Suchergebnisse

The aim of this study is to research how leaders' subordinates, peers, and superiors perceive changes in leadership behavior (measured as task, relation, and change orientations) when leaders in their organization participate in formal leadership education. This question is addressed in a longitudinal 3-year study. This article uses data from a panel of respondents ( n = 860–897) from four Danish municipalities. Descriptive statistics and leader fixed effects indicate that formal leadership education has a substantial short-term perceived impact on leadership behavior. The most robust finding in the study are the statistically significant correlations between the perception of leadership behavior and the perceiver's hierarchical position. The study shows significant differences between subordinates, peers, and superiors in their perceptions of the development of leadership behavior over time. Subordinates rate change in leadership behavior as significantly lower than do peers and superiors.

Dans le présent article, nous examinons le lien qui existe entre la fonction de coordination des hauts fonctionnaires et l'idée selon laquelle les différences au niveau des pays dans l'adoption du NMP ont une influence considérable sur les marchés bureaucratiques des hauts fonctionnaires et, dès lors, sur leur capacité à assurer la coordination interdépartementale. Les marchés bureaucratiques managériaux limitent le rôle joué par les hauts fonctionnaires dans la coordination interdépartementale dans la mesure où ils vont davantage s'efforcer d'atteindre les objectifs définis pour leur département que ceux définis pour l'administration publique centrale dans son ensemble. Nous allons comparer notre argument à des observations empiriques issues d'une analyse comparative de cinq pays : la Belgique, le Canada, le Danemark, les Pays-Bas et le Royaume-Uni. Nous verrons que notre argument n'est que partiellement valable et examinerons les implications théoriques et empiriques de l'analyse. Remarques à l'intention des praticiens Parallèlement à l'introduction du nouveau management public, les relations entre les ministres et la haute fonction publique dans l'administration de l'État ont évolué. Parallèlement à cela, les questions sociétales gagnent en complexité et passent par une approche intersectorielle globale. La notion de marché bureaucratique (« public service bargain », PSB) managérial sert à analyser les évolutions dans le rôle des hauts fonctionnaires et les conséquences des réformes sur la capacité de la haute fonction publique à assurer une coordination interdépartementale. Les praticiens pourront en apprendre davantage sur le lien étroit qui existe entre les problèmes de coordination interdépartementale et l'évolution dans le rôle et le fonctionnement des hauts fonctionnaires.

In this article we are interested in how the coordinating role of top civil servants is related to the argument that country-level differences in the adoption of New Public Management significantly alter the Public Service Bargains of top civil servants and consequently their capacity to accomplish interdepartmental coordination. A managerial PSB limits top civil servants' role in interdepartmental coordination, as their focus will be on achieving goals set for their specific departments, rather than for the central government as a collective. We test our argument with empirical insights from a comparative analysis of five countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. We find that our argument is only partly valid and discuss the theoretical and empirical implications of the analysis. Points for practitioners Alongside the introduction of New Public Management, the relationships between ministers and their top civil servants in state administration have evolved. At the same time, societal issues are getting more complex and demand a holistic, cross-sector approach. The concept of a managerial Public Service Bargain is used to analyze changes in top civil servants' role and the impact of reforms on the capacity of top civil servants to accomplish interdepartmental coordination. Practitioners can learn more about the close link between challenges for interdepartmental coordination and changes in the role and functioning of top civil servants.

Introduction to the special issue on evaluation

AbstractThe unsettling conditions of contemporary society, marked by recurrent transboundary crises and turbulence, stimulate discussions about the resilience of different governing models. Public bureaucracy and its governing instruments are confronted with the virtues and vices of models dominated by markets and networks. We present a case study demonstrating how the governing instruments within a system resembling a neo‐Weberian state model with a reformed and modernized bureaucracy effectively facilitated the seamless integration of Ukrainian war refugees arriving unexpectedly in 2022. The findings show that the model's short‐term resilience is rooted in a combined and adaptive utilization of legal and financial provisions, expertise embedded within existing bureaucratic structures, ad hoc coordinative organizational structures, and active collaboration with and support from civil society. These findings support arguments on the relative virtues and the resilience of the neo‐Weberian state model. Normative caveats, however, indicate several long‐term challenges.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to introduce theIJPSMspecial issue on marketization to clarify the conceptual foundations of marketization as a phenomenon within the public sector and gauge current marketization trends based on the special issue's seven papers.Design/methodology/approach– Conceptual clarification and cross-cutting review of seven papers analysing marketization in six countries in three policy areas at the level of local government.Findings– Four ideal-types models are deduced: quasi-markets involving both provider competition and free choice for users; classical contracting out; benchmarking and yardstick competition; and public-private collaboration. Based on the review of the seven papers, it is found that all elements in all marketization models are firmly embedded but also under dynamic change within public service delivery systems. The review also identifies limitations and modifications of the four ideal-type models. A key trend is a move towards public-private collaboration and cross-sectorial and inter-organizational governance arrangements.Research limitations/implications– Continued research on marketization would benefit from development of more fine-tuned theoretical models which are sensitive to the realm of the dynamics within particular policy and institutional contexts.Practical implications– Policy-makers should balance normative objectives against the experiences gained at the level of implementation.Originality/value– The special issue shows that marketization still is a concurrent phenomenon which is driving substantial change in public service delivery systems as well as is under dynamic change itself.

This paper argues that adopting a stakeholder approach to the study of contracting outcomes produces more rich and rounded representations of the realities of the contracting out of public services. We revisit the research on contracting outcomes, highlighting the public manager perspective as key for gaining deeper, more detailed insights. The public manager perspective is explored in an inductive analysis of answers to open-ended survey questions collected from public managers with contracting experience within the context of municipal park management in Scandinavia. The emerging managerial perspective is summarized in a best-case, worst-case and complex-case scenario highlighting the mix, complexities and trade-offs in a composite set of contracting outcomes. The nature of contracting outcomes as complex and composite rather than unidimensional and clear-cut is one key finding. Furthermore, the importance of some specific outcomes (e.g. learning) complements existing research themes. Our findings sustain the initial argument, demonstrating how the stakeholder approach can produce new insights. A key implication is that future research can benefit from assessing contracting outcomes by providing voice to multiple stakeholders.