Public Management as Corporate Social Responsibility: The Economic Bottom Line of Government

This collection of case studies in public management bridges the gap between mainstream CSR - confined to the for-profit corporations -and the vast bodies of workers and organizations that make up government and its public administration. The variety and discretion of managerial endeavours in public management calls for accountability and responsibility of government beyond current legal instruments: The book argues that CSR must be brought to bear with government. In government in fact, knowledge management is not a linear process, but the result of working with passion of the parts, implying discretionary behaviour and creativity which in turn imply choice and responsibility. Cases ranging from the USA to Central America, New Zealand and Europe all confirm the complex nature of public management, entailing partnership synergy for disaster recovery, the intertwined link between management and new technology and mindfulness at individual level. The cases are set in a framework by theoretical essays on bureaucratic behaviour and unknown stakeholders.

Massimiliano Di Bitetto is a scientist in the area of marine biology and an executive in the Italian National Research Council. His research currently reaches in the field of organizational sociology.

Athanasios Chymis is a research fellow at the Centre for Planning and Economic Research (KEPE) in Athens, Greece. His current research explores the interface between economics and ethics and investigates the need for expanding corporate social responsibility beyond the private sector.

Paolo D’Anselmi is a practitioner of management consultancy and policy analysis. He teaches CSR at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy and is a graduate of Sapienza in Rome and Harvard.