Management by inquiry: A discursive accountability system for large organizations

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: deHaven-Smith, L; Jenne, KC II
• 署名单位: State University System of Florida; Florida State University
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2006.00556.x
• 发表日期: 2006
• 页码: 64-76
• 关键词: total quality management; performance; institutions; CONTRACTS; teams

摘要

Over the past decade, American police departments have developed a new management methodology that is beginning to be adopted by agencies outside law enforcement. Although the technique has been given different names by different agencies, this article refers to it generically as management by inquiry because the approach uses frequent, highly formalized meetings of top executives, middle management, and line personnel to inquire into the operations of individual units. The authors have had five years of direct experience with management by inquiry and have observed it in other jurisdictions. The present analysis draws on Habermas's theory of communicative action to contrast the communication premises in much management theory and practice with those implicit in inquiry-centered management. The article concludes that management by inquiry has dramatic effects on administrative behavior because it takes advantage of universal communicative norms that public administration has long overlooked.