RESEARCH & EVALUATIONCentral agencies in New Zealand are now defining public management performance to include both the quality of a manager's 'account' of output-outcome links and the manager's record of delivering efficient outputs. This article: (1) argues that the hard edge of accountability for deliverables must be dulled somewhat in order to pursue outcomes more vigorously; (2) shows how managers can use evaluation tools known as theories-in-action or logic models to give accounts of policy and management thrust;(3) proposes preliminary performance criteria for outcomes-focused management; and (4) attempts to sketch a new 'managing for outcomes' accountability bargain. The conclusions apply broadly to any jurisdiction interested in holding managers accountable for outcomes-focused management.
Polycentric governance structures are often touted as part of the solution to overuse and degradation of natural resources. In theory, when multiple, overlapping decision centers work independently and in coordination, they contribute more than either monocentric or atomized governance arrangements to ensuring robust, adaptive social-ecological systems (SESs). However, the degraded state of many municipal drinking water systems demonstrate Vincent Ostrom's observation that multilevel governance structure alone does not guarantee increased functionality. Two U.S. case studies drawn from opposite ends of the SES performance continuum provide insights into the differences between structural and functional features of polycentricity and the cross-cutting conditions under which these features lead to adaptation or maladaptation. New York City's water system has served as an international model of sustainable, collaborative governance for several decades, whereas Flint, Michigan's water system achieved notoriety for a tragic string of errors and a pattern of neglectful governance in the mid-2010s. Through process tracing, this article analyzes the pathways that began from a shared governance structure of polycentric federalism to starkly different decisions and outcomes in the two cities. The results highlight the dynamic and interactive nature of polycentricity, including how it can be functionally disabled when key factors converge across levels and scales: these include norms of quiescent rule enforcement, incentives that favor blame avoidance over problem solving, persistent power imbalances, large wealth inequalities, and deficits of social capital and leadership.
Water utility managers play potentially important roles in current and future transitions toward more adaptive and sustainable approaches to water management. We report the results of qualitative interviews and focus groups designed to explore the perspectives of 22 water utility managers in the United States regarding pressures, challenges, and opportunities facing their organizations and communities. Overall, the study participants characterized their jobs as requiring a delicate balance between innovation and reliability, with no room for error in delivering abundant, clean water, but opportunities for creative problem-solving and forward planning. They demonstrated capacity for embracing changes that benefit the longer term future while imposing shortterm costs on their own organizations. Coding of transcripts generated 17 major themes (11 problem categories and six solution categories), which overlap meaningfully with results of previous research on resilience, adaptability, and transformability of socialecological systems. Overlapping themes include social learning and development of social capital through various forms of collaboration, communication, and citizen and stakeholder engagement, as well as capacity for innovation and sufficient authority to make decisions based on system needs without undue political interference or burdensome adherence to rigid rule structures.Ecology and Society 23(4): 24 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol23/iss4/art24/ Ecology and Society 23(4): 24 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol23/iss4/art24/ Ecology and Society 23(4): 24 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol23/iss4/art24/ Responses to this article can be read online at:
Purpose -The public management and the occupational stress literatures are both silent on stressors associated with the work of government policy advisors. This paper aims to fill that gap with an exploratory study to identify the potential work stressors for this occupation. Design/methodology/approach -In-depth interviews with 13 policy advisors/managers in a single government department and a focus group with 11 policy managers from 11 government departments are reported. Findings -The stressors experienced can be clustered under the well accepted labels of role overload, control, culture, and interpersonal relationships. However, results indicate that the practical reality of these stressors in public sector policy advice environments is different from the generic concepts associated with the labels. Research limitations/implications -This paper underlines the importance of occupation-specific understanding of stressors, and has implications at a workplace level for human resource management, and at an analytical level for the public management, policy and occupational stress literatures. Fruitful areas for future study include deeper exploration of qualitative role overload, examining how and why advisory roles proliferate, and how resulting stress levels affect performance. Practical implications -The paper highlights tensions for public sector managers in meeting obligations to protect the health and safety of their employees, while also placing top priority on serving the minister and government of the day. Originality/value -The paper provides new insight to the stressors in public sector policy environments, and alerts public sector managers to key factors in managing policy unit performance and well-being.
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