Based on original empirical data collected from three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, this engaging book offers comprehensive insights into the institutional environment of public-private partnership (PPP) from a unique and under-explored context. Drawing on ideas from the fields of project management, neo-institutional theory and research on the Gulf rentier states, this book unpacks how individual and organizational actors engage in several strategies to either enable the implementation of PPPs or to resist them. It explores why and how individual and organizational actors in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar seek to disrupt or maintain existing forms of project organizing. Chapters from this book highlight both the macro- and micro-dynamics of initiating, implementing or resisting new forms of project organizing, and offer several theoretical contributions to project management, PPP literature and neo-institutional theory. This book will be an essential read for academics and policymakers interested in broader questions of how the institutional context affects public sector reforms and the introduction of New Public Management ideas to non-western contexts. Public policy and management students and practitioners will also find this book to be a valuable resource.

This book offers an understanding of the current state of public management in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, highlighting the region's institutional and human capital constraints. Drawing on case studies from GCC states and beyond, the text provides a policy-oriented analysis of these challenges and a set of recommendations on how to address them. Public Management Reform in the Gulf Cooperation Council and Beyond utilizes several theoretical frameworks to explore three themes: first, how the quality of government and efficiency of its bureaucratic machinery can offer a business-friendly environment for the private sector; second, how public-private partnerships can foster stronger collaboration and exchange of knowledge and expertise between the public and private sectors; and finally, how the existing human capital constraints may be addressed through the effective implementation of talent management, knowledge management, and training programs. A comparative approach is taken throughout the book, contrasting the performance of GCC states with other Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries in key governance, public sector performance, and business competitiveness indicators - to identify what the GCC states need to do to enhance the quality of government and the capacity to deliver services more efficiently. This book will appeal to academics, practitioners, policymakers and private sector consultants, as well as those interested more broadly in the Middle East and Gulf region.