Public Versus Private Job Satisfaction. Is there a Trade-off between Wages and Stability?

Public Organization Review - This paper examines the differences in job satisfaction in the public and private sector using the Spanish Survey of Life Quality at Work throughout the period...     

Cultural Differences: A Cross-cultural Study of Urban Planners from Japan,Mexico, the U.S., Serbia-Montenegro,Russia, and South Korea

This study evaluates the efficacy of Hofstede’s indexes of national culture in the context of public planning agencies across six countries—US, Mexico, Serbia-Montenegro, Russia, Japan, and South Korea. We surveyed 343 planning employees and computed separate one-way, between groups analyses of variance to test for overall differences in Hofstede’s indexes. We found that public planning officials across countries are significantly different on all five dimensions of culture. We comment on how cultural differences might factor into urban planners’ attitudes toward advocacy and social equity planning, market-based planning, citizen participation, rational planning, and other issues relevant to planners’ roles.     

Sound Governance: Engaging Citizens through Collaborative Organizations

This paper addresses governance-citizen relationship and argues for ??sound governance?? and engaging citizens in public administration through collaborative organizations. After reviewing and analyzing the contemporary literature on the importance and various forms of governance, it: (1) argues for a new concept of ??sound governance?? with key dimensions and characteristics, (2) provides an imperative with rationales for engaging citizens in governance and governing in the twenty first century, and (3) offers alternative forms of collaboration and partnership building to engage citizens, enhance governance, and maximize citizen participation in public administration.     

The Public–Private Job Satisfaction Differential in Italy

Abstract. This paper uses Italian survey data for 1995 to study the differences in satisfaction for six non‐pecuniary job attributes between public and private sector workers. Results indicate that public employees differ from private employees in the way they evaluate satisfaction with job security, consideration by colleagues, and safety and health job features, whereas there are no differences in their assessment of satisfaction with effort levels and interest for the job. In particular, we find that the premium for public employees is quantitatively higher, especially in the case of satisfaction with employment losses. Moreover, there are significant differences in the determinants of satisfaction across sectors.     

Six Propositions on Public Participation and Their Relevance for Risk Communication

New societal obligations for communicating risk information are emerging in a variety of contexts. This article draws upon the lengthy societal experience with citizen participation programs to identify how risk communication efforts may be effectively structured and implemented. Six major propositions address such themes as means/ends differences in expectations, the timing of the program, the role of credibility and trust, the need for technical and analytical resources, differing thresholds of public involvement, and limitations upon current understandings. Key conclusions for the design of risk communication programs are set forth.     

Open Government: Theoretische Bezüge und konzeptionelle Grundlagen einer neuen Entwicklung in Staat und ?ffentlichen Verwaltungen

New models of innovation have suggested that the innovation process of product and service development is becoming more open, emphasizing the importance of external knowledge and systematically involving external actors and sources in innovation endeavours. The growing success of open innovation practices in many firms raises the question whether these principles can be transferred for reinventing public sector organisations. Beyond technocratic eGovernment and digitalization effort, but with support of web 2.0 technology, we present first examples of how external collaboration and innovation with citizens for public administrations can offer new ways of citizen integration, enhancing public value creation and the political decision making process. In the following, theoretical references and conceptual foundations of this development are identified. By intensive use of internet technologies the aim of Open Government is to achieve more transparency, more participation and a closer collaboration with the various stakeholders in the public sector.     

Educating Administrators to Interact with Citizens: A Research Note

This article examines the place of citizen participation courses in American Masters of Public Administration programs. A survey of course syllabi shows that very few programs provide courses that focus on citizen participation. While the evidence on course content is more ambiguous, course goals tend to focus on imparting cognitive knowledge rather than developing skills or engendering psychological transformation—outcomes that may be key to having administrators who are comfortable working with citizens. An argument is made for a more visible place for citizen-participation courses to show that the ability to involve citizens is part of administrative competence.     

Educating Administrators to Interact with Citizens: A Research Note

This article examines the place of citizen participation courses in American Masters of Public Administration programs. A survey of course syllabi shows that very few programs provide courses that focus on citizen participation. While the evidence on course content is more ambiguous, course goals tend to focus on imparting cognitive knowledge rather than developing skills or engendering psychological transformation—outcomes that may be key to having administrators who are comfortable working with citizens. An argument is made for a more visible place for citizen-participation courses to show that the ability to involve citizens is part of administrative competence.     

The importance of employee participation and perceptions of changes in procedures in a teamworking intervention

The powerful positive results of implementing teamwork are not always achieved. It has been suggested that attempts to implement theories regarding teamwork do not always lead to those theories being put into practice, and as a result positive outcomes are not always found. The participation of employees in the development and implementation of an intervention may help to ensure that changes take place. In this longitudinal study (N = 583) of teamwork implementation in Denmark we examined the links between pre-intervention working conditions and well-being, levels of participation in planning and implementation, employees' reports of changes in procedures, and intervention outcomes. Pre-intervention levels of autonomy and job satisfaction predicted the degree of employee participation in the planning and implementation of the intervention. Pre-intervention well-being and social support were linked directly to the degree to which employees reported changes in existing work practices concerning teamwork. In addition, participation and changes in work procedures were significantly associated with post-intervention autonomy, social support and well-being. The results indicate that employee participation in intervention processes is crucial in what appears to be an important association with perceived changes in procedures and, therefore, in intervention outcomes.     

Job Satisfaction,Work Environment,and Rewards: Motivational Theory Revisited

A model of job satisfaction integrating economic and work environment variables was developed and used for testing interactions between rewards and work environment hazards. Data came from a representative panel of Danish employees. Results showed that psychosocial work environment factors, like information about decisions concerning the work place, social support, and influence, have significant impacts on the level of job satisfaction. Maximizing rewards did not compensate public employees to an extent that ameliorated the negative effects on job satisfaction of experiencing low levels of any of these factors whereas influence did not impact job satisfaction of private employees.     

Organizational Learning Capability and Job Satisfaction: an Empirical Assessment in the Ceramic Tile Industry*

Organizational learning capability has been considered an essential issue of an organization's effectiveness and potential to innovate and grow. Although its positive effects on organizations and employees are generally assumed, there is no empirical evidence of its positive association with employee attitudes such as job satisfaction. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between organizational learning capability and job satisfaction through the questionnaire responses of 157 employees from eight companies in the Spanish ceramic tile industry. Results suggest that organizational learning capability and job satisfaction are strongly linked.     

基于博弈分析的公共服务民营化中的责任关系研究

公共服务民营化改革中,存在着政府与公共服务的代理企业之间的责任不清和相互推诿的问题。在分析政府与代理企业的责任分工的基础上,运用混合博弈方法,分析探讨了通过监督等措施来促使公共责任实现的途径,并根据以上分析建立公共服务民营化中的从公众到代理企业的责任关系模型。     

劳动关系氛围和员工工作满意度:组织承诺的调节作用

本文从组织行为层次探讨劳动关系氛围与员工态度之间的关系。基于60家企业1607名员工的问卷调查,本文探讨了劳资双赢、劳资对立和员工参与三种劳动关系氛围对员工内在和外在满意度的直接影响,以及员工组织承诺在上述关系中的调节作用。研究发现,劳资双赢氛围显著地提升员工的内在和外在满意度,劳资对立氛围显著地降低员工的内在和外在满意度,员工参与氛围仅能显著提升员工的内在工作满意度。同时,员工组织承诺中的情感承诺能显著增强劳资双赢氛围对内在和外在工作满意度的积极影响,但仅能显著降低劳资对立氛围对内在工作满意度的消极影响,而对员工参与氛围的影响不具有调节作用。此外,研究还发现交易承诺不存在调节效果。     

The impact of venture capital on investee companies: evidence from Spain

This paper examines the impact of venture capital investors on the financial structure of investee companies and the factors relevant to their capital structure, differentiated according to the investor’s public or private nature. This paper contributes to our understanding of the beneficial effects of such investors in response to the funding needs of SMEs and the decisions taken in this respect. The empirical analysis shows that, on average, these investee companies have a lower level of short-term debt than the average Spanish company. It is suggested that the debt structure is related to the growth opportunities presented, the business sector, the geographic location and the duration of the venture capital participation. These results, which are more significant in the case of companies receiving funds from public investors, highlight the effectiveness of the economic function of venture capital.     

Who Holds the Stakes? A Case Study of Stakeholder Identification at Two Nuclear Weapons Production Sites

Traditional risk assessments, including those involving the United States Department of Energy (USDOE), are often criticized for producing useless or noncredible management responses because they did not meaningfully involve the public. The first step to involve the public is to identify appropriate active participants (stakeholders). This study was done to understand the processes used to identify stakeholders to serve on advisory boards established at the two largest remediation sites in the United States: the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The Hanford stakeholder identification process produced an interest-based board whereas the Savannah River Site strategy produced population-based representation. The basic goals of the stakeholder advisory groups were similar. However, different processes were used to identify the participants for the groups in part because of distinctly different social and cultural conditions in the areas affected by the operations of the two facilities, and in part because of the different level of trust of the USDOE and their contractors at Hanford compared with Savannah River. The discussion analyzes their different needs and potential for successful citizen participation.     

An Evaluation of the Capacity-building Effects of Participatory GIS (PGIS) for Public Participation in Land Use Planning

Spatial participatory methods called ‘participatory GIS’ (PGIS) are intended to improve public participation for land use planning. An internet PGIS was implemented in Perlis, Malaysia, to examine the public capacity-building effects of PGIS. Two delivery modes (facilitated and self-administered) were evaluated. We found that PGIS significantly enhanced perceived public knowledge about place and land use planning while increasing spatial technology skills, regardless of implementation mode. The results indicate that PGIS can increase public capacity for participating in land use planning, an important finding for developing countries with historically low levels of public participation and low public awareness and knowledge of planning.     

Entwicklung ländlicher Kommunen

Due to a revision of the land utilisation plan the town Lichtenberg had initiated a civic participation. After four official workshops the citizens decided to continue on their own. The article describes a best practice example of a citizen’s action committee. The citizens develop concepts and work pro bono for their community. Their aim is to prepare the town for future challenges. The citizen’s action committee works closely together with the town’s council. In the meantime there are three projects that have been finished successfully. One project–the development of a shared vision–is described more detailed. The author summarizes experiences that could be beneficial for other citizen’s action committees.     

公众社区参与意愿对危化品危害利益相关者感知的影响

面对危化品危害,政府及相关单位面临着日益严峻的既要保证公众知情,又要避免信息过度传播的难题,"信任"是导致这种沟通困境的重要因素。为解决危害信息有效沟通问题,从重构公众与政府之间信任关系的角度入手,以公众利益相关者感知衡量信任,探究公众社区参与意愿对利益相关者感知的影响关系,并将社区参与分为代表单向沟通的仪式性参与和代表双向沟通的实质性参与。研究结果表明:公众社区参与意愿有利于提升公众危化品危害利益相关者感知,特别是仪式性参与意愿的直接作用效果更为显著;实质性参与意愿和危害利益相关者感知的关系中,预决策过程起到完全中介的作用;危化品危害知识在社区参与意愿和利益相关者感知的影响关系中起到显著的正向调节作用,特别是在预决策过程与利益相关者感知的影响路径中。研究结论为构建公众和政府之间的信任关系,进而为缓解危化品危害信息沟通难题提供理论支撑和实践价值。     

Involving Information System Users in Defining System Requirements: The Influence of Procedural Justice Perceptions on User Attitudes and Performance

This study incorporates the theoretical framework of procedural justice into the information system (IS) user participation research paradigm. In a field setting, 726 subjects representing 59 local newspaper sites took part in a fully randomized, longitudinal experiment. Four increasing levels of participation concerning specifying system requirements were manipulated: mute, voice, choice, and voice plus choice. As the participation level increased, procedural justice judgments increased correspondingly. Perceptions of control over the development process, satisfaction with the outcome, and objective measures of performance increased from the mute to voice conditions, were unchanged from the voice to choice conditions, and increased again as participation was manipulated at the highest level—voice plus choice. The rich contextual field setting in which this experiment was conducted, combined with strong attitudinal and performance results, encourage researchers to integrate the psychology of procedural justice into the study of IS user participation.     

Examining the Relationship between Civil Servant Perceptions of Organizational Culture and Job Attitudes: in the Context of the New Public Management Reform in South Korea

This study investigates the relationship between public officials’ perceptions of organizational culture and their job attitudes, particularly emphasizing a mediating role of job satisfaction under the new public management reform in South Korea. Data collected from Korean civil servants indicate that perceptions of the competing values rooted in different organizational culture types—clan, market, hierarchy, and adhocracy—differentially affect their job attitudes. In addition, the findings show the mediating influence of job satisfaction between public officials’ perceptions of organizational culture and organizational commitment.