- Title
- Public service motivation in a complex public sector
- Creator
- Lawton, Alan; Rayner, Julie
- Date
- 2015
- Type
- Text; Book chapter
- Identifier
- http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/161282
- Identifier
- vital:12424
- Identifier
- ISBN:9781317932000
- Abstract
- The institutional context of public service delivery has, increasingly, become com - plex. Public- and private-sector organizations, as well as the third sector, collaborate and work in partnership with each other, as evident in a range of policy areas, from urban renewal to education. Public officials now have to engage with others, horizontally, in different types of organizations, and not just hierarchically within their own organizations. Indeed, for some officials, the institutional location of their work has shifted from public to private, or partnership, organizations. Such a dynamic in the institutional setting of public service delivery may render traditional goals, values and processes problematic. It may also provide new oppor - tunities. Boundaries between different types of organizations that deliver public services become blurred as do the differences between policy formulation and implementation, and between public and private interests. In such a changing environment, traditional notions of a public service ethos underpinning public sector delivery and the commitment through public service motivation (PSM) are contested. One big question is: how can private and semipublic-sector organizations, and those who work within them, have the same commitment to the public interest as traditional public-sector organizations? Scholars have argued that a key problem for partnerships and networks is how to reconcile individual interests with those of the network or partnership as a whole. This chapter underscores the need for researchers to develop a better under - standing not only of sectoral differences, but also whether or how PSM impacts performance of individuals in collaborative and networked contexts. Thus, a key research question becomes, ‘What might PSM look like in a complex and frag - mented public service arena?’ We respond to this by examining the literatures on public service networks through the prism of PSM and develop five propositions. We conclude with suggestions for a future research agenda.
- Publisher
- Taylor and Francis
- Relation
- Ethics in public policy and Management: A global research companion Chapter 13 p. 215-237
- Rights
- This metadata is freely available under a CCO license
- Subject
- Political ethics; Policy sciences
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