Showing papers in "Review of Public Personnel Administration in 2010"
TL;DR: Public organizations in the new millennium are tasked with a myriad of human resource management challenges that stem from workforce diversity, but the field of public administration has not yet addressed these challenges as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Public organizations in the new millennium are tasked with a myriad of human resource management challenges that stem from workforce diversity, but the field of public administration has not produc...
153 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines the contemporary record of pay-for-performance plans in the federal government and suggests that belief in performance pay is akin to an urban legend, and assesses the practical experience, policy findings, and political realities of this compensation method.
Abstract: This normative article examines the contemporary record of pay-for-performance plans in the federal government.These programs, extending back nearly two generations, have consistently malfunctioned. Nonetheless, the state of the field today is one of continued attempts to use the technique despite agency history and research data that document its problematic nature. Based on scholarly literature, news media reports, and interview data, the analysis assesses the practical experience, policy findings, and political realities of this compensation method. The discussion raises questions about rational decision-making models and suggests that belief in performance pay is akin to an urban legend.
80 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the impact of the employment at-will (EAW) environment on public employee motivation and find that EAW policies have a significant negative impact on motivation in the workplace.
Abstract: For nearly three decades, traditional public sector management practices have been challenged by proponents of the new public management (NPM). Public human resource management (PHRM) is frequently a target of such reform efforts given the crucial role it plays in the public management function. Traditional civil service systems, based on merit and neutral competence, have frequently been criticized for their intractability, inefficiency, and ineffectiveness. The recent trend of eliminating tenure for public employees through employment at-will (EAW) policies has received considerable attention as a mechanism for improving public sector efficiency. However, recent scholarship suggests that EAW policies have a number of obstacles to overcome. Using a 2005 survey of human resource professionals in the state of Georgia, this article assesses the impact of the EAW environment on public employee motivation. The analysis suggests that EAW policies have a significant negative impact on motivation in the workplac...
41 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a strategic research agenda for public human resource management is developed, based on the perception that research about public human resources has matured during the Review of Public Personnel Administration's 30 years of publication and now is an appropriate juncture to initiate an intentional and strategic agenda.
Abstract: This article develops a strategic research agenda for public human resource management. The agenda originates from the perception that research about public human resources has matured during the Review of Public Personnel Administration’s 30 years of publication and now is an appropriate juncture to initiate an intentional and strategic agenda. The author identifies criteria for developing a strategic research agenda that seeks to advance useable knowledge about public human resource management, build theory, and mark out content distinctive to public institutions. The article inventories research as reported by the Review of Public Personnel Administration and two other leading human resource management journals. These inventories help to anchor the agenda in timely issues and to triangulate on distinctively public issues. The article concludes with five priority research agenda based on the criteria the author developed and the inventory of research: direct compensation, motivation, culture and politic...
40 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the new public management (NPM) civil service reform initiatives under the Roh Moo-Hyun government in Korea is presented, where the main emphasis is placed on interpreting the reform efforts in terms of the measures for bureaucracy control.
Abstract: This study reviews the new public management (NPM) civil service reform initiatives under the Roh Moo-Hyun government in Korea. The main emphases in the discussion are placed on interpreting the reform efforts in terms of the measures for bureaucracy control, and examining the possibilities and limitations of the new NPM reforms in Korea.This study adopts as a theoretical guidance, the “control mechanisms of the civil service system” suggested by Christopher Hood. This study raises the issue of culture in the expansion of the NPM doctrines in the East Asian context. It is argued that the Korean administrative culture could be a serious constraint affecting the potential for the NPM reforms. The authors conclude that despite some positive control effects of the NPM reform measures on the overall Korean civil service system, there are many limitations that still exist in both the reform measures and in their outcomes.
32 citations
TL;DR: Recently there has been an increase in the number of cities contemplating and implementing alternative work schedules, particularly compressed workweeks, often to decrease energy costs for the orga....
Abstract: Recently there has been an increase in the number of cities contemplating and implementing alternative work schedules, particularly compressed workweeks, often to decrease energy costs for the orga...
30 citations
TL;DR: This paper focused on the George W. Bush administration's failed effort to impose radical personnel reforms on the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Abstract: This article focuses on the George W. Bush administration’s failed effort to impose radical personnel reforms on the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense in the wake of the...
29 citations
TL;DR: Public administration scholars have gone to great lengths to assess both the extent of personnel reform efforts across the public sector and their impact on employee attitudes toward public sector reform as discussed by the authors, and they have found that personnel reform has a profound impact on public sector employee attitudes.
Abstract: Public administration scholars have gone to great lengths to assess both the extent of personnel reform efforts across the public sector and their impact on employee attitudes toward public sector ...
25 citations
TL;DR: Although there are numerous studies on the consequences of demographic diversity, relatively little research has been conducted on what determines the variation in demographic diversity as mentioned in this paper, which is a limitation of our work.
Abstract: Although there are numerous studies on the consequences of demographic diversity, relatively little research has been conducted on what determines the variation of demographic diversity. This study...
24 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a brief overview of the relevant scholarly research, and then change the focus to the future of unionization and collective bargaining in the public and nonprofit sectors, and suggest that the deck continues to be stacked against federal unions and bargaining, but that there are portents for significant gains in the state and local sectors, depending on bargaining-friendly changes in state and federal law.
Abstract: As unions in the private sector have continued on what appears to the pessimist to be a slow march into obscurity and irrelevance, public employee unions and collective bargaining are thriving in a majority of states. In this article, the author first provides a brief overview of the relevant scholarly research, and then changes the focus to the future of unionization and collective bargaining in the public and nonprofit sectors. It is suggested that the deck continues to be stacked against federal unions and collective bargaining, but that there are portents for significant gains in the state and local sectors, depending on bargaining-friendly changes in state and federal law.
20 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated sectoral differences in the exposure to institutional forces triggering the adoption of performance-related pay in Italian municipalities, nonprofits, and business firms, and found that the effect of normative pressure on the probability of adoption is higher in both municipalities and nonprofits compared with for-profit establishments.
Abstract: Using data from Italian municipalities, nonprofits, and business firms, this article explores two sets of relationships First, sectoral differences in the exposure to institutional forces triggering the adoption of performance-related pay are investigated Second, this study estimates sectoral differences in the sensitivity to those isomorphic pressures Coercive pressure is the strongest on municipalities and the weakest on for-profits Exposition to mimetic pressure tends to be stronger for business establishments compared with both municipalities and nonprofits For-profits generally face weaker normative forces relative to municipalities and nonprofits Coercive pressure increases the probability that an organization adopts performance-related pay schemes more in business firms than in nonprofits and more in nonprofits than in municipalities The effect of normative pressure on the probability of adoption is higher in both municipalities and nonprofits compared with for-profit establishments Coerciv
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the concept of dispute systems design for workplace disputes, focusing particularly on the first two stages: organizational diagnosis and design, arguing that dispute systems should be designed in light of the conflict-related motivations and behaviors of personnel under existing conditions, as well as the likely consequences of each design choice on their future motivations and behaviours, including incentives to participate in the new system.
Abstract: This article explores the concept of dispute systems design for workplace disputes, focusing particularly on the first two stages: organizational diagnosis and design. It argues that dispute systems should be designed in light of the conflict-related motivations and behaviors of personnel under existing conditions, as well as the likely consequences of each design choice on their future motivations and behaviors, including incentives to participate in the new system.These assertions are illustrated with an in-depth case study of Resolve Employment Disputes, Reach Equitable Solutions Swiftly (REDRESS®), the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) employment mediation program. The case study shows that the organizational diagnosis stage was critical to the successful design of the USPS program in that it provided important information about the dispute behaviors of personnel in the existing system. In turn, this information helped the USPS understand how various design choices would affect individual incentives to parti...
TL;DR: In this paper, a qualitative study of a municipal ecology center in Canada, the author explores how a staff team committed to volunteers can develop and implement strategies that minimize volunteer involvement, identifying how the blending of elements from three main logics (professionalism, new public management, and community participation) can create contradictions in the staff's strategies toward volunteers.
Abstract: Volunteers in government agencies are significant in the delivery of public services. The participation of these volunteers, however, is not straightforward and is restricted by conflicts between their needs and those of the agency. Although volunteer perspectives have been investigated, less is known about the experience of frontline staff. Using a qualitative study of a municipal ecology center in Canada, the author explores how a staff team committed to volunteers can develop and implement strategies that minimize volunteer involvement. Drawing on a central idea in institutional theory, institutional logics, the author identifies how the blending of elements from three main logics—professionalism, new public management, and community participation—-can create contradictions in the staff’s strategies toward volunteers. For those seeking greater participation of volunteers in public services, the findings suggest a need to recognize and assist frontline staff in navigating the institutional context that ...
TL;DR: The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) employs a "discrimination-and-fairness" organizational diversity paradigm rather than a "valuing-andintegrating" paradigm, which will ultimately limit the benefits of workforce diversification as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has historically provided a useful model for understanding administrative behavior and organizational change. In 1990 and 1996, nationwide studies of USFS employees were conducted to evaluate the emergence of a new resource management paradigm and to examine the role of workforce diversification, especially gender, in contributing to organizational change. In 2008, a new survey of Forest Service employees was conducted to measure what changes have occurred over the last decade. More than a decade later, workforce diversification continues to evoke powerful negative and positive attitudinal responses among USFS employees. Larger organizational issues, especially reduced program budgets and a reduction in workforce, have stalled agency diversification efforts, reducing opportunities for women to enter leadership roles. The authors’ analysis suggests that the USFS is operating from a “discrimination-and-fairness” organizational diversity paradigm rather than a “valuing-and-integrating” paradigm, which will ultimately limit the benefits purported to accrue from workforce diversification. Copyright © 2011 by SAGE Publications
TL;DR: A series of court cases banned patronage except for leadership and confidential positions in Cook County and Chicago, and the Shakman Decree required the establishment of an antipatronage staffing system.
Abstract: A series of court cases banned patronage except for leadership and confidential positions. In Cook County and Chicago, the Shakman Decree required the establishment of an antipatronage staffing sys...
TL;DR: This paper examined whether the attitudes of federal employees toward subjective discrimination in the workplace changed significantly during the George W. Bush presidency and found that perceptions of retaliation and discrimination have improved in recent years.
Abstract: One of the major substantive components of “big government conservatism” was a decided predisposition against public employee unions, toward privileging managerial discretion, and yet still maintaining equal opportunity in the workplace. However, could this predisposition be resolved in practice without harming federal employees’ rights, benefits, and morale in the workplace? To address this question, this article examines whether the attitudes of federal employees toward variants of subjective discrimination in the workplace changed significantly during the George W. Bush presidency. We find that trends related to perceptions of retaliation and discrimination have improved in recent years. However, perceptions of retaliation and discrimination are found to exist among minority and female employees and managers in the federal workplace that require vigilance. These results suggest that big government conservatism’s predisposition to pursue equal opportunity as opposed to affirmative action—while diminishing the power of public employee unions and enhancing managerial prerogatives—either succeeded on its own merits or that the earlier momentum could not be stopped.
TL;DR: In the first year of the Obama administration, this paper analyzed the power in use of federal judicial appointee loyalty to presidential agendas and concluded that the appointment power is an important determinant of public sector personnel policing.
Abstract: Ironically, by the end of the first year of the Obama administration, President George W. Bush appears to have gained an indirect impact on public personnel policy through his appointments of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. In cases involving public personnel issues, both jurists have supported Bush’s preferences with respect to strict construction, executive power, and the use of racial and ethnic preferences. With one Obama appointee on the Supreme Court and another nominated, the prospects for the durability of that legacy in pursuit of “big government conservatism” are unclear. Nevertheless, this article’s analysis of Bush’s appointment “power in use” comports with findings regarding judicial appointee loyalty to presidential agendas that have emerged in recent years. It also suggests that further research on presidential appointments of federal judges and justices is needed and may demonstrate that the appointment power is an important determinant of public sector personnel polic...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define the logic of big government conservativism as a strategy for electoral realignment, discuss the place of HRM as a tactical means for advancing that agenda, and place George W. Bush's efforts in political time.
Abstract: George W. Bush assumed the presidency with the ill-fated political aim of creating a permanent electoral alignment favoring Reagan Republicanism in America by pursuing a “big government conservatism”, agenda with human resource management (HRM) strategies lying at its heart. In the process of setting the other HRM-focused contributions to this symposium in broader context, the authors define the logic of big government conservativism as a strategy for electoral realignment, discuss the place of HRM as a tactical means for advancing that agenda, and place Bush’s efforts in “political time.” In offering an integrative framework for assessing the critical role of the White House, the executive office of the president, and political appointees in redefining the career civil service as a key component of Bush’s big conservatism agenda, we portray Bush’s failed efforts at constructing a permanent Republican political majority as encountering similar dynamics and meeting a similar fate as other “orthodox innovat...
TL;DR: Kellough et al. as mentioned in this paper argue that human resource management changes made pursuant to the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 provide a potential model for the Obama administration as it addresses three key reform challenges that have long plagued policymakers: replacing the General Schedule with a modernized approach to compensation and classification.
Abstract: As the Obama administration pieces together its own civil service reform program, it may find solutions to key reform challenges in an oft-overlooked Bush administration human resource management initiative in the national security arena. While press and scholarly attention focused largely on the administration’s reform efforts at the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense, discussed at length in the article by Kellough, Nigro, and Brewer in this symposium, the development of a common personnel framework across the U.S. Intelligence Community went relatively unnoticed. The author argues that human resource management changes made pursuant to the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 provide a potential model for the Obama administration as it addresses three key reform challenges that have long plagued policymakers: replacing the General Schedule with a modernized approach to compensation and classification, achieving a balance between uniformity at the executive branch level and ...
TL;DR: The Review of Public Personnel Administration (ROPPA) has been published for 30 years as discussed by the authors, and the most frequent contributors are the editors and authors of ROPPA articles.
Abstract: In the fall of 1980, the inaugural issue of the Review of Public Personnel Administration was published. This symposium celebrates the 30-year anniversary of ROPPA. The articles in the symposium look back and forward to take stock of the current state of the public human resource management (HRM) field. This introduction reviews publishing trends in the journal over the past 30 years, including the contributions of editors and authors, the subject matter of articles published in the journal, the most frequent contributors, and the Review of Public Personnel Administration’s impact. The introduction concludes with highlights from the five articles appearing in this symposium and their focus on critical issues in the field, including a strategic research agenda for HRM, workforce diversity, performance-based pay, labor—management relations, and public HRM education.
TL;DR: The ROPPA book review section as mentioned in this paper is designed to identify, and draw attention to, manuscript-length discussions of essential HRM topics, and it will continue to have it serve this function.
Abstract: Would anyone like to review Paul Van Riper’s History of the United States Civil Service to commemorate its 50th year in print? We are the new editorial team for the book review section of ROPPA, and we would like to introduce ourselves and our vision for the section Mark Bradbury is an assistant professor at Appalachian State University and teaches undergraduate and MPA courses in public administration and human resources management Jerrell Coggburn is an associate professor and chair of public administration in the School of Public and International Affairs at North Carolina State University and teaches administrative ethics and human resource management Both of us have published on HR-related topics in a variety of journals, including ROPPA Mark and Jerrell will jointly manage the book review section and may be contacting you soon with a request to submit a review We hope to receive reviews from a variety of authors, including senior scholars, junior faculty members, practitioners, and doctoral students Similarly, we would like to expand the notion of the types of resources that will be reviewed in the section We identify four distinct categories of resources First, the most common resource reviewed has been, and will continue to be, books that can be used as supplements in undergraduate and graduate courses on public personnel and human resource administration The ROPPA book review section is designed to identify, and draw attention to, manuscript-length discussions of essential HRM topics, and we will continue to have it serve this function Second, we would like to include a greater number of textbook reviews There are numerous core texts on public HRM, and we believe that ROPPA is the ideal outlet for reviews to assist instructors in identifying texts that best fit their teaching strategy and orientation to the field The last two types of recourses are not traditionally included in book review sections, but we believe that both should be included in ROPPA as public HRM matures as both a professionalized field of practice and a rigorous field of research