Introduction: the politics of quality in the public sector - Ian Kirkpatrick and Miguel Martinez Lucio The uses of quality in the british government's reform of the public sector - Ian Kirkpatrick and Miguel Martinez Lucio Managing quality and organizational politics: TQM as a governmental technology - Mike Reed Customizing the public for health care: what's in a label? - Andrew Thompson Performance indicators, bureaucratic control and the decline of professional autonomy: the case of academic librarians - Annette Davies and Ian Kirkpatrick Quality and social housing: irreconcilable partners? - Alf Fitzgeorge-Butler and Peter Williams The quality of mercy: the management of quality in the personal social services - Ian Shaw Quality, competition and contracts in general practice fund holding - Robert Harris Professional cultures and paradigms of quality in health care - Philip Morgan and Christpher Potter Quality in the marketing change process: the case of the national health service - Martin Kitchener and Richard Whipp The emergence and use of quality in british rail - Andrew Pendleton Quality and new industrial relations: the case of royal mail - Miguel Mertinez Lucio Market-driven reforms in education: performance, quality and industrial relations in schools - Jackie Sinclair, Roger Seifert and Mike Ironside Conclusion: the politics of quality and the emergence of new issues and tensions within the public sector - Miguel Martinez Lucio and Ian Kirkpatrick