Suchergebnisse

Decades of research on red tape have still to provide final answers as to whether red tape reduces performance. This may be due to not distinguishing the different dimensions that public service performance consists of. Shifting the focus to rules and their characteristics, this study analyses how the degree of compliance burden and lack of functionality of rules relates to overall and dimensional public performance. Building upon the argument that red tape reduces resources and motivation and by doing so influences performance, hypotheses are put forward regarding the relationship to performance. Using red tape reports from employees in 49 work units and performance rated by the supervisor, this study shows that performance is at its lowest when the rules have a high compliance burden and lack functionality. Moreover, the dimensional analyses show that compliance burden may be most detrimental for output, whereas lack of functionality reduces responsiveness and democratic outcomes.

AbstractAs evidence mounts about the positive effects of autonomous motivation such as public service motivation, there is a growing case for public organizations to design reforms to better support public employees' inherent desire to help others. But how feasible is this in reality? Most experimental evidence on autonomous motivation stems from interventions at the individual level, possibly exaggerating what government reforms can achieve in reality. We present a longitudinal study that analyses a three‐year trial in Danish hospitals in which incentives and autonomy were changed to encourage autonomous motivation. This set‐up offers a rare opportunity to observe the potential malleability of intrinsic, public service, user and external motivation. The results show little observable change in motivation due to the reform. We explore the practical difficulties of translating evidence about motivation into reforms given implementation challenges, contextual factors and a recognition that motivation might be less malleable than implied by research.

Demands that exceed time and resources place pressure on public professionals, resulting in coping behavior. This study aims to provide insight in the prevalence and consequences of taking a more active strategy, professional coping. Next to traditional forms of coping studied in public administration, studying active coping can result in more insight in when and with what consequences frontline employees speak up and resist pressures. We explore to what degree teachers use speaking out using professional norms as a way to tackle the pressures they face. Moreover, we analyze the relationship between professional coping, work engagement, and intent to leave as important indicators of how immersed frontline employees are in their work. Using survey data ( n = 1,270) from primary school teachers, we conclude that professional coping is in general regularly but not very often applied, but that professional coping is related to higher work engagement and lower intent to leave. We conclude that studying active coping strategies can not only be important for street-level literature in gaining insight in all types of behavior and their consequences but also for public service providers aiming for an engaged workforce.

AbstractRed tape studies typically focus on burdensome rules that have negative effects on organizations, as perceived by managers. The one‐item general red tape scale is representative of this approach. However, scholars have called for improved measures that address the scale's shortcomings. This article introduces a new measurement scale that features (1) red tape as a two‐dimensional construct that includes compliance burden and lack of functionality and (2) a job‐centered approach that measures red tape as experienced by employees in their jobs rather than more generally in the organization. A set of survey questions derived from interviews with government employees was validated using data from 1,203 government employees. The findings indicate that the two‐dimensional job‐centered red tape scale is reliable and valid. The authors conclude that this measure can improve research and be used by managers for a "quick scan" to detect the location and severity of red tape.