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Public Sector ‘Ethos’

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Abstract

The term public sector ‘ethos’ encapsulates the defining characteristics of what working in the public sector actually involves and why it is different from working in the private sector. However, it is also a subjective term that can be interpreted in both positive and negative ways. For many public sector workers, it is what makes their work special and different from working in the private sector. For others, it is what makes the public sector appear bureaucratic, out of touch and unresponsive to service users. This chapter uses the word ‘ethos’ in inverted commas, because it is a contested and nebulous term.

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Authors
  1. Jane Lethbridge
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Greenwich Business School, UK

    Susan Corby (Professor of Employment Relations) & Graham Symon (Senior Lecturer in Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour) (Professor of Employment Relations) &  (Senior Lecturer in Human Resources and Organisational Behaviour)

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© 2011 Jane Lethbridge

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Lethbridge, J. (2011). Public Sector ‘Ethos’. In: Corby, S., Symon, G. (eds) Working for the State. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230347984_4

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