Human Resource Management in Public Service: Paradoxes, Processes, and Problems

Recognizing the inherent tensions and contradictions that result from managing people in organizations, Human Resource Management in Public Service: Paradoxes, Processes, and Problems offers provocative and thorough coverage of the complex issues of management in the public sector. Continuing the award-winning tradition of previous editions, this Third Edition helps students to understand complex managerial puzzles and covers all of the stages of the employment process, including recruitment, selection, training, legal rights and responsibilities, compensation, and appraisal. Grounded in real public service experiences, the book emphasizes hands-on skill building and problem solving.

New and Continuing Features

• Offers additional practical tools for managers and student job seekers, more international examples, and more examples from hospitals and social services
• Includes new sections on ethics training, motivation, psychological contracts, civil service reform, and workplace violence
• Incorporates unique chapters on family-friendly benefits and HRM issues relating to productivity improvement strategies
• Draws relevant managerial examples and cases from local, state, and federal government
• Balances coverage of big picture topics with the development of hands-on, technical skills
• Encourages active learning through carefully crafted questions at the end of each chapter and a mix of individual, group, and in-class exercises that ensure student mastery of key concepts

Human Resource Management in Public Service: Paradoxes, Processes, and Problems, Third Edition is intended for upper level undergraduate and graduate courses in Human Resource Management in departments of management, public administration, and political science.

Evan M. Berman is Distinguished University Professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei (Taiwan). He is also the Editor-in-Chief of ASPA Book Series in Public Administration & Public Policy (Taylor & Francis), Senior Editor of Public Performance & Management Review and a Distinguished Fulbright Scholar. His areas of expertise are human resource management, public performance, and local government, and international interests have now taken him to Asia. He has over 100 publications and 10 books, including Public Administration in East Asia: Mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan (CRC Press, 2010), People Skills At Work (CRC Press, 2011, with Dira Berman), Encyclopedia of Public Administration and Public Policy, Third Edition (Taylor & Francis, 2007), and Essential Statistics for Public Managers and Policy Analysts, Second Edition (CQ Press, 2006). He is past Chair of the American Society for Public Administration’s Section of Personnel and Labor Relations, and also a former policy analyst with the National Science Foundation. He was previously the Huey McElveen Distinguished Professor at Louisiana State University, and has assisted local jurisdictions on matters of team building, strategic planning, and citizen participation.

Jonathan P. West is professor of political science and Director of the Graduate Public Administration Program at the University of Miami. His research interests include human resource management, productivity, local government, and ethics. He has published 8 books and over 100 scholarly articles and book chapters. American Public Service: Radical Reform of the Merit System (Taylor & Francis, 2007), The Ethics Edge (2006) and the Professional Edge (M.E. Sharpe, 2009) are his most recent co-authored or co-edited books. His coauthored book titled American Politics and the Environment was published by Addison Wesley/Longman in 2002. He is Managing Editor of Public Integrity and a member of the editorial board of two other professional journals. He has experience as a management analyst working for the Office of the Surgeon General, Department of the Army.

James S. Bowman is professor of public administration at Florida State University. His primary area is human resource management, complemented by work in ethics and quality management. He is author of over 100 journal articles and book chapters as well as editor of six anthologies. He is coauthor of The Professional Edge (M. E. Sharpe, 2009). He is Editor in Chief of Public Integrity, a journal of the American Society for Public Administration and serves on the editorial boards of three other professional journals. A Kellogg Foundation Fellow and a past Fellow of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration, he has a background in business as well as experience in both the military and civil service.

Montgomery Van Wart is professor and Chair of the Public Administration Department at California State University San Bernardino. His publications include seven books and a substantial number of articles in the leading journal in his field. Dynamics of Leadership in Public Service: Theory and Practice (M.E. Sharpe, 2005) was designated the award “Outstanding Academic Title” by Choice. His research areas are administrative leadership, human resource management, training and development, administrative values and ethics, organization behavior, and general management. He also serves on numerous editorial boards and as the Associate Editor for Public Productivity & Management Review. As an instructor, he has spent as much time teaching and facilitating programs for executives and managers in public agencies as he has teaching graduate students. His training programs have been for individuals in all levels of government in the United States and executives and elected officials from foreign countries.