Effecting Change in a Reform Context

Abstract

The administrative prescriptions promoted by the National Performance Review were targeted toward intra-agency organizational elements such as work processes, group structures, culture, and job scope. The traditional, top-down implementation strategy employed was not well suited, however, to this set of “microlevel” prescriptions. Despite the various executive orders and directives that were issued, there was a high degree of variation across agencies in the extent to which the various prescriptions were adopted. This study finds that this variation was attributable to both agency attributes and elements of agency context. A conclusion is that top-level policy makers seeking microlevel change need to take an enabling rather than a directive approach to implementation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James R. Thompson

James R. Thompson is an assistant professor in the Graduate Program in Public administration at the University of Illinois-Chicago, where he teaches courses in public personnel management, information technology, and public management. He is the coeditor of Transforming Government: Lessons From the Reinvention Laboratories (1998) and the author or coauthor of several articles addressing issues of administrative reform and strategic change in public organizations. Contact: [email protected]

Shelley L. Fulla

Shelley L. Fulla is a Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate Program in Public Administration at the University of Illinois-Chicago. The focus of her research has been on e-govemment and organizational change in public agencies[email protected].