Further Education Management Strategy and Policy: Institutional and Public Management Dimensions.

The article contributes to the literature on the internal management of colleges and provides a research based analysis of the college sector in the wider public management interface of strategy, policy and service delivery. Internal college management showed considerable evidence of a strategic approach to management practice within colleges. At the public management level, the work was contextualized within debates regarding the reduced role of central state delivery of public services, the concomitant and sometimes divergent positions of strong central executive action and local partnership delivery of services. The research indicated an absence of strong central control with instances of individual institutional influence on policy. Local partnership activity, as a key part of the public management and governance environment, was analysed. It was found that not all types of partnership were equally effective. The paper highlighted a key area to be addressed, the strategic capacity gap within the sector. It also signposted the need for further research on college participation in partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]