HKSAR government civil servants: a non‐Drucker organisation?

Abstract

Purpose

Peter F. Drucker (1909‐2005) was an influential modern management theorist. This paper, however, aims to challenge his diagnosis and prescriptions on the public sector for over‐simplifying several complex issues and not being sufficiently comprehensive. With the support of the empirical findings of a survey in the government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSARG), the authors seek to supplement Drucker's discussion on government and to propose managerial actions for implementing change.

Design/methodology/approach

An e‐mail questionnaire survey of 700 randomly selected government employees in Hong Kong was conducted. Additional information was gathered from senior management to validate the survey results.

Findings

In line with Drucker, HKSARG employees, as a whole, are reluctant to change. But statistical tests show that there are heterogeneous behavioural groups. Specifically, younger and more educated staff are more willing to change. The existence of these groups has both practical and managerial implications for implementing change.

Research limitations/implications

The usable sample is relatively small (n=66).

Practical implications

The government should not be viewed and understood unidirectionally. Management should target the younger and more educated users first to build up sufficient user mass and adopt peer pressure for a more successful level of implementation of IT usage across all staff. Job rotation and flexible entry and exit options are worth considering, too.

Originality/value

This research validates empirically the nature of HKSARG. It demonstrates that researchers' challenges to Drucker's views on government are well founded. More research on the characteristics of the public sector is required for better understanding of the real nature of these large, bureaucratic organisations.

Citation

Kai Pong Leung, T. and Adams, J. (2010), "HKSAR government civil servants: a non‐Drucker organisation?", Management Decision, Vol. 48 No. 4, pp. 562-579. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741011041355