Management buyouts in the public sector

This article explores the particular issues associated with management buyo uts from the public sector. As part of the general move towards making gove rnment departments more 'market-orientated', some form of transformation pr ocess was adopted in an attempt to re-orient existing management, staff and organizations systems to the commercial practices used in the private sect or. The aim was to make the unit a viable commercial entity with a convinci ng (to investors) track record. In particular, attention was focused on asc ertaining that marketing and finance were in place at the time the buyout w as proposed. The article is illustrated by five case studies-Chessington Co mputer Services Ltd, The Laboratory of the Government Chemist Ltd, FM Contr act Services Ltd, CentreWest London Buses Ltd, and London General Buses Ltd . (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.