Commercialisation and competition in public sector authorities: a case study in hunting with the hares and running with the hounds

New Public Management has spread to many government jurisdictions over the last 15 years. It relies on principles of commercialisation, competition, and corporatisation. How do governments maintain control of commercialised public sector bodies? Is the notion of control of a commercialised public sector organisation appropriate, given the competitive marketplaces in which many of these bodies operate? This research discovered conflicts between public sector oversight bodies set up to assist, monitor and control commercialised organisations, and commercialised organisations over issues of senior executive remuneration. These conflicts bring into the question the very notion of 'government' commercialised organisations.