ASQ Government Division

Content Editor for this page: Howard Schussler, 541-729-6549

As public sector Quality practitioners we recognize the difficulty in finding books and other resources related to our unique needs.
We have attempted here to compile a comprehensive resource list with the public sector in mind.
All prices listed are approximate and strictly at the discretion of the vendors.

Public Sector Selections from Quality Press
Other Public Sector Selections
Suggested Reading
Other Public Sector Books & Products
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Public Sector Selections from Quality Press

Sustaining Innovation: Creating Nonprofit and Government Organizations That Innovate Naturally
Paul C. Light

Any organization can innovate once. The challenge is to make innovation a part of daily good practice. This book shows how nonprofit and government organizations can transform the single, occasional act of innovating into an everyday occurence by forging a culture of natural innovation. Filled with real success stories and practical lessons learned from 26 nonprofit and government organizations, Sustaining Innovation offers examples of how managers and employees can take the first step toward innovation, advice on how to survive the inevitable mistakes along the way, and tools for keeping the edge once the journey is complete.

1998. 299 pages. ISBN 0-7879-4098-4
6X9 hardcover. Also features three appendices.
Price: $25.95
Item: P737

A Nation Reconstructed: A Quest for the Cities That Can Be
Roger D. Hart and Sheryl L. Cooley, editors

Anyone seeking solutions to the massive urban problems in the United States will find ideas generated by professionals that can lead to a quality orientation in urban renewal.

1997. 306 pages. ISBN 0-87389-409-X.
6X9 hardcover. Contains 40 photographs.
Member Price: $13.00 List Price: $19.00
Item: H0948

Quality Management for Government: A guide to Federal, State, and Local Implementation
V. Daniel Hunt

The principles and methods for implementing a total quality management (TQM) system in all levels of government are introduced in this best-selling book.

1993. 384 pages. ISBN 0-87389-239-9.
6X9 hardcover. Includes 3 appendices.
Member Price: $31.50 List Price: $35.00
Item: H0788

The Process Analysis Workbook for Government: How to Achieve More with Less
Gerard Bruno

Designed to identify and eliminate waste and errors in a paperwork-intensive environment, this manual will help local, state, and federal organizations maximize the use of current or reduced resources.

1995. 219 pages. ISBN 0-87389-259-3.
8-1/2X11 softcover.
Member Price: $31.50 List Price: $35.00
Item: H0814

Success Through Quality: Support Guide for the Journey to Continuous Improvement
Timothy J. Clark

Ideal for any service or manufacturing industry, this book starts with a fundamental introduction to continuous quality improvement and provides a basic, but comprehensive overview of the quality improvement theory, methods and basic tools. Written in a format to help those with little or no understanding of continuous quality improvement, the author provides clear guidelines that can be immediately applied to improve leadership, decisison-making and problem-resolution skills.

If you are a new employee in an organization that has a quality program in place, or an employer who needs a quick and simple reference about quality for your employees, this book meets those needs. The author uses easy-to-read, short chapters to explain the basics of quality, and uses common, real-life scenarios to demonstrate key points and concepts. The material is organized in a manner that makes it easier for the reader to use and benefit from the book in a short time.

ENDORSEMENTS

If I had to pick a book that would serve as a practical, clear and concise guide to the basics of quality improvement, this book would make the short list. It not only is a first rate primer for understanding the quality revolution, but provides down to earth examples that bring quality to life in a way that all of us can use everyday!

Thomas Mosgaller
Director of Organizational Development
City of Madison, WI

1998. ISBN 0873894413.
Price: $20.00
Book can be ordered through ASQ/Quality Press or Amazon.com

To order any of the above books from ASQ at (800)248-1946 or (414) 272-8575 or visit the ASQ web site at www.asq.org - ASQ member prices are typically less than Amazon.com .

To order any of the above books from Amazon.com click on the book title or book cover.

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Other Public Sector Selections

Democracy in America
by Alexis De Tocqueville, George Lawrence (Translator), J. P. Mayer(Editor)

List Price: $16.00

Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours.

Endlessly quoted and referred to, Tocqueville's great history is as relevant now as when it was first published in the mid-19th century, and it remains the most penetrating and astute picture of American life ever written.

Paperback Reissue edition (September 1988)
HarperCollins (paper); ISBN: 0060915226 ; Dimensions (in inches): 2.00 x 8.02 x 5.38
Other Editions: Hardcover, Audio Cassette

Measuring Up: Governing's Guide to Performance Measurement for Geniuses & Other Public Managers
Jonathan Walters

A hands-on, user-friendly, somewhat irreverant guide to the management technique known as performance measurement for federal, state, and local government public managers.

Price: $14.95

Community and the Politics of Place
Daniel Kemmis

1992. ISBN 0806124776.
8-1/2X5-1/2 softcover.
Price: $10.36

The Good City and the Good Life: Renewing the American Community
Daniel Kemmis

In a wide-ranging discussion of democracy as a human enterprise, a former Montana state legislator and mayor of Missoula, Montana, uses personal experience and the experience of other cities and citizens to explore the key issue facing our society -- renewing the human experience of citizenship.

1995. ISBN 039568630X.
8-1/2X5-3/4.
Price: $16.07

Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement
John M. Bryson

Since John Bryson's widely acclaimed Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations was first published in 1988, it has be reprinted nine times and has become the standard book in the field. This thoroughly revised edition sets the pace and combines information on leadership, strategic planning, and tools that can help leaders and followers enhance organizational achievement.

1995. 348 pages. ISBN 0787901415.
10-1/3X7-1/2.
Price: $32.95

Creating and Implementing Your Strategic Plan: A Workbook for Public and Nonprofit Organizations
John M. Bryson, Farnum K. Alston

An excellent companion to the main book. Chockablock full of charts, checklists, tips and tricks for the practitioner in mind. Use this along with the main text and get ahead.

1995. 140 pages. ISBN 0787901423.
10-1/3X7-1/2. Paperback.
Price: $25.95

Catalytic Leadership: Strategies for an Interconnected World
Jeffrey S. Luke

The changing role of the public sector leader. From controller to catalyst.

1997. 240 pages. ISBN 0787909173.
9-1/4X6-1/4. Hardcover.
Price: $25.95

Creating High-Performance Government Organizations: A Practical Guide for Public Managers
Mark G. Popovich and Jack A. Brizius (Editors)

Creating High-Performance Government Organizations presents practical advice and tools that managers and innovators at evry level of government can use in molding their organizations into results oriented, mission-driven operations. Developed by a top notch writing team under the auspices of the Alliance for Redesigning Government, these recommendations are rooted in the authors' years of experience in the public and private sectors, and in thorough research into the theory and practice of organizational transformation.

1998. 224 pages. ISBN 0787941026.
Price: $25.95

Banishing Bureaucracy: The Five Strategies for Reinventing Government
David Osborne, Peter Plastrik

A hands-on guide for making the concepts of reinventing government a practical reality, this books provides the tactical details for making entrepreneurial government actually work, from the town hall to the pentagon.

1997. ISBN 0201626322.
Price: $17.50

Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector
David Osborne and Ted Gaebler

A revolution is stirring in America. People are increasingly dissatisfied with the way government works. This New York Times bestseller is both a call to arms against bureaucratic malaise and a guide for those who want to build something better. Using case studies from around the country, the authors lay out a road map for entrepreneurial government which applies results-oriented philosophies to public policy.

1993. 405 pages. ISBN 0452269423.
Price: $12.76

Municipal Benchmarks: Assessing Local Performance and Establishing Community Standards
David N. Ammons

Offers benchmarks against which an individual municipality's performance can be assessed, presenting relevant national standards developed by professional associations, and actual performance targets and results from a sample of city governments. Contains sections on areas including animal control, police, transit, and waste collection. Useful for municipal executives, department heads, management analysts, city council members, and citizen groups.

1996. 405 pages. ISBN 0803972539.
Hardcover
Price: $45.00

Budget and Control: Reforming the Public Sector in Latin America
Umberto Petrei

Based on two decades of reform experience in the leading countries in the field of budgetary preparation, evaluation, and control, as well as case studies of six Latin American countries, this study takes an in-depth look at the most appropriate institutional arrangements required for the countries of the region to improve their budget and control systems. The analysis addresses two important areas of economic theory, public finance, and collective decisionmaking. Budget officials and policymakers who must make government implemented programs more consistent with the will of the electorate will find this a valuable tool.

1993. 456 pages. ISBN 1886938415.
Price: $24.95

Improving Government Performance: An Owners Manual
John J. Dilulio, Gerald Garvey, and Donald F. Kettl

1993. ISBN 0815718551.
Paperback.
Price: $10.90

Benchmarking for Best Practices in the Public Sector: Achieving Performance Breakthroughs in Federal, State, and Local Agencies
Patricia Keehley (Editor), Steven Medlin, Laura Longmire, Patricia Keehley, and Sue A. MacBride

Benchmarking for Best Practices in the Public Sector is a unique, practical guide that shows public officials and administrators at all levels of government how to identify best practices and implement them in their organizations. The authors go beyond abstract concepts to bring benchmarking to life with real cases from federal, state, and local governments. They show how benchmarking methods have been adapted to the unique needs of the public sector and describe the tangible benefits gained by public agencies that have applied these techniques.

1996. ISBN 0787902993.
Hardcover.
Price: $28.95

Getting Started on Strategic Planning: What It's All About and How It Can Strengthen Public and Nonprofit Organizations (2 Audio Cassettes)
John M. Bryson

1991. ISBN 1555423507.
Audio Cassette.
Price: $32.95

Leadership for the Common Good: Tackling Public Problems in a Shared-Power World
John M. Bryson and Barbara C. Crosby

The authors offer their concept of public leadership, explaining the dynamics of a shared-power, "no-one-in-charge" world, and detailing how their approach can be used to build coalitions that solve problems.

1992. ISBN 1555424805.
Hardcover.
Price: $35.95

Teams in Government: A Handbook for Team-Based Organizations
Jerry W. Koehler and Joseph M. Pankowski

A guide to introducing Total Quality Management techniques into government agencies in order to shift the goal from pleasing the upper echelon of the bureaucracy to serving the public, seen as both the client receiving the service and the customer paying for it. Outlines the principles of a team-based organization and discusses types, characteristics, dynamics, leadership, formation, process improvement, and assessment.

1996. 184 pages. ISBN 1574440160.
Paperback.
Price: $28.00

Education and Training for Total Quality Management in the Federal Government
Government Printing Office

1992. ISBN 0160379113.
Paperback.
Price: $3.50

Taming City Hall: Rightsizing for Results
Gerald Seals

Corvallis, Oregon, is the leading example of a municipal government that took a proactive, strategic, "rightsizing" approach to the redefining of its workforce and operations to meet the constraints of the 1990s. In Taming City Hall, an in-depth case study, Seals, former Corvallis City Manager, spells out the situation he found in Corvallis in 1988 and includes the ideas "working smarter", setting priorities, strong customer orientation, and "compacting" with other government agencies to eliminate duplication of services, that he applied to change the siruation.

1995. ISBN 1558153381.
Hardcover.
Price: $29.95

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