Public servants coping with competing demands on their agency in client relationships

Tuominen, Tiina; Hasu, Mervi

doi:10.1108/ijpsm-05-2019-0120

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Previous studies on street-level bureaucrats state that these professionals face conflicts and contradictory demands from policy requirements, clients' needs, professional codes, stakeholders' interests and established institutional practices (Lipsky, 2010; Tummers et al. , 2015; Tuominen and Hasu, 2020). The adoption of an organizational idea, such as co-production, can add yet another demand to their already complex and ambiguous work (Mik-Meyer and Villadsen, 2013; Taylor and Kelly, 2006).…”

Section: Theoretical Framework: Scandinavian Institutionalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable implementation of co-production: exploring conflicts and coping behavior employed by street-level professionals

Mortensen

2023

IJPSM

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PurposeThis study explores how street-level professionals translate and implement a co-production strategy, formulated by top management, in their professional practices, focusing on conflicts that arise during this process and the effectiveness of the coping strategies employed by these professionals to manage them.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on a lower-level inquiry into three care services in Denmark. It adopted the translation perspective in organizational research to analyze the consequences of street-level professionals' translation choices. Data were collected through interviews and observations.FindingsThis study found that street-level professionals' translation choices contribute to conflicts of varying forms and extents. The finding suggests that the way conflicts are managed makes the difference between the actual organizational change and the more symbolic acceptance of co-production.Originality/valueThis study contributes to discourses on challenges in co-production implementation by deepening knowledge about the role of coping behavior and translation in sustainable implementation of co-production.

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Section: Theoretical Framework: Scandinavian Institutionalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable implementation of co-production: exploring conflicts and coping behavior employed by street-level professionals

Mortensen

2023

IJPSM

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“…Frontline workers, faced with work pressures and a substantial degree of autonomy and influence, develop operating procedures to make their day-to-day work manageable and enable them to meet their goals (Lipsky, 1980(Lipsky, , 2010Tummers et al, 2015;Tuominen & Hasu, 2020;Zacka, 2017). How frontline workers make sense of interactions with so-called 'service users' has been studied most readily in terms of coping strategies in public administration.…”

Section: Conceptual Framework: Frontline Workers and Community Intera...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Water governance on the streets of Scotland: How frontline public workers encounter and respond to tensions in delivering water services with communities

2022

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We explore the activities of frontline workers situated in public bodies responsible for water service provision. We use Scotland as a case study. Here, like in other parts of Europe, there are greater expectations and responsibilities placed on communities to tackle water concerns. In this context, frontline workers are required to collaborate closely with communities to encourage their involvement in public services whilst being more attentive to their needs and concerns. Doing so brings the relationship between frontline workers and communities into focus. In water services, a research gap exists as to how frontline workers interact with communities and influence engagement. Although frontline workers in water services have a highly influential role, evidence of how they perform their daily duties remains limited. This gap hinders understanding the challenges that frontline workers experience and how they can be overcome. Responding to this gap, we look to administration and policy studies, where a tradition of studying frontline workers exists in diverse public policy areas. Using the concepts of biasing, aligning and negotiating, we explore the activities of frontline workers. Using interview and observational data, we demonstrate how they (i) bias services to limit and control engagement, (ii) align resources and people to enhance opportunities for engagement and (iii) negotiate with colleagues and communities to deliver goals. We unpack the role of frontline workers and explore their pertinent position in water governance as they work inside and outside their organisations. We finish with conclusions and future avenues for research.

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Nexus of employability, work climate, and service charter’s effectiveness: USEM model and self-determination theory perspective

Gyepi-Garbrah,

Preko

2024

The Irish Journal of Management

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This study aims to understand how ‘employability’ factors and ‘work climate’ affect the effective implementation of service charter protocols in the public sector context. The study employed a quantitative method anchored on the Understanding-Skillfulness-Efficacy belief-metacognition (USEM) model and self-determination theory, utilising the convenience sampling method in surveying 402 graduate employees of the civil service in Ghana. The findings confirm that skillfulness, efficacy belief, and metacognition employability elements derived from the USEM employability model significantly influence the service charter’s effectiveness. Meanwhile, ‘work climate’ significantly moderates the ‘efficacy-belief-service charters’ effectiveness (SCE)’ relationship. However, understanding the subject matter did not significantly impact SCE. This study makes a novel contribution to the services literature by addressing how ‘employability’ elements and ‘work climate’ interact to influence service charters’ effectiveness, an area of study needing more attention in services literature.

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Public servants coping with competing demands on their agency in client relationships

Cited by 3 publications

References 45 publications

Sustainable implementation of co-production: exploring conflicts and coping behavior employed by street-level professionals

Sustainable implementation of co-production: exploring conflicts and coping behavior employed by street-level professionals

Water governance on the streets of Scotland: How frontline public workers encounter and respond to tensions in delivering water services with communities

Nexus of employability, work climate, and service charter’s effectiveness: USEM model and self-determination theory perspective

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