The aim is that the case studies be used by managers, practitioners, and students of health policy and management for a number of purposes: to understand policy-making, the implementation of policy and the links between these two processes; to predict likely consequences of actions and the effect of institutional structures and cultures upon them; to reinterpret events in order to understand 'how' and 'why' things happened; to trace the influences upon and even causes of successes and failures (taking care to set out criteria for these value judgements); to examine particular chronologies of events and configurations of power to aid overall analysis; to understand how power is distributed within organisations and within society; and to use insights gained to become better managers, advisors or analysts.
In short: the book is intended to improve both the understanding and practice of management. It will be used, we hope, in the NHS, in the policy community as a whole and particularly in academic settings where health service managers and policy-makers undertake courses and degrees.