The Impact of Responsibility Delegation on Policy and Practice Implementation: A Contingency Approach

Abstract

Policy and practice implementation is an issue of enduring importance to scholars, public managers, and citizens alike. The expansion and maturation of literature bring in a discussion on whether government agencies can effectively improve policy and practice implementation by delegating employees with certain authority, discretion, and responsibility. To provide some insights for the debate and fill the lacuna, the present paper leverages a contingency approach to explore how the impact of responsibility delegation on implementation effectiveness is conditioned on the government’s internal arrangement. Using the implementation of sustainable procurement policy and practice as an empirical example and drawing on a nationwide survey data of more than 400 cities, the study finds that the strategy of responsibility delegation can reach its full potential when the government’s structure or culture encourages employee initiative. The finding implies an aspect for fruitful future research in public management seeking to explain the impact of managerial strategies on implementation effectiveness. The study also contributes to the growing evidence that provides public managers with a basis for developing or selecting their managerial choices of policy and practice implementation.

Keywords:

• contingency
• formalization
• local governments
• policy implementation
• public management
• organizational culture

Notes

1 Institutionalization refers to the social process whereby social norms and protocols will become internalized and widely accepted, as both appropriate and necessary (Moseley & Charnley, 2014; Tolbert & Zucker, 1983).

2 Professionalization refers to a process of moving towards several professional attributes, including the establishment of professional ethics and principles (Hall, 1968; Suddaby & Viale, 2011).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded, in part, with a grant from the V.K. Rasmussen Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Yifan Chen

Yifan Chen is a doctoral student in the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. Her research interests primarily lie in public administration and public management. She is particularly interested in topics concerned with local governments, organizational behaviours, policy implementation and e-government.