Book excerpt: A number of public enterprise (PE) executives have long felt the need for a book which would provide necessary information and analysis of various dimensions of PE management and privatisation. The book provides at one place, a precise and authoritative account of the concept, policy, and analysis of major issues confronting PEs. Public ownership per se does not make PE performance sub-optimal. The operation of the Government system, of which PE is a sub-system, has not been conducive to performance. During the last six decades, inadequate political will and vested interests have come in the way of freeing PEs from excessive and throttling controls, and demoralising accountability. Not letting the managers manage with the freedom required in the liberalised and globalised set-up is the problem. The multifarious and complex managerial problems of PEs, which get compounded by faltering moves towards privatisation, cannot be wished away. These have been considered in the book at some length. The book, first published in 1980, continues to be a standard work on the subject. This latest edition has been revised by Dr. R.K.Mishra, Director, Institute of Public Enterprise,Hyderabad.