Does Austerity Drive Public Service Innovation? Evidence From Shared Senior Management Teams in Local Government

Sharing senior management teams (SMTs) is a recent innovation and occurs when a team of senior managers oversee two or more public organizations. It often starts with a shared chief executive before moving on to sharing the whole senior management team. Shared SMTs are an attractive option for councils and other public organisations seeking to save money without the upheaval, controversy and transactions costs associated with full-blown mergers. They involve a high degree of organisational integration which reduces management costs and gains economies of scale without the loss of organisational identity and sovereignty.

In an era of “super head teachers”, blue light services integration and collaborative procurement, the experience of local government in sharing SMTs can, according to the authors, yield invaluable insights about the limits and potential of this type of innovation.