What Happens When Rules Stay the Same? Examining Changes in Implementation Intent over Time

Formalization and consistency heighten organizational rule following: Experimental and survey evidence

“…While consequences for rule violation can influence rule behaviour, the influence is limited when rule violations carry little consequence. This tendency toward the absence of consequences for rule violations has been observed in a wide array of organizational settings, from narcotics law enforcement (Manning 1977) to safety rules (Reason et al 1998) to minority contracting (Terman 2017). Given that rules are mostly followed in public organizations, detecting and punishing rule violations becomes an ineffective investment of managerial time.…”

Death by a Thousand 10-Minute Tasks: Workarounds and Noncompliance in University Research Administration

“…This includes the field of public administration where there is yet only a single study chiefly focused on this topic (Campbell, 2012), this despite long-standing interests in bureaucratic discretion. During the past few years, one does find related studies on topics such as rule bending (Borry, 2017; Fleming, 2020; Jung et al, 2020; Terman, 2017). Typically, the rule-bending studies provide no information about the specific “bends” or about specific ways in which those breaking or bending rules developed workarounds.…”

“…Using interviews and archival data and focusing intensely on a single rule over a 25-year period, Jessica Terman (2017) explains rule bending in terms of the changes that occur in administrative intent, even as the rules themselves remain the same. In this respect, rule bending may be a response to the lack of changes in rules while the ecology of rules is changing.…”

The Best Disparity, or Lack Thereof, That Money Can Buy

“…It may be possible for organizations to focus on the goals established, rather than participation achieved, resulting in programs that do not achieve goals but are nevertheless held in high regard by client/targeted businesses. The tendency to enforce program requirements may be informed by political and business inclinations, including those of well-connected business owners acting in an advisory capacity that may stand to gain from program institution and, organizationally, punishment may not follow a failure to implement minority business enterprise program requirements (Terman, 2017). This hesitancy speaks volumes about the potential for differences between the intent in the program as written and the program in practice.…”