First Published in 2000

The management of public services is becoming an increasingly difficult task. Demands are increasing while funds appear to be decreasing, but quality of service must remain high. New services are required, demands have to be faced, activities don't always go according to plan and problems emerge in unexpected places and at unusual times; and public managers are expected to deal with these deviations from their regular work patterns.

While some activities are concrete in nature and can be seen, such as medical care and education, others are obscured from public view. With governments emphasizing areas that produce visible and quantifiable results, they often neglect the intangible services that must also be provided to the public. Poor performance in these areas can contribute to major crisis in public organizations.

This volume examines four case studies in the context of the changing political and social environment of the new Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The use of these cases from the public sector in Hong Kong will hopefully help readers to understand the difficulties faced by modern governments in providing basic services to the public.