In this research cluster, we focus on the analysis of management practices that enable public sector employees in their daily work to provide effective and efficient services for citizens. We pay special attention to similarities and differences with other sectors. Our scientific analyses as well as our practical recommendations focus on various new challenges in this field, such as agile working, distance and home-office working, representative bureaucracy, delegation and autonomy, absenteeism, and the role of work social capital in public sector organizations.
 

Relevant publications

• Hohensinn, L. & Willems, J. 2024. Public sector challenges in different administrative regimes: Austria, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and New Zealand. Public Management and Governance Review. 1(1). DOI: 10.60733/PMGR.2024.03

• Willems, J., & Meyfroodt, K. 2024. Group research: Why are we throwing away the best of our observations? Group & Organization Management. DOI: 10.1177/10596011241246303

• Pihl-Thingvad, S., Winter, V., Schelde Hansen, M., & Willems, J. Relationships Matter: How Workplace Social Capital affects Absenteeism of Public Sector Employees. Public Management Review, DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2022.2142652

• Dinhof, K., Ebinger, F., & Willems, J., 2022. Die Perspektive der Bürger:innen zu repräsentativer Bürokratie in Deutschland. VM Verwaltung & Management, 28(4), 161 – 167. DOI: 10.5771/0947-9856-2022-4-161

• Ronquillo, J.C., Popa, A. & Willems, J. 2021. Toward an Understanding of the Role of Human Resources in Cultivating a Climate for Innovation in Nonprofit and Public Organizations. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. DOI: 10.1007/s11266-021-00325-x

• Pihl-Thingvad, S., Welling Hansen, S., Winter. V., Schelde Hansen, M, & Willems, J. 2020. Public managers’ role in creating workplace social capital (WSC) and its effect on employees’ well-being and health – a protocol of a longitudinal cohort study (PUMA-WSC). BMJ Open. 10 (e039027), 1-8. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039027

• Vogel, D., & Willems, J. 2020. The Effects of Making Public Service Employees Aware of Their Prosocial and Societal Impact: A Microintervention. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 30(3): 485-503. DOI: 10.1093/jopart/muz044

• Willems, J. 2020, Public servant stereotypes: It is not (at) all about being lazy, greedy, and corrupt. Public Administration. DOI: 10.1111/padm.12686

• Ebinger, F. 2013. Wege zur guten Bürokratie. Erklärungsansätze und Evidenz zur Leistungsfähigkeit öffentlicher Verwaltungen. Reihe Staatslehre und politische Verwaltung. Baden-Baden: Nomos. DOI: 10.5771/9783845247137

• Ebinger, F., & Schmitt, C. 2010. Alles eine Frage des Managements? Wie Autonomierechte die Handlungsfreiheit des administrativen Führungspersonals beeinflussen. Politische Vierteljahresschrift (PVS) 51(1): 69-93. DOI: 10.1007/s11615-010-0002-3

Partnerships

In 2020 – in the context of the Corona-Crisis - Falk Ebinger and Jurgen Willems initiated a collaboration project with the Erste Bank Groups. In this collaborative project, they explore and document how new ways of working with respect to flexible working environments, home-office, and virtual collaborations are perceived by different groups in the workforce. First results were presented at the INNOVATE 2020 conference of the Austrian Bundesministerium für Kunst, Kultur, öffentlichen Dienst und Sport. Find more about our results here.

In collaboration with Prof. Dr. Signe Pihl-Thingvad (University of Southern Denmark), Prof. Dr. Sune Welling Hansen (University of Southern Denmark), and Prof. Dr. Vera Winter (Bergische Universität Wuppertal), the institute of Public Management & Governance is involved in the analysis of work social capital and its impact on employee health. Find updates on research output here.