Legitimacy, autonomy and trust: a recipe for organizations to operate in the public interest

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Wilson ◽  
Devin Knighton
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Legitimacy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Community Norms ◽  
Societal Norms ◽  
Organizational Autonomy ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Values And Beliefs ◽  
Actional Legitimacy

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effect of publics' legitimacy evaluations on Arthur W. Page's conceptualization of “reasonable freedom of action” by breaking it into two parts: (1) perceived organizational autonomy and (2) trust in the organization.Design/methodology/approachThis study conducted an online experiment using a 2 (legitimacy: low, high) × 2 (legitimacy type: institutional, actional) between-subjects design. Measured variables included perceived organizational autonomy and trust.FindingsOrganizations acting in their own self-interest while ignoring community norms and expectations were perceived to be exercising higher levels of organizational autonomy and have lower levels of trust. The interaction between legitimacy type and level had an effect on perceived organizational autonomy and trust.Research limitations/implicationsPublic's view their relationships with organizations from a perspective that prioritizes responsibility and conformity to community norms and expectations. Also, organizations have more to lose by acting in their own self-interest to resolve institutional legitimacy concerns and more to gain by handling them in a way that includes the public interest than when they are managing an actional legitimacy situation.Practical implicationsSocietal norms, values and beliefs, which may have accommodated, or even supported, an organization's approach to doing business in the past, can change over time, calling into question an organization's legitimacy and its ability to operate in the public interest. As a result, organizational leaders need the Chief Communication Officer to help them understand current societal norms, values and beliefs.Originality/valueThis study addresses a core assumption of the organization–public relationship paradigm that has not yet been studied empirically. It also expands the understanding of organizational autonomy from a public perspective and examines the effect of legitimacy on organizational autonomy and trust.

Relationship between CSR motivations and corporate social performance: a study in the power industry in India

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moumita Acharyya ◽  
Tanuja Agarwala
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Corporate Social Performance ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Power Sector ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Public And Private Sector

PurposeThe paper aims to understand the different motivations / reasons for engaging in CSR initiatives by the organizations. In addition, the study also examines the relationship between CSR motivations and corporate social performance (CSP).Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from two power sector organizations: one was a private sector firm and the other was a public sector firm. A comparative analysis of the variables with respect to private and public sector organizations was conducted. A questionnaire survey was administered among 370 employees working in the power sector, with 199 executives from public sector and 171 from private sector.Findings“Philanthropic” motivation emerged as the most dominant CSR motivation among both the public and private sector firms. The private sector firm was found to be significantly higher with respect to “philanthropic”, “enlightened self-interest” and “normative” CSR motivations when compared with the public sector firms. Findings suggest that public and private sector firms differed significantly on four CSR motivations, namely, “philanthropic”, “enlightened self-interest”, “normative” and “coercive”. The CSP score was significantly different among the two power sector firms of public and private sectors. The private sector firm had a higher CSP level than the public sector undertaking.Research limitations/implicationsFurther studies in the domain need to address differences in CSR motivations and CSP across other sectors to understand the role of industry characteristics in influencing social development targets of organizations. Research also needs to focus on demonstrating the relationship between CSP and financial performance of the firms. Further, the HR outcomes of CSR initiatives and measurement of CSP indicators, such as attracting and retaining talent, employee commitment and organizational climate factors, need to be assessed.Originality/valueThe social issues are now directly linked with the business model to ensure consistency and community development. The results reveal a need for “enlightened self-interest” which is the second dominant CSR motivation among the organizations. The study makes a novel contribution by determining that competitive and coercive motivations are not functional as part of organizational CSR strategy. CSR can never be forced as the very idea is to do social good. Eventually, the CSR approach demands a commitment from within. The organizations need to emphasize more voluntary engagement of employees and go beyond statutory requirements for realizing the true CSR benefits.

Top-up

2019 ◽  
pp. 261-313
Author(s):  
Jean Drèze
Keyword(s):  
Social Development ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Urban Poverty ◽  
Electoral Politics ◽  
Caste System ◽  
The Public ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Bullet Train ◽  
Disastrous Experience

This chapter covers a range of issues that do not fit in earlier chapters. These include urban poverty, universal basic income, the Gujarat model, electoral politics, India's bullet train, the economics of corruption, the aberrations of the caste system, and India's disastrous experience with demonetisation in late 2016. The book concludes with an extended essay on “Development and Public‐spiritedness”. This essay takes issue with the notion, common in economics, that people generally act out of self‐interest. This assumption has no theoretical or empirical basis. Public‐spiritedness, in the sense of a reasoned habit of consideration for the public interest, is a common feature of social life. Expanding the scope of public‐spiritedness is an important aspect of social development.

Conclusion

2020 ◽  
pp. 214-234
Author(s):  
Jon Elster
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Public Domain ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Ancien Regime ◽  
Economic Variables ◽  
The Public ◽  
Group Interest ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Ancien Régime

This chapter emphasizes the incompleteness of knowledge on key economic variables, which is in part due to the reluctance of individuals, from all social classes, to comply with requests for information. It notes how individuals and institutions had an incentive to misreport, exaggerate, or understate their income and property. At a different level, statements by royal officials, venal magistrates, and elected deputies can rarely be taken at face value. The chapter analyzes the universal tendency of speakers or writers to disguise self-interest or group interest as the public interest. It also argues that by the end of the ancien régime, public opinion was considered a poor substitute for publicity as it is often based on rumors rather than on facts in the public domain.

scholarly journals Guardians of public interest: the expectation and experience of non-executive directors in National Health Service commissioning boards in England

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy Tweed ◽  
Louise M. Wallace
Keyword(s):  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
National Health ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Open Systems ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Goal Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Systems Model

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to examine how Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) in the English National Health Service (NHS) commissioning bodies experienced their role and contribution to governance.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 31 NEDs of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) and 8 Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) NEDs. Framework analysis was applied using a conceptualisation of governance developed by Newman, which has four models of governance: the hierarchy, self-governance, open systems and rational goal model.FindingsNEDs saw themselves as guardians of the public interest. NEDs’ power is a product of the explicit levers set out in the constitution of the board, but also how they choose to use their knowledge and expertise to influence decisions for, as they see it, the public good. They contribute to governance by holding to account executive and professional colleagues, acting largely within the rational goal model. CCG NEDs felt less powerful than in those in PCTs, operating largely in conformance and representational roles, even though government policy appears to be moving towards a more networked, open systems model.Originality/valueThis is the first in-depth study of NEDs in English NHS local commissioning bodies. It is of value in helping to inform how the NED role could be enhanced to make a wider contribution to healthcare leadership as new systems are established in the UK and beyond.

NO MAN IS AN ISLAND: SELF-INTEREST, THE PUBLIC INTEREST, AND SOCIOTROPIC VOTING

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Roderick Kiewiet ◽  
Michael S. Lewis-Beck
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
The Public ◽  
Self Interest

A reflective analysis of the “new audit” and the public interest

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 300-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Fogarty ◽  
John T. Rigsby
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Motivating Factors ◽  
Public Accounting ◽  
Accounting Firms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Good ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Business ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Audit Approach

PurposePrior to the sudden collapse of large companies following the turn of the century and the implication that the auditing of these enterprises had failed, the large public accounting firms sought to re‐engineer the audit. A comprehension attempt to convert that which had been designed as a social good into one more aligned with a commercial logic was halted by the legislative response to this departure from classic professionalism. Recent developments suggest that change in this direction is regrouping. The purpose of this paper is to provide a reflective analysis of the thoughts of the authors on the early development of the new audit approach.Design/methodology/approachMost of the information in the piece was garnered from conversations with public accounting partners during the era in question. Logical argumentation derived from the academic and theoretical literature is the primary method.FindingsAttributes of the firms' strategies during this period are outlined. Features of the new audit are developed, especially as they vary from the traditional audit. These techniques and approaches are analyzed in terms of their ability to serve the public interest. This paper argues that motivating factors of the new audit will continue to be a force even in the more hostile regulatory environment of today.Practical implicationsAn appreciation of the findings of the study is useful in maintaining a level of skepticism about changes to the audit that are advocated by audit firms. Users of audit services, regulators, and legislators would benefit from an appreciation of the recent past. The motivating factors underlying these changes to audit environment continue to operate over time as the social purposes of the audit are less likely to be converted by the firms to ones that can be commercially exploited.Originality/valueThe study contributes insights into the origins of the new business audit approach and related strengths and limitations. These factors should be considered as the approach is developed and moves forward into the future in order for the audit approach to be effective in performing its social functions.

Public-Regardingness as a Value Premise in Voting Behavior

1964 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 876-887 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Q. Wilson ◽  
Edward C. Banfield
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Body Politic ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Public ◽  
A Value ◽  
Self Interest

Our concern here is with the nature of the individual's attachment to the body politic and, more particularly, with the value premises underlying the choices made by certain classes of voters. Our hypothesis is that some classes of voters (provisionally defined as “subcultures” constituted on ethnic and income lines) are more disposed than others to rest their choices on some conception of “the public interest” or the “welfare of the community.” To say the same thing in another way, the voting behavior of some classes tends to be more public-regarding and less private- (self- or family-) regarding than that of others. To test this hypothesis it is necessary to examine voting behavior in situations where one can say that a certain vote could not have been private-regarding. Local bond and other expenditure referenda present such situations: it is sometimes possible to say that a vote in favor of a particular expenditure proposal is incompatible with a certain voter's self-interest narrowly conceived. If the voter nevertheless casts such a vote and if there is evidence that his vote was not in some sense irrational or accidental, then it must be presumed that his action was based on some conception of “the public interest.”

Government secrecy: public attitudes toward information provided by the authorities

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Gunnlaugsdottir
Keyword(s):  
Public Interest ◽  
General Public ◽  
National Registry ◽  
Western World ◽  
Public Expenditures ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Government Provision

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present findings of a survey conducted during 2012 in Iceland with the intent of examining public opinion on government provision of information, i.e. whether the public felt that the authorities withheld information, either about subjects of general public interest or about public expenditures, if the authorities felt there was a reason to do so. Design/methodology/approach – A survey questionnaire was sent in March 2012 to almost two thousand Icelanders. This was a random sample selected from the National Registry. The response rate was almost 67 per cent. The survey was modelled on other research and resources that had examined trust toward public authorities and the influence of Freedom of Information Acts on government information practices. Findings – The survey discovered that the greater part of the citizenry felt that the authorities did keep important information of general public interest secret often or sometimes. Only 2-3 per cent of them believed that this never happened. Most of those surveyed felt as well that important information about public expenditures was often or sometimes withheld. Only 3-5 per cent of the respondents were of the opinion that this never happened. Practical implications – The results could be of value to public authorities that want to improve the provision of information and practice according to freedom of information act. They could also bring varied and valuable opportunities to the profession of records managers as well as others who practice information management. Originality/value – The survey adds valuable information and fulfils a need for a better understanding of what the public believes regarding government provision of information in Iceland. Although the survey is limited to Iceland, these findings may also be of value to public authorities and researchers in the Western World, Australia and New Zealand, to give a few examples where the culture and the practice of government may not be that different, as well as in other countries. The survey can lay the foundation for further research into the field.

scholarly journals University of Wollongong in Dubai: creating a private university in the public interest

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rob Whelan ◽  
Daniel Kratochvil
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Private University ◽  
Subject Area ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Complex Organization ◽  
The University

TitleUniversity of Wollongong in Dubai: creating a private university in the public interest.Subject areaHigher education leadership and planning.Study level/applicabilityPostgraduate/higher education.Case overviewProfessor Rob Whelan was appointed President of the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) from the University of Wollongong in Australia (UOW). Professor Whelan brought to the job in Dubai the perspective that public‐good benefits flow from a comprehensive institution engaged with the larger community and these are led by academic staff members who produce research that serves the national interest. To apply this model to UOWD meant a thorough analysis of the organization in terms of both its culture and its broader environment. This case explores the various processes through which a new leader takes stock of an existing institution, identifies the potential for development in a particular direction, draws upon a range of stakeholders to refine the vision and develop it into a strategic plan, gains support for the plan, and then implements change through close collaboration with the institution's constituents.Expected learning outcomesThis case can be used to explore a number of issues in leadership and management including: identifying the various internal and external stakeholders in a complex organization; analysing strategies for mobilization for change, including the assessment of inclusive versus exclusive approaches; reviewing the opportunity costs of change; and assessing types of leadership.Supplementary materialsTeaching notes.

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