The Responsible Contract Manager: Protecting the Public Interest in an Outsourced World

The Responsible Contract Manager addresses the practical issues of government contract management, and it explores issues of public ethics and the philosophy of governance and representation in a democratic society. Contract management is a critical skill for all contemporary public managers. In an age of outsourcing and public-private networks, managers must learn to work with, coordinate, and measure the performance of private contractors from both for-profit and nonprofit organizations who have assumed duties once reserved for government employees. Managers must learn how to write contract requirements and elicit bids that obtain important services and products at the best possible price and quality. Contract managers have a unique burden because they must develop practices that ensure the production advantages of networked organizations but also the transparency and accountability required of the public sector. Steven Cohen and William Eimicke fill a major gap in public management literature by providing a clear and practical introduction to the best practices of contract management. They help the reader answer key questions: When should you outsource, and under what conditions is the task best performed by your own organization? How do you successfully coordinate a public-private network? How do you ensure accountability and guard against corruption and other potential violations of public trust? What is the effect of this new public sector on representative democracy?