Edited by Adam Lindgreen, Nicole Koenig‐Lewis, Martin Kitchener, John D. Brewer, Mark H Moore, and Timo Meynhardt, Public Value: Deepening, Enriching, and Broadening the Theory and Practice (London and New York: Routledge, 2019). 378 pp. $94.99 (hardback), ISBN 9781138059665

• Published date: 01 May 2021
• Author: Kellie Coff
• Date: 01 May 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13382

572 Public Administration Review • May | June 202 1

Reviewed by: Kellie Coff

Swinburne University of Technology

Edited by Adam Lindgreen, Nicole Koenig-Lewis, Martin

Kitchener, John D. Brewer, Mark H Moore, and Timo Meynhardt,

Public Value: Deepening, Enriching, and Broadening the

Theory and Practice (London and New York: Routledge, 2019).

378pp. $94.99 (hardback), ISBN 9781138059665

P ublic Value: Deepening, Enriching, and

Broadening the Theory and Practice promises

to expand the readers knowledge and

understanding of public value, and the impressive

line-up of editors and contributors does not

disappoint. With 24 chapters, divided into three parts,

this book unites leading academics and public value

practitioners in a single volume. The inclusion of

research by over 40 contributors ensures this book will

appeal to academics and practitioners with a broad

range of interests, including those researching in the

field of public administration.

Part one of the book develops the theory behind how

public value is created and defines Public Value simply

as anything that the Public Values. This multifaceted

paradigm “overcomes the tendency to look at

society through only one lens,” and incorporates “an

amalgamation of utilitarian, financial, moral, political

and hedonistic aspects” (p. 12).

In this section, Meynhardt explains the concept of

public value attempts to bridge the gap between

how organizations operate within society and what

the individual citizen truly values. An overview

of the different arbiters of public value provides

insight into how contemporary society views the

creation of public value. In this section, the praxis of

different management paradigms is discussed, and

practitioners are encouraged to consider the risks and

consequences of alternative approaches to creating

public value. This section also discusses how changes

to contemporary organizations and individual

citizens interacting with society have prompted the

exploration of the psychological perspective of public

value awareness.

Meynhardt offers the Public Value Score Card (p.

95) as a solution to identifying the drivers behind

public value creation. Five key questions are suggested

for organizations to consider when creating public

value. These questions include: Is it useful? Is it

profitable? Is it decent? Is it politically acceptable?

and finally, Is it a positive experience? Plotting the

risks and opportunities uncovered through these

questions onto the public value score card provides a

Public Value profile of an organization. This profile

enables organizations to be ranked by benchmarking

an organization’s public value results against those

of other organizations. Further into this section,

Nijeboer provides a detailed case study of how

Meynhardt’s Public Value Score Card (PVSC) can be

successfully applied. Nijeboer provides the example

of how Barreiro municipality in Portugal, adopted

the PVSC to initiate partnerships and work more

collaboratively with the for-profit enterprises in the

area.

Further case studies are provided in the second

part. This part extends the theory and practice of

public value into the realm of private enterprises

and volunteer organizations. It highlights the

emerging understanding of Public Value Creation

through collaborative networks. Gooberman and

Hauptmeier contextualize Public Value into the realm

of employers’ organizations and use this context

to revisit Public Value Theory’s most pertinent

questions. A revised definition of what constitutes

public value demonstrates the evolution of the public

value concept before the authors introduce the debate

surrounding how public value can be successfully

measured.

Other practical applications in this section include an

investigation into Public Value from the perspective

of female entrepreneurs, the public value of museums,

and the public value of cultural heritage. These case

studies provide new insights into the wide array

of applications of public value in contemporary

organizations.

Part three predicts that the concept of public

value will continue to be both a challenge and an

opportunity in future. The section provides a detailed

account of how Public Value can benefit the social

sciences. This concept is further supported with an

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 81, Iss. 3, pp. 572–573. © 2021 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.1111/puar.13382.

Kellie Coff is an experienced practitioner,

consultant, and lecturer. She lectures in

business analysis and modeling, data-

driven business analysis, human resource

management, and social, audience, and

market research with La Trobe University,

Mildura, Australia. Kellie is currently

researching the Public Value of community

leadership programs with Swinburne

University of Technology, Melbourne,

Australia.

Email: kcoff@swin.edu.au

Book Reviews

Galia Cohen, Editor