ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part discusses 'Quality Management and the Management of Quality in the European Public Administration' which provides a useful framework to analyse how the shift towards higher citizen-customer orientation resulted in the change in focus and locus of quality management. It proposes that decision of many public agencies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries to introduce ISO 9000 in CEE countries is strongly driven by the perception that ISO is trendy in the private sector and therefore the public sector should use it. The part points out in Latvia that there is media report on ISO certifications, which subsequently increases the popularity of this instrument in the Latvian public sector. It explains the traditional approach to 'fly in' experts from Western Europe who run training programmes for a small group of public officials without any knowledge of the local conditions cannot be the answer.
