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This article examines the effect of parental socialization and interest in politics on entering and staying in public service careers. We incorporate two related explanations, yet commonly used in different fields of literature, to explain public sector choice. First, following social learning theory, we hypothesize that parents serve as role models and thereby affect their children's sector choice. Additionally, we test the hypothesis that parental socialization leads to a longer stay in public sector jobs while assuming that it serves as a buffer against turnover. Second, following public service motivation process theory, we expect that 'interest in politics' is influenced by parental socialization and that this concept, in turn, leads to a public sector career. A representative set of longitudinal data from the Swiss household panel (1999-2014) was used to analyse these hypotheses (n = 2,933, N = 37,328). The results indicate that parental socialization serves as a stronger predictor of public sector choice than an interest in politics. Furthermore, people with parents working in the public sector tend to stay longer in their public sector jobs. Points for practitioners For practitioners, the results of this study are relevant as they highlight the limited usefulness of addressing job applicants' interest in politics in the recruitment process. Human resources managers who want to ensure a public-service-motivated workforce are therefore advised to focus on human resources activities that stimulate public service motivation after job entry. We also advise close interaction between universities and public organizations so that students develop a realistic picture of the government as a future employer and do not experience a 'reality shock' after job entry.
This study examines whether incentives affect public employees' intention to share knowledge. Tested incentives satisfy needs for either achievement or appreciation. Both treatments were tested on implicit as well as explicit knowledge sharing. A 2 x 3 factorial survey experiment was designed to observe within-person and between-person effects. Data were collected from public employees in the core administration and healthcare sector (n = 623) in 2018. The analysis indicates that both treatments positively affect knowledge-sharing intention if it is explicit knowledge that ought to be shared. However, no effects of either treatment can be found in either type of knowledge sharing. No negative effect of the tested incentives on knowledge sharing was observed. Hence, incentives might not harm knowledge sharing but also do not pay off in organizational practice. In contrast to these motivation-enhancing human resource practices, ability and opportunity-enhancing practices should be tested to foster knowledge sharing.
This article examines public service resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and studies the switch to telework due to social distancing measures. We argue that the pandemic and related policies led to increasing demands on public organisations and their employees. Following the job demands-resources model, we argue that resilience only can arise in the presence of resources for buffering these demands. Survey data were collected from 1,189 German public employees, 380 participants were included for analysis. The results suggest that the public service was resilient against the crisis and that the shift to telework was not as demanding as expected.
This dissertation examines the activity of knowledge sharing by public employees in the workplace. Building on the Rubicon model of human behavior formation, I use a threefold approach to analyze the knowledge-sharing process: public employees’ motivation to share knowledge, their intention to share, and knowledge sharing behavior as such. The first article maps the knowledge-sharing behavior of public employees. It builds a typology of behavioral patterns and shows that public employees mainly share their knowledge responsively and directly with a knowledge receiver rather than an information medium. The second article elaborates on the construct of knowledge-sharing motivation and develops a scale to measure this kind of work motivation in a selective and domain-specific way. Data from three studies indicate three dimensions of knowledge-sharing motivation, namely appreciation, growth and altruism, and tangible rewards. Based on these dimensions, the third article analyzes whether the satisfaction of public employees’ underlying needs can foster ther knowledge-sharing intention. The study indicates that both tested treatments (appreciation by co-workers, benefits in a performance appraisal) positively affect knowledge-sharing intention if it is explicit knowledge that ought to be shared. However, no effects of either treatment can be found if implicit knowledge is shared. Hence, to foster sharing of explicit knowledge, the analyzed motivation-enhancing rewards can be used in public management practice. To enhance implicit knowledge sharing, ability- and opportunity-enhancing management instruments are discussed. All in all, this dissertation integrates a micro-level perspective on human knowledge sharing into a meso-level perspective on organizational knowledge management. It adds to the literature on workplace behaviors of public employees and knowledge management and aims to incorporate knowledge sharing and management into the public administration and management literature.
This article examines public service resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and studies the switch to telework due to social distancing measures. We argue that the pandemic and related policies led to increasing demands on public organisations and their employees. Following the job demands-resources model, we argue that resilience only can arise in the presence of resources for buffering these demands. Survey data were collected from 1,189 German public employees, 380 participants were included for analysis. The results suggest that the public service was resilient against the crisis and that the shift to telework was not as demanding as expected.
The digitalization of public administration is increasingly moving forward. This systematic literature review analyzes empirical studies that explore the impacts of digitalization projects (n=93) in the public sector. Bibliometrically, only a few authors have published several times on this topic so far. Most studies focusing on impact come from the US or China, and are related to Computer Science. In terms of content, the majority of examined articles studies services to citizens, and therefore consider them when measuring impact. A classification of the investigated effects by dimensions of public value shows that the analysis of utilitarian-instrumental values, such as efficiency or performance, is prevalent. More interdisciplinary cooperation is needed to research the impact of digitalization in the public sector. The different dimensions of impact should be linked more closely. In addition, research should focus more on the effects of digitalization within administration.