ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on concepts discussed in this book. Public organizations spend money raised from taxes and in many cases there are publicly elected representatives governing the organization. A public organization is expected to act reasonably and that means decisions made by a public manager about the use of public money must be reasonable too. Being accountable goes hand in hand with having the responsibility for spending public money. Modern public services are increasingly being delivered through networks of organizations. These networks may include public, private and third sector organizations and the reality is that the public manager has to be a good partner. The public manager needs contract management competencies including the commercial acumen negotiate fair, value money deal and then, having put the deal in place, the public manager needs to know how to manage partners and contractors. Public services are expected to be efficient and effective, to improve continuously, and to achieve more from less.
