'New managerialism' and higher education: The management of performances and cultures in universities in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The paper examines the applicability of recent theories positing the existence of new approaches to the management of public sector institutions, to current organisational forms and management strategies in universities in the United Kingdom. The term 'new managerialism' is generally used to refer to the adoption by public sector organisations of organisational forms, technologies, management practices and values more commonly found in the private business sector. Particular attention is paid to the writings of John Clarke and Janet Newman. Their discussion of organisational forms (including Newman's attention to the gendering of such forms), technologies and narratives under 'new managerialist' regimes and of the tensions between managing cultures and performances in organisations operating under 'new managerial' regimes, are then drawn upon to analyse two different instances of organisational regimes and management practices in universities. The first of these is based on an exploratory study of a small group of feminist academic managers in higher education, where questions are raised about the possible links between feminist values and what Trow has termed 'soft' approaches to management, as opposed to the 'hard' management practices of 'new managerialism'. The second example is an insider account of changes to organisational forms and technologies resulting from a severe financial crisis at Lancaster University, where a shortage of resources seems to have precipitated at least some moves in the direction of 'new managerialism', even if the attempt to change organisational cultures has so far been uneven