‎'‎This is an excellent book by two of the world‎'‎s leading public management scholars‎.‎ They integrate their own research with leading‎-edge work by others in the field‎,‎ and provide important new insights into the impact of public management on organizational performance‎.‎ Both academics and policy makers will find the book essential reading for understanding contemporary problems such as networking‎,‎ managerial quality‎,‎ and personnel stability in public organizations‎.‎‎'‎ George Boyne‎,‎ Dean and Professor of Public Sector Management‎,‎ Cardiff Business School ‎'‎This is a must‎-read book for public management scholars and policy designers across the globe‎.‎ The authors make the most of simplicity in their formal modeling and use of large‎-N longitudinal data sets to carefully explicate what managers do to affect performance ‎- and it turns out managers can make quite a significant positive difference‎.‎ The book is a stunning intellectual achievement and the fact that it is clearly and accessibly written makes it even more impressive‎.‎‎'‎ John M‎.‎ Bryson‎,‎ McKnight Presidential Professor of Planning and Public Affairs‎,‎ University of Minnesota‎,‎ and author of Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations ‎'‎Building on more than a decade of state‎-of‎-the‎-art research‎,‎ O‎'‎Toole and Meier‎'‎s new book sets high standards for the evidence‎-based study of public management‎.‎ Providing a highly accessible‎,‎ yet deep and profound understanding of the complex relation between management and performance‎,‎ this work is exceptionally valuable for scholars‎,‎ students‎,‎ and practitioners in the field‎.‎‎'‎ Rene Torenvlied‎,‎ Professor of Sociology‎,‎ University of Groningen and Utrecht University