New public management and organisational commitment in the public sector: testing a mediation model
- Authors: Williams, Helen , Rayner, Julie , Allinson, Christopher
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Human Resource Management Vol. 23, no. 13 (2012), p. 2615-2629
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- Description: This paper focuses on the attitudes of learning professionals towards New Public Management (NPM). In a survey of the UK further education sector (n = 433), NPM beliefs were found to be positively associated with both affective and normative organisational commitment. However, as expected, NPM beliefs were not found to be related to continuance organisational commitment. The results also show that although perceived organisational support mediates the relationship between NPM beliefs and affective organisational comment, it is only a partial mediator of the relationship between NPM beliefs and normative organisational commitment. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings, and potential directions for future research, are discussed.
Organizational citizenship behavior and the public service ethos: whither the organization?
- Authors: Rayner, Julie , Lawton, Alan , Williams, Helen
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Business Ethics Vol. 106, no. 2 (2012), p. 117-130
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- Description: Public services worldwide have been subject to externally imposed reforms utilizing tools such as financial incentives and performance targets. The adverse impact of such reforms on a public service ethos has been claimed, but rarely demonstrated. Individuals within organizations work beyond their formal contracts of employment, described as Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB), to further organizational interests. Given New Public Management reform and the subsequent contextual changes in the way in which public sector organizations are managed and funded, the present study theorizes that OCB directed towards the organization may be ‘crowded-out’. This article tests the relationships between public service ethos and OCB and it presents empirical evidence from a study in England (n = 433) of the ability of each dimension of this ethos to predict OCB.
Public service ethos : Developing a generic measure
- Authors: Rayner, Julie , Williams, Helen , Lawton, Alan , Allinson, Christopher
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory Vol. 21, no. 1 (2011), p. 27-51
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- Description: This article conceptualizes public service ethos as a multidimensional construct and develops a framework that explains first, why individuals are motivated by this ethos (Public Service Belief); second, how they deliver public services in accordance with this ethos (Public Service Practice); and third, what ends they perceive it to endorse (Public Interest). Despite considerable interest in public service ethos within the public administration literature, research is constrained by the absence of a measure of this ethos. This article therefore reports three studies conducted to advance theory and research through the development of a psychometrically sound instrument. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrates support for a three-factor structure, where the dimensions are distinct but related aspects of public service ethos. Moreover, findings show this measure to be valid, reliable, and generalizable. As such it offers researchers an instrument with which to better explore the character and existence of a public service ethos.