Sub-theme 64: Challenging Public Management: A Fresh Look at HRM, Organizational and Individual Behaviour in the Public Sector
Call for Papers
In the last three decades the waves of reforms that allegedly reshaped the panorama of public administrations around the
world (Pollitt & Bouckaert, 2011; Vigoda-Gadot & Meiri, 2008) led to an enormous increase in the knowledge built around
the analysis of reform implementation in public sector organizations. Even though the literature did not lack critical perspectives,
those works were mainly focused on discussing the validity of New Public Management as a paradigm (Barzelay, 2001), including
the championing of new paradigms or the recognition of regional versions of this “universal concept” (Public Governance, New
Public Governance, Public Value, New Weberian State; see also Van Wart et al., 2014). Other works studied the rhetoric of
reforms (Cheung, 1996) and their actual implementation, focusing mainly on macro-level analysis of compliance to new legal
frameworks introducing new management policies or performance management systems.
Notwithstanding, the efforts
put in making sense of public sector reforms research after the mid-2000s underscored a series of unsolved contradictions
in the New Public Management (NPM) approach arguing that NPM failed to deliver better value, since proponents underestimate
the complexity permeating the public sector (Lapsley, 2009). Additionally, according to Noordegraaf and Abma (2003), it should
be acknowledged that trends such as NPM, “performance-oriented management”, and the rise of the “audit society” indicate that
the world of public management has now become a world of measurement.
While public sector organizations struggle
to cope with the contradictory demands (Ackroyd et al. 2007) of such reforms (i.e. managerial autonomy/disciplinary-control
systems; customer orientation/standardization; competence development/skills alignment), little attention has been paid to
the design and consequences of public sector personnel strategies, HR policies, and training schemes. The few “street level”
analyses of the organizational impact of public administration reforms have, however, highlighted both the need for more evidence
on these issues and the need to embrace a more practice-oriented, contextual perspective. It is further unclear how HR policies,
training and personnel strategies actually contribute to creating organizational realities that achieve their institutional
mission in face of contradictory forces (Kettl, 2000).
Additionally, coping with the aforementioned challenges
demands a more nuanced understanding of the role of public managers in implementing change is strongly needed (Dopson &
Neumann, 1998; Emery & Giauque, 2003; Tummers et al., 2009; Tummers, 2011). This requires stronger attention towards individual
level behaviours. In this regard, recent literature is arguing that behavioural, human, and psychological aspects must be
integrated in the study of public administrations (Grimmelikhuijsen et al., 2017).
Thus, the main issues
addressed by the sub-theme focus on possible gaps in this field of research concerning: (1) how the principles of “Good Administration”
are being enacted in a context of increasing external control and lack of resources; (2) the comparative analysis of cross-sectoral
and cross-national experiences of public management reforms, focusing on the deconstruction/reconstruction of cultural/professional
paradigms and identities within administrations; (3) the role of civil servant training, and its possible function as a place
where conflicting objectives and demands are being managed; (4) the shortcomings of performance management systems in the
Public Sector; (5) behaviours related to issues concerning HRM (such as selection, motivation, competences, incentives, personality,
gender); (6) behaviours related to issues concerning organizational structure and culture (such as rules and norms, culture
and values, structures and task characteristics, leadership, ethics, and integrity); (7) behaviours related to issues concerning
interactions (such as trust, power, emotions, influence); (8) behaviours related to issues concerning organizational climate
(such as conflict, commitment, job context).
Hence, in this sub-theme we seek theoretical, empirical and
practice-based research applying a behavioural lens when studying for example:
The varieties of organizational coping strategies following public sector reforms and the (un)surprising organizational responses to the managerialist reform waves in public organizations
The consequences of recruitment and HR policies on organizational capability to cope with reforms
The challenges of managerial competence development in public organizations
The development of organizational well-being and happiness in public sector organizations, as well as of stress-reducing policies, work practices and other coping mechanisms and their implications for HR strategy and training
Innovative training methods in the public sector to address the questions above-mentioned
Institutional power-relations and the role of higher education in preparing for public administration
Organizational transformation influencing both political and cultural aspects of public organizations
The challenges of managerial competence development in public organizations
Dynamics of conflict and negotiation within public organizations
Strategies to cope with the typical bureaucratic issues such as red tape, stress
References
- Ackroyd, S., Kirkpatrick, I., & Walker, R.M. (2007): “Public Management reform in the UK and its Consequences for Professional Organization: A Comparative Analysis.” Public Administration, 85, 9–26.
- Barzelay, M. (2001): The New Public Management: Improving Research and Policy Dialogue. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Cheung, A.B. (1996): “Efficiency as the rhetoric: public-sector reform in Hong Kong explained.” International Review of Administrative Sciences, 62 (1), 31–47.
- Dopson, S., & Neumann, J.E. (1998): “Uncertainty, contrariness and the double bind: Middle man- agers’ reactions to changing contracts.” British Journal of Management, 9, S53–S70.
- Emery, Y., & Giauque, D. (2003): “Emergence of Contradictory Injunctions in Swiss NPM Projects.” International Journal of Public Sector Management, 16 (6), 468–481.
- Grimmelikhuijsen, S., Jilke, S., Olsen, A.L., & Tummers, L. (2017): “Behavioral Public Administration: Combining Insights from Public Administration and Psychology.” Public Administration Review, 77 (1), 45–56.
- Kettl, D.F. (2000): “The transformation of governance: Globalization, devolution, and the role of government.” Public Administration Review, 60 (6), 488–497.
- Lapsley, I. (2009): “New Public Management: The Cruellest Invention of the Human Spirit?” ABACUS, 45 (1), 1–21.
- Noordegraaf, M., & Abma, T. (2003): “Management by Measurement? Public Management Practices Amidst Ambiguity.” Public Administration, 81 (4), 853–871.
- Pollitt, C., & Bouckaert, G. (2011): Public Management Reform: A Comparative Analysis. New Public Management, Governance and the Neo-Weberian State, 3rd. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Tummers, L.G., Bekkers, V.J.J.M., & Steijn, A.J. (2009): “Policy alienation of public professionals: Application in a new public management context.” Public Management Review, 11 (5), 685–706.
- Tummers, L.G. (2011): Explaining the willingness of public professionals to implement new policies: A policy alienation framework.” International Review of Administrative Sciences, 77 (3), 555–581.
- Van Wart, M., Hondeghem, A., Schwella, E., & Nice, V.E. (eds.) (2014): Leadership and Culture. Comparative Models of Top Civil Servant Training. New York: Springer.
- Vigoda-Gadot, E., & Meiri, S. (2008): “New public management values and person-organization fit: a socio psychological approach and empirical examination among public sector personnel.” Public Administration, 86 (1), 111–131.