Public Service Motivation in Public Administrations

Author(s):  
Wouter Vandenabeele ◽  
Carina Schott

Public service motivation (PSM) refers to an individual’s motivation to contribute to society. It relates to ideas about society, and about what public servants are and how they should behave, that have persisted for more than 2,500 years. Despite this heritage, PSM was only formally conceptualized in the 1990s. The concept of PSM has traditionally been linked to several beneficial outcomes, such as public performance and public servants’ satisfaction, but recently also to negative outcomes, such as burnout and rule-breaking. While PSM is an individual-level concept, the role of the social environment is crucial to understanding PSM. On the one hand, social institutions play an important role in creating individual-level PSM through socializing mechanisms. Institutions such as the family and workplace, and other structured value-based interaction patterns, correlate with the prevalence of individual PSM. On the other hand, to render outcomes, interaction with the environment—in terms of fit—is necessary, because PSM cannot exert influence outside a context where public values are prominent. As most research focuses on public servants in their work environment, this fit mostly entails a match of the individual public servant with the organization or the job. If this fit is lacking, little or no PSM occurs. Although PSM research was initially a theoretical and psychometric exercise, it is increasingly put to practical use.

Public Voices ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Mastracci

In this paper, the author examines public service as depicted in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS). First, she shows how slaying meets the economist’s definition of a public good, using the BtVS episode “Flooded” (6.04). Second, she discusses public service motivation (PSM) to determine whether or not Buffy, a public servant, operates from a public service ethic. Relying on established measures and evidence from shooting scripts and episode transcripts, the author concludes Buffy is a public servant motivated by a public service ethic. In this way, BtVS informs scholarship on public service by broadening the concept of PSM beyond the public sector; prompting one to wonder whether it is located in a sector, an occupation, or in the individual. These conclusions allow the author to situate Buffy alongside other idealized public servants in American popular culture.


Author(s):  
Heather Getha-Taylor ◽  
Alexa Haddock-Bigwarfe

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine public service motivation (PSM) and the connection with collaborative attitudes among a sample of homeland security actors representing the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. Design/methodology/approach – This study examines relationships between measures of PSM and collaboration using original survey data and hierarchical multiple regression. Findings – Findings reveal strong positive relationships between PSM measures and attitudes toward collaboration at the individual and organizational level. Research limitations/implications – Survey results are cross-sectional and are from respondents participating in a single state's homeland security summit. Practical implications – It is expected that results can be used to enhance collaboration at the individual and organizational levels. At the organizational level, results can be used for matching individuals with collaborative opportunities. At the individual level, results can be used for enhanced self-reflection and effectiveness purposes. Originality/value – This study provides insights on the relationship between PSM measures and collaborative attitudes. The research contributes to the body of scholarly work connecting PSM and correlates of interest.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-58
Author(s):  
Kuo-Tai Cheng ◽  
Yuan-Chieh Chang ◽  
Changyen Lee

This study conceptualizes and empirically investigates how dimensions of public service motivation affect perceived citizenship behaviour in the context of government-owned utilities. This study used a large-scale questionnaire survey from four utility sectors in Taiwan (N = 1,087). The emergent model suggests that compassion (COM) and self-sacrifice (SS) affect the perceived effectiveness of individual-level Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). Commitment to the Public Interest (CPI) and Attraction to Public Policy making (APP) affect perceived effectiveness of OCB at the group and organisational levels, respectively. The results support the expected contribution of OCB, from the individual to the group levels, and from the group level to the organisational level. Public utility managers should strive to improve employee attitudes and motivation towards greater levels of OCB.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Jonghwan Eun

The demand for innovation in public organizations is increasing. In this study, I explore factors that contribute to the innovative behavior of civil servants at the individual level. The theoretical distinction between public and private organizations has long been a subject of debate, and certain characteristics of innovation in public organizations mimic innovation in the private sector, even though the purpose of innovation in public organizations is to secure public goods. In order to examine the innovative behavior of public employees who face such contradictory circumstances, I parameterized the characteristics of each sector, using whether or not the employee had worked in the private sector prior to entering the public service as the characteristic for the private sector and the effect of public service motivation on innovative behavior as the characteristic for the public sector and found that at the individual level, the two are not mutually exclusive.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Chul Shim ◽  
Hyun Hee Park

The current study attempts to examine Perry’s assertion that the public service motivation (PSM) of government employees may be influenced by the logic of appropriateness. Based on a survey of 596 Korean local government employees in 110 work groups, this study investigated the associations between ethical climate, servant leadership, and PSM. Multilevel structural equation models (SEM) were employed. At the individual level, ethical climate (i.e., efficiency, rule/law, independence) was significantly associated with PSM. However, at the work group level, ethical climate did not demonstrate a significant association with PSM. In addition, this study found that servant leadership is effective in helping government employees develop PSM at both the individual and work group levels.


Author(s):  
I. Adamska

Problem setting. The civil servant is one of the main objects of public service reform and, at the same time, its subject. This is due to the fact that civil servants, as representatives of the senior public service, are the main actors in the formation of reform policy in the field of public service, as well as, subject to regulatory legislation, catalysts for its implementation. At the same time, transformational changes affect the legal status of public servants, which in turn affects the formation of their rights and responsibilities. Recent research and publications analysis. It was found that the issue of the rights of public servants is insufficiently covered in recent research, which has led to the relevance of the selected issues. Highlighting previously unsettled parts of the general problem is to reveal the essence and content of the rights of public servants as a fundamental component of their legal status. Paper main body. Research has shown that the legal status of a public servant should be understood as a system of rights granted to him, as well as a set of responsibilities imposed on him, including certain incentives, prohibitions and restrictions, as well as measures of legal liability for non-compliance or improper level of performance of professional duties assigned to him in accordance with the job description. The essence of the concept of “rights of a public servant” should be understood as a set of certain material, economic and social benefits that are guaranteed to the official and ensure the realization of his natural rights in the course of professional activity. Conclusions of the research and prospects for further studies. It is concluded that the rights of a public servant can be disclosed as a set of certain material, economic and social benefits that are guaranteed to the official and ensure the realization of his natural rights in the course of professional activity. There are three levels (aspects) of the rights of civil servants, namely: private law; Labor Law; public law. Thus, private law ensures the freedom and autonomy of the individual, the independence and autonomy of the individual. Labor relations arising in the activities of public servants are an element of the general system of labor law. At the same time, public servants perform their job functions personally and must obey the rules of official discipline, which are established at both the local and state levels. In the course of using the labor of public servants, labor relations arise, which, however, are characterized by the peculiarity of official functions and the level of responsibility for decision-making of state importance. Prospects for further research are the analysis of the state of protection of the rights of civil servants in modern Ukraine, the study of improving the organizational protection of the rights of civil servants and compliance with the rights of civil servants as an optimization tool for building an effective state in Ukraine.


Author(s):  
Oleh Ivanovich Rohulskyi

The article describes the main components of the institutional framework of an archetypical approach to public administration. It is determined that the system of preparation of public servants is based on a chain of universal foundations of archetype, in particular, it is influenced by the principle of formation of personnel in the public service, formed on the basis of public opinion. Based on two basic principles relating to admission to public service, three basic models of training civil servants in the European country are defined: German. French and Anglo-Saxon. We analyze each of the models and define the archetypes that influenced their formation and development. The advantages of each model are determined, in particular, the benefits are: the German model of training managers is the balancing between the theoretical knowledge and practical skills that a public servant receives during training, but as a disadvantage one can distinguish the orientation of preparation for legal orientation, which limits the ability to hold managerial positions for many employees The French model of professional training of public servants should include a well-balanced understanding of tasks, namely: decentralization and territorial organization of public services, communication, support of territorial communities, in-depth knowledge and understanding of the need for cooperation with institutions of the European Commonwealth, high-quality human resource management and orientation towards environmentally friendly innovations, such a model of training of public servants is holistic, costly and effective; The Anglo-Saxon model of training of public servants is its orientation towards the implementation of the concept of public administration and the individual approach to employee training, taking into account all the specifics of its activities, providing for the formation of personnel capable of solving specific problems. It is concluded that today in most European countries dominated by mixed models that include elements of different models.


Communicology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-88
Author(s):  
D.A. Kemenev

The article investigates the imageological aspect of mentor’s communicative competence in public service and reveals the communicative functions of mentor’s image in relation to the mentees. The author determines the communicative skills necessary for the mentor in all processes and stages of this personnel technology. Based on the analysis of scientific publications, the author discloses and justifies the role models of mentor’s behavior in relation to the mentees from the perspective of the mentor’s image, authority, and communicative competence. The author has conducted an expert survey among public servants, which allowed identify the main professional, business, moral, psychological, and integral qualities that are the most effectively developed by the public servant in the process of performing mentor’s functions. As a result, the author suggests a structural-logical model of the communicative competence of a mentor in the public service in the process of perceiving its communicative knowledge, skills, and competencies for achieving the effectiveness of mentoring.


2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 214-225
Author(s):  
ChiaKo Hung ◽  
Morgen S. Johansen ◽  
Jennifer Kagan ◽  
David Lee ◽  
Helen H. Yu

This essay provides a reflective commentary outlining Hawai’i’s unconventional response for employing a volunteer workforce of public servants when faced with the task of processing an unprecedented backlog of unemployment insurance claims triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although efforts are still ongoing, this essay applies volunteerism and public service motivation as a framework to explain why public servants would serve in a voluntary capacity at another public agency. The intent of this essay is to spur conversation on how public servants are further stepping up to the frontlines during times of crisis, as well as expand knowledge on the relationship between volunteerism and public service motivation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147737082199685
Author(s):  
Jacek Bieliński ◽  
Andreas Hövermann

Institutional anomie theory (IAT) describes the potentially criminogenic impact of economically dominated social institutions. Although originally cast at the macro level of society, more efforts have emerged lately to capture the IAT framework on the individual level, resulting in a need for appropriate measures representing the presumed marketization processes. Our study addresses this need by offering a theoretically derived, comprehensive measure of the individual-level instantiation of an anomic culture depicted in IAT, that is, ‘marketized mentality’. Structural equation models testing for the single higher-order factor marketized mentality are calculated with a representative random sample of Poland’s population. Finally, the implications and limitations resulting from the analyses are discussed.


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