Incheon National University researcher examines proactive change-oriented behaviors by public service providers
Unlike earlier research, this study shows that job autonomy only leads to change behaviors when role ambiguity is low and procedural justice is high
2024-02-07
(Press-News.org) Although change-oriented behaviors are critical to high quality public service delivery, encouraging employees to embrace and pursue change in the public sector is difficult. Even with sufficient job autonomy–the principal antidote to resistance to change in the public sector literature–public servants may still lack the incentives, skills, information, and sense of security necessary to engage in proactive change-oriented behavior. Consequently, while job autonomy is undoubtedly important, it alone is not enough, as demonstrated by the many cases in which autonomy fails to lead to change and work process improvements. Given the importance of attitudes about change for public service quality, an important question arises: Under what conditions will job autonomy induce change-oriented behavior in the public sector?
Aiming to understand the role played by job autonomy in producing change in public sector organizations, Associate Professor Jesse W. Campbell from Incheon National University has recently published a paper in the journal Review of Public Personnel Administration on December 22, 2023. In this study, the researcher proposes a new theoretical model of change-oriented OCB. The model describes a sophisticated set of conditions under which job autonomy is likely to produce change-oriented behavior: autonomy drives change only in job contexts where workers are provided with rich information about job goals and processes and secondly do not fear unjust punishment by superiors if efforts at change should fail. Only in such contexts will job autonomy lead to higher levels of job mastery and a willingness to pursue change.
The researcher analyzed a large sample of publicly available Korean government employee survey data from the Korean Public Employee Perception Survey collected from August 12 to September 30, 2020. Given the subtlety and number of relationships identified in the conceptual model, Dr. Campbell used structural equation modeling with latent variable interactions terms – an advanced statistical estimation technique – to test the model empirically.
When asked about the most important finding of their study, Dr. Campbell says, “It is difficult to create and maintain a culture of change in public organizations. A key contribution of this study lies in its identification of factors over which public managers have some control. These can act as levers that managers can manipulate to encourage change-oriented behavior in their organizations. While the difficulties should not be underestimated, the factors that can drive change are nevertheless tractable and managers that genuinely want to encourage their employees to pursue change have tools available to them to facilitate this goal.”
While a certain level of job autonomy has been implicated in a variety of organizationally beneficial behaviors as well as the subjective wellbeing of public employees, autonomy should not be considered in isolation but rather as a part of the broader work context which also consists in norms, incentives, job roles, and human relationships. Consequently, simply having job autonomy is not enough for an employee to engage in change-oriented behavior. Rather, its effect is contingent upon other contextual factors that allow and encourage employees to act on their autonomy and pursue change. Only when these conditions are present will public organizations reap the performance rewards of change-oriented behavior.
To efficiently and impartially provide public services, administrators must closely adhere to established practices and rules. Perhaps the most stubborn condition preventing change in the public sector is that the public is quite intolerant of risk taking on the part of public servants. This is understandable given that it is ultimately tax dollars that are lost when change fails. “If we want change in the public sector, we need to build the cultural, procedural, and managerial foundations on which it can be pursued. Not only must employees have sufficient levels of autonomy to pursue change, but they also need sufficient information and clarity about their tasks. Change must be pursued in an environment where employees are not worried about being unjustly persecuted when attempts at change fail. A strong culture for change is thus the product of a sophisticated configuration of factors which must be implemented in tandem,” concludes Dr. Campbell.
Here’s hoping for a better understanding of change-oriented behavior in public services!
***
Reference
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X231214978
Authors: Jesse W. Campbell1
Affiliations: 1Incheon National University
About Incheon National University
Incheon National University (INU) is a comprehensive, student-focused university. It was founded in 1979 and given university status in 1988. One of the largest universities in South Korea, it houses nearly 14,000 students and 500 faculty members. In 2010, INU merged with Incheon City College to expand capacity and open more curricula. With its commitment to academic excellence and an unrelenting devotion to innovative research, INU offers its students real-world internship experiences. INU not only focuses on studying and learning but also strives to provide a supportive environment for students to follow their passion, grow, and, as their slogan says, be INspired.
Website: https://www.inu.ac.kr/sites/inuengl/index.do
About the author
Jesse Campbell is an Associate Professor of Public Administration at Incheon National University in South Korea. His research explores themes in organization theory and comparative public administration, as well as topics with a specific relevance to the Korean administrative context. Enduring topics of interest include how elements of administrative culture influence organizational behavior, as well as the role of national context in shaping the initiation, configuration, and effectiveness of public sector reform. Dr. Campbell holds a PhD in Public Administration from Seoul National University in South Korea and a master's degree in philosophy from Western University in Canada. He can be reached at jcampbell@inu.ac.kr.
END
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2024-02-07
For the first time, a hydrogel material made of nanocellulose and algae has been tested as an alternative, greener architectural material. The study, from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and the Wallenberg Wood Science Center, shows how the abundant sustainable material can be 3D printed into a wide array of architectural components, using much less energy than conventional construction methods.
The construction industry today consumes 50 percent of the world’s fossil resources, generates 40 percent of global waste and causes 39 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. There is a growing line of research into biomaterials and their applications, in ...
2024-02-07
When it comes to making fuel from plants, the first step has always been the hardest — breaking down the plant matter. A new study finds that introducing a simple, renewable chemical to the pretreatment step can finally make next-generation biofuel production both cost-effective and carbon neutral.
For biofuels to compete with petroleum, biorefinery operations must be designed to better utilize lignin. Lignin is one of the main components of plant cell walls. It provides plants with greater structural integrity and resiliency from microbial attacks. However, these natural properties of lignin also make it difficult to extract and utilize ...
2024-02-07
The Sun’s polar regions were the most active emitting high energy radiation during the previous solar maximum, an imbalance yet to be explained, and reported for the first time in a study led by a researcher of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Ciências ULisboa) (Portugal).
The Sun shines brightly in the visible light, but how does it look like at the highest energies of the electromagnetic radiation? The Sun’s picture taken in gamma rays is a deadly sight, luckily blinded by the Earth’s atmosphere and only seen from space. Each photon carries a billion times more energy than its ultraviolet sibling. How does the Sun’s regular gamma rays’ ...
2024-02-07
A major challenge to developing better neural prostheses is sensory encoding: transforming information captured from the environment by sensors into neural signals that can be interpreted by the nervous system. But because the number of electrodes in a prosthesis is limited, this environmental input must be reduced in some way, while still preserving the quality of the data that is transmitted to the brain.
Demetri Psaltis (Optics Lab) and Christophe Moser (Laboratory of Applied Photonics Devices) collaborated with Diego Ghezzi of the Hôpital ophtalmique Jules-Gonin – Fondation Asile des Aveugles (previously Medtronic Chair in Neuroengineering at EPFL) to apply machine ...
2024-02-07
A study led by researchers at the Nagoya University Museum in Japan may change how we understand the cultural evolution of Homo sapiens at the time of their dispersal across Eurasia about 50,000 to 40,000 years ago. These findings challenge traditional beliefs about the timing and nature of cultural transitions during this critical period in human history.
Published in Nature Communications, the researchers’ insights into stone tool technology suggest that the commonly held view of a ‘revolution’ in culture and technology that allowed anatomically modern humans to outcompete ...
2024-02-07
Forests, which cover a third of Earth's land surface, are pivotal in carbon storage and the water cycle, though the full scope of their impact remains to be fully understood. In a new study published in Nature Communications, researchers from Stockholm University and international colleagues provide new insights into the complex role forests play in the climate system and water cycle.
The research, involving scientists from 11 institutions across five countries, including Sweden, the UK, Finland, Germany, and Brazil, highlights the intricate relationship between forests, particularly their emission ...
2024-02-07
Capsaicin, derived from hot chili pepper plants, has been used to treat various types of pain, and a high concentration capsaicin patch (HCCP) is approved for the treatment of nerve (or neuropathic) pain. In a real-world study published in Pain Practice that included 97 outpatients in Germany diagnosed primarily with neuropathic back pain, postoperative/posttraumatic neuropathic pain, or postherpetic neuralgia (shingles pain), patients appeared to benefit from multiple HCCP applications.
Among the ...
2024-02-07
An analysis of relevant published studies indicates that across all ages, food allergy negatively affects individuals’ quality of life to a greater extent in females than in males.
The analysis, which is published in Clinical and Experimental Allergy, included 34 studies. In the studies, women and the parents of girls tended to report a greater impact of food allergy on health-related quality of life than men or parents of boys.
Evidence also showed that improvements in quality of life over the course of treatment for food allergy can be different for males and females, with weak evidence suggesting that male children may experience more improvements ...
2024-02-07
A recent analysis of data from nearly all World Health Organization member states clearly demonstrates a link between air pollution and mortality from cardiovascular diseases, with more of such deaths associated with air pollution in low-income countries compared with high-income countries.
In all 183 countries included in the Chronic Diseases and Translational Medicine study, ischemic heart disease-related deaths attributed to air pollution were higher than stroke-related deaths caused by air pollution. In 2019, outdoor air pollution caused 16 ischemic heart disease-related deaths per 100,000 people in high-income countries compared with 70 per 100,000 in low-income countries.
Also, in ...
2024-02-07
A study published in the Journal of Field Robotics assessed the world’s first unmanned machine designed for autonomous forestry operations. Investigators demonstrated that using computer vision, autonomous navigation, and manipulator control algorithms, their newly developed machine can safely, accurately, and efficiently pick up logs from the ground and maneuver through various forest terrains without the need for human intervention.
The research represents a significant milestone in the field of autonomous outdoor robotics, which could reduce the need for human labor, thereby increasing productivity and reducing labor costs, while ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Incheon National University researcher examines proactive change-oriented behaviors by public service providers
Unlike earlier research, this study shows that job autonomy only leads to change behaviors when role ambiguity is low and procedural justice is high
