journal article
May 08, 2018
Zone of Acceptance under Performance Measurement: Does Performance Information Affect Employee Acceptance of Management Authority?
Abstract
AbstractPublic sector employees have traditionally enjoyed substantial influence and bargaining power in organizational decision making, but few studies have investigated the formation of employee acceptance of management authority. Drawing on the “romance of leadership” perspective, the authors argue that performance information shapes employee attributions of leader quality and perceptions of a need for change in ways that affect their acceptance of management authority, conceptualized using Simon's notion of a “zone of acceptance.” A survey experiment was conducted among 1,740 teachers, randomly assigning true performance information about each respondent's own school. When employees were exposed to signals showing low or high performance, their acceptance of management authority increased, whereas average performance signals reduced employee acceptance of management authority. The findings suggest that performance measurement can alter public sector authority relations and have implications regarding how public managers can use performance information strategically to gain acceptance of management authority and organizational change.
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References
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Metrics
24
Citations
40
References
Details
- Published
- May 08, 2018
- Vol/Issue
- 78(5)
- Pages
- 684-693
- License
- View
Authors
Cite This Article
Poul Aaes Nielsen, Christian Bøtcher Jacobsen (2018). Zone of Acceptance under Performance Measurement: Does Performance Information Affect Employee Acceptance of Management Authority?. Public Administration Review, 78(5), 684-693. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12947
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