The Role of Management Scholarship in the Public Sector: Using the Commentaries to Move Forward

The preceding commentators were unanimous in their belief that management scholars should matter more to how organizations operate, whether in the private or public sector. They were also unanimous in praising Bill Ouchi's hands-on involvement with public school systems as a model worthy of emulation. Beyond this, however, commentators differed on such things as whether greater involvement was needed specifically in the public sector, and whether mattering more might be pursued individually or collectively. This article summarizes and integrates the points on which commentators have agreed and disagreed so that management scholars all might come to have a clearer understanding of the processes, benefits, and obstacles associated with having a greater impact than what management scholarship does now.