Steven A. Brieger

Organizational public value and employee life satisfaction: the mediating roles of work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior

Abstract Building on Meynhardt’s public value concept, which has been developed to make transparent an organization’s contributions to the common good, we investigate the influence of organizational common good practices in the perceptions of employees (measured as public value) on employees’ work attitudes and life satisfaction. The proposed model is tested on a sample of 1045 Swiss employees taken from the 2015 Swiss Public Value Atlas data-set. Study findings reveal that organizational public value is positively related to employee life satisfaction, and that this relationship is partially mediated by work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Further, we show that employee common good orientations strengthen the positive impact of organizational public value on employee work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior. Results also provide evidence that the indirect effects of organizational public value on employee life satisfaction via work engagement and organizational citizenship behavior are stronger at higher employee common good orientation levels.

Social identity and environmental concern: the importance of contextual effects

This study draws on social identity theory to explain differences in individual support for environmental protection, a conative component of environmental concern. It argues that an individual’s identification with higher social units—community, nation, and world—strengthens its in-group solidarity and empathy and, in consequence, its readiness to protect the environment benefiting the in-group’s welfare. The study hypothesizes that country-level manifestations of social identity (a) lift individuals’ support for environmental protection above the level that their own social identity suggests (elevator effect) and (b) reinforce the effect of individuals’ social identity on their support for environmental protection (amplifier effect). Using a sample of more than 30,000 individuals located in 38 countries around the world, the study finds strong evidence for the two contextual effects. The findings indicate that social identity plays an important role not just as an individual attribute but also as a central component of culture in fostering environmental concern.

Public Value of Environmental Investments: A Conceptual Outlook on the Management of Normatively Determined Risks

In this chapter we assume the perspective of environmentally conscious investors. We hold that the latter are interested in both the objective determinants and the subjective factors that determine if and to what extent owners of an externalities producing technology incorporate these externalities into their production functions. We use public value theory as concept that explains the normatively determined inclusion of externalities into a firms production function as a result of changing consumer preferences and dynamic legislative environments. We propose that environmentally conscious investing can be compared to buying a put option on public value risks and describe the mechanics of this option.

Public value performance: what does it mean to create value in the public sector?

Public administrations are required by law to contribute to society, thus obliged to shape the common good. What value they have to society is uncovered by their public value. This chapter provides an approach to public value management that is relevant for organizations, NGOs, and governmental institutions, in order to systematically investigate their contributions to society. Previous work on public value serves as a good starting point, providing significant public value perspectives. We follow this by a conceptual delineation of the public value concept according to Timo Meynhardt, who roots the notion of value in psychological needs theory and thereby links public value directly to a conditio humana. As cases in point, we identify and discuss two management tools, the Public Value Scorecard (PVSC) and the Public Value Atlas. We conclude with a short reflection on how public value can advance public sector management.