Table of Contents
Part 1 The dynamic context of public organizations...............................................................................3
Chapter 1 The challenge of effective public organization and management......................................3
General management and public management.............................................................................3
Ineffective public management......................................................................................................5
Effective public management.........................................................................................................5
The challenge of sustained attention and analysis.........................................................................6
Organizations: a definition and a conceptual framework...............................................................6
Chapter 2 Understanding the study of organizations.........................................................................8
The system metaphor.....................................................................................................................8
Classical approaches to understanding organizations....................................................................8
Reactions, critiques, and new developments...............................................................................11
The quiet controversy over the distinctiveness of public organizations and management in
organization theory......................................................................................................................17
Chapter 3 What makes public organizations distinctive...................................................................19
Public versus private: a dangerous distinction?............................................................................19
Public organizations: an essential distinction...............................................................................22
Problems and approaches in public-private comparisons............................................................27
Common assertions about public organizations and public management...................................28
Chapter 4 Analysing the environment of public organizations.........................................................30
Research on environmental variations.........................................................................................31
Recent trends in research on organizational environments.........................................................32
The political and institutional environments of public organizations...........................................34
Chapter 5 The impact of political power and public policy...............................................................38
Public organizations and the public..............................................................................................39
Media power: obvious and mysterious........................................................................................40
Interest groups, clients, and constituencies.................................................................................41
Legislative bodies..........................................................................................................................41
The chief executive.......................................................................................................................42
The courts.....................................................................................................................................43
Other government agencies as overseers, allies, and competitors..............................................44
Public managers’ perceptions of the political environment.........................................................44
The public policy process..............................................................................................................45
Part 2 Key dimensions of organising and managing.............................................................................51
Chapter 6 Organisational goals and effectiveness............................................................................51
1
, General organizational goals........................................................................................................51
Goals of public organizations........................................................................................................51
Models for assessing organizational effectiveness.......................................................................51
Toward diverse, conflicting criteria..............................................................................................53
The competing values approach...................................................................................................53
The balanced scorecard................................................................................................................54
Effectiveness in organizational networks......................................................................................54
Chapter 7 Formulating and achieving purpose: power, decision making, and strategy...................55
Power and politics inside organizations........................................................................................55
Decision making in organizations.................................................................................................57
Strategic management.................................................................................................................59
The Miles and Snow Typology......................................................................................................60
Issues for managers and researchers............................................................................................60
Chapter 8 Organisational structure, design, technology, information technology, and social media
..........................................................................................................................................................62
Do public organizations have distinctive structural characteristics?............................................62
The development of research on structure..................................................................................62
Structural dimensions and influences...........................................................................................63
Organizational design...................................................................................................................64
Organizational structures in public organizations.........................................................................69
Information technology and public organizations........................................................................70
Social media and public management..........................................................................................72
Chapter 9 Understanding people in public organizations: motivation and motivation theory.........73
Motivation and public management............................................................................................73
The context of motivation in public organizations........................................................................73
The concept of work motivation...................................................................................................74
Theories of work motivation.........................................................................................................75
Motivation practice and techniques.............................................................................................78
Incentive structures and reward expectancies in public organizations........................................79
Self-reported motivation among public employees.....................................................................79
Chapter 10 Understanding people in public organizations: Values, incentives, and work-related
attitudes...........................................................................................................................................80
Attempts to specify needs, values, and incentives.......................................................................80
Other work-related attitudes........................................................................................................83
Motivation-related variables in such public organizations...........................................................85
2
, Part 1 The dynamic context of public organizations
Chapter 1 The challenge of effective public organization and
management
General management and public management
General management = A learning pathway of management qualifications across various sectors and
industries. It is specifically designed to develop management competencies required by learners in
any occupation.
Public management = An approach to government administration and non-profit administration that
resembles or draws on private sector management and business techniques and approaches that aim
to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.
The management of public organisations focuses on (networks of) organisations in the public sector,
at least partially “owned” or funded by government(s), and creating public values as their most
meaningful outcome
The external world and the public organization has:
- Socio-political systems = Something that involves both social and political
factors. For instance the issue of environmental conservation, which is
influenced by both social attitudes towards “going green” and by political
policies
- Socio-technical systems = An approach to complex organizational work
design that recognizes the interaction between people and technology in
workplaces.
- Inter-organizational networks = The aggregate of the formal and informal relationships between
the organizations as independent entities and the formal and informal relations between their
members, if they act (partially) in their function as organizational members.
Public organizations create public value. They contribute tot the well-being of their individual clients
and contribute to collective well-being. Public values are often contested
Public organizations strive to survive in turbulent environments. They tap resources and buffer for
instabilities and effective public organizations sustain legitimacy through the creation of public value.
Public values are constantly redefined
Redefining public value: Organizational survival in the aviation sector
Case Air traffic control in the USA was highly successful. Accidental rates in the 1980s
went down rapidly
Threat Budget cuts on air traffic control
Solution Creation of a new performance indicator: near air collisions
Consequence Emergence of a huge problem in air transport safety
Result Investments in US air traffic control
3
Part 1 The dynamic context of public organizations...............................................................................3
Chapter 1 The challenge of effective public organization and management......................................3
General management and public management.............................................................................3
Ineffective public management......................................................................................................5
Effective public management.........................................................................................................5
The challenge of sustained attention and analysis.........................................................................6
Organizations: a definition and a conceptual framework...............................................................6
Chapter 2 Understanding the study of organizations.........................................................................8
The system metaphor.....................................................................................................................8
Classical approaches to understanding organizations....................................................................8
Reactions, critiques, and new developments...............................................................................11
The quiet controversy over the distinctiveness of public organizations and management in
organization theory......................................................................................................................17
Chapter 3 What makes public organizations distinctive...................................................................19
Public versus private: a dangerous distinction?............................................................................19
Public organizations: an essential distinction...............................................................................22
Problems and approaches in public-private comparisons............................................................27
Common assertions about public organizations and public management...................................28
Chapter 4 Analysing the environment of public organizations.........................................................30
Research on environmental variations.........................................................................................31
Recent trends in research on organizational environments.........................................................32
The political and institutional environments of public organizations...........................................34
Chapter 5 The impact of political power and public policy...............................................................38
Public organizations and the public..............................................................................................39
Media power: obvious and mysterious........................................................................................40
Interest groups, clients, and constituencies.................................................................................41
Legislative bodies..........................................................................................................................41
The chief executive.......................................................................................................................42
The courts.....................................................................................................................................43
Other government agencies as overseers, allies, and competitors..............................................44
Public managers’ perceptions of the political environment.........................................................44
The public policy process..............................................................................................................45
Part 2 Key dimensions of organising and managing.............................................................................51
Chapter 6 Organisational goals and effectiveness............................................................................51
1
, General organizational goals........................................................................................................51
Goals of public organizations........................................................................................................51
Models for assessing organizational effectiveness.......................................................................51
Toward diverse, conflicting criteria..............................................................................................53
The competing values approach...................................................................................................53
The balanced scorecard................................................................................................................54
Effectiveness in organizational networks......................................................................................54
Chapter 7 Formulating and achieving purpose: power, decision making, and strategy...................55
Power and politics inside organizations........................................................................................55
Decision making in organizations.................................................................................................57
Strategic management.................................................................................................................59
The Miles and Snow Typology......................................................................................................60
Issues for managers and researchers............................................................................................60
Chapter 8 Organisational structure, design, technology, information technology, and social media
..........................................................................................................................................................62
Do public organizations have distinctive structural characteristics?............................................62
The development of research on structure..................................................................................62
Structural dimensions and influences...........................................................................................63
Organizational design...................................................................................................................64
Organizational structures in public organizations.........................................................................69
Information technology and public organizations........................................................................70
Social media and public management..........................................................................................72
Chapter 9 Understanding people in public organizations: motivation and motivation theory.........73
Motivation and public management............................................................................................73
The context of motivation in public organizations........................................................................73
The concept of work motivation...................................................................................................74
Theories of work motivation.........................................................................................................75
Motivation practice and techniques.............................................................................................78
Incentive structures and reward expectancies in public organizations........................................79
Self-reported motivation among public employees.....................................................................79
Chapter 10 Understanding people in public organizations: Values, incentives, and work-related
attitudes...........................................................................................................................................80
Attempts to specify needs, values, and incentives.......................................................................80
Other work-related attitudes........................................................................................................83
Motivation-related variables in such public organizations...........................................................85
2
, Part 1 The dynamic context of public organizations
Chapter 1 The challenge of effective public organization and
management
General management and public management
General management = A learning pathway of management qualifications across various sectors and
industries. It is specifically designed to develop management competencies required by learners in
any occupation.
Public management = An approach to government administration and non-profit administration that
resembles or draws on private sector management and business techniques and approaches that aim
to maximize efficiency and effectiveness.
The management of public organisations focuses on (networks of) organisations in the public sector,
at least partially “owned” or funded by government(s), and creating public values as their most
meaningful outcome
The external world and the public organization has:
- Socio-political systems = Something that involves both social and political
factors. For instance the issue of environmental conservation, which is
influenced by both social attitudes towards “going green” and by political
policies
- Socio-technical systems = An approach to complex organizational work
design that recognizes the interaction between people and technology in
workplaces.
- Inter-organizational networks = The aggregate of the formal and informal relationships between
the organizations as independent entities and the formal and informal relations between their
members, if they act (partially) in their function as organizational members.
Public organizations create public value. They contribute tot the well-being of their individual clients
and contribute to collective well-being. Public values are often contested
Public organizations strive to survive in turbulent environments. They tap resources and buffer for
instabilities and effective public organizations sustain legitimacy through the creation of public value.
Public values are constantly redefined
Redefining public value: Organizational survival in the aviation sector
Case Air traffic control in the USA was highly successful. Accidental rates in the 1980s
went down rapidly
Threat Budget cuts on air traffic control
Solution Creation of a new performance indicator: near air collisions
Consequence Emergence of a huge problem in air transport safety
Result Investments in US air traffic control
3
