Public Sector Organizational Change Research Articles

Managing Affective Commitment to Change in Public Sector Organization of Pakistan: A Social Exchange Perspective

Literature on organizational development is well-stocked with researches advocating change as a universal remedy for organizational survival and success. However, the importance of eliciting positive employees’ response during change lacks attention. Considering the crucial role of managing employees’ positive change reactions in public sector organizations, the current study highlights the role of High Performance Work Systems (HPWS) in fostering affective commitment to change (ACTC) in culturally diverse employees’ along with its interlinking mechanisms. Based on Social Exchange perspective, we hypothesized that employees’ perceptions of the nature of exchange mediates the relationship between HPWS-Affective commitment to change. More specifically, we proposed a moderating mediation model outlining how individual’s cultural orientation might play a significant role in influencing the nature of exchange which in turn may predict the dynamics of HPWS-employees’ affective commitment to change relationship. A sample of 591 full-time employees from the largest public-sector bank of Pakistan undergoing Privatization were surveyed. The results reveal the positive impact of High performance work systems on affective commitment to change. Moreover, employees’ perceptions of social exchange mediate the positive relationship between HPWS and Affective CTC. However, this underpinning mechanism is stronger for employees scoring high collectivism and low power distance orientation and vice versa. The study contributes to the literature through examining the intermediatory mechanism and boundary conditions under which the positive impact of HPWS- Affective CTC might prove to be more effective. Finally, both practical and theoretical implications are discussed in the light of results obtained followed by future directions.

Reinventing Hollands Kroon: Dynamics of Strategic Change and Legitimacy in Public Sector

Managers of public organizations face cutting-edge technological opportunities and management practices that may enable their organizations to provide substantially higher value to citizens. However, in the absence of financial incentives and strong institutional pressures to sustain status quo attempts for strategic change are likely to face legitimacy challenges and fail. Using a multi-year qualitative study, we show how a Dutch municipality managed to undertake a major strategic change initiative while navigating legitimacy issues that emerged in relation with internal and external stakeholders. Taking a ‘legitimacy-as-process’ - perspective we offer a temporal model that explains how strategic change can endogenously happen in a public sector organization. We describe how evolving combinations of strategy, identity and institutional work where used by senior managers to kick-start, execute and preserve the change by securing legitimacy in relation with different audiences across time. We complement the strategic change research that is often focused on for profit private organizations by incorporating the unique challenges of change in public sector organizations and propose a multi-stage process model for navigating legitimacy issues during strategic change. Rather than taking an incremental approach towards change to minimize tensions, we suggest how a multi-stage, non-linear approach may be applied that 1) initially focuses on creating acceptance for a new philosophy among local stakeholders, hence creating receptiveness towards a major change, 2) then it moves to implementation of distinctive strategic initiatives based on liminal legitimacy risking issues and backlash, and 3) curbing the scope of the change initiative to satisfy the broader institutional audience while maximally using the space that is created in the previous steps.

IMPACT OF ETHICS, STRESS AND TRUST ON CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANIZATION

The aim of the study is to find out a successful way of managing the organizational change in public sector organizations. The research is based on a structured questionnaire survey. The data was collected in some of the top public sector organizations in Pakistan. The study suggests that Stress, Trust, and Ethics have a strong relationship with Organizational Change Management. Organizations must minimize the workplace stress, maximize trust of workers on management and organization and ensure ethics for organization change management. The managerial implication of the research is, bringing and making any organizational change is very difficult without employee-friendly working environment of the organization. The results of the study make it easy, how to put employees on the right track for achieving organizational goals and objectives in any Organizational Change by using Facilitation.

How to acquire legitimacy and become a player in a regional innovation ecosystem? The case of a young university

Universities are recognized as a particular type of public organization. Due to the important role they are acquiring in the development of regional economies, universities are facing significant pressures to become more entrepreneurial and similar to private sector organizations. This new role requires universities to engage in substantial change activities in order to get legitimacy from their ecosystem. Change management literature has mainly assumed that changes in public-sector organizations are the result of top-down initiatives as well as the exercise of political clout. Instead, the role of agency and bottom-up dynamics in explaining change in public-sector organizations is still overlooked. Based on a longitudinal case study of a young university in Italy, this research explores its bottom-up process of internal transformation to become more entrepreneurial and fully legitimized in its local innovation ecosystem. In doing so, we contribute to existing literature in several ways. First, we add a process lens for understanding the transformation of a public actor not from the perspective of environmentally imposed changes processes, but through proactive interactions, role definition and activities. Second, we demonstrate that the entry of a key actor in a regional system unfreezes the existing equilibrium, by changing the distribution of competences and the awareness of other actors’ activity. Third, we show that bottom-up processes favouring bandwagon effects are particularly appropriate for change processes of public institutions that are not affected by a substantial crisis (as usual trigger for change processes).

Strategic change, leadership and accounting: A triptych of organizational reform

Strategic change in public sector organizations has been well documented. This article suggests that public management research would benefit from a greater appreciation of how calculative practices are deeply imbricated with, and constitutive of, organizational life. In turn, the article argues that the field of interdisciplinary accounting has much to learn from public administration, especially in terms of leadership. The overarching argument is that understanding strategic change in public organizations can be enhanced by bringing together insights from the academic fields of public administration and interdisciplinary accounting. In this respect, organizational reform can be understood as a triptych, involving strategic change, leadership and accounting practices. We illustrate this thesis through a case study of strategic change in the world's largest public service broadcaster—the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It is shown how, during the tenure of one organizational leader—John Birt—accounting became pivotal to his leadership.

Fostering organizational change through co-production. Insights from an Italian experience

Even though public service co-production is achieving a growing popularity among scholars and practitioners, there is limited evidence on its implications and consequences. To contribute in filling such a gap, this paper investigates the role of public service co-production in fostering organizational change. A descriptive case study approach was taken, concerning a group co-production experience targeted to the reorganization of primary school meal services in the Municipality of Quarrata, a medium-sized town established in Central Italy. A step-by-step approach was implemented to realize the full potential of public service co-production. Direct and indirect stakeholders were concomitantly involved in the reorganization of school meal services. Service co-production paved the way for several positive outcomes, including: increased user satisfaction, cost savings, greater social and environmental sustainability, and lower water footprint. The research findings suggested that public sector organizations need to perform as enablers of the co-producers’ sleeping resources, enacting a self-nourishing cycle of public value co-creation. The enhancement of the co-producing skills that are available in the community is a fundamental ingredient of the recipe for more effective and smooth processes of organizational change. This is one of the first attempts to examine the role of service co-production in promoting organizational change in public sector organizations.

Ethical Leadership and Public Sector Organizational Change: A Mediation Model

Change is an important part of organizational life in the public sector but is associated with negative effects on employees such as decreased psychological well-being and lowered levels of work en...

The valuation of fixed assets in Norwegian health care: an account of change agent struggle

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how accrual accounting is translated into new accounting norms and what role change agents have had in that process. The main research question is: How were private sector accounting norms translated within the Norwegian public health sector?Design/methodology/approachThis study uses framing theory to understand how the different actors involved in the translation frame their arguments. The field study considers the specific case of public health care. The main data sources are archival data combined with semi-structured interviews.FindingsThe empirical study uses framing theory to show how the Big Four consultants worked as change agents to impose a valuation based on a full accrual accounting logic. The first finding shows that there are two framing processes to valuate fixed assets. The central government has a pragmatic framing trying to get the budget in balance, while the Big Four consultants together with private sector accounting experts have an accrual accounting ideology framing. The second finding shows how the Big Four consultants become a change agent by forming alliances with accounting experts, health enterprises and politicians. These findings point to the need to focus explicitly on the role of change agents as drivers of public sector organizational change and the important role accounting as a tool can have.Practical implicationsThe paper is likely to be useful for governments, practitioners and researchers to gain knowledge about the implementation of accrual accounting.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to our understanding of change agent's role in successfully introducing a new accounting logic in the public sector, especially within an inter-organizational setting.

Change Leadership and Public Sector Organizational Change

The implementation of organizational change is a considerable challenge for public organizations. Recent studies have highlighted the importance of leadership in change processes in public organizations, but limited empirical evidence exists. Moreover, the contribution of change leadership in organizational change is likely to be dependent on the particular characteristics of public organizations. This study concerns the relationship between direct supervisors’ change leadership and the commitment to change of change recipients, and examines to what extent this relationship is related to the bureaucratic features that often characterize public organizations. The findings indicate that change leadership contributes to change recipients’ commitment to change by providing high-quality change communication and stimulating employee participation in the implementation of change. However, the findings also indicate that red tape perceptions of change recipients and a low reliance on a transformational leadership style impede the potential of change leadership to bring about employee participation in the implementation of change.

Doing More with Less? Employee Reactions to Psychological Contract Breach via Target Similarity or Spillover during Public Sector Organizational Change

Many countries are facing the twin pressures of austerity and recession following the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. This paper uses the UK public sector and a major national announcement of budget cuts signalling extensive organizational cutbacks as its setting. We examine (a) whether organizational changes following the national announcement affect public sector employees' psychological contract breach, (b) whether employee reactions to psychological contract breach are consistent with the target similarity model and vary across foci, namely the organization, co‐workers and public service users, and (c) whether some of these relationships are moderated by job insecurity or public sector commitment. We collected longitudinal survey data before and after the announcement of budget cuts, using a sample of 340 employees from a range of public organizations and locations. Results largely confirm the hypotheses. Increases in organizational change predicted psychological contract breach, which in turn predicted decreases in contributions towards the organization; however, contributions towards co‐workers and public service users were unaffected, which can be explained with a target similarity, rather than a spillover, model. Furthermore, the relationship between breach and employee behaviours directed toward the public was moderated by job insecurity and public sector commitment.

Analyzing Longitudinal Continuity and Change in Public Sector Organizations

This article provides the introduction to a special edition that presents for the first time a series of detailed country case studies concerned with the matter of organizational life cycles. Building on some recent scholarship, it begins by surveying the development of the field, before setting out some of the key methodological and theoretical issues and challenges involved in adopting a longitudinal perspective to the study of organizational change. It proposes that by capturing the variety of ways in which public sector organizations emerge, survive, and terminate, new perspectives on how administrative systems evolve can be presented and compared.

Mapping Public Sector Organizations: An Agenda for Future Research

This article summarizes the key findings from the five mapping case studies presented in this special issue and relates them back to the conceptual, definitional, and theoretical issues presented in the opening article (MacCarthaigh & Roness, 2012). In so doing, the article considers the alternative ways in which organizational change can best be captured, mapped, and explained and the key issues to be considered when conducting such exercises. As well as identifying how the case studies have advanced the possibilities for mapping public sector organizational change over time in a cross-national context and the benefits this offers for other aspects of public administration research, the article identifies some impediments to future research and collaboration in the field and suggests ways to overcome them.

The impact of employee perceptions on change in a municipal government

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate employees' reactions to a comprehensive change: to change aspects of the organization's working atmosphere at a mid‐sized municipal government located in Ontario, Canada. It aims to use the perception of success of the ongoing change effort as the main dependent variable.Design/methodology/approachThe study was cross‐sectional in nature. Data were collected via a survey, and correlational analysis and PLS were used to analyze the data.FindingsThe results showed that the relationship between perceptions of success of the ongoing change effort and perceived sense of competence; affective commitment; satisfaction with organizational members; opportunities to participate in decision making; opportunities for development and growth; and respect in the workplace was significant.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies should include a more objective measure of success of the change efforts, such as absenteeism, turnover, levels of service provided, helping behavior and other organizational citizenship behaviors, and grievances filed.Practical implicationsIndividual and workplace variables explain significant variance in the perception of success to improve the working atmosphere at a municipal organization. These variables should be given consideration during the implementation of change. Anecdotal evidence often indicates that leaders faced with comprehensive change do things that conflict with increasing readiness for change and to create enthusiasm for the change.Originality/valueGovernment agencies face unprecedented change. It is imperative for these organizations to manage change in an effective and efficient manner in their pursuit of creating public value. Research on change in public sector organizations is sparse.

Changing faces of the public sector

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting‐edge research and case studies.Design/methodology/approachThis briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.FindingsThis review is based on “Implementing change in public sector organizations,” by J. Barton Cunningham and James S. Kempling. Some points made here about the principles behind organizational change might seem to be spelled out excessively, but there some useful observations about the public sector, its dependency on other agencies, and how obstacles to change can be surmounted.Originality/valueThe briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy‐to‐digest format.

Implementing change in public sector organizations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the importance of various change principles in assisting change in three public sector organizations.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers carried out interviews and used focus groups in assessing the principles and strategies which would be more useful.FindingsThe interview and focus group results in three public sector organizations suggest that forming a guiding coalition might be one of the most important principles to observe.Research limitations/implicationsThe research data used for illustration are based on case evidence and the anecdotal interpretation of change in three settings. The paper does not claim to offer a scientific conclusion.Practical implicationsThe goal is to encourage a discussion on whether or not certain principles or strategies should be more important.Originality/valueThe paper reviews the literature on change and reviews these principles in real experiences. Much of the other literature is conceptual.

The Experience of Gender Change in Public Sector Organizations

The state has a twofold relationship to gender change in society, through its overall steering capacity and through the gendered character of its constituent agencies. It is therefore important to understand the experience of gender change in state organizations. The findings from a study of gender relations in ten public-sector worksites in New South Wales, Australia are presented. There is a widespread consciousness of gender change linked with new labour processes, restructuring and new patterns of management. These changes are uneven and limits to change are visible. Gender is recognized as an organizational problem in specific circumstances, most visibly where men’s resistance to change appears. A number of mechanisms limit the consciousness of gender as a problem. Several trends, including the current strength of neo-liberalism, converge to make the gender-neutral workplace the principal goal of gender reform in the public-sector workplace. This, however, limits the state’s steering capacity in regard to societal gender relations.

New Public Management Is Dead--Long Live Digital-Era Governance

The public management (NPM) wave in public sector organizational change was founded on themes of disaggregation, competition, and incentivization. Although its effects are still working through in countries new to NPM, this wave has now largely stalled or been reversed in some key leading-edge countries. This ebbing chiefly reflects the cumulation of adverse indirect effects on citizens' capacities for solving social problems because NPM has radically increased institutional and policy complexity. The character of the post-NPM regime is currently being formed. We set out the case that a range of connected and information technology-centered changes will be critical for the current and next wave of change, and we focus on themes of reintegration, needs-based holism, and digitization changes. The overall movement incorporating these new shifts is toward digital-era governance (DEG), which involves reintegrating functions into the governmental sphere, adopting holistic and needs-oriented structures, and progressing digitalization of administrative processes. DEG offers a perhaps unique opportunity to create self-sustaining change, in a broad range of closely connected technological, organizational, cultural, and social effects. But there are alternative scenarios as to how far DEG will be recognized as a coherent phenomenon and implemented successfully.

Organizational culture in public sector organizations

PurposeTo provide two possible approaches for enhancing organizational culture awareness and promote cultural change in public sector organization. These approaches include training and leading by example.Design/methodology/approachLiterature outlining fundamental aspects of organizational culture is summarized, serving as a foundation for reviewing the potential value of training as a method for enhancing public managers' awareness of organizational culture. This is followed by an illustrated example of how the culture was changed in major department of a public organization through leading by example.FindingsTraining and leading by example can serve as effective methodologies for promoting culture awareness and brining about culture change in organizations.Practical implicationsThe article highlights some interesting similarities and differences between cultures in public organizations and cultures in private sector organizations. The differences, in particular, reinforce the importance of training and leading by example to guide public sector employees through the complex dynamics often embodied within culture transformations in organizations.Originality/valueWhile there are some important similarities between cultures of private sector and public sector organizations, the differences existing in public sector organization cultures create unique challenges for managers trying to evoke change. The article provides a unique perspective on applying training and leading by example to the context of public sector organizational culture.

Bureaucratic Entrepreneurship and Institutional Change: A Sense-Making Approach

This study develops a model for the analysis of institutional change in public-sector organizations. We use sense-making theory to explore the role of bureaucratic entrepreneurial action in institutional change. Metaphors from music composition illustrate the pace and depth of institutional change. We elaborate this analytic model by examining a major institutional change: housing for the developmentally disabled. The data trace changes in the institutionalized practices of a large state agency as it transformed its core technology. The events we trace in this article were precipitated by a landmark court decision. Over twenty-five years, the Department for Developmental Disabilities relocated the developmentally disabled population, many thousands of individuals, from campus-style residences to community homes. We use data from participant observation, interviews, and archival material to elaborate our model of institutional change

Accountability and radical change in public organizations

Preface Accountability and Change Drivers in the Public Sector by Ronald R. Sims Reinvention in Public Housing: The Case of the Norfolk Redevelopment Housing Authority by Andrea B. Bear and Ronald R. Sims Toward 2007: Accountability and Change in Local Government (Steering the Course) by Rona Vrooman and Serbrenia J. Sims Accountability and Change in Higher Education: A Case History by Ralph S. Foster, Jr. Reinventing in the Public Sector: Some Lessons and Limits by Carl E. Lutrin and A. B. (Rami) Shani Reinventing Training in the Public Sector by Ronald R. Sims Can Reengineering Be Transplanted from the Private to the Public Sector? Should it Be? by Arie Halachmi The Promise and Practice of the National Performance Review by Richard F. Cullins Canada and the United States: A Quest for World Class Science Standards by Adriane E.L. Dorrington Public Administration for Results in Latin America: Design and Sustainability in Institutional Development and Civil Service Reform by Rene Salgado In Praise of Incremental Change in Public Sector Organizations: A Consultant's View by John G. Veres, III and Katherine A. Jackson Evaluating Change in Public Organizations: An Alpha, Beta, Gamma Change Perspective by M. Ronald Buckley et al. Staying Sane in an Ever Changing World: A Survival Guide for Public Managers by William I. Sauser, Jr. Index