Ian Kirkpatrick
Chair in Public Management

Research

Overview

Ian’s research interests are in the area of the changing management of public services and professional organisations. He has conducted a number of studies focusing on developments in social services and healthcare, most recently drawing on large scale (routine) administrative data sources to profile the management characteristics of health care organisations and the impact of managers. Other projects have focused on the development of professional associations in the US and the UK and the management of professional service firms in legal services and management consulting.

Ian has published widely on these topics in leading academic journals and a number of jointly authored books. His most recent book, published with Cambridge Elements, explores recent theories and trends in the sociology of professions (with Daniel Muzio). Ian’s research has also attracted considerable media interest, most recently his study focusing on the impact of management consultants on performance in the English NHS.

Publications

Selected publications

Books (Monographs)

Muzio, D., S. Aulakh, and I. Kirkpatrick (2020) “Professional occupations and organizations.” In R. Greenwood and N. Philips (eds.) Elements of Organization Theory Cambridge (series). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press – forthcoming.

Kirkpatrick, I., Ackroyd, S. And Walker, R. (2005) The New Managerialism and Public Service Professions, London: Palgrave.

Whipp, R., Kirkpatrick, I., and Kitchener, M. (2005) Managing Residential Child Care: A Managed Service?, London: Palgrave.

Contributions to peer reviewed journals

Kirkpatrick, I., Sturdy, A., Veronesi, G., Reguera, N. and Blanco-Oliver, A. (2023) ‘Beyond hollowing out: Public sector managers and the use of external management consultants’, Public Administration Review – Forthcoming.

Veronesi, G., Sarto, F., Kirkpatrick, I. and Altanler, A. (2022) ‘Corporatization, administrative intensity and the performance of public sector organizations’, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory – Online ready.

Kirkpatrick, I., Altanlar, A. and Veronesi, G. (2021) ‘Hybrid professional managers in healthcare: an expanding or thwarted occupational interest?’ Public Management Review – online ready https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/
N5FMRPFQNTYRYUQGJDVB/full?target=10.1080%2F14719037.2021.1996777&

Sturdy, A., Kirkpatrick, I., Reguera, N., Blanco-Oliver, A. and Veronesi, G. (2021) ‘The management consultancy effect: demand inflation and its consequences in the sourcing of external advice’, Public Administration – https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/padm.12712.

Kirkpatrick, I., Aulakh, S. and Muzio, M. (2021) ‘The Evolution of Professionalism as a Mode of Regulation: Evidence from the United States’, Work, Employment and Society – https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09500170211035297

Kirkpatrick, I and Hoque, K. (2021) ‘Human resource management professionals and the adoption and effectiveness of high performance work practices’, Human Resource Management Journal – https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1748-8583.12403

Gulati, K. and Kirkpatrick, I. (2021) ‘Developing Medical Leadership in India: A Mission Impossible?’ British Medical Journal Leader, Published Online First: 24 December 2020. doi: 10.1136/leader-2020-000217.

Adams, T. L., Kirkpatrick, I., Tolbert, P. S., & Waring, J. (2020). From Protective to Connective Professionalism: Quo Vadis Professional Exclusivity? Journal of Professions and Organization, 7(2), 234-245. https://doi.org/10.1093/jpo/joaa014

Liu, Z., Kirkpatrick, I., Chen, Y. and Mei, J. (2020) ‘Overcoming the legacy of marketization: China’s response to Covid-19 and the fast forward of healthcare re-organisation’, British Medical Journal Leader, 0:1–4. doi:10.1136/leader-2020-000294

Skouteris, H., Kirkpatrick, I., Currie, G., Braithwaite, J., and Teede, H. (2019) ‘Are external management consultancies effective in healthcare improvement, do they reflect value for money and what are the alternative models?’ Internal Medicine Journal, 49, 11, 1451-1455.

Mei, J. and Kirkpatrick, I. (2019) ‘The engagement of doctors in management from the perspective of new public management: Motivation, influencing factors and performance’. Chinese Journal of Health Policy, 12(7):42-49.

Jixia, M. and Kirkpatrick, I. (2019) 'Public Hospital Reforms in China: Towards a model of New Public Management’, International Journal of Public Sector Management – forthcoming.

Sarto, F, Kirkpatrick, I, and Veronesi, G. (2019) ‘Organizing professionals and their impact on performance: the case of public health doctors in the Italian SSN’, Public Management Review – forthcoming.

Veronesi, G., Kirkpatrick, I. and Altanlar, A. (2019) ‘Are public managers a bureaucratic burden? The case of English public hospitals’, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory [Online first].

Kirkpatrick, I., Sturdy, A., Reguera, N. and Blanco-Oliver, A. and Veronesi, G., (2019) ‘The impact of management consultants on public service efficiency’, Policy and Politics [Online first].

Kirkpatrick, I., Hoque, K. and Lonsdale, C. (2019) ‘Client organizations and the management of professional agency work: the case of English health and social care’, Human Resource Management, 51, 1, 71-84

Aulakh, S. and Kirkpatrick (2018) ‘New governance regulation and lawyers: When substantive compliance erodes legal professionalism’, Journal of Professions and Organization, 5, 3, 167–183.

Blanco-Oliver, A., Veronesi, G. and Kirkpatrick, I. (2018) ‘ Board heterogeneity and organisational performance: the mediating effects of line managers and staff satisfaction ’, Journal of Business Ethics, 152, 2, 393-407

Lonsdale, C., Hoque, K., Sanderson, J.R. and Kirkpatrick, I. (2017) ‘Knowing the Price of Everything? Exploring the Impact of Increased Procurement Professional Involvement on Management Consultancy Purchasing’, Industrial Marketing Management, 65, 157-167

Kirkpatrick, I., Veronesi, G. and Altanlar, A. (2017) ‘Corporatisation and the emergence of ( under managered ) managed organizations: the case of English public hospitals’, Organization Studies, 38, 12, 1687-1708.

Kirkpatrick, I., Veronesi, G. and Vallascas, F. (2017) ‘Business experts on public sector boards: what do they contribute?’ Public Administration Review, 77, 754-765.

Aulakh, S. and Kirkpatrick, I. (2016) ‘Changing Regulation and the Future of the Professional Partnership: the case of the Legal Services Act, 2007 in England and Wales’, International Journal of the Legal Profession, 23, 3, 277-303.

Angrave, D., Charlwood, A., Kirkpatrick, I., Lawrence, M. and Stuart, M. (2016) ‘HR analytics: Why HR is set to fail the big data challenge’, Human Resource Management Journal, 26, 1: 1-11.

Kirkpatrick, I., Kuhlmann, E., Hartley, K. and Lega, F. (2016) ‘Medicine and Management in European Hospitals’, BMC Health – https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/supplements/
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Veronesi, G., Kirkpatrick, I. and Altanlar, A. (2015) ‘Clinical leadership and the changing governance of public hospitals: Implications for patient experience’ Public Administration, 93, 4, 1031-1048.

Sarto, F, Veronesi, G, Kirkpatrick, I and Cuccurullo, C. (2015) ‘Exploring regionalism in public management reforms: the case of the Italian hospital sector’, Policy and Politics , 44, 4, 525-545.

Veronesi, G., Kirkpatrick, I. and Vallascas, F. (2014) ‘Does clinical management improve efficiency? Evidence from the English NHS’, Public Money and Management, January, 1-8.

Chapters in books

Kirkpatrick, I and Veronesi, G. (2018) ‘ Researching healthcare management using secondary sources’, in Saks, M. & Allsop, J. (Eds.) Researching Health: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods, 3rd edition, London: Sage.

Kirkpatrick, I, Lonsdale, C. and Neogy, I. (2016) ‘Management consulting in health care’, in Ferlie, E., Montgomery, K. and Reff Pedersen, A. (Eds.) Oxford Handbook of Health care Management, Oxford: OUP.

Kirkpatrick, I. (2016) ‘Hybrid Managers and Professional Leadership’, in Denis, J-L and Dent, M. (Eds.) The Routledge Companion to the Professions and Professionalism, London: Routledge.

Kirkpatrick, I., Kuhlmann, E., Veronesi, G. And Hartley, K. (2015) ‘Clinical management and professionalism’, in Kuhlmann et al. (eds.) The Palgrave International Handbook of Healthcare Policy and Governance, London: Palgrave.

Kirkpatrick, I. and Noordegraaf, M. (2014) ‘Organisations and occupations: towards hybrid professionalism in professional services firms’, in Empson, L., Muzio, D., Broschak, J. and Hinings, B. (Eds.) Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

In the news

Management consultancy in healthcare—time for some independent action? BMJ Opinion

Do management consultants make healthcare better or worse? – Financial Times - https://www.ft.com/content/ce406ed2-0ab4-4b89-8c85-bede68ae6288 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8o4ImsjtCU

Full publications list

Compositions

Recordings

Teaching

Other teaching

Ian has considerable experience teaching a wider range of topics across the field of management, human resource management, organisational behaviour, research methods, public sector management and healthcare leadership at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. While at Leeds, as part of the Centre for Innovation in Healthcare Management, he helped to establish the London Darzi programme focusing on clinical leadership for mid-career clinical professionals.

At Warwick Ian was also involved in the development of distance (e-learning) programmes (including a new MSc and MOOC) in the Healthcare Improvement and Leadership field. A MOOC in Leadership for Healthcare Improvement and Innovation attracted 3,000 participants globally on its first run in 2017. He acted as Programme Leader for the MSc Strategic Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare, developed in collaboration with Monash University. He has also worked closely with the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management to support clinical leadership training.