An institutional perspective on public services: Managing publicness, identities, and behavior

Abstract

It is easy to think of public service organizations in generic terms. However, on the basis of a multidimensional institutional perspective of publicness, which includes authority, funding, and values, one can quickly understand that the publicness of organizations comes in various guises. This institutional perspective not only explains the behavior of these various public service organizations themselves but also the behavior of individuals operating within these institutional boundaries. Key to explaining individual institutional behavior is the concept of identities. Depending on the extent of their internalization, identities influence individual behavior more or less strongly. An important level at which these insights can be harnessed to the benefit of the organization is at the level of management, which is the link between the individual and the organization. The mechanisms of management influence are illustrated by analyzing four different organizational systems (work design, reward, human resources flow, and employee participation) to manage human assets in public service organizations.