Public management for a sustainable future: Insights from a systematic literature review

Abstract

This study systematically reviews how sustainability is integrated into six core areas of public management: strategic management, financial management, operational management, public procurement and contract management, human resource and capacity management, and performance management and public sector accounting. Addressing the fragmented nature of existing research, this review offers a novel contribution by identifying five interrelated development trajectories: localization, datafication, strategization, hybridization, and accountingization—that reflect institutional responses to growing sustainability challenges and the limitations of siloed governance structures. These trajectories illustrate how public management practices are evolving to accommodate complexity and interdependence. This study concludes by examining how these developments are reshaping public management and suggests critical directions for future research.