Organizational Strategy, External Regulation and Public Service Performance

Jennifer Law, R Walker, R Andrews, G Boyne

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    We test the separate and joint effects of strategy and regulation on public service performance. Strategy is measured as the extent to which service providers are prospectors, defenders and reactors. Regulation is assessed on the basis of the number of inspection events and service managers' perceptions of the supportiveness of regulators. We find that, controlling for prior performance and the level of service expenditure, prospecting is a more successful strategy than defending or reacting. In addition, inspection events generally disrupt the relationship between strategy and performance, but regulation that is supportive reinforces this relationship. The evidence suggests that the impact of organizational strategies in the public sector is contingent on the characteristics of regulatory regimes.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)185 - 203
    Number of pages18
    JournalPublic Administration
    Volume86
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 1 Mar 2008

    Keywords

    • organizational strategy
    • external regulation
    • public service performance

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