Public Vs Private Managers: A New Perspective

Abstract

Does management in the public sector differ from that in the private sector? Most of the research evidence relating to this question suggests no significant difference between the two sectors. Nonetheless, the studies in this area have an important limitation , i.e., they have focused almost exclusively on the perspectives and activities of "senior" and "upper-level" managers while largely ignoring those on the front line - the "first-line supervisors". Are there, for instance, differences between public and private managers at the first-line supervisory level? The results of this study support a negative response to this question, but with one important exception. Specifically, “training employees” was found to be a relatively more important activity for public sector supervisors, as compared to their private sector counterparts. This is a surprising finding, in that the private sector is known to have a higher rate of employee turnover and, therefore, an assumed greater need for training new hires. There is no obvious explanation for this result and, to our knowledge, there is nothing in the research literature that helps to explain it. It therefore represents an important new area of research that needs further exploration.

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