David Giauque

Motivating Employees of the Public Sector: Does Public Service Motivation Matter?

ABSTRACT This article analyzes if, and to what extent, the public service motivation (PSM) construct has an added value to explain work motivation in the public sector. In order to address the specificity of PSM when studying work motivation, the theoretical model underlying this empirical study compares PSM with two other explanatory factors: material incentives, such as performance-related pay, and team relations and support, such as recognition by superiors. This theoretical model is then tested with data collected in a national survey of 3,754 civil servants at the Swiss municipal level. Results of a structural equations model clearly show the relevance of PSM. They also provide evidence for the importance of socio-relational motivating factors, whereas material incentives play an anecdotal role.

Putting public service motivation into context: a balance between universalism and particularism

Research on Public Service Motivation (PSM) has increased enormously in the last 20 years. Besides the analysis of the antecedents of PSM and its impact on organizations and individuals, many open questions about the nature of PSM itself still remain. This article argues that the theoretical construct of PSM should be contextualized by integrating the political and administrative contexts of public servants when investigating their specific attitudes towards working in a public environment. It also challenges the efficacy of the classic four-dimensional structure of PSM when it is applied to a specific context. The findings of a confirmatory factor analysis from a dataset of 3754 employees of 279 Swiss municipalities support the appropriateness of contextualizing parts of the PSM construct. They also support the addition of an extra dimension called, according to previous research, Swiss democratic governance. With regard to our results, there is a need for further PSM research to set a definite measure of PSM, particularly in regard to the international diffusion of empirical research on PSM. Points for practitioners This study shows that public service motivation is a relevant construct for practitioners and may be used to better assess whether public agents are motivated by values or not. Nevertheless, it stresses also that the measurement of PSM must be adapted to the institutional context as well. Public managers interested in understanding better the degree to which their employees are motivated by public values must be aware that the measurement of this PSM construct has to be contextualized. In other words, PSM is also a function of the institutional environment in which organizations operate.

Emergence of contradictory injunctions in Swiss NPM projects

This article examines staff participation and involvement in Swiss public organisations that are undergoing major administrative change. Officially, the new public management reforms have the following objectives: more organisational autonomy; increased organisational flexibility and adaptability; more responsiveness; and greater productive capacity. All these objectives are intended to be attained, in part, by increasing staff participation and involvement. After evaluating some of the new public management projects the paper identifies a number of obstacles which are preventing the achievement of government objectives. The paper concludes that the reforms are producing contradictory expectations that may be undermining the achievement of the government reforms.

Stress Perception in Public Organisations Expanding the Job Demands–Job Resources Model by Including Public Service Motivation

Although stress has been a longstanding issue in organizations and management studies, it has never been studied in relation to Public Service Motivation. This article therefore aims to integrate PSM into the job demands–job resources model of stress to determine whether PSM might contribute to stress in public organizations. Drawing on original data from a questionnaire in a Swiss municipality, this study unsurprisingly shows that “red tape” is an antecedent of stress perception, whereas satisfaction with organizational support, positive feedback, and recognition significantly decrease the level of perceived stress. Astonishingly, the empirical results show that PSM is positively and significantly related to stress perception. By increasing individuals’ expectations toward their jobs, PSM might thus contribute to increased pressure on public agents. Ultimately, this article investigates the “dark side” of PSM, which has been neglected by the literature thus far.

HRM Practices, Intrinsic Motivators, and Organizational Performance in the Public Sector

This article aims to determine the impact of human resource management (HRM) practices on public service motivation (PSM) and organizational performance. Based on a survey of Swiss cantonal public employees (N = 3,131), this study shows that several HRM practices may be considered as organizational antecedents of PSM and strong predictors of perceived organizational performance. Fairness, job enrichment, individual appraisal, and professional development are HRM practices that are positively and significantly associated with PSM and perceived organizational performance. Moreover, these results suggest that HRM practices are stronger predictors than either PSM or organizational commitment when explaining the individual perception of organizational performance.

Civil servant identity at the crossroads: new challenges for public administrations

Purpose – To compare and contrast the changes introduced in Canada and Switzerland as a result of public management reforms and explore the ethical challenges they entail.Design/methodology/approach – This is a case study of two countries based in part on secondary sources but also on observations made by the authors.Findings – The strategies used in each country are different reflecting their distinct political institutions. But there is a commonality, namely the emergence of new ethical problems related to the changes under way. Each country has tackled these new ethical challenges in similar ways. Individual and group behaviour of both Canadian and Swiss civil servants is regulated through “external controls” (codes of ethics, rules of conduct), but also by means of the socialization of new professional values (quality of customer service, flexibility, innovation, creativity, efficiency and effectiveness). These external controls and new values are insufficient, however, to allow civil servants to deve...

New Public Management and Organizational Regulation: The Liberal Bureaucracy

This article sets out to question the impact of new public management (npm) reforms on the functioning of public organizations. This investigation uses the concept of organizational regulation as a basis. We assume that the introduction of npm principles and tools results in the constitution of a new type of regulation that we refer to as ‘liberal bureaucracy’. We describe the main characteristics based on qualitative empirical research carried out in four federal administrative departments in Canada and Switzerland. We conclude with a comparison of the data gathered with certain facts relating to the functioning of private sector organizations and highlight the striking similarities in this field.

Professionalisation of sport federations – a multi-level framework for analysing forms, causes and consequences

Research question: International and national sport federations as well as their member organisations are key actors within the sport system and have a wide range of relationships outside the sport system (e.g. with the state, sponsors, and the media). They are currently facing major challenges such as growing competition in top-level sports, democratisation of sports with ‘sports for all’ and sports as the answer to social problems. In this context, professionalising sport organisations seems to be an appropriate strategy to face these challenges and current problems. We define the professionalisation of sport organisations as an organisational process of transformation leading towards organisational rationalisation, efficiency and business-like management. This has led to a profound organisational change, particularly within sport federations, characterised by the strengthening of institutional management (managerialism) and the implementation of efficiency-based management instruments and paid staff. Research methods: The goal of this article is to review the current international literature and establish a global understanding of and theoretical framework for analysing why and how sport organisations professionalise and what consequences this may have. Results and findings: Our multi-level approach based on the social theory of action integrates the current concepts for analysing professionalisation in sport federations. We specify the framework for the following research perspectives: (1) forms, (2) causes and (3) consequences, and discuss the reciprocal relations between sport federations and their member organisations in this context. Implications: Finally, we work out a research agenda and derive general methodological consequences for the investigation of professionalisation processes in sport organisations.

Employment in the public and private sectors: toward a confusing hybridization process

The aim of this article is to provide a better insight into the trend towards hybridization of the public and private spheres. More specifically, its focus is to gain a better understanding of the similarities and differences between employment in the public and private sectors in the wake of recent changes. Public sector reforms within OECD countries have largely been inspired by principles and tools used in private enterprise. Most countries, as a result of financial and budgetary crises, want to modernize their public administration to make it more successful, efficient and effective. Moreover, we are witnessing the development of problem areas which are novel in the public sector, but familiar to the commercial sector. This article accordingly analyses the effects of this trend towards the integration of the public and private sectors in order to show its advantages and limitations for public sector employment.

From Leadership to Citizenship Behavior in Public Organizations When Values Matter

After decades of management reforms in the public sector, questions on the impact of leadership behavior in public organizations have been attracting increasing attention. This article investigates the relationship between transformational leadership behavior and organizational citizenship behavior as one major extra-role outcome of transformational leadership. Referring to a growing body of research that shows the importance of public service values and employee identification in public administration research, we include public service motivation and organizational goal clarification as mediating variables in our analysis. Structural equation modeling is applied as the method of analysis for a sample of 569 public managers at the local level of Switzerland. The findings of our study support the assumed indirect relationship between leadership and employee behavior and emphasize the relevance of public service values when analyzing leadership behavior in public sector organizations.