tudor ticlau - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by tudor ticlau
Transformational leadership in the public sector. A pilot study using MLQ to evaluate leadership style in Cluj county local authorities (English version)
Revista De Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 2012
Strategic Planning in Local Public Administration: The Case of Romania
Governance and public management, 2019
Strategic planning is an excellent tool that local governments can use to increase effectiveness ... more Strategic planning is an excellent tool that local governments can use to increase effectiveness of the governance process. Although Romania experienced more than four decades of national planning under the communist regime, after 1989 local authorities had major difficulties in using planning as an effective managerial tool. Access to the European Union (EU) meant significant changes, including a new approach for community development, where strategic planning has an essential role. Our main objective with this research is twofold: to analyze (1) why local authorities resort to planning and (2) how local authorities use strategic planning (characteristics of the process, results, main challenges, benefits). Our analysis indicates that more than two-thirds of local authorities are motivated by the EU funding possibilities, for which having a strategic plan is a mandatory condition. Results show that authorities have limited planning capacity, with stakeholder engagement and monitoring and evaluation being major challenges. We highlight specific details of the process through two case studies meant to offer a more comprehensive understanding of the particularities of planning in Romania, at local level.
International Review of Administrative Sciences, Feb 17, 2020
This article explores the factors that shape perceptions of administrative and rules burdens amon... more This article explores the factors that shape perceptions of administrative and rules burdens among street-level bureaucrats in Romania. Recent research examining the concept of administrative burden has focused on burdens experienced by a citizen or client. We argue here that national context shapes the features of public service delivery, and that burdens must also be understood from the perspective of bureaucrats in transitioning post-communist countries. Street-level bureaucrats represent an important category of public servants given their main characteristics in implementing policy. Findings of two analyses-one examining broader concepts of administrative burden and one looking at the narrower concept of rules burdens-indicate that rule complexity, autonomy, conformity, job satisfaction, educational attainment, and perceived corruption impact perceptions of administrative burden, while perceptions of rules burdens are impacted by rule-abiding tendencies, discretionary latitude, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and supervisory status.
Perceptions of Discretion in Street-Level Public Service: Examining Administrative Governance in Romania
Public Performance & Management Review, Dec 4, 2017
ABSTRACT Street-level bureaucrats have long been seen as key figures in program and policy implem... more ABSTRACT Street-level bureaucrats have long been seen as key figures in program and policy implementation, often occupying unique positions that encompass executive, legislative, and judicial functions. Osborne’s concept of the New Public Governance addresses concepts of policy implementation and interpretive activities that characterize street-level bureaucracy. Current understanding of street-level bureaucracy is, however, dominated by research focused on the United States and the United Kingdom, both of which demonstrate differences from countries in Eastern Europe. This study uses survey data to examine street-level bureaucracy in Romania, with attention to the determinants of bureaucratic perceptions of discretion. Results indicate that proactive personality, prosocial motivation, autonomy, job satisfaction, and years of experience are related to individual perceptions of discretionary latitude among front-line workers.
Transylvanian review of administrative sciences, Oct 1, 2008
The paper discusses the issue of the managerial approach to public administration, starting from ... more The paper discusses the issue of the managerial approach to public administration, starting from the distinction identified by some authors between management and administration. The paper has a twofold structure: in the first sections it provides a theoretical conceptual framework for approaching the issue of the managerial approach to public administration; in the following sections, the authors discuss the managerial approach with regard to the Romanian administrative sector. In the conclusion section, the paper tries to offer an answer to the question where do we stand as a country with regard to the implementation of the managerial approach in public administration. While some progress has been made, there are nonetheless steps that still need to be taken.
Administrative Leadership and Situational Antecedents in the Romanian Public Administration
Lex localis, Oct 16, 2015
Leadership is a complex phenomenon that is hard to study and understand by looking solely at lead... more Leadership is a complex phenomenon that is hard to study and understand by looking solely at leaders (be it traits, behavior or competencies). Previous researches (House et. al., 2004) indicate significant variance in leadership depending on situational and cultural factors. In this research we explore the antecedent conditions that lead to unique administrative leadership styles observed in the Romanian public administration, by making a distinction between cultural, political and administrative antecedents. The study population consists of civil servants occupying a managerial position. Initial results indicate that cultural values are similar to the ECC cluster from the GLOBE study, a preference for NWS (Neo Weberian State) type of organization, low trust between politicians and civil servants and predominantly transformational leadership behaviours. Low response rate (approx. 7%) led to a rather small sample (N=188), which negatively influences the possibility of generalizing the findings.
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Dec 1, 2016
Leadership is one of the best examples for an ubiquitous research topic, as it is studied both as... more Leadership is one of the best examples for an ubiquitous research topic, as it is studied both as a social phenomenon as well as a theoretical concept (Hackman and Wageman, 2007), being studied in relation with different research fi elds, ranging from politics, public administration, management, social and organizational change, human motivation (and the list could go on). This has led some scholars to claiming that leadership has been the source of more extensive investigation than almost any other aspect of human behavior (de Vries, 1993). The interest then in public sector leadership comes only natural to any researcher in the fi eld of public administration. Our main purpose was to identify and analyze what has been done on the topic of public sector leadership, specifi cally for Romania, in the past ten years. We focused on three major variables: theoretical framework used, authorship nationality, and quality of research. Results indicate that Romanian authors and Romania are missing from top tier journals in the fi eld of public administration. Indirectly, results raise questions about general research capacity in the fi eld of public administration of Romanian scholars.
Le poids de la prestation de services : les fardeaux administratifs et réglementaires dans la bureaucratie de proximité
Revue internationale des sciences administratives, Mar 7, 2022
Transylvanian review of administrative sciences, 2009
Most human activities are the product ofcoordinated actions performed by individualsworking as a ... more Most human activities are the product ofcoordinated actions performed by individualsworking as a team rather than individuals workingalone. Thus, the processes through which theyaccomplish their tasks, change, decide andrelate to each other inside an organization isessential. This paper is about the importanceof Organizational Diagnosis in management ofchange. Organizational Diagnosis is an essentialstep in every initiative of change, and with everchanging environment in which flexibility andcreativity are proving to be key values, mostmanagers are interested in questions regardingthe nature of organizational process and structure,human relations, and nature of change. The paperpresents such a case of using organizationaldiagnosis as a management tool in a changeprocess inside a health care organization. Usingthis tool has helped the management team identifythe existing gaps between “what is” and “whatshould be” and has increased the chances of asuccessful change process.
Transnational Perspectives on Strategic Planning in Local Communities
Strategic Planning in Local Communities, 2019
Strategy and the concept of strategic thinking are not usually associated with the public sector.... more Strategy and the concept of strategic thinking are not usually associated with the public sector. In general, the public sector is described using labels such as short-term decision-making, improvising on the spot, lack of strategic perspective, red tape and poor organization of activities. This negative picture has started to change in the last decades, triggered by heavy criticism from both citizens and practitioners, with strategic planning being included as an essential component of reform.
rtsa.ro
Public participation is an ever significant notion of modern governance. In the light of lower le... more Public participation is an ever significant notion of modern governance. In the light of lower levels of citizen turnout at elections, contemporary democracies face a growing and complex problem of legitimacy. In this sense, in the last decade more and more ...
Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 2021
Given the turbulent environment that governments and citizens across the globe faced in the last... more Given the turbulent environment that governments and citizens across the globe faced in the last two years (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), one concept seems to stand out as extremely valuable in this context: resilience. Resilience, understood as the capacity of a system to bounce back from adversity, becomes a key component in the equation of post-pandemic evolution and recovery. Resilient leadership is just one of the multiple derived applications of the general resilience concept, referring (in an institutional setting) to the capacity of leaders to turn out positive results despite adverse conditions. Based on qualitative research consisting of 10 interviews conducted with women leaders (from the private and nonprofit sectors) during the last 18 months, our results show that governmental response (regulation and support) and financial pressures have been the major organizational challenges no matter the sector, while organizational dimension seems to have an influence on...
Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 2020
The current COVID-19 pandemic highlighted something that was already known for decades: modern go... more The current COVID-19 pandemic highlighted something that was already known for decades: modern governments need to master the art of equilibristics – they need to offer public value in all governance arenas while battling increasing levels of uncertainty and change. Looking back at the last decade, unpredictable change has been the norm rather than the exception (whether it is at political level – Arab Spring (2011), 2016 US elections, Brexit (2016) – social – Occupy Wall Street movement (2011), EU migrant-refugee crisis (2016), Black Lives Matter, #Metoo movement – or economic – the economic crisis of 2008, which prompted the sovereign debt crisis in multiple EU countries, China replacing the US as the largest economy) the environment in which governments operate in has never seen such a particular type of dynamic. The COVID-19 pandemic can be seen almost as an organic culmination of this dynamic, a perfect storm, highlighting the essence of the new environment in which governments...
Strategic planning is an excellent tool that local governments can (and should) use in order to d... more Strategic planning is an excellent tool that local governments can (and should) use in order to deal efficiently with change, which means that planning is an important aspect of public sector reform, arguably one of the defining elements of the public policy landscape for the past three decades (Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2011). Our main objective with this research is twofold: to analyze why and how local public administration uses strategic planning as a managerial tool for managing change (reform), and to identify whether the planning efforts display a specific reform pattern. We employed a quantitative methodology – online survey – to collect data on the strategic planning process at the local level in Romania, with a specific framework for the strategic profile (Hinţea, 2015) and another three dimension model – NPM, NWS, NPG1 – for the reform component (Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2011). Our analysis indicates that over 70% of strategic planning efforts are done because it is a mandator...
Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 2018
Despite our relatively broad and robust understanding of street level bureaucracy in a Western co... more Despite our relatively broad and robust understanding of street level bureaucracy in a Western context, this area of inquiry remains somewhat understudied in an Eastern European context. This is particularly problematic for Romania, where poor educational stock, weak accountability mechanism, and rather frail media make front line bureaucrats' behavior disproportionately critical to public service provision. This article partially fills this void and brings a much needed overview of street-level bureaucracy in Romania. Relying on recent survey data collected from 407 front line workers, the study covers four key public administration services (taxation, consumer, environmental, and labor protection) and street-level bureaucracy, describes demographics, values, work environment, and attitudes towards rules and citizens. It shows that Romanian front line workers are relatively willing to bend and break the rules if their organizational goals demand so, and that they enjoy important levels of discretion and work autonomy. These bureaucrats also depict high levels of organizational commitment, low levels of uncertainty tolerance, and high power distance. The article concludes with comments and implications for future research in policy implementation at the front lines.
Revista Transilvană de Ştiinţe Administrative, 2015
Leadership is an extremely hot topic in the academic and research environment of the last two dec... more Leadership is an extremely hot topic in the academic and research environment of the last two decades, reprezenting a major point of interest for distinct felds such as economics, sociology, political science, public administration or management. The article analyzes the existing literature in the Roma-nian academic space of the last 10 years. The main objective is identifcation of studies that research the feld of leadership in order to determine a clear image of the way this subject is treated in the Ro-manian specialised literature. The assumption we started from is the following: leadeship is adressed in a simplistic manner – studies are focused mainly on the leader as a person (studies that test qualities, attributes, behaviours) and disregard other macro variables (organizational context, culture, values).
Revista Transilvană de Ştiinţe Administrative, 2019
One consistent element of the environment in which organizations currently operate is change. Reg... more One consistent element of the environment in which organizations currently operate is change. Regardless of the size, sector or nature of the activities, organizations are compelled to constantly adjust their modus operandi in relation to the dynamics of the external environment. From the perspective of the organizational leadership, this challenge falls within the responsibility of the leadership. Today’s leaders are in a position to perform in a dynamic, unpredictable environment, which requires the development of internal mechanisms and tools that allow the organization to adapt. In this context, the concepts of organizational resilience and resilient leadership become extremely relevant to understand how organizations can overcome the adversities they face. This paper is a brief analysis of the concept of resilience from the perspective of the organizational leadership and the reasons why leaders should take into consideration the factors that impel the resilience of a system.
Revista De Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 2012
Leadership has been a major topic of research for social scientist, in the last century. The numb... more Leadership has been a major topic of research for social scientist, in the last century. The number of approaches in studying this phenomenon is truly outstanding. However no integrative theory to include all essential elements has been developed yet. In the last three decades, especially after the NPM movement, leadership has attracted substantial attention as an essential factor for organizational performance in the public sector. The present study builds on this through a pilot study aimed at evaluating leadership behavior using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ5X) (Bass, Avolio, 1995). The main purpose was to examine types of leadership behavior present in local public administration, in both decentralized and deconcentrated institutions by using a twin perspective: auto evaluation and peer evaluation. We wanted to find out whether transformational leadership is present in public organizations and if there are any significant differences based on two variables: type of institution and evaluator (selfevaluation vs. peer evaluation). The article is structured in three main parts. The first one discusses the concept of leadership in general, the ambiguity of the term, and the problems with in empirically studying this phenomenon. In the second part we analyze the Transformational Leadership theory proposed by Bass (1985) and then argue for the use of transformational leadership in the public sector. Lastly we propose a model for evaluating leadership in the public sector using MLQ. Preliminary data from a pilot study show above average transformational behaviors but also possible influence of the type of organization (decentralized vs. deconcentrated) on leadership behavior.
Contemporary Business Education: a Solution for Global Leadership Challenges
The Amfiteatru Economic Journal, 2014
Education and professional development is considered central issues in civil service development ... more Education and professional development is considered central issues in civil service development and public administration reform. While this may be true, the content of such programs bears equal influence in skill acquirement, which in turn, has an impact on managerial performance (Perry, 1989). The contemporary economic and social environment poses numerous and complex challenges to public leaders, who need to be equipped with the adequate set of skills and competencies in order to have a proper response. The present paper aims to find out the whether the current educational programs from the business field can be a solution for preparing the next generation of public (and private) leaders. My argument is that the latest developments in public management reform (New Public Management, Good Governance and Public Entrepreneurship) combined with new demands for effectiveness, efficiency and high quality public services could increase the relevance of such programs. In support for this I presented a series of research results that point to a set of common leadership challenges that transcend the public-private divide. Finally I explored the offerings of the top 5 MBA programs in the world to see whether this is reflected in their educational programs. Not surprisingly, three out of the five programs analysed offer dual degree programs that combine business and public management education as a solution for the leadership challenges that lay ahead.
Revista De Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 2012
Public administration reform has been a top priority for every political party that has held offi... more Public administration reform has been a top priority for every political party that has held office from 1990 since present, but after more than 20 years of "reform", Romania still faces major administrative problems and challenges while its administrative system in some areas the system still being pre-bureaucratic. One of the causes why reform initiatives and projects have had such a hard time in delivering the promised results is the lack of major political support and consequently lack of leadership in guiding and implementing such measures. We will try to underline the importance of leadership in any major change process-administrative reform fits perfectly in to this category-by pointing out that in the cases were administrative reform succeeded, leadership was a crucial positive contributing factor. After a brief presentation of major changes that took place at administrative level until the countries EU accession we will analyze the latest changes that took place after 2008 and the global financial crisis, which can be seen as a catalyst for the reform process.
Transformational leadership in the public sector. A pilot study using MLQ to evaluate leadership style in Cluj county local authorities (English version)
Revista De Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 2012
Strategic Planning in Local Public Administration: The Case of Romania
Governance and public management, 2019
Strategic planning is an excellent tool that local governments can use to increase effectiveness ... more Strategic planning is an excellent tool that local governments can use to increase effectiveness of the governance process. Although Romania experienced more than four decades of national planning under the communist regime, after 1989 local authorities had major difficulties in using planning as an effective managerial tool. Access to the European Union (EU) meant significant changes, including a new approach for community development, where strategic planning has an essential role. Our main objective with this research is twofold: to analyze (1) why local authorities resort to planning and (2) how local authorities use strategic planning (characteristics of the process, results, main challenges, benefits). Our analysis indicates that more than two-thirds of local authorities are motivated by the EU funding possibilities, for which having a strategic plan is a mandatory condition. Results show that authorities have limited planning capacity, with stakeholder engagement and monitoring and evaluation being major challenges. We highlight specific details of the process through two case studies meant to offer a more comprehensive understanding of the particularities of planning in Romania, at local level.
International Review of Administrative Sciences, Feb 17, 2020
This article explores the factors that shape perceptions of administrative and rules burdens amon... more This article explores the factors that shape perceptions of administrative and rules burdens among street-level bureaucrats in Romania. Recent research examining the concept of administrative burden has focused on burdens experienced by a citizen or client. We argue here that national context shapes the features of public service delivery, and that burdens must also be understood from the perspective of bureaucrats in transitioning post-communist countries. Street-level bureaucrats represent an important category of public servants given their main characteristics in implementing policy. Findings of two analyses-one examining broader concepts of administrative burden and one looking at the narrower concept of rules burdens-indicate that rule complexity, autonomy, conformity, job satisfaction, educational attainment, and perceived corruption impact perceptions of administrative burden, while perceptions of rules burdens are impacted by rule-abiding tendencies, discretionary latitude, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and supervisory status.
Perceptions of Discretion in Street-Level Public Service: Examining Administrative Governance in Romania
Public Performance & Management Review, Dec 4, 2017
ABSTRACT Street-level bureaucrats have long been seen as key figures in program and policy implem... more ABSTRACT Street-level bureaucrats have long been seen as key figures in program and policy implementation, often occupying unique positions that encompass executive, legislative, and judicial functions. Osborne’s concept of the New Public Governance addresses concepts of policy implementation and interpretive activities that characterize street-level bureaucracy. Current understanding of street-level bureaucracy is, however, dominated by research focused on the United States and the United Kingdom, both of which demonstrate differences from countries in Eastern Europe. This study uses survey data to examine street-level bureaucracy in Romania, with attention to the determinants of bureaucratic perceptions of discretion. Results indicate that proactive personality, prosocial motivation, autonomy, job satisfaction, and years of experience are related to individual perceptions of discretionary latitude among front-line workers.
Transylvanian review of administrative sciences, Oct 1, 2008
The paper discusses the issue of the managerial approach to public administration, starting from ... more The paper discusses the issue of the managerial approach to public administration, starting from the distinction identified by some authors between management and administration. The paper has a twofold structure: in the first sections it provides a theoretical conceptual framework for approaching the issue of the managerial approach to public administration; in the following sections, the authors discuss the managerial approach with regard to the Romanian administrative sector. In the conclusion section, the paper tries to offer an answer to the question where do we stand as a country with regard to the implementation of the managerial approach in public administration. While some progress has been made, there are nonetheless steps that still need to be taken.
Administrative Leadership and Situational Antecedents in the Romanian Public Administration
Lex localis, Oct 16, 2015
Leadership is a complex phenomenon that is hard to study and understand by looking solely at lead... more Leadership is a complex phenomenon that is hard to study and understand by looking solely at leaders (be it traits, behavior or competencies). Previous researches (House et. al., 2004) indicate significant variance in leadership depending on situational and cultural factors. In this research we explore the antecedent conditions that lead to unique administrative leadership styles observed in the Romanian public administration, by making a distinction between cultural, political and administrative antecedents. The study population consists of civil servants occupying a managerial position. Initial results indicate that cultural values are similar to the ECC cluster from the GLOBE study, a preference for NWS (Neo Weberian State) type of organization, low trust between politicians and civil servants and predominantly transformational leadership behaviours. Low response rate (approx. 7%) led to a rather small sample (N=188), which negatively influences the possibility of generalizing the findings.
DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), Dec 1, 2016
Leadership is one of the best examples for an ubiquitous research topic, as it is studied both as... more Leadership is one of the best examples for an ubiquitous research topic, as it is studied both as a social phenomenon as well as a theoretical concept (Hackman and Wageman, 2007), being studied in relation with different research fi elds, ranging from politics, public administration, management, social and organizational change, human motivation (and the list could go on). This has led some scholars to claiming that leadership has been the source of more extensive investigation than almost any other aspect of human behavior (de Vries, 1993). The interest then in public sector leadership comes only natural to any researcher in the fi eld of public administration. Our main purpose was to identify and analyze what has been done on the topic of public sector leadership, specifi cally for Romania, in the past ten years. We focused on three major variables: theoretical framework used, authorship nationality, and quality of research. Results indicate that Romanian authors and Romania are missing from top tier journals in the fi eld of public administration. Indirectly, results raise questions about general research capacity in the fi eld of public administration of Romanian scholars.
Le poids de la prestation de services : les fardeaux administratifs et réglementaires dans la bureaucratie de proximité
Revue internationale des sciences administratives, Mar 7, 2022
Transylvanian review of administrative sciences, 2009
Most human activities are the product ofcoordinated actions performed by individualsworking as a ... more Most human activities are the product ofcoordinated actions performed by individualsworking as a team rather than individuals workingalone. Thus, the processes through which theyaccomplish their tasks, change, decide andrelate to each other inside an organization isessential. This paper is about the importanceof Organizational Diagnosis in management ofchange. Organizational Diagnosis is an essentialstep in every initiative of change, and with everchanging environment in which flexibility andcreativity are proving to be key values, mostmanagers are interested in questions regardingthe nature of organizational process and structure,human relations, and nature of change. The paperpresents such a case of using organizationaldiagnosis as a management tool in a changeprocess inside a health care organization. Usingthis tool has helped the management team identifythe existing gaps between “what is” and “whatshould be” and has increased the chances of asuccessful change process.
Transnational Perspectives on Strategic Planning in Local Communities
Strategic Planning in Local Communities, 2019
Strategy and the concept of strategic thinking are not usually associated with the public sector.... more Strategy and the concept of strategic thinking are not usually associated with the public sector. In general, the public sector is described using labels such as short-term decision-making, improvising on the spot, lack of strategic perspective, red tape and poor organization of activities. This negative picture has started to change in the last decades, triggered by heavy criticism from both citizens and practitioners, with strategic planning being included as an essential component of reform.
rtsa.ro
Public participation is an ever significant notion of modern governance. In the light of lower le... more Public participation is an ever significant notion of modern governance. In the light of lower levels of citizen turnout at elections, contemporary democracies face a growing and complex problem of legitimacy. In this sense, in the last decade more and more ...
Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 2021
Given the turbulent environment that governments and citizens across the globe faced in the last... more Given the turbulent environment that governments and citizens across the globe faced in the last two years (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), one concept seems to stand out as extremely valuable in this context: resilience. Resilience, understood as the capacity of a system to bounce back from adversity, becomes a key component in the equation of post-pandemic evolution and recovery. Resilient leadership is just one of the multiple derived applications of the general resilience concept, referring (in an institutional setting) to the capacity of leaders to turn out positive results despite adverse conditions. Based on qualitative research consisting of 10 interviews conducted with women leaders (from the private and nonprofit sectors) during the last 18 months, our results show that governmental response (regulation and support) and financial pressures have been the major organizational challenges no matter the sector, while organizational dimension seems to have an influence on...
Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 2020
The current COVID-19 pandemic highlighted something that was already known for decades: modern go... more The current COVID-19 pandemic highlighted something that was already known for decades: modern governments need to master the art of equilibristics – they need to offer public value in all governance arenas while battling increasing levels of uncertainty and change. Looking back at the last decade, unpredictable change has been the norm rather than the exception (whether it is at political level – Arab Spring (2011), 2016 US elections, Brexit (2016) – social – Occupy Wall Street movement (2011), EU migrant-refugee crisis (2016), Black Lives Matter, #Metoo movement – or economic – the economic crisis of 2008, which prompted the sovereign debt crisis in multiple EU countries, China replacing the US as the largest economy) the environment in which governments operate in has never seen such a particular type of dynamic. The COVID-19 pandemic can be seen almost as an organic culmination of this dynamic, a perfect storm, highlighting the essence of the new environment in which governments...
Strategic planning is an excellent tool that local governments can (and should) use in order to d... more Strategic planning is an excellent tool that local governments can (and should) use in order to deal efficiently with change, which means that planning is an important aspect of public sector reform, arguably one of the defining elements of the public policy landscape for the past three decades (Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2011). Our main objective with this research is twofold: to analyze why and how local public administration uses strategic planning as a managerial tool for managing change (reform), and to identify whether the planning efforts display a specific reform pattern. We employed a quantitative methodology – online survey – to collect data on the strategic planning process at the local level in Romania, with a specific framework for the strategic profile (Hinţea, 2015) and another three dimension model – NPM, NWS, NPG1 – for the reform component (Pollitt and Bouckaert, 2011). Our analysis indicates that over 70% of strategic planning efforts are done because it is a mandator...
Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 2018
Despite our relatively broad and robust understanding of street level bureaucracy in a Western co... more Despite our relatively broad and robust understanding of street level bureaucracy in a Western context, this area of inquiry remains somewhat understudied in an Eastern European context. This is particularly problematic for Romania, where poor educational stock, weak accountability mechanism, and rather frail media make front line bureaucrats' behavior disproportionately critical to public service provision. This article partially fills this void and brings a much needed overview of street-level bureaucracy in Romania. Relying on recent survey data collected from 407 front line workers, the study covers four key public administration services (taxation, consumer, environmental, and labor protection) and street-level bureaucracy, describes demographics, values, work environment, and attitudes towards rules and citizens. It shows that Romanian front line workers are relatively willing to bend and break the rules if their organizational goals demand so, and that they enjoy important levels of discretion and work autonomy. These bureaucrats also depict high levels of organizational commitment, low levels of uncertainty tolerance, and high power distance. The article concludes with comments and implications for future research in policy implementation at the front lines.
Revista Transilvană de Ştiinţe Administrative, 2015
Leadership is an extremely hot topic in the academic and research environment of the last two dec... more Leadership is an extremely hot topic in the academic and research environment of the last two decades, reprezenting a major point of interest for distinct felds such as economics, sociology, political science, public administration or management. The article analyzes the existing literature in the Roma-nian academic space of the last 10 years. The main objective is identifcation of studies that research the feld of leadership in order to determine a clear image of the way this subject is treated in the Ro-manian specialised literature. The assumption we started from is the following: leadeship is adressed in a simplistic manner – studies are focused mainly on the leader as a person (studies that test qualities, attributes, behaviours) and disregard other macro variables (organizational context, culture, values).
Revista Transilvană de Ştiinţe Administrative, 2019
One consistent element of the environment in which organizations currently operate is change. Reg... more One consistent element of the environment in which organizations currently operate is change. Regardless of the size, sector or nature of the activities, organizations are compelled to constantly adjust their modus operandi in relation to the dynamics of the external environment. From the perspective of the organizational leadership, this challenge falls within the responsibility of the leadership. Today’s leaders are in a position to perform in a dynamic, unpredictable environment, which requires the development of internal mechanisms and tools that allow the organization to adapt. In this context, the concepts of organizational resilience and resilient leadership become extremely relevant to understand how organizations can overcome the adversities they face. This paper is a brief analysis of the concept of resilience from the perspective of the organizational leadership and the reasons why leaders should take into consideration the factors that impel the resilience of a system.
Revista De Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 2012
Leadership has been a major topic of research for social scientist, in the last century. The numb... more Leadership has been a major topic of research for social scientist, in the last century. The number of approaches in studying this phenomenon is truly outstanding. However no integrative theory to include all essential elements has been developed yet. In the last three decades, especially after the NPM movement, leadership has attracted substantial attention as an essential factor for organizational performance in the public sector. The present study builds on this through a pilot study aimed at evaluating leadership behavior using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ5X) (Bass, Avolio, 1995). The main purpose was to examine types of leadership behavior present in local public administration, in both decentralized and deconcentrated institutions by using a twin perspective: auto evaluation and peer evaluation. We wanted to find out whether transformational leadership is present in public organizations and if there are any significant differences based on two variables: type of institution and evaluator (selfevaluation vs. peer evaluation). The article is structured in three main parts. The first one discusses the concept of leadership in general, the ambiguity of the term, and the problems with in empirically studying this phenomenon. In the second part we analyze the Transformational Leadership theory proposed by Bass (1985) and then argue for the use of transformational leadership in the public sector. Lastly we propose a model for evaluating leadership in the public sector using MLQ. Preliminary data from a pilot study show above average transformational behaviors but also possible influence of the type of organization (decentralized vs. deconcentrated) on leadership behavior.
Contemporary Business Education: a Solution for Global Leadership Challenges
The Amfiteatru Economic Journal, 2014
Education and professional development is considered central issues in civil service development ... more Education and professional development is considered central issues in civil service development and public administration reform. While this may be true, the content of such programs bears equal influence in skill acquirement, which in turn, has an impact on managerial performance (Perry, 1989). The contemporary economic and social environment poses numerous and complex challenges to public leaders, who need to be equipped with the adequate set of skills and competencies in order to have a proper response. The present paper aims to find out the whether the current educational programs from the business field can be a solution for preparing the next generation of public (and private) leaders. My argument is that the latest developments in public management reform (New Public Management, Good Governance and Public Entrepreneurship) combined with new demands for effectiveness, efficiency and high quality public services could increase the relevance of such programs. In support for this I presented a series of research results that point to a set of common leadership challenges that transcend the public-private divide. Finally I explored the offerings of the top 5 MBA programs in the world to see whether this is reflected in their educational programs. Not surprisingly, three out of the five programs analysed offer dual degree programs that combine business and public management education as a solution for the leadership challenges that lay ahead.
Revista De Cercetare Si Interventie Sociala, 2012
Public administration reform has been a top priority for every political party that has held offi... more Public administration reform has been a top priority for every political party that has held office from 1990 since present, but after more than 20 years of "reform", Romania still faces major administrative problems and challenges while its administrative system in some areas the system still being pre-bureaucratic. One of the causes why reform initiatives and projects have had such a hard time in delivering the promised results is the lack of major political support and consequently lack of leadership in guiding and implementing such measures. We will try to underline the importance of leadership in any major change process-administrative reform fits perfectly in to this category-by pointing out that in the cases were administrative reform succeeded, leadership was a crucial positive contributing factor. After a brief presentation of major changes that took place at administrative level until the countries EU accession we will analyze the latest changes that took place after 2008 and the global financial crisis, which can be seen as a catalyst for the reform process.