ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book explores what it means to be and to become a manager in modern healthcare organizations by breaking this down into four major, related themes and examining each of these in the context of wider, contemporary changes occurring within healthcare and more local circumstances and changes occurring within particular healthcare organizations. The four themes relate to how the managers in the study viewed their management and leadership responsibilities; how they emerged and developed as managers during the course of their careers; how they accessed and mobilized different forms of knowledge; and how they related to different networks of practice in which they were embedded. Any professionalization project in healthcare management is more likely to be predicated on the build-up of local knowledge and expertise which relates to more enriched and entrepreneurial managerial roles.
