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Discover the latest insights in organization theory from a comprehensive and masterful volume Understanding and Managing Public Organizations, 6th Edition provides readers with an authoritative reference for scholars, masters, and doctoral students in public management and public affairs programs in the United States and other nations. The 6th Edition of Understanding and Managing Public Organizations presents the latest research and insights from organization and management theory and their application to public organizations and the people in them. The book expands coverage from previous editions about organizational goals, performance and effectiveness, strategy, decision-making, structure and design, organizational change, operating environments, individuals and groups, motivation and work-related attitudes, leadership, teamwork, and more. Authors and professors Hal Rainey, Sergio Fernandez, and Deanna Malatesta provide new and expanded coverage of such topics as * The context and distinctive character of public and nonprofit organizations, including expanded coverage of "publicness" and of the legal context including "state action" * Performance management, measurement, organizational effectiveness, and managing for high performance * Representative bureaucracy, workforce diversity, and performance * Communication and information technology * Employee engagement and empowerment, intrinsic motivation, self-determination theory, public service motivation, and positive organizational behavior--resilience, self-efficacy, optimism, and hope * Recent developments in theory and thought on leadership, including authentic leadership, shared leadership, servant leadership, and integrated leadership * Design and process topics including red tape and green tape, administrative burdens, and organizational routines * Theoretical perspectives such as behavioral theory of decision making, resource dependence theory, and others, and their implications for public and nonprofit organizations * Advances in theory and practice about rapid developments in collaborative governance, organizational networks, partnerships, and contracting * Since the book is used in courses for students in numerous public affairs programs, this new edition updates the Instructor's Guide, with new and revised PowerPoint slides, cases, exercises, and discussion and examination questions * These materials, with the topics in the chapters, are designed to address the learning outcomes required by NASPAA accreditation requirements Belonging on the shelf of scholars and students in public affairs, as well as anyone interested in public management or organization theory, this new edition of Understanding and Managing Public Organizations provides an advanced and comprehensive enhancement to a widely used and compelling series of previous editions.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021
COVER
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
FIGURES AND TABLES
PREFACE
Audience
Organization
Acknowledgments
THE AUTHORS
PART ONE: THE DYNAMIC CONTEXT OF PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER ONE: THE CHALLENGE OF EFFECTIVE PUBLIC ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Toward Improved Understanding and Management of Public Organizations
General Management and Public Management
Ineffective Public Management?
Effective Public Management
Organizations: A Definition and a Conceptual Framework
Instructor’s Guide Resources for Chapter One
Notes
CHAPTER TWO: UNDERSTANDING THE STUDY OF ORGANIZATIONS: A HISTORICAL REVIEW
The Systems Metaphor
Classical Approaches to Understanding Organizations
Reactions, Critiques, and Subsequent Developments in Analysis of Organizations and the People in Them
More Recent Developments in Organization Theory and Research
The Role of Public and Nonprofit Organizations and Their Management in Organization Theory
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Two
CHAPTER THREE: WHAT MAKES PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS DISTINCT
The Generic Tradition in Organization Theory
The Importance of Avoiding Oversimplification
Public Organizations: An Essential Organization/Distinction
The Meaning and Nature of Public Organizations and Public Management
Problems and Approaches in Public–Private Comparisons
Common Assertions About Public Organizations and Public Management
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Three
Note
CHAPTER FOUR: ANALYZING THE ENVIRONMENT OF PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS
General Dimensions of Organizational Environments
Research on Environmental Variations
Recent Trends in Research on Organizational Environments
The Political and Institutional Environments of Public Organizations
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Four
CHAPTER FIVE: THE IMPACT OF POLITICAL POWER AND PUBLIC POLICY
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Five
PART TWO: KEY DIMENSIONS OF ORGANIZING AND MANAGING
CHAPTER SIX: ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS, EFFECTIVENESS, AND PERFORMANCE
General Organizational Goals
Goals of Public Organizations
Behavioral Theories of Organizational Decision Making: Changing Perspectives on Organizational Goals
Toward Diverse, Conflicting Criteria
Approaches to Organizational Effectiveness
Effectiveness in Organizational Networks
Managing for High Performance
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Six
Notes
CHAPTER SEVEN: FORMULATING AND ACHIEVING PURPOSE: POWER, DECISION MAKING, AND STRATEGY
Power and Politics Inside Organizations
Decision Making in Organizations
Strategic Management
The Miles and Snow Typology
Issues for Managers and Researchers
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Seven
CHAPTER EIGHT: ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Do Public Organizations Have Distinctive Structural Characteristics?
The Development of Research on Structure
Structural Dimensions and Influences
Organizational Design
Major Design Alternatives
Organizational Structures in Public Organizations
Information Technology and Public Organizations
Social Media and Public Management
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Eight
CHAPTER NINE: UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE IN PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS: MOTIVATION AND MOTIVATION THEORY
Motivation and Public Management
The Context of Motivation in Public Organizations
The Concept of Work Motivation
Motivation Practice and Techniques
Incentive Structures and Reward Expectancies in Public Organizations
Self-Reported Motivation Among Public Employees
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Nine
CHAPTER TEN: UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE IN PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS: VALUES, INCENTIVES, AND WORK-RELATED ATTITUDES
Attempts to Specify Needs, Values, and Incentives
Other Important Work-Related Attitudes
Motivation-Related Variables in Public Organizations
Representative Bureaucracy: Why the Social Origins of Public Employees Matter
Workforce Diversity
The Challenge of Stimulating Motivation and Positive Work Attitudes in Public Organizations
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Ten
Note
CHAPTER ELEVEN: LEADERSHIP, MANAGERIAL ROLES, AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Leadership Theories in Management and Organizational Behavior
The Nature of Managerial Work and Roles
Transformational Leadership
Charismatic Leadership
Leadership and Organizational Culture
Leading Cultural Development
Leadership and Management in Public Organizations
Does Context Affect Performance and Behavior?
Effective Leadership in Government
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Eleven
CHAPTER TWELVE: TEAMWORK: UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION AND CONFLICT IN GROUPS
Groups in Organizations
Communication in Organizations
Conflict in Organizations
Managing Groups, Communication, and Conflict in Organizations
Special Considerations for Public Organizations
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Twelve
PART THREE: STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING AND IMPROVING PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT
Relatively Natural Change: Organizational Life Cycles
Large-Scale Planned Change
Organization Development
Success and Failure in Large-Scale, Planned Organizational Change
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Thirteen
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: ADVANCING PUBLIC MANAGEMENT THROUGH COLLABORATION
Reform Movements: Forerunners to Collaborative Governance
From NPM to Collaborative Governance
The Literature on Collaboration
Instructor's Guide Resources for Chapter Fourteen
Notes
REFERENCES
NAME INDEX
SUBJECT INDEX
END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT
Chapter 3
TABLE 3.1 EXPLANATIONS FOR HYBRID ORGANIZATIONS
TABLE 3.2 AGENCIFICATION TYPES
TABLE 3.3 TYPOLOGY OF ORGANIZATIONS CREATED BY CROSS-CLASSIFYING OWNERSHIP, FUN...
TABLE 3.4 DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC ORGANIZAT...
Chapter 4
TABLE 4.1 GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
TABLE 4.2 DESCRIPTIVE AND ANALYTICAL DIMENSIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL ENVIRONMENTS...
TABLE 4.3 MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL COMPONENTS FOR PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS
Chapter 5
TABLE 5.1 SOURCES OF POLITICAL AUTHORITY AND INFLUENCE OF INSTITUTIONS, ENTITIE...
TABLE 5.2 GUIDELINES FOR MANAGING RELATIONS WITH THE NEWS MEDIA
Chapter 6
TABLE 6.1 ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS: CRITERIA AND MEASURES
TABLE 6.2 COMMONLY USED MODELS OF ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
TABLE 6.3 RESEARCH PROGRAMS FOCUSING ON MANAGING FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE
Chapter 9
TABLE 9.1 QUESTIONNAIRE ITEMS USED TO MEASURE WORK MOTIVATION
TABLE 9.2 CATEGORIES OF NEEDS AND VALUES EMPLOYED IN SELECTED CONTENT THEORIES...
TABLE 9.3 CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES OF OPERANT CONDITIONING
TABLE 9.4 SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY
TABLE 9.5 METHODS COMMONLY USED TO ENHANCE WORK MOTIVATION IN ORGANIZATIONS
Chapter 10
TABLE 10.1 THE COMPLEXITY OF HUMAN NEEDS AND VALUES
TABLE 10.2 TYPES OF INCENTIVES
TABLE 10.3 PERRY'S DIMENSIONS AND QUESTIONNAIRE MEASURES OF PUBLIC SERVI...
TABLE 10.4 EFFECTIVE DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Chapter 11
TABLE 11.1 MANAGING ROLES AND SKILLS
TABLE 11.2 CONCEPTIONS AND DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE
TABLE 11.3 BACKGROUND REFERENCES FOR ASSESSING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Chapter 12
TABLE 12.1 FACTORS RELATED TO EFFECTIVE WORK TEAMS
TABLE 12.2 COMMUNICATION PROBLEMS AND DISTORTIONS
Chapter 13
TABLE 13.1 ORGANIZATIONAL DECLINE AND CUTBACK MANAGEMENT: TACTICS FOR RESPONDIN...
TABLE 13.2 ATTRIBUTES OF INNOVATIONS THAT AFFECT THEIR IMPLEMENTATION
TABLE 13.3 PHASES OF AN ACTION RESEARCH MODEL FOR ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
TABLE 13.4 PATTERNS OF SUCCESSFUL ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
TABLE 13.5 STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL ORGANIZATIONAL TRANSFORMATION
TABLE 13.6 DETERMINANTS OF SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE I...
TABLE 13.7 CONDITIONS FOR A SUCCESSFUL CHANGE IN A FEDERAL AGENCY
Chapter 14
TABLE 14.1 OFTEN OVERLOOKED CONSIDERATIONS FOR OUTSOURCING SUCCESSFULLY
TABLE 14.2 STEPS INVOLVED IN FORMALIZING A RELATIONAL CONTRACT
Chapter 1
FIGURE 1.1 A FRAMEWORK FOR ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS
FIGURE 1.2 A FRAMEWORK FOR ORGANIZATIONAL ANALYSIS (ELABORATION OF FIGURE 1....
Chapter 3
FIGURE 3.3 “PUBLICNESS”: POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC AUTHORITY
Cover
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Praise for Understanding and Managing Public Organizations, Sixth Edition
“The best just keeps getting better. This is the definitive place for all serious students of public administration to start. It is the most comprehensive book in the field. It is required reading for MPA students, Ph.D. students, and all scholars in the field.”
—Kenneth J. Meier, Distinguished Scholar in Residence, American University
“This book is a must read for everyone in the community of public management in Korea, just like in many places all over the world. This new edition with Fernandez and Malatesta updates and continues this book's contributions. Undoubtedly, it provides a valuable resource for researchers and students who are interested in public management and applications of organization theory to public organizations. It is quite simply the best investigation of public organization and management that I have read.”
—Young Han Chun, Professor of Public Administration and Director of the Center for Organizational Diagnosis and Evaluations, Seoul National University
“This is the bible for public management scholarship. It is the first place to turn when looking for an accessible but rigorous analysis of research on basic aspects of organizational life in the public sector, such as how culture, leadership, and motivation matter. The interdisciplinary array of research on public management has become so voluminous as to seem overwhelming at times. Understanding and Managing Public Organizations performs an extraordinary curatorial task by turning these streams of work into a coherent and insightful body of knowledge. Anyone interested in how research can inform governance should start with this book.”
—Donald Moynihan, McCourt Chair, McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University
“Just when you think this book on public management could not get any better, Hal Rainey, Sergio Fernandez and Deanna Malatesta have delivered a new edition that covers all of the topics that you would expect, and more! Social media, hybrid organizations, leadership, diversity and relational contracting are now introduced to this standard work, while other topics have been updated with the most recent academic insights. A true treasure trove for students of public administration around the globe.”
—Sandra van Thiel, Professor of Public Management at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands
“The revised and updated edition of Understanding and Managing Public Organizations remains the Encyclopedia Britannica of public management; if you want to find out what has been written, and what is collectively said about the practice and theory of public management, look no further than the Rainey, Fernandez, and Malatesta comprehensive sixth edition.”
—Richard M. Walker, Chan Hon Pun Professor of Behavioural and Policy Sciences, Chair Professor of Public Management, and Dean, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong
“The newest (sixth) edition of Understanding and Managing Public Organizations masterfully connects the classical, core concepts of public management with the latest, evolving theories and research evidence on managing organizations. Readers will not only gain a thorough understanding of key dimensions of organizational structure, management and effectiveness—illuminated by rich case examples—but also a deep appreciation for the dynamics of public management that cut across sectoral boundaries and strategies for managing change and driving organizational improvement. This book is indispensable for students and scholars alike in the field of public administration.”
—Carolyn J. Heinrich, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy, Education and Economics, Vanderbilt University
Comprehensive instructor resources to accompany this sixth edition of Understanding and Managing Public Organizations are available online at www.wiley.com/go/college/rainey. Materials are organized by chapter and include the following:
PowerPoint slides for each chapter
. These follow the organization of the text and highlight the chapter themes and main subparts.
Key terms for each chapter
. A list of key terms is provided for each chapter.
Discussion questions for each chapter
. These questions can be used in class to prompt discussion on key themes or assigned to students as homework. The typical discussion question can be answered in one or two paragraphs.
Case studies
. Numerous cases, applicable to topics in multiple chapters.
Class exercise
. All class exercises can be completed in less than forty-five minutes of class time. These are designed to reinforce chapter lessons while encouraging collaborative learning among students.
SIXTH EDITION
Hal G. Rainey, Sergio Fernandez, and Deanna Malatesta
Copyright © 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
ISBN 978-1-119-70589-5 (Paperback)ISBN 978-1-119-70596-3 (ePDF)ISBN 978-1-119-70590-1 (ePub)
Cover image: WileyCover design: ©studiocasper/Getty Images
1.1 A Framework for Organizational Analysis
1.2 A Framework for Organizational Analysis (Elaboration of Figure 1.1)
3.1 Agencies, Enterprises, and Hybrid Organizations
3.2 Public and Private Ownership and Funding
3.3 “Publicness”: Political and Economic Authority
9.1 Formulation of Expectancy Theory
3.1 Explanations for Hybrid Organizations
3.2 Agencification Types
3.3 Typology of Organizations Created by Cross-Classifying Ownership, Funding, and Model of Social Control
3.4 Distinctive Characteristics of Public Management and Public Organizations: A Summary of Common Assertations and Research Findings
4.1 General Environmental Conditions
4.2 Descriptive and Analytical Dimensions of Organizational Environments
4.3 Major Environmental Components for Public Organizations
5.1 Sources of Political Authority and Influence of Institutions, Entities, and Actors in the Political System
5.2 Guidelines for Managing Relations with the News Media
6.1 Organizational Effectiveness: Criteria and Measures
6.2 Commonly Used Models of Organizational Effectiveness
6.3 Research Programs Focusing on Managing for High Performance
9.1 Questionnaire Items Used to Measure Work Motivation
9.2 Categories of Needs and Values Employed in Selected Content Theories
9.3 Concepts and Principles of Operant Conditioning
9.4 Self-Determination Theory
9.5 Methods Commonly Used to Enhance Work Motivation in Organizations
10.1 The Complexity of Human Needs and Values
10.2 Types of Incentives
10.3 Perry's Dimensions and Questionnaire Measures of Public Service Motivation
10.4 Effective Diversity Management Practices
11.1 Managing Roles and Skill
11.2 Conceptions and Dimensions of Culture
11.3 Background References for Assessing Organizational Culture
12.1 Factors Related to Effective Work Teams
12.2 Communication Problems and Distortions
13.1 Organizational Decline and Cutback Management: Tactics for Responding to Decline and Funding Cuts
13.2 Attributes of Innovations that Affect Their Implementation
13.3 Phases of an Action Research Model for Organization Development
13.4 Patterns of Successful Organizational Change
13.5 Steps for Successful Organizational Transformation
13.6 Determinants of Successful Implementation of Organizational Change in the Public Sector
13.7 Conditions for a Successful Change in a Federal Agency
14.1 Often Overlooked Considerations for Outsourcing Successfully
14.2 Steps Involved in Formalizing a Relational Contract
The editions of Understanding and Managing Public Organizations reviewed the literature on management and organization theory and suggested applications to the public sector grounded in evidence from research on public organizations and the people in them. The book has served as a text in graduate courses in public administration and public affairs programs. It has also served the needs of scholars, and it has a high number of citations in the Social Science Citation Index for a book of this type, in this field. The book's chapters describe concepts and insights from the organization and management literature that support leaders' and managers' efforts to think about the challenges they face and to take action to address those challenges.
The online instructor's guide (IG) includes a PowerPoint file for each chapter, lists of key terms and ideas, discussion questions, case studies, and exercises to aid instructors and to engage students. For this edition, the IG has been improved and updated. Additional case studies connect theory and research to management practice. The additions include a case focusing on Indiana's effort to retool its welfare system through a complex contract with an IBM-led group of cross-sector partners. In Part 1 of the case, students consider important techniques for instituting relational contracts and how competing institutional logics may affect collaboration success. In Part 2 of the case, students develop an appreciation for the challenges of developing and implementing a performance management system. A separate new case study engages students on the topic of implicit bias and its organizational and societal implications. After reviewing research on implicit bias, students consider how implicit bias could be a problem when using “big data” to make “democratic” decisions.
New coauthors provide the most significant change in this sixth edition. Professor Sergio Fernandez and Professor Deanna Malatesta, both of the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, bring major strengths to the improvement of this edition. Professor Fernandez, who is also Extraordinary Professor in the School of Public Management and Administration at University of Pretoria, South Africa, studies public sector management and leadership, with a focus on employee empowerment, representative bureaucracy, performance, and government outsourcing. Professor Malatesta's research focuses on governance, public–private distinctions, and contracts.
The first chapter provides a conceptual framework for the major topics in the book, and the remaining chapters develop these topics by reviewing theories, research, and practices in the field of organizational and managerial analysis. The field of public management and organization has developed rapidly since publication of the previous editions. For example, the number of quasi-governmental organizations (QUANGOs, or “hybrids”) has grown rapidly in many nations; this edition considers their characteristics and implications for democracy. This edition also considers changes in social media and its implications for interaction among policy actors and managers as well as how it has influenced decision making. Chapters in this edition have been expanded to cover new material and new developments. This includes research on how public managers lead and behave, effective performance in government agencies, initiatives to promote employee engagement in public organizations, demographic representation and diversity in public organizations, differences between public and private managers' perceptions of the personnel systems with which they work, “public values,” public service motivation and networks, collaboration in public service delivery, and public service motivation, which has been the subject of a wave of studies in numerous different nations.
This edition also expands coverage of recent developments in the study of work-related attitudes such as employee empowerment and employee engagement and positive organizational behavior, as well as recent developments in leadership concepts, including shared, authentic, and servant leadership. Coverage of collaborative forms of organization and governance, including networks, partnerships, and contracts, is more fully developed in this edition and now includes the theory of relational contracting. The chapters on the major topics of the book show that researchers have published a profusion of studies on these and other topics since the fifth edition appeared, thus raising a challenge for those who seek to review them all.
Previous editions of this book have analyzed, as does this one, the distinctions between public organizations and their members, on the one hand, and other types of organizations, leaders, and employees, such as those in the business sector, on the other. This edition adds two topics to this discussion that are particularly relevant to outsourcing and public–private partnerships: the US judiciary's approach to distinguishing between state actors and nonstate actors (The State Action Doctrine) and federal administrative policy recommendations (OMB Circular A-76) on inherently governmental services. Chapter Three presents a conceptual analysis of these distinctions, and what we mean when we refer to these different types of organizations and the people who work for them. Subsequent chapters describe research articles about public organizations and their people. Many studies of this type have appeared in recent years. Assembling these studies and describing them for the reader has posed a serious challenge, but a welcome one, because one of the book's objectives is to provide the most comprehensive compilation and review possible of such research-based analyses of public organizations.
Previous editions of the book covered classic works in management and organization theory. This edition continues to emphasize their theoretical relevance. Previous editions also covered important developments in the practice of general management and public management. The book provides such coverage, in part to make this edition useful for practicing managers and professionals and for students interested in such roles. It provides suggestions about managing relations with the media (Chapter Five), enhancing one's power and authority (Chapter Seven), managing for high performance (Chapter Six), conducting strategic decision-making processes (Chapter Seven), motivating employees (Chapter Ten), managing and leading organizational culture (Chapter Eleven), managing conflict (Chapter Twelve), leading organizational change (Chapter Thirteen), and effectively collaborating (Chapter Fourteen).
In addition, this book provides examples of how people in public organizations have put these ideas into practice. For instance, Chapter Eight describes a major structural reform that the US Internal Revenue Service undertook, and the structural changes made at a national laboratory in response to public concerns about its safety. Chapter Nine points out that many of the efforts to reform pay systems in government would have been much more effective if they had been informed by a clear understanding of a number of motivation theories. Chapter Thirteen shows how strategies for leading organizational change have led to successful large-scale change in government agencies, and how not applying such strategies has led to failure in other instances. Chapter Thirteen also provides a summary of points of expert consensus about successful management of large-scale organizational change. In covering these topics, this book pursues the theme that effective leadership involves the well-informed, integrative use of management concepts and ideas. Carl Von Clausewitz's classic treatise On War (1986, 1832) illustrates this theme. Clausewitz stated that he could not advise an individual commander on how to conduct a specific campaign because such situations are varied and contingent. Rather, he provided general insights on how to conceive of the nature of war. Even persons who loathe military force and military analogies should accept the point that people facing practical challenges often profit from general understanding and insight as much as from detailed prescriptions.
The audience for previous editions of Understanding and Managing Public Organizations included graduate students and scholars interested in public management and applications of organizational analysis to the public sector. Faculty colleagues at other universities have mentioned that their MPA and MPP students do not see the need for so many citations to academic research articles. Their doctoral students, however, value the reviews of academic literature and research and the citation of such work. Colleagues and anonymous reviewers have advised keeping the coverage of academic research. They insisted that this coverage represents a distinctive contribution and that we should avoid “dumbing down” the book. Even so, the publication of a vast number of books and journal articles since the previous editions make it impossible to cite and cover them all, even though so many of them deserve such attention. In this edition, we often rely on prominent examples and books and articles that provide summary reviews of major topics, because we simply cannot refer to all the valuable research that so many authors have published.
This edition also seeks to provide more examples and ideas pertaining to nations other than the US. The book draws heavily on information about the US, but evidence indicates its usefulness to readers in other countries, and this edition seeks to enhance that usefulness with attention to examples and ideas from other nations. This effort at internationalization is taking care of itself, in a sense. Increasing numbers of articles by authors from all continents now appear in major journals about public organizations and management in the US and in journals with an international focus. Many of the publications to which we refer in this edition are authored by researchers from nations other than the US, drawing on research about organizations and their personnel around the world.
In addition, as mentioned earlier, an instructor's guide is available. It includes key terms, examples, potential writing assignments, and case discussion exercises. The instructor's guide also includes and illustrates suggestions and alternatives for using the materials. These materials can enliven the topics and make them more accessible for MPA and MPP students. Microsoft PowerPoint presentations are also available for each chapter; they provide many graphics that can enliven a discussion of the topics. These resources are available at www.wiley.com/go/college/rainey.
Reviewers of the previous editions said that practitioners would be unlikely to delve into the detailed reviews of research and theory that this edition provides. This assumption underestimates many practicing leaders and managers who are thoughtful and reflective about leadership and management. They may dislike abstruse academic discourse because they are inclined to action and practical results. When practicing managers enroll in courses in academic settings, however, they often lead their classes in insight and interest in new ideas. They often spurn “war stories” and how-to manuals. This book can serve practicing managers and leaders who want a review of basic topics in the field.
Part One covers the dynamic context of public organizations. Its five chapters introduce the basic objectives and assumptions of the book and the conceptual framework mentioned earlier. Chapter One discusses the current context of public management in practice and in scholarship and the challenges this context raises for applying organization and management theory to public organizations. Chapter Two summarizes the history of organization and management theory, describing the development of the most important topics in the field. Chapter Three defines public organizations and distinguishes them from private ones, and provides an overview of the assertions about the nature of public organizations. Chapters Four and Five review the literature on organizational environments, particularly the political and institutional environments of public organizations.
Part Two focuses on key dimensions of organizing and managing, and on major topics in organization theory and management. Chapter Six examines goals, performance, and effectiveness in public organizations and strategies and practices related to high performance. Chapter Seven analyzes the role of power in organizations, reviews various approaches to decision making, and discusses strategic management. Chapter Eight focuses on organizational structure and design and how managers use information technology and social media. Chapters Nine and Ten provide a comprehensive review of employee values and motives, theories of work motivation, work-related attitudes, and the importance of demographic representation and diversity in organizations. Chapter Eleven examines leadership theories, approaches, and strategies and the role of organizational culture. Chapter Twelve covers the topics of communication, conflict, and teamwork. Chapter Thirteen discusses the challenges of undertaking organizational change and what managers can do to implement change successfully in organizations. Finally, Chapter Fourteen covers new ground, including recent research on collaboration and what organizations have learned from their collaboration experiences, such as contracting, collaborative relations, partnerships, and other forms. It also includes guiding principles for drafting and implementing conventional and formal relational contracts, key factors in long-term strategic partnerships for organizations of all sectors.
We owe thanks to all the people mentioned in the first five editions, and the list has grown even longer. Despite our concern about leaving out anyone, we must leave out a great many people anyway. We offer thanks to all those who have discussed this edition with us and made suggestions, including Professors Gene Brewer, Delmer Dunn, Ed Kellough, George Krause, Michelle Lofton, Ken Meier, Sanjay Pandey, Sandra Van Thiel, Carolyn Heinrich, and many others. As in the previous editions, Hal Rainey dedicates this one to his son, Willis, his daughter, Nancy, and his wife, Lucy. Professor Fernandez would like to thank all of his graduate students who used the book and offered helpful feedback over the years, and his wife, Elena, for her loving support and patience. He dedicates this book to his family. Professor Malatesta offers special acknowledgment to Sung Chung, a graduate student in Indiana University's O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, who spent many hours synthesizing research, to Sandra van Thiel, Professor in the Department of Public Administration and Sociology at Erasmus University, Rotterdam, on whose expertise she relied to guide her through the topic of hybrids and quangos, and to Carolyn Heinrich, the Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Public Policy, Education, and Economics at Vanderbilt University, who provided valuable guidance on the topics of performance management and relational contracting. She dedicates this book to Alaina, Niko, and Francesca, and to her husband, Russ.
All three authors owe gratitude to representatives of publisher Wiley, who have helped and supported the work on this and previous editions. For this edition, it has been a pleasure to work with them. Each edition of this book acknowledges the contributions of numerous authors, both those we have cited and those we were unable to incorporate due to time and space limitations. Their work supports the conclusion that public organizations are important institutions that provide crucial services. They face public skepticism, but at the same time, increasing demands to provide an elaborate array of functions and services. These pressures are aggravated by misunderstandings and myths about the nature and performance of public organizations and employees in the United States and many other countries. Public organizations are often highly effective and well-managed, with hardworking, high-performing employees. The review of insights and concepts provided in this book supports those who advance the effective management of public organizations. The book thus acknowledges all those who strive with sincerity to provide public, social, and altruistic service.
For many reasons, the authors agree upon the order of authorship indicated below. The authors agree that each author contributed equally to the revisions and improvements in this sixth edition, and deserve equal credit for this edition.
Hal G. Rainey, University of Georgia
Sergio Fernandez, Indiana University and University of Pretoria
Deanna Malatesta, Indiana University
Understanding and Managing Public Organizations, sixth edition
Sergio Fernandez is Professor at Indiana University O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs and Affiliate Faculty in Indiana University African Studies Program. He also serves as Extraordinary Professor in University of Pretoria School of Public Management and Administration. He earned his PhD in Public Administration from the University of Georgia. His research focuses on organizational behavior in the public sector, public sector leadership, representative bureaucracy, and government outsourcing. His work has appeared in leading policy and management journals, including Public Administration Review, Governance, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, American Review of Public Administration, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, Leadership Quarterly, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, and Journal of Modern African Studies. He is author of Representative Bureaucracy and Performance: Public Service Transformation in South Africa (Palgrave Macmillan, 2020). He has served on seven journal editorial boards and is an editor for Africa Today.
Deanna Malatesta is an Associate Professor at the Paul O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington. Her research foci include public sector management and governance, collaboration, and contracts. Professor Malatesta teaches several courses at Indiana University: Public Policy Problems and Solutions (undergraduate-level), Public Management, Public Program Performance and Contracting (graduate-level) and Public Organizations (doctoral seminar). She currently serves as associate editor of the International Journal of Public Sector Management (IJPSM).
She authored much of the Instructor's Guide for the fifth edition and for the current sixth edition of Understanding and Managing Public Organizations.
Malatesta received a BA/MPA from Rutgers University–Camden, New Jersey, and a doctorate from the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. Her research appears in the field's top journals, including Public Administration Review, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, The American Review of Public Administration, Public Administration, State and Local Government Studies, and the International Journal of Public Sector Management. In 2010, she received the William E. Mosher and Frederick C. Mosher Award for the Best Article by an Academician in Public Administration Review, awarded by the American Society for Public Administration. She has served on the editorial boards for Public Administration Review, International Journal of Public Sector Management, Journal of Strategic Contracting and Negotiation (JSCAN), and the Journal of Public Affairs and Education.
Malatesta has served as a consultant to federal, state, and local governments, and on various task forces for government agencies. In 2002, she was a technology consultant for the City of Philadelphia, Cable Television Franchise Renewal Contract Committee. In 2008, she was appointed by the Indianapolis City-County Council of Indianapolis and served on Mayor Greg Ballard's High Performance Governance Team. In 2012, she consulted with the Regulated Occupations Evaluation Committee (ROEC) for the State of Indiana. In 2013 and 2014, she consulted with the US Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC) on the administration of the agency's Alternative Dispute Resolution Programs.
Hal G. Rainey is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Public Administration and Policy, in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia. He conducts research on management in the public sector, with an emphasis on leadership, incentives, organizational change, and organizational performance, and the comparison of organization and management in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.
The first edition of Understanding and Managing Public Organizations won the Best Book Award of the Public and Nonprofit Sectors Division of the Academy of Management in 1992. The book has been published in Chinese- and Russian-language editions, and in other languages.
In 1995 Rainey received the Charles H. Levine Award for Excellence in Research, Teaching, and Service, conferred jointly by the American Society for Public Administration and the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration. In 2003 he was elected as a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. Rainey received the 2009 Dwight Waldo Award for excellence in scholarship in public administration across an extended career. In 2011 he received the John Gaus Award and lecture invitation from the American Political Science Association. The Gaus Award honors “the recipient's lifetime of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration.” In 2016, Rainey received the Frederickson Award from the National Public Management Research Association for “lifetime contributions to research on public management and to the intellectual development of the field.” In 2018, he received the Provan Award for Contributions to Empirical Theory from the Public and Nonprofit Division of the Academy of Management. He has served as chair of the Public and Nonprofit Sectors Division of the Academy of Management and as chair of the Public Administration Section of the American Political Science Association. He received his BA (1968) in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his MA (1973) in psychology and PhD (1977) in public administration from the Ohio State University.
Rainey has served on governmental commissions and task forces and in applied research and teaching roles at the three levels of government in the United States, and in service to governments in other nations. Before entering university teaching and research, Rainey served as an officer in the US Navy and as a VISTA volunteer.
As work on this sixth edition began, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted nations around the world, ultimately infecting and killing millions of people. Leaders of nations affected by the virus relied on workers and organizations in the administrative branch of their governments for responses to the pandemic. In the United States, the president, governors of states, and local government officials called upon administrators for policies and procedures to contain the virus and to explain them to the citizenry. The US president, along with political supporters, had expressed disdain for “the deep state,” which allegedly involved officials in the federal administrative branch who opposed the president. During this crisis, however, the president held public briefings in which administrative officials played leading roles. The White House coordinator for the response to the crisis and the head of a unit of the National Institutes of Health came forward in the briefings to explain decisions, and to answer questions from the press.
In public statements, the President and other elected officials at all levels referred to the crucial roles that administrative officials and organizations played. The administrators represented an alphabet soup of organizations and positions – the Surgeon General of the United States, the White House coordinator, CDC, FDA, HHS, NIH, Homeland Security, Departments of Public Health at state and local levels and the commissioners of those departments, and other officials and organizations. As leaders asked citizens to comply with recommendations and directives, government employees at all levels implemented these procedures. In many countries, citizens applauded healthcare workers, many of whom were government employees, for their heroic efforts.
Government officials closed many businesses and halted other activities. Economic dislocation caused by the pandemic raised another massive challenge. In the US and other nations, chief executives and legislative bodies sought to meet that challenge with payments to individuals and loans for businesses. The agencies involved in such policies added additional names to the roster of government agencies and personnel with major roles: the Departments of Treasury and of Labor, the Social Security Administration, and other organizations at all levels of government.
The responses to the pandemic also involved essential roles for nongovernmental organizations, including business and nonprofit organizations. Among their major contributions, manufacturing firms shifted their activities to the production of medical supplies such as masks and face shields. Pharmaceutical and medical companies concentrated on speeding the development of vaccines tests to detect the virus, and other defenses against it. The activities of such organizations illustrated a reality of contemporary political economy – government, nonprofit, and private business entities blend together in many ways in the provision of goods and services. This reality of collaboration, networking, partnerships, and contractual relations will receive more attention in this edition than in previous editions.
More generally, the effort to control and defeat the coronavirus illustrates another obvious reality. Organizations and the people in them often provide crucial goods and services; the analysis of how they can do so effectively and the dissemination of that knowledge can enhance the discharge of these crucial functions. The pandemic crisis illustrates an important characteristic of public or governmental organizations and the people in them. They are heavily influenced by developments in the political and governmental context in which they operate. Even government employees who never encounter an elected official in their daily activities have their working lives influenced by the political system in which they work. Government organizations, which this book will usually call public organizations, deliver crucial services. Inadequate organization and management of those functions create severe problems for citizens. The organizations and the people in them have to carry out their services and functions under the auspices and influence of other governmental authorities. Hence they operate directly or indirectly in what David Aberbach and Bert Rockman (2002) call “the web of politics.” The examples apply as well to governments in other nations and the organizations within those governments. Nations around the world have followed a pattern of organizing, reorganizing, reforming, and striving to improve government agencies’ management and performance (Kettl, 2002; Light, 2008; National Academy of Public Administration, 2020; Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2011; Walker and Boyne, 2006).
All nations face decisions about the roles of government and private institutions in their society. In recent decades, the reforms mentioned previously included a movement in many countries either to curtail government authority and replace it with greater private activity or to make government operations more like those of private business firms (Pollitt and Bouckeart, 2011; Christensen and Lægreid, 2007). This skepticism about government implies sharp differences between government and privately owned organizations. During this same period, however, numerous writers argued that we had too little sound analysis of such differences and too little attention to management in the public sector. This critique elicited a wave of research and writing on public management and public organization theory, in which experts and researchers have been working to provide more careful analyses of organizational and managerial issues in government.
This chapter elaborates on these points to develop another central theme of this book. We face a dilemma in combining our legitimate concerns about the performance of public organizations with the recognition that they play indispensable roles. We need to improve their effectiveness. We can profit by studying major topics from general management and organization theory and examining evidence of their application in the public sector. That evidence indicates that the governmental context influences organization, management and performance. Often, governmental organizations and people in them perform better than is commonly acknowledged. These examples usually reflect the efforts of managers in government who combine managerial skill with effective knowledge of the public sector context. Experts continue to research and debate the nature of this combination, however, as more evidence appears rapidly and in diverse places. This book seeks to base its analysis of public management and organizations on a careful review of this evidence.
A review and explanation of the literature on organizations and their management, integrated with a review of the research on public organizations and public bureaucracy, supports improved management and performance of public organizations. These two bodies of research and thought are related but separate. Their integration imposes a major challenge for those interested in public management. The character of these fields and of their separation needs clarification. We can begin that process by noting that scholars in sociology, psychology, and business administration have developed an elaborate body of knowledge in the fields of organizational behavior and organization theory.
The study of organizational behavior originated in industrial and social psychology. Organizational behavior researchers concentrate on individual and group behaviors in organizations. They analyze motivation, work satisfaction, leadership, work group dynamics, and the attitudes and behaviors of the members of organizations. Organization theory is based more in sociology. It focuses on topics that concern the organization as a whole, such as organizational environments, goals and effectiveness, strategy and decision making, change and innovation, and structure and design. Some writers treat organizational behavior as a subfield of organization theory. The distinction is primarily a matter of specialization among researchers; it is reflected in the relative emphasis each topic receives in specific textbooks and professional journals.
Organization theory and organizational behavior are covered in high-quality programs in business administration, public administration, educational administration, or other forms of administration, because they are relevant to management. The term management is used in diverse ways, but we can think of this topic as involving the analysis and practice of such functions as leading, organizing, motivating, planning and strategy making, evaluating effectiveness, and communicating.
A strong tradition, hereafter called the “generic tradition,” pervades organization theory and organizational behavior. Chapters Two and Three discuss major contributors to this field who apply their theories and insights to all types of organizations. They have worked to build a general body of knowledge about organizations and management. Many current texts on organization theory and management contain applications to public, private, and nonprofit organizations (e.g., Daft, 2020). In addition, management researchers and consultants frequently work with public organizations and use the same concepts and techniques they use with private businesses. They argue that people working in government, nonprofit, and private business settings face similar challenges and follow generally similar patterns.
The generic tradition offers valuable concepts, as this book will illustrate. Nevertheless, we do have a body of knowledge specific to public organizations and management. Governments around the world involve immense amounts of managerial activity. City managers, e.g., have become highly professionalized. We have a body of knowledge about public administration. Economists have developed theories of public bureaucracy (Downs, 1967). Political scientists have written extensively about it (Meier and Bothe, 2007). They usually depict the public bureaucracy as significantly different from private business. Political scientists concentrate on the political role of public organizations and their relationships with legislators, courts, chief executives, and interest groups (e.g., Krause, 1999). Economists analyzing the public bureaucracy emphasize the absence of economic markets for its outputs. In past decades, they often concluded that this absence of markets makes public organizations more bureaucratic, inefficient, change-resistant, and susceptible to political influence than private firms (Dahl and Lindblom, 1953; Downs, 1967; Niskanen, 1971; Tullock, 1965).
In the 1970s, authors began to point out the divergence between the generic management literature and that on the public bureaucracy and to call for better integration of these topics.1 These authors noted that organization theory and behavior literature offers concepts for analyzing organizational structure, change, decisions, strategy, environments, motivation, leadership, and other important topics. In addition, researchers have tested these ideas in empirical research. Because of their generic approach, however, they paid little attention to the issues raised by political scientists and economists concerning public organizations. For instance, they usually ignored the internationally significant issue of whether government ownership and economic market exposure make a difference for management and organization.
Critics also faulted the writings in political science and public administration for too much anecdotal description and too little theory and systematic research (Perry and Kraemer, 1983; Pitt and Smith, 1981). Scholars in public administration pointed to the limitations of the research and theory in that field (McCurdy and Cleary, 1984; White and Adams, 1994). In a national survey of research projects on public management, Garson and Overman (1981; 1982) found relatively little funded research on general public management and concluded that the research that did exist was highly fragmented.
Neither the political science nor the economics literature on public bureaucracy paid as much attention to internal management – designing the structure of the organization, motivating and leading employees, developing internal communications and teamwork – as did the organization theory and general management literature.
Concerns about educating people for public management also fueled debate. In the wake of an upsurge in government activity during the 1960s, graduate programs in public administration spread among universities around the country. The National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration (later renamed as the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration) began to accredit these programs. Among other criteria, this process required master of public administration (MPA) programs to emphasize management skills. This implied the importance of identifying how MPA programs compare to master of business administration (MBA) programs in preparing people for management positions. At the same time, it raised the question of how public management differs from business management.
These developments coincided with expressions of concern about the adequacy of our knowledge of public management. In 1979, the US Office of Personnel Management (1980) organized a prestigious conference at the Brookings Institution. The conference featured statements by prominent academics and government officials about the need for research on public management. It addressed a widespread concern among practitioners and researchers about “the lack of depth of knowledge in this field” (p. 7). At around the same time, various authors produced a stream of articles and books arguing that public sector management involves distinct issues (e.g. Allison, 1983; Lynn 1981). They also complained that too little research and theory directly addressed the practice of active, effective public management. More recently, this concern with building research and theory on public management developed into a movement, as more researchers have converged on the topic. Beginning in 1990, a network of scholars have come together for a series of Public Management Research Conferences. These conferences led to books containing research reported at the conferences (Bozeman, 1993; Brudney, O’Toole, and Rainey, 2000; Frederickson and Johnston, 1999; Kettl and Milward, 1996) and to many professional journal articles. In 2000, the group formed the Public Management Research Association to promote research on the topic. Since then, researchers have continued to call attention to unresolved issues and controversies (e.g. Amsler, 2019; Christensen et al., 2020; Moulton, 2019; Nabatchi and Carboni, 2019). Literature has burgeoned so much that a comprehensive review is virtually impossible. Later chapters will cover many of the products and results of this research. We adhere to this process of reviewing research and expert writing even though some users of previous editions have commented that practicing managers and practice-oriented MPA students do not need this much detail about research. We stay with the approach in line with current advocacy of evidence-based management, when such evidence is effective and credible (e.g., Amirkhanyan, 2011; Barends and Rousseau, 2018; Heinrich, 2012). Students, researchers, and practicing managers and professionals can benefit from seeing the nature and the quality of the research on which recommendations and insights are based.
On a less positive note, complaints about inadequacies in the practice of public management have also fueled interest in the field. Large bureaucracies have a pervasive influence on our lives. Interactions with government can be burdensome and costly (Herd and Moynihan, 2018). They often blunder, and they can harm and oppress people, both inside the organizations and beyond their boundaries (Adams and Balfour, 2009). We face severe challenges in ensuring both their effective operation and our control over them through democratic processes. Some analysts contended that our efforts to maintain this balance of effective operation and democratic control create disincentives and constraints that impede public administrators from embracing the managerial roles that managers in business typically play (Lynn, 1981; Warwick, 1975). Some of these authors have argued that too many public managers fail to accept the challenges of motivating their subordinates and effectively designing their organizations. Many elected and politically appointed officials face short terms in office, complex laws and rules that constrain their authority to take action, and intense political pressures. Many concentrate on pressing public policy issues and pay too little attention to the internal management of agencies and programs under their authority. Middle managers and career civil servants, constrained by central rules, have little authority or incentive to manage.
In contrast with criticisms of government agencies and employees, other authors have contended that public bureaucracies perform better than is commonly acknowledged (Doig and Hargrove, 1987; Downs and Larkey, 1986; Goodsell, 2014; Milward and Rainey, 1983; Rainey and Steinbauer, 1999; Wamsley and Colleagues, 1990). Others describe successful governmental innovations and policies (Borins, 2008; Holzer and Callahan, 1998). Many of these authors pointed to evidence of effective performance by government organizations and officials and to the difficulty of proving that the private sector performs better.
In response to this concern about the need for better analysis about effective public management, the literature has continued to burgeon during the current century. As later chapters will show, a genre has developed that includes numerous books and articles about effective leadership, management, and organizational practices in government. These contributions tend to assert that government organizations can and do perform well, and that we need continued inquiry into when they do, and why.2
