Homogeneous National Management Policies or Autonomous Choices by Administrative Units? Inter- and Intra-Country Management Tools Use Variations in European Central Government Administrations

Gilles Jeannot (1, 2) , Steven van de Walle (3) , Gerhard Hammerschmid (4)

1 Réseaux, Institutions, Territoires (RIT)
2 LATTS - Laboratoire Techniques, Territoires et Sociétés
3 KU Leuven - Catholic University of Leuven = Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
4 Hertie School of Governance

This article presents an original research on the use of management tools in central government departments and agencies in 16 European countries. It is based on a survey conducted among senior managers (n = 5,998). The analysis shows that the use of management tools results from a combination of top-down implementation of a list of management tools at the national level, combined with a bottom-up independent selection of tools by administrative units. The variation in management tool use depends on the type of tool. While the uses of a HRM tool, such as performance-related pay, or a financial tool, such as risk management, are heavily influenced by national public management policies, service quality-type tools, such as user surveys or quality management systems, tend to be chosen in a more autonomous manner by different administrative units, especially agencies.

Domaines: Sociologie

Gilles Jeannot, Steven van de Walle, Gerhard Hammerschmid. Homogeneous National Management Policies or Autonomous Choices by Administrative Units? Inter- and Intra-Country Management Tools Use Variations in European Central Government Administrations. Public Performance and Management Review, 2018, 41 (3), pp.497-518. ⟨10.1080/15309576.2018.1442359⟩. ⟨hal-01976608⟩