Abstract
Managers in the public sector have often been criticized for being bureaucratic, impersonal, reactive, cautious conformists when compared to their apparently charismatic, innovative, proactive and dynamic private sector counterparts; with all this implies for organizational performance. Using the recruitment advertisement as a lens, we analyze what recruiters say they are looking for in a manager in the two sectors. The results suggest that while material differences do exist, external perception owes more to stereotyping than clearly observable differences.
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