Search results

The purpose of this paper is to present the views of authors in regard to the provenance and future of PM and the advantages of using management science in administrative science. The authors point to the meaning of both sciences for government studies and to the use that both theoreticians and practitioners may gain from adequately balancing the disciplines for the public interest.

The paper is based on a wide literature review of empirical and epistemological studies on new public management (NPM) and its evolvement across continents and cultures, and on a critical analysis of lessons learned from implementations of ideas and practices.

The authors identify the managerial reform in public administration as one of the more influential reforms of modern nations that cut across multiple policy areas, public agencies and cultures. The authors expect that public managers in the years to come are about to play a decisive role and be required to build collaborative capacity while governing creatively but without bending the rules. Ingenious civil servants are going to carry weight and devise new mechanisms for coping with prospective challenges; no doubt they will have to be savvier, more adept and open-minded than ever to be able to step up to the plate and assist governments to deal with impending crises.

The originality of this essay is reflected in the wide coverage of transitions in the managerial language of the discipline. Using manifold examples from different perspectives on NPM provides a unique and balanced look into what became the most influential reforms in public administration since the second half of the twentieth century, and is still alive and kicking.

The purpose of this paper is to examine hostility as a mediator of the relationship between perceptions of organizational politics (POP) and counterproductive work behavior (CWB).

The authors’ examined the mediation model using a sample of 171 full-time employees studying in an evening MBA program. The authors’ collected the data for this study in three waves.

The findings supported all of the hypotheses. POP was positively related to both hostility and CWB. Moreover, hostility mediated the relationships between POP and both organizational and interpersonal CWB.

Given that individuals high in emotional intelligence (EI) are better at regulating their negative emotions, EI training may be a powerful tool for reducing the hostility elicited among organizational members in response to POP, and consequently, their engagement in CWB.

The current study uncovered the emotional mechanism that underlies the POP-CWB relationship. The findings have intriguing implications in terms of potential moderators that can be developed through interventions in an attempt to reduce the hostility and CWB that result from POP.

This study has a twofold goal. First, we examined perceptions of organizational politics as viewed by the academic staff in a public university. Second, we tested the potential mediating effect of perceptions of politics on the relationship between social capital and work outcomes. We surveyed 142 junior and senior faculty members of a large public Israeli university and tested several competing models. Major results, based on Structural Equations Model (SEM) analysis, indicate that the mediating model has several advantages over the direct effect model. In addition, a revised, mixed model provided additional advantages. The models are compared and discussed. Finally, implications of the findings and recommendations for future studies on internal politics and social capital in academia and beyond are suggested.

This chapter builds on previous research that conceptualized organizational politics as an organizational stressor. After reviewing the studies that integrated the occupational stress literature with the organizational politics literature, it discusses the negative implications of the use of intimidation and pressure by supervisors, implications that have generally been overlooked. Specifically, the chapter presents a conceptual model positing that the use of intimidation and pressure by supervisors creates stress in their subordinates. This stress, in turn, affects subordinates’ well-being, evident in higher levels of job dissatisfaction, job burnout, and turnover intentions. The stress also reduces the effectiveness of the organization, reflected in a high absenteeism rate, poorer task performance, and a decline in organizational citizenship behavior. The model also maintains that individual differences in emotional intelligence and political skill mitigate the stress experienced by subordinates, resulting from the use of intimidation and pressure by their supervisors. In acknowledging the destructive implications of such behavior in terms of employees’ well-being and the productivity of the organization, the chapter raises doubts about the wisdom of using it, and advises supervisors to rethink its use as a motivational tool. Implications of this chapter, as well as future research directions, are discussed.

This paper reports on two separate studies (S1, n = 169; S2, n = 224) that were designed to examine the relationship between organizational image, perceptions of workplace politics, and an additional set of job related variables (i.e. job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job autonomy). The paper suggests that perceptions of politics have never been examined in relation to organizational image, despite the fact that both concepts are closely related to more general ideas of climate and atmosphere in and around the workplace. For this purpose, a structural equation modeling with LISREL 8.30 was used to compare three alternative models in each of the studies. Findings reveal that the first model, where perceptions of politics function as antecedents of satisfaction and commitment that have an impact on organizational image, fitted the data best. The article concludes that perceptions of politics may have an important initial impact on the formation of organizational image via other job attitudes. Relevant implications for future studies in this area are discussed.

This study aims to examine the relationship between perceived organizational politics and emotional intelligence, and their interplay in the context of work attitudes/behaviors.

A sample of 368 employees was used to test a mediation effect of perceived organizational politics on the relationship between emotional intelligence on the one hand, and job satisfaction, turnover intentions and negligent behavior on the other.

Perceived organizational politics was found to mediate the relationship between emotional intelligence and all three outcomes.

Emotional intelligence training may be a powerful tool that organizations and human resource managers can employ to reduce perceived organizational politics and enhance work attitudes and performance.

This research broadens the scope through which the intersection between emotion and organizational politics can be viewed, taking it beyond the role of both felt emotion and affective disposition. The findings show that emotional intelligence directly affects perceptions of politics, and indirectly affects employees' work attitudes and behaviors, through a mediation effect of perceived politics.

This study aims to examine perceptions of politics among public sector employees as a possible mediator between the supervisor's leadership style and formal and informal aspects of employees' performance (Organizational Citizenship Behavior – OCB).

The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was distributed to employees of a public security organization in Israel (N=201), asking them to evaluate their supervisor's style of leadership. Employees were also asked to report their perceptions of organizational politics using the scale developed by Kacmar and Ferris. In addition, supervisors provided objective evaluations of the levels of their employees' in‐role performance and OCB. The intra‐structure of the leadership variable was examined by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with structural equation modeling. Two alternative models were examined: first, a model of mediation and second, a direct model with no mediation.

The research resulted in mixed findings that only partially support the mediating effect of organizational politics on the relationship between leadership, in‐role performance and OCB. A direct relationship between leadership and performance (in‐role and OCB) was also found.

The differences between the models do not allow clear answers as to the mediating or direct effect of organizational politics in the relationship between leadership and performance. The implications on causality are also limited.

Managers should recognize the advantages and disadvantages of different leadership styles as these may affect organizational politics and eventually, formal performance and organizational citizenship behaviors.

The findings of this paper contribute to the understanding of the relationships between leadership, performance, and politics in the workplace and in the public sector in particular.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between image, service satisfaction and public opinion towards reforms in public organizations and postulate a more detailed relationship among them. The concept “New Public Management” (NPM) was initially suggested in the literature sometime around the early 1990s (Aucoin, 1990; Hood, 1991). NPM-style reforms raised the flag of responsiveness to citizens and improved public satisfaction with the assumption that organizational image would also be positively affected by such reforms. Image, satisfaction and support in public sector reforms are, therefore, the major focus of this study.

The focus is on a major reform in the Israel electricity industry and data were collected from 500 respondents by telephone interviews.

The findings support the authors ' hypotheses concerning the major role of image and satisfaction in forming attitudes towards NPM-style reforms. However, beyond conventional direct effects, the authors point to the mediating effect of organizational image on the relationship between satisfaction and support for reforms.

First, other factors not included in the model may influence support for NPM-style reforms in public organizations. Second, the study focused on a single organization in one country only and a very specific culture. Finally, the study is cross-sectional and may suffer from common-method and common-source biases and for this reason, should be replicated to allow better generalization and firmer implications.

The findings about the preponderance of organizational image over service satisfaction can contribute to policymakers in their efforts to increase support for reforms among the public. The results demonstrate the strong relationship between organizational image and public opinion towards reform and the secondary effect of service satisfaction.

The centrality of organizational image as a core social focus for citizens as clients and for policymakers is highlighted in the discussion. It is maintained that NPM-style reforms in the social arena, and beyond, are predominantly affected by image. Therefore, there is a need to better understand how image affects social and economic reforms and attitudes towards those reforms and what may be the social consequences of such attitudes by citizens and by policymakers’ decisions.

The originality of this study is fourfold: a unique model of image, satisfaction and attitudes towards NPM-style reforms not been studied thus far is in its current form; exploring interrelations of citizens’ satisfaction, image of the public sector and calls for reforms and change in the market-like environment of the public sphere; a telephone survey of opinions towards a specific NPM-style reform; and a focus on a major public sector organization in Israel going through reform.

With the change in global and local markets and the emergence of new types of careers such as protean careers (which are values‐driven), individual values (i.e. citizenship behaviors, altruistic standards, and helping activities) seem to have a growing effect on decisions people make about significant choices in their lives such as the choice of a career. The authors apply a theory of protean career and citizenship/altruistic behavior to study career choices and career development amongst an international sample of MBA and MPA students. It is expected that values may lead to career choices in early stages of vocational search, but career choices and development may also affect one's values during the training process, especially during educational and professional schooling. This paper aims to focus on the issues surrounding career choice.

The study focuses on the first stage of the process of career choice at the beginning of MBA/MPA studies. A quantitative research design was applied by using a survey instrument that draws on a cross‐national study.

A positive relationship is found between good citizenship of altruistic behavior and protean career. This relationship is solid and generic beyond the effect of gender, age, or culture/national setting.

The findings point to some meaningful relationships amongst the studied variables and emphasize the need to direct MBA/MPA students to a value‐oriented educational program in their fields of expertise. The paper ends with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications for future studies in career development.