have involved civic and community/voluntary sectors in working together to solve ‘wicked’ issues. There is general acceptance that no one agency alone can solve the huge economic, social and environmental problems across the globe, and that states must look beyond their narrow confines to seek collaborative solutions to societal ills. There are few ready-made answers to some of the urgent and critical issues facing society.