Public service motivation of county-level emergency managers

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 387
Author(s):  
Matthew Malone, PhD

This study seeks to understand the public service motivations (PSMs) of professional emergency managers. In order to do this, county-level emergency managers completed an electronic survey designed to measure their PSM using standard PSM measures developed by Perry in 1996 along with my own emergency management specific measures. The survey results strongly indicate that county-level emergency managers have high levels of PSM, and they have a strong desire to specifically be emergency managers.

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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 770-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunkui Zhu ◽  
Chen Wu

Purpose This paper aims to examine different hypotheses concerning the effects of public service motivation (PSM) and other attitudinal or institutional dimensions on organizational performance (OP). Specifically, based on the experience of Chinese provincial governments, this study provides new evidence about how PSM may affect OP. Design/methodology/approach This study collected data from a survey of different provincial government departments in Sichuan Province, Hubei Province, Hunan Province and Chongqing Municipality in 2011. Using data from 761 respondents, Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis were used to explore the relationships between related factors. Findings PSM, job satisfaction, affective commitment and job involvement have statistically significant effects on OP, and these results are consistent with the findings of previous researches that PSM positively affected OP at a significant level. The results suggest that, if civil servants have a strong PSM, the performance of their organizations will be high. Research limitations/implications Future research should look for additional factors that affect OP, comparing employees’ perceptions of an organization’s performance with objective data to determine whether, and to what degree, subjective measures of performance are valid measures of OP in the public sector. Practical implications In the process of improving government performance, it is significant to give attention to the government employees’ mentality. The government training and promotion system should encourage civil servants to care about the public interest. A more flattened organization should be considered as part of the next steps in government reform, and more opportunities should be provided to involve more government employees in policy making. Originality/value This study helps to clarify the effects of individual factors of PSM on OP in China in a tightly controlled bureaucratic environment, where related data are hardly accessible.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (18) ◽  
pp. 01-08
Author(s):  
Fauzahani Pairan ◽  
Jessica Hai Liaw Ong ◽  
Mohd Juraimy Kadir ◽  
Nora Ibrahim

A public organization is an important sector in the administration of the Nation and it needs to remain relevant and accepted by society. The sub-sector such as services and security are the most important organizations that require high performance in society and the country to ensure security is always guaranteed. Military Training Academy, NDUM is an organization involved in various security and humanitarian operations either nationally or internationally. Accordingly, this study was conducted to assess employee motivation in public service activities by using the Public Service Motivation Model (PSM). The elements contained in the model are an attraction to public policymaking, commitment to the public interest, self-sacrifice, compassion, and ethical leadership. This study aims to analyze the relationship between Public Service Motivation (PSM) and organizational performance with ethical leadership among employees in Military Training Academy, NDUM. Quantitative research methods were used and questionnaires have been distributed to staff and instructors in Military Training Academy, NDUM, located in Kuala Lumpur by distributing the questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS 19. The results of this study showed that the attraction towards public policy-making (t=1.927, p>0.01), commitment to public interest (t=0.289, p>0.01), self-sacrifice (t=1.623, p>0.01), compassion (t=0.704, p>0.01) and ethical leadership (t=7.071, p<0.01). Ethical leadership encourages employees to participate in community service programs and improve organizational performance.


2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-217
Author(s):  
Daniel E. Bromberg ◽  
Étienne Charbonneau

One of the main practical recommendations from the copious public service motivation literature is that human resources (HR) professionals should use public service motivation (PSM) to assist in selecting candidates for public service jobs. To test if PSM is indeed attractive to HR professionals in selecting applicants to work in the public sector, 238 HR managers recruited from the International Public Management Association for Human Resources rated three cover letters and then rated themselves about PSM and the Big 5 personality traits. The cover letters were randomized on most likely combinations of PSM and Big 5, revealed in earlier research. Our results are that real HR professionals did not rate cover letters more highly when they displayed aspects of PSM.


2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 725-733 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chyi-Lu Jang

The relationship between the Big Five personality traits (Costa & McCrae, 1992) and public service motivation (PSM) was examined using a questionnaire survey of 277 public servants employed by 3 local governments in Taiwan. Regression analysis results indicated that extraversion was positively related to attraction to policy making, but negatively associated with self-sacrifice. Agreeableness was positively correlated to compassion. Conscientiousness was positively related to commitment to the public interest, compassion, and self-sacrifice. Neuroticism was negatively associated with commitment to the public interest and compassion, but positively with attraction to policy making. Openness to experience was positively correlated with all dimensions of PSM. In summary, personality traits can function as strong predictors of public service motivation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris O’Leary

There has been a significant and growing interest, and growing empirical research, around Public Service Motivation (PSM) in recent years. There are few critiques of the construct, and none from a rationalist perspective. Given that the origins of PSM lie in attempts by public administration scholars to counter rationalist explanations of bureaucratic behavior, this lack of countercriticism is surprising. This article provides a rationalist critique of PSM. It argues that PSM is consistent with, and not an alternative to, rationalist understandings of what motivates individuals. It also argues that a significant gap in the PSM literature is around how civil servants and others make decisions; decisions about the public interest, and thus how and when to allocate public resources. It concludes that seeing PSM as consistent with rationality, and specifically as a form of expressive interests, answers many of the remaining questions about PSM and addresses the substantive gaps in the construct.


2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dermot McCarthy ◽  
Ping Wei ◽  
Fabian Homberg ◽  
Vurain Tabvuma

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to statistically test if the public service motivation (PSM) measure operates in the same way across the public and private sectors of a municipal district in China. It also contrasts the relationship between PSM and workplace outcomes across sectors and employee age groups. Design/methodology/approach Survey data from independent samples of public (n=220) and private (n=230) sector employees in the Changsha Municipal District of China is used. The analysis tests for invariance across groups, before comparing mean values and regression weights. Findings Only in respect of one PSM dimension do findings show a significant higher mean in the public sector. No significant difference is found on the impact of PSM on employee performance across sectors, while it is in the private sector that PSM has the greater impact on intention to leave. Findings also show no marked impact of age upon outcomes. Research limitations/implications This study provides an initial set of results and further research will need to be undertaken to verify them. The limited sample size and narrow geographical focus, although in line with similar studies on China, means the ability to draw generalisations is limited. The reliance on self-reported measures means issues with common method bias cannot be ignored. Measures were taken during data collection to minimise issues of bias and a set of post-hoc test results are provided. Practical implications The recruitment of employees with higher levels of PSM can be expected to play a role in achieving better outcomes, regardless of sector and age profile. Originality/value The PSM measure has been applied by researchers across various economic sectors. This paper is one of the first to statistically test if the concept and its measure operates in the same way across sectors. The paper contributes to the on-going debate on PSM in the context of China and its relationship with a number of key output variables. Finally, the paper contributes to the emerging debate on changing workforce demographics and their role in shaping outcomes.


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