Representative bureaucracy, organizational strategy, and public service performance: An emperical analysis of English local government

Laurence J. O'Toole; Rhys Andrews; George A. Boyne; Kenneth J. Meier; Richard M. Walker

doi:10.1093/jopart/mui032

Representative bureaucracy, organizational strategy, and public service performance: An emperical analysis of English local government

Laurence J. O'Toole, Rhys Andrews, George A. Boyne, Kenneth J. Meier, Richard M. Walker

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

158 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that organizations perform better if their workforces reflect the characteristics of their constituent populations. The management literature implies that the impact of representative bureaucracy is contingent on organizational strategy. Our empirical evidence on English local government is inconsistent with the basic theory of representative bureaucracy but supports a moderating effect of organizational strategy. Representative bureaucracy is negatively associated with citizens' perceptions of local authority performance. However, organizations pursuing a prospector strategy are able to mitigate this negative relationship.

Original language	Undefined
Pages (from-to)	489-504
Journal	Journal of public administration research and theory
Volume	15
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mui032
Publication status	Published - 2005

Keywords

IR-102754
METIS-230975

Access to Document

10.1093/jopart/mui032

J Public Adm Res Theory-2005-Andrews-489-504

http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mui032

Cite this

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Representative bureaucracy, organizational strategy, and public service performance: An emperical analysis of English local government. / O'Toole, Laurence J.; Andrews, Rhys; Boyne, George A. et al.
In: Journal of public administration research and theory, Vol. 15, No. 4, 2005, p. 489-504.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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AB - The theory of representative bureaucracy suggests that organizations perform better if their workforces reflect the characteristics of their constituent populations. The management literature implies that the impact of representative bureaucracy is contingent on organizational strategy. Our empirical evidence on English local government is inconsistent with the basic theory of representative bureaucracy but supports a moderating effect of organizational strategy. Representative bureaucracy is negatively associated with citizens' perceptions of local authority performance. However, organizations pursuing a prospector strategy are able to mitigate this negative relationship.

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