In the face of globalization, states around the world have tried to regain legitimacy by using a policy framework known as new public management (NPM). In education, it promises to improve quality and competitiveness, by means of increasing control over educational institutions, implementing managerial techniques and submitting educational institutions to increased competitiveness. This article presents evidence from an exploratory study comparing senior college administrators' attitudes in the Canadian province of British Columbia and those of vocational school administrators in two German subjurisdictions toward NPM. Questions addressed include: (1) how NPM-related measures were perceived by those administrators; and (2) how differences in the way reform discourses are framed in the different subjurisdictions impact the administrators' attitudes towards NPM. Findings show that the level of agreement on different aspects of NPM was comparatively similar across countries and subjurisdictions. Correlational analysis, however, revealed differences between the administrators' semantic constructions of the reform policy. Interpretive analysis indicated that semantic constructions were linked to the varying policy discourses of the subjurisdictions. The article concludes that discourse is an important aspect when introducing NPM in educational institutions, since it lays the groundwork for the conceptualization of future policy discourses. (Contains 1 table, 4 figures and 11 notes.)