Suchergebnisse

This article explores the impact of 15 separate provisions of state annexation laws on seven different measures of annexation activity. This analysis uses annexation data from 42 states between 1990 and 1998. The analysis finds that there are different patterns of annexation activity for laws designed to constrain annexation, as compared with laws designed to facilitate annexation. Laws designed to facilitate annexation are likely to be associated with high levels of annexation activity. On the other hand, laws designed to constrain annexation are not very likely to have lower levels of activity.

For many years, employers have sought to improve employee productivity and work environments. One common strategy is alternative work arrangements, which include flextime, job sharing, telecommuting, and a compressed workweek. In this article, the authors examine the effects of implementing a compressed workweek (four 10-hour days) for employees in city government. This study examines the impact of the compressed workweek schedule on the job satisfaction and work–family conflict of the participating employees. Employees perceived that the alternative schedule increased their productivity and their ability to serve the citizens. Additionally, the authors report that employees working the 4/10 workweek experience lower levels of work–family conflict than their counterparts who are working other schedules, but no significant difference for most measures of job satisfaction. Overall, the authors argue that the impacts of alternative work schedules need more careful study.

Despite the importance of budget reform and its seeming connections to the environment, few studies have analyzed the determinants of budget reform and the effects of environment on budget systems. This article presents a framework for understanding changes in local government budgetary process and format. Based on survey results from 100 of the 159 counties in Georgia, it examines empirically the effects of both internal and external factors on changing the budget system. The authors found that county managers and the external environment have a very strong influence on changing budget process and budget format. The article also identifies various perceived effects of budget changes.

Georgia's 1996 elimination of merit protections for newly hired employees challenges the legal protections that act as a barrier to unfettered government action. This article reviews the implications of Georgia's reforms in light of constitutional protections and judicial precedent. Although this reform effort sought to avoid employees' procedural due process rights by eliminating merit status for newly hired employees, federal and state judicial decisions indicate that those rights may not be so easy to extinguish. The most pressing challenge involves the constitutional right to due process. The Supreme Court has determined that public employment may rise to the level of a property right, requiring procedural due process. The courts have used a variety of standards to confer a property right interest, including the existence of language in policy and procedure manuals. Accordingly, many of Georgia's agencies may have unknowingly promulgated employee regulations that lead to the expectation of a property right in continued employment.

Organizations of all types - government, nonprofit, and private - are moving toward alternative work schedules such as compressed workweeks. Other organizations are considering the move and are anxiously awaiting more information to determine if it is the right decision for their organization. In this paper, we present a framework for implementing compressed workweeks. This framework draws upon the latest relevant research to assist organizations in this critical decision making process. We suggest that organizations ought to consider five key issues when analyzing the decision to move to compressed workweeks: people, purpose, process, perceptions, and performance. While these categories may overlap in important ways, they can aid in careful and deliberate thinking.

Many scholars and practitioners of public administration converge on the belief that some individuals are predisposed to perform public service. James L. Perry (1996) recently clarified the public service motivation (PSM) construct and proposed a measurement scale. The present study builds on and extends this important stream of research by examining how individuals view the motives associated with public service. Specifically, we use an intensive research technique called Q‐methodology to examine the motives of 69 individuals. We identify four distinct conceptions of PSM: individuals holding these conceptions are referred to as samaritans, communitarians, patriots, and humanitarians. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.