Governments throughout the whole world feel the need to cut spending due to the current financial crisis. The Netherlands are no exception in this matter. Top civil servants are up to the task to implement these cutbacks within their own organizations. However, not much is known about what influences their choice for certain implementation strategies. One factor of interest are the values of top civil servants, which are supposed to be influenced by their work experience. This is a relevant factor, since the introduction of New Public Management made it more common for managers from the private sector to reach the higher echelons of government. Top civil servants with different backgrounds and from different Dutch ministries were interviewed for this study. It seems that using across-the-board cuts are present within Dutch ministries, sometimes combined with targeted cuts. Surprisingly, no differences in values and implementation strategies were found between managers with and without experience in the private sector, contrary to expectation. The implementation strategies used seem mainly influenced by values such as soberness and thrift, values which are not present in current public values literature. |
Bestuurskunde
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Redactioneel |
Inleiding: Staat en toekomst van de bestuurskunde |
Auteurs | Dr. Haiko van der Voort en Dr. Philip Marcel Karré |
Auteursinformatie |
Artikel |
Snijden in eigen vleesDe waarden van topambtenaren en het implementeren van bezuinigingen |
Trefwoorden | cutback management, top civil servants, public values, public management |
Auteurs | Eduard Schmidt MSc |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Artikel |
Externe advisering binnen de Nederlandse overheidNaar een empirisch en theoretisch onderbouwde onderzoeksagenda |
Trefwoorden | external policy advisors, policy advisory systems, survey research |
Auteurs | Dr. Caspar van den Berg, MSc MA Arjen Schmidt en Carola van Eijk MSc |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
In this article we discuss the influence of external policy advisors on the policy process. In the Dutch context, little is known about the role, function and influence of external policy advisors (like consultants) who are hired on a temporary basis by the government. Based on a survey (N = 378) this study provides a profile of external policy advisors and the nature of their advice work. An interesting result is that external advisors generally conduct process-related policy work, but may also provide policy substance. Furthermore, the article develops an empirically and theoretically informed research agenda as a starting point for additional research. |
Artikel |
Coördinatie in complexe systemen: het ontstaan van stuurloosheid in het Nederlandse spoorwegsysteem |
Trefwoorden | Dutch railway system, sensemaking, coordination, disruption management |
Auteurs | Danny Schipper, Joop Koppenjan en Lasse Gerrits |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
We are only fully aware of our dependency on large scale technical infrastructure systems when they fail to provide reliable services. Yet, at the same time we have witnessed the dismantling of the organizations providing these services due to privatization and liberalization policies. In this article we provide insight into the complexity of managing these now networked systems, consisting of several private and public organizations, by looking at the Dutch railway system. More specifically we analyze a case in which the decision to take several railway tracks and switches out of service resulted in a large scale disruption during rush hour in one of the busiest parts of the Netherlands. With the concept of sensemaking we show that the different actors involved were unable to create a common understanding of the situation to enable coordinated action. |
Artikel |
Pas op! Over beheerst risico’s beheersen in het governancetijdperk |
Trefwoorden | risk management, governance, inspection, organization, hybridization |
Auteurs | Dr. Mark de Bruijne, Dr. Bauke Steenhuisen en Dr. Haiko van der Voort |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Risks taken by some organizations may have considerable impact on society. In this contribution the assessment and management of risk are perceived to take place in a multi-actor setting. Within an organization operators, risk managers, and top managers interact about risk assessments and risk mitigation strategies. Public regulators and inspectorates increasingly focus on risk management systems instead of the operational activities or organizational outputs. Are organizations systematically assessing their risks? This contribution identifies two contrasting perspectives on risk assessment and risk mitigation in literature: risk management and risk governance. An empirical study in three sectors reveals evidence of both perspectives in practice. Companies adopt hybrid approaches, which are essential for the quality of risk assessment and mitigation. Indeed, adopting just one perspective seems dangerous. We conclude that public regulators and inspectorates might provide incentives to focus on just one perspective and suggest two heuristics for public inspectorates that respect hybrid approaches of risk assessment and mitigation. |
Artikel |
Verdien ik niet te veel?Loonfatsoen voor bestuurskundigen |
Trefwoorden | income differences, maximum wage in the public sector |
Auteurs | Prof. dr. Margo Trappenburg |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
During the first decades after World War II income policy was an important topic of public debate in the Netherlands. This changed in the eighties and nineties when gross wages were ‘demoralized’ and taken off the political agenda. Income policy was deemed pointless, inefficient, or superfluous. Moreover wages were determined according to technocratic schemes designed by consultancy firms. These schemes encourage employees to compare themselves with people with a comparable education in other organizations rather than with coworkers in their own organization thus fostering a caste mentality. |
Artikel |
Hoe bestuurskundig is de bestuurskunde?Nederlandse bestuurskundigen vergeleken met hun Europese vakgenoten |
Trefwoorden | public administration, discipline, survey, Practice orientation |
Auteurs | Stefanie Gadellaa, Dion Curry en Steven Van de Walle |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
As long as the existence of public administration, there is discussion whether public administration should focus on practice or mainly be a purely scientific field. Opinions of public administration scholars are divided on the matter. Moreover, the question is whether public administration is a discipline in itself or part of other disciplines such as political science, law or the management sciences. This article shows how public administration scholars see the discipline and the developments therein, based on a survey among scholars. Dutch public administration scholars are compared with their European colleagues. There are major differences between the Netherlands and the rest of Europe with regard to the status of the discipline. Firstly, as a separate discipline, public administration in the Netherlands is more important in comparison with other European countries. In the rest of Europe, in particular political sciences play an important role. Secondly, regarding the tension within the discipline, the public administration in the Netherlands is developing less towards practitioners than public administration in other European countries. |
Boekbespreking |
Kan de bestuurskunde de democratie redden? |
Auteurs | Dr. Ringo Ossewaarde |
Auteursinformatie |
Boekbespreking |
Evidence Based Auditing |