In search of the common wealth: a service‐profit chain for the public sector

Purpose To provide public sector organizations with a development map to achieve employee and customer satisfaction and to align organizational processes for goal achievement. Design/methodology/approach The paper re‐works the highly influential and widely validated service‐profit chain and presents an analogous model, which reflects the essential differences of public sector organizations. Findings It was found that there is a direct link between the achievement of the organizational goal and the organization's ethics and values. This indicates that goal achievement reinforces the legitimacy of the values and ethics as the basis for organizational success. Practical implications Presents a practical model and explains, with examples, how an organization might implement this model. Identifies how public organizations can measure their customer value variables. Originality/value Despite the popularity of the service‐profit chain there has been no model for the public sector. This has been identified as a need in the literature. Therefore, this paper presents a long overdue and much needed public sector model. The model has great value for all levels of governmental bureaucracy irrespective of core business or global location.