ABSTRACT
Police forces in Scotland constitute a very particular set of organisations, differing from others in terms of their legal powers, the forms of activity which they carry out, and the shared culture and values which they embody. At the same time, in other respects police organisations are no different from any other work organisations. Senior police officers have to engage in a range of management tasks, such as providing leadership, making strategic decisions and planning operations; they have to monitor what is happening within the organisation and exercise accountability for it; they have to manage their workforces, both police officers and police staff;1 they have to respond to their ‘customers’, i.e. the Scottish public, and ensure that the desired service is provided at the expected level; and they have to make sure that the police service provides value for money and, the bottom line, that the books balance at the end of the day. Chief constables may be police officers, but in a very real sense they are also chief executives of large public service corporations.
