The book consists of ten chapters in which many subjects are touched upon, such as globalization, management innovation, management style, organizational gendered cultures, public sector reforms in Britain as such and in the NHS particularly, gender narratives, barriers to transformation, experiences of female managers and theoretical explanations of resistances towards women as well as critiques of feminist trends for neglecting women’s realities. In some cases one chapter contains many different kinds of information. This could be a short theoretical overview, such as trends as well as some general views on gender aspects of, for example, organizational culture. In general it is a book which requires a reader familiar with many different aspects, or provides beginners with an overwhelming amount of knowledge.

There is a variety of analytical levels in the book, such as a global, national, societal, organizational, group and individual. There is, however, no clear distinction between the different analytical levels; also a description of the exact relations between the levels would be clarifying. One the one hand, globalization requires changes in public organizations and, on the other, individuals have a potential as change agents. This goes for the managers as well as every single member of the workforce. Changes should take place at an organizational level, where different groups of staff are represented, all in the context of British society.

The impression of the book is that the author is well-informed on a wide range of topics related to women in management, women and organizations and women in the local public sector in Britain in a global perspective. However, the composition of the book makes it difficult to get a significant picture of the coherence of all subjects dealt with, which confuses readers who are not familiar with the British essay-writing style. For example, do we hear the voice of female managers and get a description of their capabilities of handling changes in local communities including resistance towards female innovators? There are many quotations, but no connection to the analytical categories and tools introduced earlier in the book, which would have made some of the conclusions (even) more convincing. Furthermore, it would have been helpful to have a clear distinction between normative discussions and analysis (how things ought to be), empirical discussions and analysis (how things are and can be explained) and constructive discussions and analysis (how things could be). In the book these different levels are mixed up.

The reader is left with some methodological questions unanswered. How come that the conclusions about barriers to transformation and resistance towards women are based on what occurred during the 1970s and 1980s, whereas some of the interviews seem to relate to things going on during the 1990s? Are the conditions for management, transformation and so on exactly the same irrespective of the organizations task, i.e. should changes in schools and hospitals be of the same kind?

The book’s major contribution is the highlighting of three aspects. Firstly, the fact that the one-sided strategy, i.e. the domination of New Public Management in the British public sector has had its day. Secondly, the fact that a gender perspective is fruitful in discussions and implementation of necessary transformations of public organizations. The gender perspective has illuminated both problems in existing ways of organizing and managing as well as proposing new ways of managing the British public sector in a more people-friendly way. Thirdly, the fact that a more holistic approach to management which is suggested in the book implies a more holistic approach in studying management and organizational change, including a gender perspective as well.