Working in the public sector implies the need to make decisions in the face of dilemmas. As consistent decision-making is highly desirable for organizational performance, the question arises: what... Show moreWorking in the public sector implies the need to make decisions in the face of dilemmas. As consistent decision-making is highly desirable for organizational performance, the question arises: what do public service professionals base their decisions on? This study aims to increase our understanding of whether public service motivation and professional role identity are useful concepts by which to predict what decisions public service professionals will make in complex situations. Using survey data, this research investigates the impact of these two concepts on the decision-making of veterinary inspectors working at the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority. The results support the hypothesis that decision-making is influenced by the way in which veterinary inspectors interpret their professional role. Public service motivation, in contrast, seems to have neither a direct nor a moderating effect on decision-making in the context of dilemma situations.Points for practitioners Two important conclusions of this study are of interest for managers working with professionals. Our findings should urge them to consider the different views that employees have about their job when teams are formed or when specific combinations of tasks are assigned. For example, attention should be paid to the question of which mixture of professional role identities is most suitable to accomplish organizational objectives. Second, the construct of public service motivation can be used by human resource managers to assess whether public professionals are motivated to provide public services. However, the results also indicate that the operationalization of public service motivation needs to be adapted to the professional context of public service providers. Show less
Individuals who work in the public sector see themselves confronted with conflicting values, contradictory demands, and the need to serve an at times difficult to define __public interest__. This... Show moreIndividuals who work in the public sector see themselves confronted with conflicting values, contradictory demands, and the need to serve an at times difficult to define __public interest__. This book contributes to our understanding of what drives public service professionals__ decision-making in real-life dilemma situations by looking into the combined effect of public service motivation (PSM) and professionalism. Because there are persistent knowledge gaps about the meaning and behavioural consequences of these concepts when it comes to the context of dilemma situations, this book presents new approaches to the study of PSM and professionalism. Another important contribution of this study is related to the discussion about the stability of PSM. Several hypotheses and propositions are put to the test within a mixed-method research design based on data from research on Dutch veterinary inspectors. The results show that in order to clarify the meaning and behavioural consequences of PSM and professionalism in the context of dilemmas it is useful to combine our understanding of these two concepts with insights from identity theory. Mixed findings regarding the relationship between PSM and professionalism highlight our incomplete conceptual understanding of the topics studied, and call for future research that is sensitive to role perceptions. Show less
In public service motivation (PSM) literature, PSM is assumed to have a positive effect on performance. Even though frequently mentioned, this assumption has proved difficult to verify empirically.... Show moreIn public service motivation (PSM) literature, PSM is assumed to have a positive effect on performance. Even though frequently mentioned, this assumption has proved difficult to verify empirically. In this article, we argue that individual interpretations of what it means to serve the public interest need to be considered to get a grip on the concept of PSM and its behavioral consequences. As interpretations of "the public interest" vary depending on the roles people occupy in society, so too does the meaning of PSM. A theoretical argument is developed that helps to clarify the meaning of PSM and its relationship with performance by introducing insights derived from identity theory. This is illustrated empirically by a study of veterinarian inspectors. The theoretical, empirical, and practical relevance of this new approach to PSM is pointed out. Show less
Inter-rater reliability is a prominent topic within inspection services. We address inter-raterreliability as a problem beyond the technical concern for improving regulatory instruments.We combine... Show moreInter-rater reliability is a prominent topic within inspection services. We address inter-raterreliability as a problem beyond the technical concern for improving regulatory instruments.We combine theories on professionalism and identity theory to deal with an issue overlookedin much of the literature on regulation and inter-rater reliability: the potentially diverging waysinspectors perceive their professional role. Studying veterinary inspectors in the Dutch foodsafety services, our focus is on how we can empirically differentiate between different roleidentities and how these identities diverge from ideal-typical expectations the organizationholds of its inspectors. Show less
