Synopses & Reviews
Carolyn Ban breaks new ground by analyzing the European Commission from a public management perspective. Based on extensive interviews conducted over six years, it explores how the European Commission faced the challenge of enlargement, how it recruited and socialized thousands of new staff members, and its success in integrating newcomers. It argues that nationality was less important in understanding the newcomers than expected and, conversely, that gender was more important than expected, as one of the major effects of enlargement was to shift the organization's gender balance. It includes an analysis of language use and language politics as an important part of organizational culture. The work provides a lively and readable picture of life within the Commission. Melding management with sociology, anthropology, and linguistics, contributes to the growing literature on international organizations. It will be of interest to scholars, practitioners, students, and to those who hope to pursue international careers.
Review
To come
Synopsis
This book explores how the European Commission faced the challenge of enlargement. Based on extensive interviews, the work provides a lively and readable picture of life within the Commission, exploring how thousands of newcomers were recruited and socialized and how they changed the organization, including its gender balance.
Synopsis
Carolyn Ban breaks new ground by analyzing the European Commission from a public management perspective. Based on extensive interviews conducted over six years, it explores how the European Commission faced the challenge of enlargement, how it recruited and socialized thousands of new staff members, and its success in integrating newcomers. It argues that nationality was less important in understanding the newcomers than expected and, conversely, that gender was more important than expected, as one of the major effects of enlargement was to shift the organization's gender balance. It includes an analysis of language use and language politics as an important part of organizational culture. The work provides a lively and readable picture of life within the Commission. Melding management with sociology, anthropology, and linguistics, contributes to the growing literature on international organizations. It will be of interest to scholars, practitioners, students, and to those who hope to pursue international careers.
About the Author
Carolyn Ban is Professor and former dean of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. She has worked as a manager in the public and private sector and as Professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York. Her works include
How Do Public Managers Manage? Bureaucratic Constraints, Organizational Culture, and the Potential for Reform.
Table of Contents
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Structure, Culture, and Management: The Status Quo Ante
2. The European Commission and the Process of Enlargement
3 The Kinnock Reforms: Preparing for Enlargement, Changing Culture?
4. The Outsiders Come in: Self-selection, Selection and Socialization of Entry-level Staff
5. Fitting in or Standing out? The Arrival of Managers from the New Member States
6. Nationality: Why it Matters Less than Expected
7. Gender: Why it Matters More than Expected
8. Language, Culture, and Management: the Impact of Enlargement on Language Use in the Commission
Conclusions
Bibliography