UNITES / PROFESSEURS :: Adrian Ritz

Adrian Ritz

Adrian Ritz is Assistant Prof. at the University of Bern.

Research Project: Motivation and Performance in the Public Sector

The concept of Public Service Motivation (PSM) assumes that there are specific motives which are activated particularly by the characteristics of public institutions. PSM distinguishes different dimensions, e. g. attraction to public policy making and commitment to the public interest. PSM has an important impact on how employees and supervisors identify themselves with their institutions. Those who endorse the PSM concept, assume a positive relationship between PSM and performance. For this purpose, research reverts to job characteristics and concludes that PSM acts upon those job features that result in increased motivation to perform (e.g., autonomy, task identity and perceived task significance). Against the background of employee motivation and behavior in the public sector, this project will add more knowledge and empirical evidence about the existence of PSM within different institutional frameworks and about its relationship to employee behavior and performance. The following questions are crucial for this project:

* What are the antecedents, correlates and outcomes of PSM?
* Does the often presumed link between PSM and individual or even organizational performance exist?
* Is there any PSM-difference in relation to hierarchical levels, institutional frameworks (core administration vs. privatized public institutions, state level)?
* Are administrative reforms like New Public Management promoting or crowding out PSM?
* What are practical implications for the design and implementation of management instruments in public institutions?

Link: http://www.kpm.unibe.ch/index.php?bereich=institut&page=mitarbeiter&id=81&sub=1