Seok Eun Kim

Structure and Perceived Performance in Public Organizations

Abstract The purpose of this study is to examine relationships and better-fits between organizational structure and performance in public organizations. This study takes into account multiple dimensions of organizational structure: span of control, organizational personnel size, global organizational red tape and personnel red tape. The relationships between the first two physical dimensions and perceived organizational performance are examined by taking different combinations of measures, such as raw measures, log-transformation measures and squared measures. The results of ordinal logistic regression models find that, except for span of control, the other structural dimensions have a negative influence on perceived organizational performance. While span of control shows a better-fit with perceived performance in a linear and positive direction, personnel size fits better in a log-linear relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the conclusion.

Searching for a Strategic Fit: An Empirical Analysis of the Conditions for Performance Management Implementation in U. S. Federal Agencies

Performance management (PM) has become the dominant approach to federal management reform. In compliance with government requirements, federal agencies have been implementing a variety of PM activities, but with quite different levels of success. Based on the notion of strategic fit—i.e., that a strategy can work for an organization only when it fits well with the organizations external and internal environments—this study examined the conditions that can affect the implementation of PM within federal agencies. The analysis included two major groups of factors—external political environments (structural insulation, influences from external political authorities) and managerial capacity (strategic planning capacity, analytical capacity). Data collected from 103 federal agencies provide general support for the importance of these factors in PM implementation. Implications of the findings for PM in government organizations, and for the broader issue of administrative reform, are discussed.

Improving Performance: Does Performance-Oriented Management Really Matter?

The last two decades have witnessed the emergence of “performance-oriented management” (POM) as a major approach to public management reform in the United States. POM refers to management practices that share a common assumption that effective goal setting, and proper design and implementation of performance management systems are the key to high performance. Despite the prominence of POM in the practice of public management today, very little large-N empirical research has investigated the effectiveness of POM as a management reform strategy. This study seeks to fill this void by drawing on the Merit Principles Survey 2000 data to test whether POM actually ensures the results envisioned by its advocates. The regression results show that the two core elements of POM goal setting, and performance management design and implementation are positively associated with performance dimensions such as productivity and quality of work, providing support for the idea that POM can be a performance driver in governmental settings. This study also examines whether the effect of POM is mitigated by the presence of intensive external political influences as POM skeptics suggest. The results are mixed: the effect of goal setting on performance was found to be smaller in federal agencies with high political salience than in federal agencies with low political salience; on the other hand, the effect of performance management design and implementation was not significantly different across the two groups. Implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the issue of administrative reform and the research on governmental performance.

Physical Workplace as a Strategic Asset for Improving Performance in Public Organizations

This article asserts that more purposely designed physical workplaces could contribute to performance improvement by leveraging human capital and management capacity in public organizations. It provides an initial survey of the literature on workplace design by introducing a synthesis of available research drawn from environmental design, organizational ecology, social psychology, architecture, political science, and business and public administration. Based on the literature review, I developed a model of organizational performance that underscores the importance of “place” variables, such as space arrangement and indoor environment. The model implies that physical workplace has a significant impact on affective, behavioral, and performance outcomes in the organization. The article concludes with implications for theory and practice in using workplace strategy for organizational excellence.

The profits of cause: a new direction for corporate social responsibility in South Korea

An enduring challenge of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in South Korea is that anti-corporate attitude remains high among citizens despite the continued growth of CSR practices. To address this challenge, leading corporations in South Korea have established a new model for CSR. While gradually decreasing cash or in-kind donations, they create a nonprofit subsidiary directly involved in the delivery of social services. The purpose of the study is to examine the motive behind the introduction of this new CSR strategy, in which a nonprofit social enterprise established by a leading internet provider in South Korea increased its financial performance and changed its human resources. The case suggests that a nonprofit social enterprise owned and supported by a private company is a sustainable model of CSR, as it obtains a continuous flow of financial and technological support from the parent organization. With increasing anti-corporate attitude and demand for philanthropic contributions to society, the strategic alliance of a private company with a nonprofit subsidiary may be a viable option for addressing these challenges while meeting business interests.

The mentor-protégé affinity on mentoring outcomes: the mediating effect of developmental networking

Despite increasing role of mentoring in public organizations, mentoring and its outcomes have been under-investigated in public management. The purpose of the study is to fill the void by focusing on the mentor-protégé relationship and its effect on mentoring outcomes. Given the complexity of psychological interactions between mentor and protégé, this study examined the influence of the mentor-protégé affinity on mentoring outcomes both directly and indirectly through developmental networking. The results found that the mentor and protégé affinity did not have a direct impact on mentoring outcomes. Instead, its effects were fully mediated by internal and external developmental networking, which were the direct predictors of mentoring outcomes. This implies that finding a good match between mentor and protégé is important, but it is effective to mentoring outcomes only through the establishment of developmental networking.

Democracy and Nonprofit Growth: A Cross-National Panel Study:

This study hypothesizes that a country with a high level of democracy should experience more extensive growth in its nonprofit sector than authoritarian or less democratic countries, controlling for the relevant social and economic variables. We tested this hypothesis using cross-national longitudinal data. The results indicate that a democratic political system affects positively on the emergence and growth of the nonprofit sector across sample countries. However, the relationship appears to be non-linear, although nonprofit activities are sustained at a certain level. We also found different developmental trajectories among the nonprofit sectors that depended on how different countries operated their democratic political systems.

Corporate social responsibility in East Asia: a comparative approach

ABSTRACT Asian countries have increasingly adopted the ideas of socially responsible businesses in order to identify innovative solutions for societal problems that governments are otherwise unable to provide alone. Nonetheless, corporate social responsibility (CSR) remains relatively unknown in Asian countries compared to the Western world. This article provides a comparative analysis of CSR development in three East Asian countries: South Korea, China, and Japan. These three countries are at different stages of CSR development and serve as examples to explain and predict future directions of private firms striving to be socially responsible businesses and how governments react to the emerging interest in CSR. The results suggest that CSR varies according to political and institutional settings, but converges over time regarding mode of CSR. Governments should develop bridging capacity to connect areas of CSR development and reduce governance deficits.

The Effects of Status Symbols in the Office on Employee Attitudes in a Human Service Agency

Office symbolism has received a great deal of attention in human service administration as a variable that affects employee behavior and performance. Yet, the detailed relationship between various status symbols in the office and employee attitudes is not fully understood. This study hypothesizes that the physical setting of the workplace is a motivating force because it is a manifestation of status in an agency and that status symbols in the office can affect employees’ work-related attitudes. Specifically, it examines the symbolic meaning of status symbols in an office setting and the extent to which those status symbols affect employee job satisfaction and perceived performance. Survey data were collected from 508 employees in a state human service agency in the United States. The results found that satisfaction with status symbols in an office setting seemed to have a significant influence on employee job satisfaction and perceived performance, even after controlling for traditional motivational variables such as satisfaction with pay and supervisory support.

PERFORMANCE-BASED ACCOUNTABILITY : LESSONS FROM A NONPROFIT HUMAN SERVICES AGENCY

Nonprofit agencies are required to meet diverse performance expectations from multiple stakeholders, each having specialized notions of accountability. The pressure for performance accountability prompts organizational change, development, and puts emphasis on the evaluation of achievements. This article analyzes the results of organizational change in a nonprofit human service agency to address the quandaries of nonprofit performance accountability. The results indicate that the various change interventions generally improved agency performance. However, the sustainability of improved performance is thwarted by complex accountability relationships which tend to create tension. It is claimed that overreliance on any one set of accountability relationship leaves other sets of accountability relationships vulnerable to negative organizational outcomes.Nonprofit agencies are required to meet diverse performance expectations from multiple stakeholders, each having specialized notions of accountability. The pressure for performance accountability prompts organizational change, development, and puts emphasis on the evaluation of achievements. This article analyzes the results of organizational change in a nonprofit human service agency to address the quandaries of nonprofit performance accountability. The results indicate that the various change interventions generally improved agency performance. However, the sustainability of improved performance is thwarted by complex accountability relationships which tend to create tension. It is claimed that overreliance on any one set of accountability relationship leaves other sets of accountability relationships vulnerable to negative organizational outcomes.