McKinsey’s public sector practice is featured in the September 2011 McKinsey Quarterly magazine. It discusses the big problem facing Governments around the world: squaring the circle of rising demand for services with limited resources.

The consultants draw on the experiences of Kenya and Georgia to show how a willingness to take bold risks can make public services better and cheaper. These countries believe they have no choice.

This article www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Public_Sector/Management/Innovation_in_government_Kenya_and_Georgia_2865 shows clearly the challenges that face these – and other – developing countries. It is also a good introduction for consultants who are considering moving into international development consultancy, as it explores some of the top-down initiatives that consultancies can help Ministers implement.

I understand that this is the first in a series of features which should be relevant to the international development community which will be published over the next few months. I’ll alert you to the others as they come off the press.