ABSTRACT
Ferlie et al. (1996) made a four-part classification of NPM approaches, based on four diagnoses of the problem by government. Their models were the efficiency drive; downsizing and decentralization; ‘in search of excellence;’ and ‘public service orientation’. Peters (1996) also proposed a four-part taxonomy of models of governing, market, participative, flexible and deregulated, which was also related to different diagnoses of the problems seen by governments. Our work (Flynn and Strehl 1996) of the same year shied away from trying to classify the management changes in seven European countries because we were still trying to identify the changes, their causes and consequences. We did, however, find some big differences among apparently similar countries and sought some tentative explanations for those differences. Ferlie et al. acknowledged different ‘national type’ contexts as well as sectoral differences while Peters’s analysis, although geographically wide-ranging, emphasizes the differences between sectors as the main determinant of the applicability of each model.
