Governance at ground level: The frontline bureaucrat in the age of markets and networks

成果类型:
Article
署名作者:
Considine, M; Lewis, JM
署名单位:
University of Melbourne
刊物名称:
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
ISSN/ISSBN:
0033-3352
DOI:
10.2307/3110295
发表日期:
1999
页码:
467-480
关键词:
摘要:
Many governments have attempted to reform their public management systems over the past decade. But how do reforms play out at the frontline of government where the work is done We looked at the impacts of system changes on frontline staff. In an effort to understand the actual work orientations of frontline bureaucrats, we identified four distinctive images of bureaucratic work: procedural bureaucracy, corporate bureaucracy, market bureaucracy, and network bureaucracy These images each have different foci on the use of goals, relationships with clients, approach to supervision, disciplinary, strategies, and relations with other key organizations in their environment. Looking at government, private non-profit, and private for-profit organizations, we found only three distinct images. The distinct market and corporate orientations we proposed merged into a single orientation not previously identified or analyzed in the research literature. We also found considerable variation among frontline bureaucrats in their orientations toward bureaucracy. Practitioners appeared to follow three common repertoires, but these were not. determined by the type of organization they worked in. Managers wishing to prioritize frontline work may now identify the Key attributes of these alternate approaches and compare them with performance information or use them to assess the training need of agencies contributing to their programs. Clients and their advocates may also use these results to assess their changing prospects under different bureaucratic conditions.