Engaging Public Sector Clients

JOHN ALFORD is Professor of Public Sector Management at the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne, Australia and also at the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, Australia. His research and publications are on organization-client relationships, public sector strategy and inter-organizational collaboration.

Winner of Best Book Award for 2011 - Section on Public Administration Research (SPAR) of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA). 'In this controversial but illuminating work, Alford has not only bitten off, but thoroughly chewed over and digested a critically important but widely ignored aspect of public management: the processes that government agencies rely on to engage the clients to whom they deliver services, and on whom they impose obligations.' - Mark Moore, Harvard Kennedy School, author of Creating Public Value 'Co-production has moved to the centre of debates about public service reform, and its importance is bound to rise... John Alford's book is a masterly survey of the field, fusing history, evidence and analysis. He brings to the fore how fascinating, and difficult, co-production can be.' - Geoff Mulgan, Head of the Young Foundation, former head of Demos and adviser to PM Tony Blair, author of Good and Bad Power

• Introduction: Client Co-Production of Public Services The Co-Production Concept Clients in the Public Sector Legal Compliance, Regulation and Co-Production Theoretical Constructs and Methodology Postal Service Customers as Co-Producers Long-Term Unemployed People as Co-Producers Taxpayers as Co-Producers Client Co-Production: An Exchange Perspective Managing for Client Co-Production Implications