Beyond Efficiency or Justice: The Structure and Measurement of Public Servants’ Public Values Preferences

The public values preferences of public servants play an increasingly important role in understanding their administrative behaviors in the era of public value management. Researchers, however, tend to choose proxy or simplified variables to measure public values preferences, resulting in incomplete understanding of the underlying structure. Based on survey data in China, this study develops a five-dimensional scale of public servants’ public values preferences and verifies the scale’s predictive validity by adopting public service motivation and work performance as the criteria. From this study, we call for the establishment of a public values-based public personnel management system.

Approaches of School Administrators toward Teachers with Different Types of Human Nature: The Cyprus Case

This study seeks answers to the questions regarding the types of human nature that primary school teachers possess from the perspective of primary school administrators and what their approaches are toward teachers with different types of human nature. The study is prepared using a case study model with the qualitative method. “Scenario analysis” is used to obtain data, and eight different scenarios prepared within this context were presented to school administrators. In total, 25 administrators during the 2017–2018 scholar year were selected based on purposive sampling and were contacted accordingly. In terms of the conclusions of the study, it can be seen that school administrators defined self-actualizing teachers with social human nature using positive adjectives, while they had different opinions in regard to defining teachers with a rational-economic human nature, and they defined teachers with a complex human nature with negative adjectives. In terms of the findings related to the attitudes of administrators toward different human natures, it was found that there are some administrators who display positive administrative behaviors (appreciating, rewarding, respecting, motivating etc.) as well as administrators who display negative administrative behaviors (punishing, being indifferent to incidents, imposing by using legal powers, etc.).

Public procurement specialists: They are not who we thought they were

Recently there has been an impressive growth in the scholarly literature on public procurement. The study of the administrative roles assumed by public procurement specialists is, however, one area that remains largely underexplored. Somewhat curiously, the professionals making a career in the field are often an afterthought when it comes to empirical research. Outside of anecdotal accounts, there is little that is known in terms of the roles that procurement specialists assume on daily basis. In this respect, there is an important knowledge gap within the field's body of literature. This article attempts to address this knowledge gap through an exploratory empirical evaluation of the administrative behaviors of public procurement specialists.

Rites of Passage: Coercion, Compliance, and Complicity in the Socialization of New Vice-Principals

Background/Context Over four decades ago, Arnold van Gennep used the term rites of passage to describe the ceremonial and ritualistic behaviors that marked the passage between social roles. Although the transition from teaching to administration is not as clearly delineated as passages in traditional societies, it is also characterized by socialization rites, rituals, and ceremonies that communicate information about approved administrative behaviors and reinforce organizational roles and structures. Focus of Study This research examined the socialization structures and processes that impacted the transition from teaching to administration. Eight newly appointed vice-principals from an urban Canadian school district were interviewed throughout the school year to determine the people, structures, and events that facilitated or hindered their transition and the challenges they encountered in leading and managing diverse urban schools. Research Design Qualitative methodology was used to explore new vice-principals’ experiences. Purposive sampling was used to represent the diversity of voices based on gender, ethnocultural background, type of school, and number of years of experience as a vice-principal. The vice-principals participated in two semistructured interviews during the school year. Individual responses were coded according to the research questions and further analyzed to determine recurring themes and patterns. Findings/Results The findings revealed that the novice vice-principals experienced separation, initiation, and incorporation rites that tested them physically, mentally, and emotionally. The pervasive pressure of these socialization tactics forced them to comply with normative expectations of the vice-principalship as a custodial disciplinary role and violated their professional rights. Conclusion/Recommendations Coercive socialization practices impact new administrators and their communities negatively and are antithetical to institutional goals of creating equitable schools. School districts, along with regulatory, training, and professional bodies, need to address core issues related to the vice-principalship and the ways in which new school leaders are socialized into administrative roles. Coordinated partnerships and interventions are also needed so that new administrators can develop leadership skills in emotionally and physically safe environments.

The Principalship and Stress in the Workplace: An Observational and Physiological Study

This study sought to identify stress when experienced by principals in their schools, to record the duration of periods of stress experienced, and to ascertain if and what particular administrative behaviors were associated with stress. Structured observation was used to record and time all activities of ten elementary school principals in Sydney, Australia. Observed stressful behavior was confirmed by the use of a tissue perfusion monitor—a physiological measure of stress. All principals were shown to experience stress—some at heavy levels for extended periods. Eight categories of stressors were identified.