Concluding discussion

The concluding chapter further develops the overall themes explored throughout the book. We critique the evidence-based management movement empirically by suggesting its absence in a sector which should have been fertile territory for it (given the strong evidence-based medicine inheritance). We highlight instead the importance of the macro context of public services reforming (with political and ideological components) in shaping which preferred management knowledges become influential in local health care organizations. We also complement this macro-level perspective with an awareness of the role of micro-level knowledge leadership. We then bring in some academic literature on business schools (‘the Business School Business’) and consider how business schools might properly operate in this domain given their importance as management knowledge producers. Finally, we reflect on the implications of what might have changed since we completed our research, including the populist rise of an anti-expert backlash.