No abstract

Does relative performance information (PI) still impact politicians’ attitudes when the potential for external blame or credit is limited? And, if not, is the active disclosure of PI about government activities with a low propensity for media attention an effective strategy for increasing the effect of PI? Despite the tendency to progressively disclose PI, empirical evidence on the effectiveness of publicly disclosing PI is almost non-existent. Hence, a survey embedded experiment was developed, building on self-determination theory and blame-avoidance theory, to assess how the provision of PI with a low propensity to attract media attention affects politicians’ attitudes towards resource allocation and whether this effect is altered by the public disclosure of PI. Data from 795 Belgian (Flemish) local councilors indicates that PI with a low propensity for media attention does impact politicians’ attitudes towards effort allocation but that public disclosure of PI mitigates the effect size in the case of negative-valence PI. Thus, the results draw attention to the unintended—and potentially dysfunctional—effects of the disclosure of PI.

No abstract

His research focuses on the effectiveness of strategic management instruments and strategic planning processes, the determinants of strategic consensus, and the motivational power of mission valence in public and non-profit organizations.

Although strategic consensus is a core concept in strategic management research, empirical evidence is lacking on (1) the degree of strategic consensus in public organizations, (2) how strategic consensus is impacted by group characteristics specific to public strategic decision‐making groups, and (3) how strategic plans impact these relationships. An analysis of multisource data from 1,075 governing majority members nested in 256 Flemish municipalities (Belgium) indicates that within‐group strategic consensus varies among governing majorities and is negatively impacted by political diversity and political power, but these relationships are mediated by perceived strategic plan quality. The results indicate that the idiosyncrasies of public decision‐making groups can impede high levels of strategic consensus, but strategic plans can attenuate this effect by fulfilling a boundary‐spanning role.