Barton Wechsler

Trust in the Public Sector: Individual and Organizational Determinants

Trust is of major theoretical and instrumental significance for the study of public organizations. Despite an extensive literature detailing the implications of trust in organizational life, there has been little systematic research on its individual or organizational determinants. This article develops and tests a model of trust formation in public organizations. Results of this research show that organizational trust is a distinct work-related attitude. Trust is based on individual demographics, psychological and individual predispositions, attitudes and beliefs, and affective responses to organizational factors. The most important determinants of trust, however, are found in the organizational climate established by supervisory relations.

Organizational Commitment: A Reconceptualization And Empirical Test Of Public-Private Differences

This article examines the public-private dimension as an antecedent of organizational com mitment and assesses the effect of publicness on individual attachment to the organization. The findings suggest that (1) the strength of an individuals attachment to the organization is a function of several dimensions of organizational experience which can be inconsistent in their effects; and (2) that, public employees, in particular, may be simultaneously attracted to and repelled by the organization, with their desire to serve important values undercut by low or negative feelings of affiliation.

The Dynamics of Strategy in Public Organizations

Abstract The pattern of strategy in a public agency is determined not only by the plans and actions of its leaders but also by forces in its external environment. Because both organizations and environments can change over time, and because different agencies operate under different conditions, no single strategy is universally viable. An examination of the strategies of three Ohio state agencies suggests that effective strategic planning and management involves adopting the most viable approach, not necessarily the most comprehensive and elegant planning system.

The development of an interorganizational network in state government: Improved performance through action research

In unstable, changing environments we have seen that organizations become more interdependent and seek to form interorganizational relationships. This is especially true in public sector agencies where financial and human resources are becoming more scarce and unpredictable. In an attempt to develop an interorganizational system in Florida state government, the authors used an action research approach to design and implement a network of individuals from six agencies seeking to improve individual and organizational performance. The program of research and development involved 30 participants and occurred in three distinct phases: 1) the identification phase; 2) the action learning phase; and 3) the evaluation and planning phase. Findings from the project have shown improved effectiveness and personal growth for program participants. Network interaction analysis and other data sources show a viable interorganizational network emerging with the potential for improving performance in the agencies and the sta...