HR9798 - Managing Public Sector Organisations

You will experience a dynamic and flexible learning environment that caters to professionals across private, public, and third sectors. The delivery model blends intensive face-to-face workshops with live virtual sessions and self-paced online components, with pre-session materials providing essential background knowledge and post-session tutorials fostering reflective discussion through the lenses of advocacy, plurality, sustainability, inclusivity, and accountability.


A robust digital learning platform supports your studies by offering access to recorded sessions, interactive quizzes, and discussion forums for peer-to-peer exchange. Optional office hours and guided independent study sessions provide personalised support from experienced tutors, ensuring that every learning need is met.

The module adopts a blended approach to teaching and learning:
• Interactive lectures exploring key theoretical concepts and debates
• Case-based seminars applying theories to real-world scenarios
• Action learning sets focusing on practical problem-solving
• Guest speakers from public service organisations
• Collaborative projects addressing contemporary public management challenges
• Reflective practice and peer learning activities

In this module, you will benefit from a comprehensive and responsive academic support system designed to help you succeed across both private sector and public/third sector contexts. Your learning is guided by experienced module tutors and supported by dedicated programme leaders and academic mentors, ensuring that expert advice is always available.

The programme is structured to encourage both collaborative and independent study, with resources such as recorded lectures, curated reading materials, and peer discussion groups that help reinforce key concepts in responsible business. This multi-faceted approach ensures that whether you are tackling complex theoretical frameworks or developing practical strategies for sustainable change, you have a robust network of academic support to guide you every step of the way.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
• [MLO 1] Critically assess, and apply, key theoretical perspectives in public management and governance to analyse real-world organisational issues in the public sector. [PLO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
• [MLO2] Analyse the changing role of the public sector across different political, economic, and social contexts [PLO 1, 2, 3, 6]
• [MLO 3] Evaluate the effectiveness of public management reforms and governance models [PLO 1, 2, 3, 6]

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• [MLO 4] Analyse individual, group, and organisational workplace dynamics to design evidence-based strategies for managing public sector change, innovation, and complex management challenges. [PLO 1, 2, 3, 5, 6]

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• [MLO 5] Reflect on personal values and ethical perspectives to demonstrate public service ethos, integrity, democratic accountability, management in place and collaborative working. [PLO 1, 6]

This module is assessed through a real-world, experiential project undertaken within your own organisation. You will identify a public management challenge or opportunity and analyse this through appropriate theoretical frameworks. This assessment is designed to address multiple Module Learning Outcomes (MLOs) across all three domains.
Assessment for this module consists of:
1. Case Study (60%): A 2000-word case study that provides critical analysis of a contemporary public management reform or initiative through examining organisational issues in a public sector context. (MLO 1, 2, 3, 4)
2. Group Presentation (40%): A presentation proposing evidence-based solutions to a complex public management challenge (MLO 1,4,5)

Formative feedback will be offered throughout the block teaching sessions and in the virtual sessions convened to support your learning and development.

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Public sector management has undergone significant transformation in recent decades, with traditional bureaucratic approaches giving way to new models influenced by increased global competition, technological disruption, and evolving societal expectations. This module provides students with the theoretical foundations and practical frameworks to navigate the complex interface between politics, public administration, and service delivery. The module aims:
1. To provide students with specialised knowledge of theories and principles underlying modern public management and governance.
2. To critically evaluate the evolution of public sector reforms and their impacts across different national contexts.
3. To develop understanding of organisational action in public sector contexts, including both typical and atypical workplace environments
4. To enhance analytical skills for addressing contemporary challenges in public management
5. To explore ethical dimensions of public service and strategies for organisational change