A Micro-Level Perspective on Joint Inspections: How Teamwork Shapes Decision Making

Abstract

In street-level bureaucracy studies, inspectors are often seen as frontline workers with individual discretion. Inspectors, however, increasingly operate in intra- or inter-organizational teams and perform joint inspections to more effectively tackle the complexity of multi-problems and wicked issues in society. Nevertheless, how street-level bureaucrats work together in teams, and how teamwork shapes decision making on the ground has not been given much scholarly attention in public administration. Based on findings from the few published studies on this topic, this chapter argues that the social dynamics and decision-making processes in joint inspections may be different than those in one-on-one inspector–inspectee encounters. It therefore calls for more research to better understand how teamwork shapes decision-making at the micro-level, and how challenges can be dealt with.