Public Sector Leadership Research Articles

Cultural Values and Its Influence on the Enactment of Leadership in Public Sector Organisations

This research contributes to our understanding of leadership in public sector organisations by examining the influence of national culture on the enactment of public sector leadership in the context of Brunei. It followed a qualitative interpretivist research approach employing semi-structured interviews involving public sector leaders in Brunei. This research contributes to existing debates that claim that public sector leadership is context specific and contingent upon cultural backgrounds and the national cultures of specific countries and emerging nations. The findings suggest national culture appear to have a constraining influence on public sector leadership, where tension exists between abiding to Islamic work ethics and cultural tribal activities, particularly relating to the issues of fairness and justice regarding recruitment, selection, and promotion.

Does Psychological Empowerment Mediate the Impact of Transformational Leadership Style on Employee Performance: Evidence from the Public Sector in Jaffna District

Sri Lankans continue to rely on public service to satisfy most of their needs, however, they are increasingly distrustful of its performance. If the managers and leaders better manage the employees, it is possible to move toward a productive workforce and to meet the common expectations of the people. There is a need to adopt appropriate style in order to promote psychological empowerment among employees and to improve employee performance. In the Sri Lankan public sector, it is very rare to come across studies which have been conducted on the impact of leadership style on employees’ performance, particularly in the Northern Province. Thus, the current study aims to examine the association between transformational leadership style and employees’ job performance and the potential mediating effect of psychological empowerment in the effect of transformational leadership on employee performance in the public sector organizations in Jaffna District. The study employed survey method and 287 employees participated in this study. Leadership style was measured using MLQ Rater Form 5-x, employee performance was measured using Job Performance Scale and psychological empowerment was measured using Empowerment Scale. Exploratory factor analysis was performed to get factor structure and confirmatory factor analysis was performed to confirm the validity and reliability of the study instruments. The results revealed that transformational leadership has a positive impact on job performance and on psychological empowerment. It was also found that psychological empowerment has a mediating effect in the impact of transformational leadership on employee performance. This study recommends that the leaders should pay more attention in their leadership style as a way to improve employee performance. This study further suggests that future researchers should cover other public sector organizations to better understand the relationship between the variables.
 Keywords: Public sector, job performance, psychological empowerment and transformational leadership

HOW PRIVATE, PUBLIC, AND NONPROFIT LEADERS CAN AMPLIFY THEIR IMPACT BY ADOPTING CROSS‐SECTOR TOOLS

AbstractThe author writes from her perspective as CEO and co‐founder of Social Finance, an impact investing and advisory nonprofit. In discussing partnerships created there, she writes that “the more we collaborated with investors, service providers, governments, and others, the more I saw that everyone brought something unique and vital to the work—points of view and practices that not only oriented us toward a single goal but also better equipped each of us to achieve it.” She explains what private sector, public sector, and nonprofit leaders can do to help achieve this synergy. Within the private sector, she suggests that leaders “can adopt a few of the qualities that have helped their peers in government and the nonprofit sector achieve success: community, empathy, and service‐mindedness.” In the public sector, she believes that “despite vast funding pools and massive distribution networks, local, state, and federal administrations have long struggled to efficiently and purposefully put taxpayer dollars into programs that generate positive social outcomes.” And “this vision is well within reach for nonprofit leaders who are prepared to leverage some of the tools private sector companies have long used to build robust and enduring business models, and cultivate new revenue sources.”

Interpreting lived experiences: The dilemmas of public sector leaders

AbstractDilemmas are a useful concept for exploring leadership practices and decision‐making process. Preserving the integrity of the state and yet to be representative—this classic dilemma is faced by Bangladeshi Public Sector Leaders (PSLs). Taking an interpretive approach, this research presents empirical insights in an important subfield of public administration, namely, lived experiences of PSL about the public sector reforms and governance practice. The researchers administered in‐depth interviews and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). What emerged as the salient dilemmas of PSLs are: the dilemma of public sector leadership: the colonial legacy, power relationship dilemma in the system of government, domestic reform strategy versus donor reform strategy, public interest versus vested interest and lastly, commitment versus service to multiple stakeholders. It also identified that there is a significant presence of NPM overtones in the PSL response towards the reform programme that illustrates the prominent features of decentralization and bureaucratic entrepreneurship.

The sustainable development goals and leadership in public sector: a case study of social innovation in the disability sector of Iran

Except for administrative collaborative leadership, the importance of leadership in achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs) has been the focus of researchers for many years. This study claims that one of the requirements for achieving the SDGs is administrative collaborative leadership. Because, it is the proper leadership style for the governance model, as one of the pillars for achieving the SDGs. To investigate this claim, a social innovation (SI) strategy is examined to addresses whether the public sector uses collaborative leadership in the governance model. To study SI, a successful living lab of SI is investigated by a qualitative case study.‏ This laboratory was created by the Iranian public sector to solve the problem of unemployment among people with disabilities. Qualitative data are collected through participatory observation and interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings of the research show that collaborative leadership is one of the prerequisites of SDGs achievement. And, SI contributes to the realization of SDGs by providing an appropriate environment for the gradual and practical training of collaborative leadership.‏

Is There a Glass Cliff in Municipal Management? Examining the Hiring and Departure of Women City Managers

Women are underrepresented in public sector leadership, including the field of city management. There are several explanations for what might prevent women from achieving gender parity in city management. We examine one such explanation - a “glass cliff” phenomenon whereby councils are more likely to hire women as city managers during crises, potentially setting women up for failure in the profession. Using original observational data on city managers in Florida, we test whether municipalities are more likely to hire women during times of fiscal stress and whether women are more likely than men to leave the position if municipal finances do not improve. Our results show that increasing budget deficits are associated with municipalities hiring women managers. Post-appointment, a lack of improvement in the deficit condition is associated with a higher probability of women, but not men, leaving the position. This suggests that a glass cliff in city management may be one important factor that prevents women from advancing within the field.

Exploring the determinants of an organisational talent culture for a Botswanan local government institution

Orientation: Talented employees are essential for the service performance of local government institutions. Conducive organisational talent cultures can enable talent to deliver value-based services that meet public expectations.Research purpose: To explore the determinants of an organisational talent culture for a Botswanan local government institution.Motivation for the study: Research on organisational talent culture determinants in Botswana local government institutions is lacking.Research design, approach and method: This research adopted a quantitative, cross-sectional research design. A self-developed questionnaire was used to measure the organisational talent culture determinants of a Botswana government institution (N = 405). The data was analysed using SPSS Statistics software. Descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analyses, linear regression analyses and multivariate analysis of variances (MANOVAs) were applied to the data.Main findings: The factor analyses provided support for six organisational talent culture determinants: leadership talent mindset, success orientation and strategic intent, institutional values, dynamic operational capabilities, administrative governance and general people management practices. The results showed a weak application of all the organisational talent culture determinants. Leadership talent mindset was a significant predictor of organisational talent culture determinants. Significant differences exist between selected organisational culture dimensions based on the demographic characteristics of the participants.Practical/managerial implications: The vital role of public sector leadership in enabling a conducive organisational talent culture is emphasised.Contribution/value-add: This research contributed to the limited empirical knowledge on organisational talent culture determinants in public sector institutions.

Preparing young adults to become public sector leaders.

This article highlights the need for leader development for young professionals as early as possible in the college experience, particularly for those who will work in the public sector. The public sector has typically not provided the level of leadership training, education, and development often afforded new leaders in the private sector. This article provides insight into four assessments (Benchmarks for Managers, Workplace Big 5, Six Domains Leadership Survey, and Skillscope) that are suited for assessing leadership in the public sector and implications for preparing young adults to take on leadership roles in this sector.

The role of love in public sector leadership in Slovenia

The article discusses the importance of self-love in public sector leadership and public sector employees engagement. Given the importance of leadership in our civilisation, the almost complete absence of self-love in leaders is especially detrimental to the organisations they lead and their employees. This is especially important in the public sector–due to the importance of the goods and services it provides, and the fact that it does so with the taxpayers’ money. Leaders who love themselves and lead with love, know how to step into the employees’ shoes, understand them; know how to find the best in each one of them and encourage the development of that aspect; they are sincere and warm; know how to listen to employees and impress them; they are respectful of them; they inspire a sense of security and confidence; spread positive energy and know how to make decisions. Also, the connection between self-love and sustainable development social model is discussed. Due to the unilateral orientation of our civilisation toward material development, individuals have almost eliminated the pursuit of spiritual development from their lives. However, love and happiness can only be achieved with the balance of both. The integral principle of sustainable development, which, in addition to economic growth, encompasses spiritual growth, is a model that offers us a way out of our (bad) state–in the world and in Slovenia. Of particular importance–primarily because of the long absence–is the spiritual side. People need to reintroduce it into their lives. In doing so, the state and the law should be “utilised”, and to set as their main task the provision of conditions for (in addition to economic) spiritual growth and thus love and happiness.

Embedding Australian Public Service management reforms: The Secretary could not make it so

AbstractPublic sector leaders in the Australian Public Service (APS) can learn from the demise of programme evaluation introduced as part of managing for results reforms, as they implement the evaluation of agency performance outcomes under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act (2013) (PGPA). This paper demonstrates that public sector management reforms require more than top‐down initiation by agency heads and that implementation needs to occur over an extended time frame. Although there has been increased communication of APS agencies’ purpose in annual reports, as required by the PGPA Act (2013), ambiguity continues in relation to how planned performance aligns with performance outcomes. The potential for inertia and resistance to management reforms from middle managers and employees may also re‐emerge where there is insufficient training to develop their skills to conduct performance evaluations; skills shortages and inertia from middle managers and employees may also be more evident in geographically dispersed APS offices. To increase the potential for performance reporting and evaluation reforms to be embedded, central agency and agency public sector leaders need to work together to reinforce the value of these reforms, particularly where government ministers or governments change.

The Impact of Human Resources Environment and Organizational Identification on Employees’ Psychological Well-Being

This study explores how Human Resources (HR) environment (i.e., job autonomy, opportunities for advancement, involved communication, and decisive action) promotes psychological well-being of public employees. We advance the literature by identifying organizational identification (OID) as the underpinning mechanism through which HR environment can foster employees’ well-being. OID is termed as a “social cure,” owing to its strong link with employee health and well-being. The results of structural equation modeling show a positive association among HR practices and OID, which subsequently enhances well-being of public sector employees. Managerial implications for public sector leaders are discussed in detail.

Leadership and public service motivation: a systematic synthesis

The concept of public service motivation has drawn considerable research and practitioner interest as a useful behavioral construct that public sector leaders can use to motivate, attract, and retain employees. Indeed, Ritz and colleagues (2016) find that among practitioner recommendations mentioned in public service motivation studies, using managerial and leadership practices to inculcate public service motivation is among the most frequently suggested interventions. Although single studies on leadership and public service motivation are important, we know little about how leadership and public service motivation cumulatively influence each other, especially across different national contexts. This study uses the PRISMA protocol (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis) to systematically identify patterns in past research to inform researchers and practitioners. In particular, it seeks to 1) provide a descriptive account of the state of leadership and public service motivation, 2) identify patterns of causality between leadership and public service motivation, 3) understand leadership style and its relationship to public service motivational outcomes, and 4) identify any contextual factors moderating leadership and public service motivation research

Censored!

Public sector leadership often demands fast thinking and rapid response. Our decisions are more likely to be sound, however, when they are informed by ‘slow thinking’ when we are not in crisis mode. The art of ‘thinking, fast and slow’ (Kahneman, 2011) is illustrated by decisions of the Office of Film and Literature Classification (the Classification Office) in the days following the Christchurch mosque shootings on 15 March 2019. This article engages with political philosophy to support the Classification Office in applying its decision framework and encourages public sector investment in ‘slow thinking’, so that public administration can be both responsive and anticipatory, pragmatic and principled.

Public Health Officials and COVID-19: Leadership, Politics, and the Pandemic.

Public Health Officials and COVID-19: Leadership, Politics, and the Pandemic.

Performative seduction: how management consultants influence practices of leadership

PurposeThis paper tracks how a policy recommended by management consultants becomes embedded as an integral part of leadership practice. It explores the launch of the concept of “talent management” by McKinsey & Company and how it becomes adopted as part of expected leadership practices in the English National Health Service. The use of Management Consultants globally has increased exponentially, and the paper considers this phenomenon and the ways in which management consultant advice influences public sector leadership and practice at local level.Design/methodology/approachA case study approach is adopted, focussing on the introduction of the concept of talent management into the English NHS, following the wider emergence of the concept through influential reports published by McKinsey & Company in the late 1990s. An analysis of the emergence of the concept is conducted drawing on this series of reports and the adoption of talent management policies and practices by the English government's Department of Health.FindingsThese influential reports by the management consultancy firm, McKinsey & Company, constituted an urgent need for this newly identified concept of talent management and the secrecy surrounding its reception. It is this mystery surrounding the decisions about a talent management strategy in the NHS and the concealment of decisions behind closed doors, which leads us to offer a theory of management consultants' influence on leaders as one of performative seduction.Originality/valueManagement consultancy is a vast business whose influence reaches deeply into public and private sector organisations around the world. Understanding of the variegated policies and practices that constitute contemporary modes of governance therefore requires comprehension of management consultants' role within those policies and practices. This paper argues that management consultants influence public sector leadership through insertion of their products into definitions of, and performative constitution of, local level leadership.

Megatrends and the future of work for public sector leaders and educators

PurposeThis article asks (1) what megatrends are likely to significantly influence public sector roles and in what ways and (2) how might higher education institutions better prepare public sector leaders for the future shaped by these trends. While public sector leadership in every region, country and locality is unique, they are exposed to the same set of global megatrends. Therefore, this article teases out general insights, observations and implications for public sector leaders and educators by focusing on the effects of these trends.Design/methodology/approachThe article is informed by a review and synthesis of relevant academic and practitioner sources and is complemented by the authors' survey (n = 64) of public affairs practitioners and educators. The survey is not representative and is used to supplement other inferences from the literature.FindingsThe key megatrends reshaping public sector jobs include demographic and climate changes, technological advances and deepening social fragmentation. The confluence of such trends has increasingly strained the public sector's capacity to respond to present challenges, let alone prepare for the future. The future public sector leaders can benefit from new competencies, including ability to think systematically, see the big picture and ability to solve complex problems. Ideally, they would also have a strong capacity to foster collaboration and cohesion among diverse stakeholders, to model ethical and inclusive behavior, to accommodate, facilitate and bridge competing and conflicting viewpoints and become creative innovators and doers who can operate in increasingly complex environments, while navigating and reshaping their governments' outdated institutional structures.Research limitations/implicationsThe key trends reshaping public sector jobs include environmental, demographic and technological factors and deepening social fragmentation. The confluence of such factors has increasingly strained the public sector's capacity to respond to present challenges, let alone prepare for the future. The authors observe that the future of public sector practitioners may benefit from new competencies including digital and data fluency, high emotional intelligence, who are also big picture thinkers who understand global megatrends and their impacts locally. Ideally, they would have a strong capacity to foster cohesion among fragmented and polarized communities, to model ethical and inclusive behavior, to accommodate, facilitate and bridge diverse viewpoints and become creative innovators and doers who can operate in increasingly complex environments, while navigating and reshaping their governments' outdated institutional structures.Practical implicationsThe megatrends listed above have significant implications for public sector leaders and educators who train them.Social implicationsThere is a new awareness about the need to train public sector workers on diversity and inclusion issues. This paper discusses global trends through this lens.Originality/valueThis synthesis of the literature from academic and practitioner sources, supplemented with the original survey of educators and professionals, intends to open up a conversation about the future of public affairs leadership and education.

A Saúde Coletiva no epicentro da pandemia de COVID-19 no Sistema Único de Saúde

Objetivo: refletir sobre os desafios atinentes í Saúde Coletiva no enfrentamento da pandemia de COVID-19 no âmbito do Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Método: Ensaio teórico, cuja fundamentação baseia-se na construção teórica sobre o pensar reflexivo, sustentado na literatura cientí­fica nacional e internacional, bem como na análise crí­tica do autor. Resultados: No contexto da pandemia do novo coronaví­rus, é premente a articulação dos pilares fundantes da Saúde Coletiva, como a Epidemiologia, a Administração e Gestão e as Ciências Sociais para efetividade da resposta aÌ€ COVID-19 no SUS. Ressalta-se que, no contexto sanitário atual, as perspectivas de consolidação do SUS, passa pelo fortalecimento da consciência de cidadania e responsabilidade social, pelo aumento da mobilização dos movimentos e organizações sociais em defesa do direito í saúde, pela conquista da adesão da maioria dos profissionais de saúde ao ideário de SUS e pelo maior comprometimento do Estado e dos dirigentes públicos com a efetivação dos seus princí­pios e diretrizes. Conclusão: Espera-se que a pandemia da COVID-19 sirva de exemplo para a repolitização da sociedade em defesa do SUS enquanto Sistema Universal de Saúde.

“Representative bureaucracy as a leadership issue: the Canadian case”

PurposeThe public administration literature on representative bureaucracy identifies several advantages from having a diverse public service workforce, but it has not explicitly focused on leadership. For its part, the public sector leadership literature has largely ignored the issue of gender. The purpose of this paper is to rectify these limitations by advancing the argument that having a representative bureaucracy is fundamentally a leadership issue. Moreover, it assesses the extent to which representativeness has been achieved in the Canadian federal public service.Design/methodology/approachThe paper begins with a discussion of the importance of a representative bureaucracy for democratic governance. In the next section, the case is made that representativeness is fundamentally intertwined with the concept of administrative leadership. Then, the article provides an interpretive case study analysis of the federal public service in Canada, which is the global leader in terms of women's representation in public service leadership positions.FindingsThe initial breakthrough for gender representation in the Canadian federal public service was 1995. From that point onward, the proportion of women in the core public administration exceeded workforce availability. However, women continued to be modestly under-represented among the senior leadership cadre throughout the early 2000s. The watershed moment for gender representation in the federal public service was 2011 when the number of women in the executive group exceeded workforce availability for the first time. Significant progress toward greater representativeness in the other target groups has also been made but ongoing vigilance is required.Research limitations/implicationsThe study only determines the passive representation of women in the Public Service of Canada and is not able to comment on the extent to which women are substantively represented in federal policy outcomes.Originality/valueThe paper traces the Canadian federal government's progress toward achieving gender representation over time, while commenting on the extent to which the public service reflects broader diversity. In doing so, it explicitly links representation to leadership, which the existing literature fails to do, by arguing that effective administrative leadership is contingent upon having a diverse public service. Moreover, it highlights the importance of gender for public sector leadership, which hitherto has been neglected.

Ethnic (pay) disparities in public sector leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand

New Zealand Governments have longstanding policy commitments to equal employment practices. Little attention has been paid to ethnic pay disparities in recent years. Informed by a series of official information act requests, we were interested to find out what extent, ethnic pay disparities existed within the core public sector and district health boards (DHBs). We examined the population proportions of Māori, Pasifika and Other ethnicities earning over $NZ100,000 over five year intervals between 2001 to 2016, using linear regression analysis. The analyses showed a statistically significant pattern of ethnic pay disparities across the public sector. There were fewer Māori and Pasifika staff employed in DHBs than their population proportion. The failure to promote Māori and Pasifika to the upper tiers of public sector is consistent with definitions of institutional racism. The authors call for more research to understand the dynamics of ethnic pay disparity and the drivers of this disparity.

El liderazgo como competencia del nivel directivo en el sector público colombiano: Oportunidades y Limitaciones

Este artículo presenta una revisión teórica y documental de la literatura sobre el liderazgo como competencia, la relación entre la competencia de liderazgo en el nivel directivo y el sector público; esta correspondencia ha sido poco estudiada en Colombia y, en consecuencia, resulta pertinente describir su incidencia en la dinámica de las organizaciones estatales. Se presenta el constructo teórico, producto de los estudios revisados, acerca de las teorías contemporáneas sobre el liderazgo para cargos directivos; posteriormente, se desarrolla el tópico de liderazgo como competencia laboral o comportamental, ahondando en la distinción entre lo que implica ser directivo y lo que configura verdaderamente al líder. Finalmente, se problematiza el liderazgo en el sector público colombiano, proponiendo en el apartado de la discusión sus limitaciones y oportunidades, destacando, dentro de estas últimas, el rol de la psicología de las organizaciones y del trabajo en el marco de la gestión del liderazgo y el talento humano en una organización.