Management Development in a Social Services Department Available to Purchase

The increasing interest in the setting up of management development activities in the public sector reflects the challenges which public authorities are experiencing at the moment. These result from financial pressures and public criticism on a scale unknown since the war and are therefore unfamiliar to the present generation of managers. This article examines the special nature of the management task in such authorities. It discusses how one particular part of a substantial public authority tries to equip its managers to cope with the challenges.