Coping with organizational changes due to executives’ succession: the role of personal and contextual resources for job crafting
International Journal of Public Sector Management
ISSN: 0951-3558
Article publication date: 7 December 2022
Issue publication date: 19 January 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Each time there is a government change (indeed a very frequent scenario for Italy), and the leadership team of strategic offices and operations in the public administration is usually replaced. Using the job crafting theoretical framework, the purpose of this study is to investigate how the uncertainty generated by changes in the leadership teams of public offices shapes the public managers’ coping strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a deductive qualitative approach. Data for this study were collected through 47 interviews conducted with public managers working at the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
Findings
The results of the study suggest that job crafting – a proactive approach aimed at customizing the content and nature of one’s job – represents a frequent strategy that public managers undertake, drawing on the personal and contextual resources at their disposal, to reduce perceived uncertainty associated with manager transition.
Originality/value
Questions related to the positive or negative impact of managerial transitions generated conflicting opinions in the literature. The authors demonstrate that job crafting could represent a valuable strategy adopted by executive managers to cope with increasing uncertainty associated with managerial transition due to government change, especially when these strategies enable to gain valuable personal and contextual resources for managers.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Declarations of interest: none
Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Citation
Buonocore, F., Russo, M. and de Gennaro, D. (2023), "Coping with organizational changes due to executives’ succession: the role of personal and contextual resources for job crafting", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 36 No. 1, pp. 64-78. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-03-2022-0085
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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