Rainey, Chapter 10

1. Understanding and Managing
Public Organizations
Chapter 10
Understanding People in Public
Organizations: Values, Incentives,
and Work-Related Attitudes

2. Overview
• Like the last chapter, this chapter is also concerned with
the people in organizations. Chapter 10
• Describes concepts important to the analysis of motivation and
work attitudes
• Discusses the values, motives, and incentives that are
particularly important in public organizations

3. Attempts to Specify Needs, Values, and
Incentives
• Several lists and typologies are available. Some of the
more prominent are as follows:
• Murray’s List of Basic Needs (1938)
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954)
• Alderfer’s ERG (1972)
• Rokeach’s Value Survey (1973)
• Terminal values
• Instrumental values

4. Attempts to Specify Needs, Values, and
Incentives
• The literature also includes prominent work on
incentives, including, among others, the following:
– Barnard (1938)
– Simon (1948)
– Clark and Wilson (1961)
– Wilson (1973)
• These scholars focus on various incentive types.

5. The Complexity of Human Needs and Values
Murray’s List of
Basic Needs (1938)
Maslow’s Need
Hierarchy
(1954)
Alderfer’s
ERG Model
(1972)
Rokeach’s Value Survey (1973)
Terminal Values Instrumental Values
Abasement
Achievement
Affiliation
Aggression
Autonomy
Counteraction
Defendance
Dominance
Exhibition
Harm avoidance
Nurturance
Order
Play
Rejection
Sentience
Sex
Succorance
Understanding
Self-actualization needs
Esteem needs
Belongingness social
needs
Safety needs
Physiological needs
Growth needs
Relatedness needs
Existence needs
A comfortable (prosperous) life
An exciting (stimulating) life
A sense of accomplishment (lasting
contribution)
A world at peace (free of war and conflict)
A world of beauty (of nature and the arts)
Equality (brotherhood, equal opportunity
for all)
Family security (taking care of loved ones)
Freedom (independence, free choice)
Happiness (contentedness)
Inner harmony (freedom from inner
conflict)
Mature love (sexual and spiritual intimacy)
National security (protection from attack)
Pleasure (an enjoyable, leisurely life)
Salvation (eternal life)
Self-respect (self-esteem)
Social recognition (respect, admiration)
True friendship (close companionship)
Wisdom (a mature understanding of life)
Ambitious (hard working, aspiring)
Broad-minded (open-minded)
Capable (competent, effective)
Cheerful (lighthearted, joyful)
Clean (neat, tidy)
Courageous (standing up for one’s
beliefs)
Forgiving (willing to pardon others)
Helpful (working for the welfare of
others)
Honest (sincere, truthful)
Imaginative (daring, creative)
Independent (self-reliant, self-
sufficient)
Intellectual (intelligent, reflective)
Logical (consistent, rational)
Loving (affectionate, tender)
Obedient (dutiful, respectful)
Polite (courteous, well-mannered)
Responsible (dependable, reliable)
Self-controlled (restrained, self-
disciplined)

6. Types of Incentives

7. Types of Incentives
Incentive Type Definitions and Examples
Barnard (1938)
Specific Incentives
Material inducements
Personal, nonmaterialistic inducements
Desirable physical conditions of work
Ideal benefactions
General incentives
Associational attractiveness
Customary working conditions
Opportunity for feeling of enlarged
participation in course of events
Condition of communion
Incentives “specifically offered to an individual”
Money, things, physical conditions
Distinction, prestige, personal power,
dominating position
“Satisfaction of ideals about nonmaterial future
or altruistic relations” (pride of workmanship,
sense of adequacy, altruistic service for family
or others, loyalty to organization, esthetic and
religious feeling, satisfaction of hate and
revenge)
Incentives that “cannot be specifically offered
to an individual”
Social compatibility, freedom from hostility due
to racial, religious differences
Conformity to habitual practices, avoidance of
strange methods and conditions
Association with large, useful, effective
organization
Personal comfort in social relations

8. Types of Incentives
Incentive Type Definitions and Examples
Simon (1948)
Incentives for employee participation
Incentives for elites or controlling groups
Clark and Wilson (1961) and Wilson
(1973)
Material incentives
Solidary incentives
Specific solidary incentives
Collective solidary incentives
Purposive incentives
Salary or wage, status and prestige, relations with
working group, promotion opportunities
Prestige and power
Tangible rewards that can be easily priced (wages and
salaries, fringe benefits, tax reductions, changes in
tariff levels, improvement in property values, discounts,
services, gifts)
Intangible incentives without monetary value and not
easily translated into one, deriving primarily from the
act of associating
Incentives that can be given to or withheld from a
specific individual (offices, honors, deference)
Rewards created by act of associating and enjoyed by
all members if enjoyed at all (fun, conviviality, sense of
membership or exclusive-collective status or esteem)
Intangible rewards that derive from satisfaction of
contributing to worthwhile cause (enactment of a law,
elimination of government corruption)

9. Types of Incentives
Incentive Type Definitions and Examples
Downs (1967)
General “motives or goals” of officials
Niskanen (1971)
Variables that may enter the bureaucrat’s
utility function
Lawler (1971)
Extrinsic rewards
Intrinsic rewards
Power (within or outside bureau), money
income, prestige, convenience, security,
personal loyalty to work group or organization,
desire to serve public interest, commitment to
a specific program of action
Salary, perquisites of the office, public
reputation, power, patronage, output of the
bureau, ease of making changes, ease of
managing the bureau, increased budget
Rewards extrinsic to the individual, part of the
job situation, given by others
Rewards intrinsic to the individual and
stemming directly from job performance itself,
which satisfy higher-order needs such as self-
esteem and self-actualization (feelings of
accomplishment and of using and developing
one’s skills and abilities)

10. Types of Incentives
Incentive Type Definitions and Examples
Herzberg, Mausner, Peterson, and
Capwell (1957)
Job “factors” or aspects. Rated in
importance by large sample of
employees.
Locke (1969)
External incentive
In order of average rated importance: security,
interest, opportunity for advancement,
company and management, intrinsic aspects
of job, wages, supervision, social aspects,
working conditions, communication, hours,
ease, benefits
An event or object external to the individual
that can incite action (money, knowledge of
score, time limits, participation, competition,
praise and reproof, verbal reinforcement,
instructions)

11. Incentives in Organizations
• Barnard refers to “economies of incentives” as
fundamental aspects of human activity.
• Work by some prominent scholars is in the generalist
tradition (for example, Barnard, March and Simon).

12. Incentives in Organizations
• Clark and Wilson (1961) and Wilson (1973) developed a
typology of organizations based on the primary incentive
offered to participants.
• The main idea is that differences in incentives lead to
differences in organization behavior and processes.
Incentive
type
Organization
Behavior
Organization
Processes

13. Incentives in Organizations
• Clark and Wilson (1961) differentiate three types:
• Material incentives: tangible rewards, often monetary—wages,
fringe benefits, patronage
• Solidary incentives: intangible rewards from the act of
association—sociability, status
• Purposive incentives: intangible rewards related to the goals of
the organization—for example, working on an election of a
supported candidate

14. Incentives and Organization Type
• Utilitarian organizations rely primarily on material
incentives (business firms, labor unions).
• Clark and Wilson predict they will have fairly precise cost-
accounting machinery (Scott, 2003, p. 172).
• Managers will focus on obtaining necessary material incentives.
• Conflicts will be about distribution.
• Organizational goals will be secondary to incentives.

15. Incentives and Organization Type
• Solidary organizations (service-oriented voluntary
organizations and social clubs) are places where people
make contributions in return for sociability and status.
• Executive efforts at securing prestige, good fellowship
• Organizational goals are noncontroversial and socially
acceptable.
• These organizations tend to be less flexible and more public in
actions and decisions.

16. Incentives and Organization Type
• Purposive organizations rely on their stated goals to
attract and retain people (Clark and Wilson, 1961).
• Executives need to maintain inducements, but when goals are
lofty this is difficult to sustain.
• Often their efforts fail initially or intermittently (don't elect
candidate, don't stop hunger, and so on).
• Sometimes the goals are too vague or only support a minority of
interests.

17. Incentives: Subsequent Literature
• Extrinsic and intrinsic incentives—as an important
distinction
• The “most important” incentives—not conclusive, but
well-designed pay structures are consistently effective
• Research on the attitudes towards money, security and
benefits, and challenging work with varying results

18. The Motive for Public Service:
In Search of the Service Ethic
• So why do people want to work for government?
• Researchers call this the service ethic or desire to serve
the public (PSM, or public service motivation).
• In general, research is consistent with the finding that
public managers express a greater motivation to serve
the public.

19. The Motive for Public Service:
In Search of the Service Ethic
• But what do we mean by PSM, and can it be measured?
– James Perry and Lois Wise (1990) define PSM as “an individual's
predisposition to respond to motives grounded primarily or uniquely
in public institutions and organizations.”
– They separate motives into three categories:
• Rational (instrumental)
• Norm-based
• Affective

20. Categorizing PSM
• Rational (instrumental) motives are grounded in enlightened self-
interest and are present in individuals who believe that their interests
coincide with those of the larger community. They personally
identify with some programs and express a commitment to public
policy or special interest advocacy.
• Norm-based motives describe a desire to serve the public interest, a
duty and loyalty to the government, and a concern for social equity.
• Affective motives, such as altruism, are characterized by a
willingness or desire to help others.

21. Dimensions and Questionnaire Measures of Public Service Motivation
Dimension Questionnaire Items
Attraction to Public
Affairs
Commitment to the
Public Interest
Compassion
Self-Sacrifice
Politics is a dirty word. (Reversed)*
The give and take of public policymaking doesn’t appeal to me. (Reversed)
I don’t care much for politicians. (Reversed)
It is hard to get me genuinely interested in what is going on in my community. (Reversed)
I unselfishly contribute to my community.
Meaningful public service is very important to me.
I would prefer seeing public officials do what is best for the community, even if it harmed my interests.
I consider public service a civic duty.
I am rarely moved by the plight of the underprivileged. (Reversed)
Most social programs are too vital to do without.
It is so difficult for me to contain my feelings when I see people in distress.
To me, patriotism includes seeing to the welfare of others.
I seldom think about the welfare of people whom I don’t know personally. (Reversed)
I am often reminded by daily events about how dependent we are on one another.
I have little compassion for people in need who are unwilling to take the first step to help themselves.
There are few public programs I wholeheartedly support. (Reversed)
Making a difference in society means more to me than personal achievements.
I believe in putting duty before self.
Doing well financially is definitely more important to me than doing good deeds. (Reversed)
Much of what I do is for a cause bigger than myself.
Serving citizens would give me a good feeling even if no one paid me for it.
I feel people should give back to society more than they get from it.
I am one of those rare people who would risk personal loss to help someone else.
I am prepared to make enormous sacrifices for the good of society.
* “Reversed” indicates items that express the opposite of the concept being measured, as a way of varying the pattern of questions and answers. The
respondent should disagree with such statements if they are good measures of the concept. For example, a person high on the compassion dimension should
disagree with the statement, “I am rarely moved by the plight of the underprivileged.”
Source: Perry, 1996.

22. More on PSM
• Perry’s later research (1996) finds evidence of
dimensions of the PSM concept.
• Uses a twenty-four-item measurement scale and identified four
factors of PSM:
1. Public policymaking
2. Public interest
3. Compassion
4. Self-sacrifice
• Three factors are consistent with the original theory, a fourth (self-
sacrifice) represents a common factor in the PSM literature.

23. More on PSM
• Naff and Crum (1999) used a subset of the 1996 PSM
scale to analyze the data from the 1996 Merit Principles
Survey.
– Found a strong, positive correlation between PSM and
performance. Valid concerns remain about the use of self-
reported appraisals as a proxy for performance.
• Alonso, Pablo, and Lewis (2001) examine the link
between PSM and job performance.
– Results are mixed, but notably could not replicate the Naff and
Crum findings of a positive correlation between PSM and
performance.

24. More on PSM
• Additional studies by Perry (2000) use the measurement
scale to investigate the correlation between PSM and 5
antecedents:
– Parental socialization
– Religious socialization
– Professional identification
– Political ideology
– Individual demographic characteristics
• Perry also developed a process theory of PSM that
focused attention on pro social behavior and the
variations across institutions in the motivational process.

25. Other Motivation-Related Work Attitudes
• Work-related attitudes have been used to compare
public and private managers.
• Major concepts of work attitudes include
• Job satisfaction
• Role conflict and ambiguity
• Job involvement
• Organizational commitment
• Professionalism

26. Job Satisfaction
• Concerns how an individual feels about his or her job
– Determinants
• This is one of the most intensively researched areas (approximately
3,500 studies) with no clear consensus on its meaning.
• There are many ways to measure and thus to define.
• One prominent approach (Hackman and Oldham, 1980) draws on
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
• Consequences
– Inconsistent findings on the connection to performance
– Fairly consistent (but not strong) findings that job satisfaction ties
to absenteeism and turnover

27. Job Diagnostic Survey
• The model proposes that attention to five job design characteristics
(skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback)
indicates the potential of the job to motivate the person holding it.
• Three critical psychological states (experienced meaningfulness of
the work, experienced responsibility for outcomes of the work, and
knowledge of the actual results of the work activities).
• In turn, these factors increase the likelihood of positive personal and
work outcomes, especially from employees with a high growth-need
strength, including high internal work motivation, high quality
performance, high satisfaction with the work, and low absenteeism
and turnover.
– The “Job Diagnostic Survey” is drawn from J. R. Hackman and G. R.
Oldham, “Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey,” Journal of Applied
Psychology, 60, 1975, pp. 159-170.

28. Motivation Potential Score (MPS)
• MPS is the summary of Hackman and Oldham's Job
Characteristics Model.
• MPS measures the overall motivating potential of a job,
or job satisfaction.
• Calculation: MPS = Meaningfulness of work X autonomy
X feedback. (Take the average of skill variety + task
identity + task significance, then multiply the average by
autonomy and feedback.)
– J. R. Hackman and G. R. Oldham. 1975. “Development of the Job
Diagnostic Survey,” Journal of Applied Psychology, 60, 159-170.

29. Role Conflict and Ambiguity
• Role conflict: incompatibility of job requirements
• Role ambiguity: lack of information about a position
• The characteristics of an individual’s role in an
organization determine the stress experienced in that
job.
– Role conflict and ambiguity have been measured.
– Research shows the relationship between role variables and job
satisfaction as well as other organizational factors such as
participation in decision making in organization.
– Individual characteristics, such as need for clarity, influence how
much role conflict and ambiguity a person experiences.

30. Job Involvement, Organizational
Commitment, and Professionalism
• Questions have been designed to measure these job
characteristics.
• Which characteristic do you think these questions
measure?
1. Do you see the organization’s problems as your own?
2. Do you believe you should have autonomy in your work?
3. Is your work an important part of your life?

31. Motivation-Related Variables in
Public Organizations
• Role ambiguity, role conflict, and organizational goal
clarity
• Work satisfaction
• Organizational commitment and job involvement

32. Motivation-Related Variables
in Public Organizations
• Research points to a somewhat lower satisfaction with various
intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of work in many public organizations
than exists in many private ones.
• Different interpretations for findings:
• Findings may reflect public organizations’ administrative constraints—
personnel system and purchasing.
• There may be related frustration with administrative complexities and
complex political and policymaking processes, public sector realities that
diminish some intrinsic rewards.
• Buchanan (1974, 1975) found that groups of federal executives
expressed lower organizational commitment and job involvement than
executives from private firms.
• Steinhaus and Perry (1996) concluded that a public versus private
dichotomy is too simple a distinction for analyzing organizational
commitment.

33. Job Involvement and Job Commitment
• Job involvement
– The construct resembles intrinsic motivation but is distinct from
general motivation and satisfaction.
– It figures importantly in professional jobs.
• Job commitment
– Relates to a sense of pride in work
• Calculative commitment is based on perceived material awards the
organization offers.
• Normative commitment is tied to perceived relationship to values.
• Identification commitment derives from a sense of pride of
association.
• Affiliation commitment derives from a sense of belonging.
• Exchange commitment is based on belief that the organization
appreciates effort.

34. The Challenge of Motivation in the Public
Sector
• Research on organizational commitment suggests
frustrations, constraints, and problems associated with
public sector management.
• On the positive side, research reflects a strong current of
motivation and constructive attitudes in public
organizations.
• The body of knowledge offers ideas, but little in the way
of concrete scientific solutions.
• The challenge this brings to leadership of public
organizations is presented next.