The Department of Sociology and the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong are delighted to host a Public Management Research Conference: Research Directions for a Globalised Public Management, sponsored by the Public Management Research Association and the International Research Society on Public Management in Hong Kong, October 14-16. Since 1991 the Public Management Research Association has become one of the foremost gatherings of leading public management research scholars around the world. International Research Society for Public Management (IRSPM) grew out of a series of international annual conferences, and was launched as a formal society in 2006. Both associations emphasize the multidisciplinary research on public organizations, the management and the study of public policy in an international setting.