Developing the Theory of Pragmatic Public Management through Classic Grounded Theory Methodology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6295556 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joseph A Hafer (0000-0001-9678-8266, The University of Memphis , Memphis, TN , USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 627-640 |
| Publication date | 2022-09-15 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1053-1858 • E-ISSN: 1477-9803 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1093/jopart/muab050 |
| OpenAlex | W4211224118 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 44 |
Public administration scholars argue that further research is needed to understand ordinary day-to-day behaviors of the traditional government agency in the era of inter-organization collaboration and governance, including reconciling traditional bureaucratic management theories with modern-day cross-sector governance theories. I answered this call by utilizing classic grounded theory methodology to discover and theorize the latent patterns of behavior of such an agency—the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry—via the perspective of public managers. The primary source of data was unstructured interviews with 55 district and assistant district managers from the Bureau, and two interviews with executive directors of statewide nonprofits that frequently engage with the districts. Following the systematic processes of classic grounded theory methodology, I developed a theory called the Theory of Pragmatic Public Management that consists of the core category of Mission-driven Management, its four sub-core categories (Balancing, Advocating Value, Adapting to Uncertainty, and Prudent Collaboration), and two contextual conditions in the form of organization dynamics that impact the system (Organizational Capacity and Organizational Discretion). The theory is a modifiable and transferable theory that entwines traditional intra-organization management and inter-organization collaborative public management behaviors and relies on pragmatist thought for additional conceptual integration. It informs existing public management research that focuses on the day-to-day behaviors of public managers and offers practical insights on public management in the contemporary era of governance
Agency (philosophy · Bureaucracy · Collaborative governance · Corporate governance · Economics · Epistemology · Government (linguistics · Grounded theory · Knowledge management · Management · New public management · Organizational theory · Political science · Politics · Pragmatism · Principal–agent problem · Public relations · Public sector · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Disaster Management and Resilience · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Public Policy and Administration Research · Public Administration
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Articulating Grounded Theory Methodology for Public and Nonprofit Administration Scholars and Practitioners
Navigating ecological civilisation
The Boundary Work of Conflicting Interorganizational Relationships
Strategies for dealing with policy ambiguities
Barriers to and mechanism for open government data use by the private sectors
Pragmatist DemocracyEvolutionary Learning as Public Philosophy
Public Management
Using multi‐item psychometric scales for research and practice in human resource management
A Typology of Collaboration Efforts in Environmental Management
From Micro to Meso
Organization theory
Epistemology and social work
Collaborative Public Management
Mission Mystique
Network Structures
Assessing Qualitative Studies in Public Administration Research
Federal and State Public Forest Administration in the New Millennium
The Design and Implementation of Cross‐Sector Collaborations
Navigating the dichotomy
Pragmatic Municipalism
A Reviewer’s Guide to Qualitative Rigor
Research Design
A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Public Administration Research Universe
Varieties of Participation in Public Services
Pulling the Levers
Is Leadership in the Eye of the Beholder? A Study of Intended and Perceived Leadership Practices and Organizational Performance
Governance, Structure, and Democracy
Explaining Coordination in Collaborative Partnerships and Clarifying the Scope of the Belief Homophily Hypothesis
An Integrative Framework for Collaborative Governance
Working with the State
Seeking Justice
Goals, Trust, Participation, and Feedback
Collaborative Governance in Theory and Practice
Coding In-depth Semistructured Interviews
| Citations per year | 1.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |