TY - JOUR A1 - Hammerschmid, Gerhard A1 - Van de Walle, Steven A1 - Štimac, Vid A1 - Oprisor, Anca ED - ESADE's Institute of Public Management (IDGP), T1 - How do top public sector executives rate reforms? JF - Public N2 - Recent decades have seen a range of public sector reforms, focusing on diverse aspects. Some of these reforms have had a structural dimension and include privatisation, downsizing and outsourcing, while others have focused on aspects such as improving access and transparency, collaboration, and innovation. This contribution explores how public sector executives rate administrative reforms in their country on a number of dimensions. It presents preliminary findings from an academic survey among 3,173 top public sector executives in 10 European countries. Y1 - 2013 UR - http://www.esade.edu/public/modules.php?name=news&idnew=985&newlang=english VL - 29 ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Hammerschmid, Gerhard A1 - Curry, Dion A1 - Jilke, Sebastian A1 - Van de Walle, Steven T1 - State and Perceptions of Public Sector Reform in Europe T2 - International Handbook of Public Administration and Governance Y1 - 2015 PB - Elgar Publ. CY - Cheltenham [u.a.] ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hammerschmid, Gerhard A1 - George, Bert A1 - Van de Walle, Steven T1 - Institutions or Contingencies? A Cross-Country Analysis of Management Tool Use by Public Sector Executives JF - Public Administration Review N2 - Management tools are often argued to ameliorate public service performance. Indeed, evidence has emerged to support positive outcomes related to the use of management tools in a variety of public sector settings. Despite these positive outcomes, there is wide variation in the extent to which public organizations use management tools. Drawing on normative isomorphism and contingency theory, this article investigates the determinants of both organization‐oriented and client‐oriented management tool use by top public sector executives. The hypotheses are tested using data from a large‐N survey of 4,533 central government executives in 18 European countries. Country and sector fixed‐effects ordinary least squares regression models indicate that contingency theory matters more than normative isomorphism. Public executives working in organizations that are bigger and have goal clarity and executive status are more likely to use management tools. The only normative pressure that has a positive impact on management tool use is whether public sector executives have a top hierarchical position. Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13018 VL - 79 IS - 3 SP - 330 EP - 342 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jeannot, Gilles A1 - Van de Walle, Steven A1 - Hammerschmid, Gerhard T1 - Homogeneous National Management Policies or Autonomous Choices by Administrative units? JF - Public Performance and Management Review N2 - This article presents an original research on the use of management tools in central government departments and agencies in 16 European countries. It is based on a survey conducted among senior managers (n = 5,998). The analysis shows that the use of management tools results from a combination of top-down implementation of a list of management tools at the national level, combined with a bottom-up independent selection of tools by administrative units. The variation in management tool use depends on the type of tool. While the uses of a HRM tool, such as performance-related pay, or a financial tool, such as risk management, are heavily influenced by national public management policies, service quality-type tools, such as user surveys or quality management systems, tend to be chosen in a more autonomous manner by different administrative units, especially agencies. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/15309576.2018.1442359 VL - 41 IS - 3 SP - 497 EP - 518 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hammerschmid, Gerhard A1 - Van de Walle, Steven A1 - Andrews, Rhys A1 - Mostafa, Ahmed T1 - New Public Management Reforms in Europe and their Effects: Findings from a 20-Country Top Executive Survey JF - International Review of Administrative Sciences N2 - This article assesses the impact of New Public Management (NPM)-style reforms in European countries as perceived by top public sector officials. Using data from an executive survey conducted in 20 European countries, we look at the relationship between five key NPM reforms (downsizing, agencification, contracting out, customer orientation and flexible employment practices) and four dimensions of public sector performance: cost efficiency, service quality, policy coherence and coordination, and equal access to services. Structural equation modelling reveals that treating service users as customers and flexible employment are positively related to improvements on all four dimensions of performance. Contracting out and downsizing are both positively related to improved efficiency, but downsizing is also associated with worse service quality. The creation of autonomous agencies is unrelated to performance. This suggests that policy-makers seeking to modernize the public sector should prioritize managerial reforms within public organizations over structural transformations. Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852317751632 SP - 20 ER -