Public Service Motivation

Starting Point

The research project Public Service Motivation is a continuation of the project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (No. 100012-116083) in the area of the public employee work motivation.  Public service motivation identifies the special orientation, strength, and character of motives that, among others, are found in employees of the public sector.  They are capable of significantly influencing the identification of both lower-level employees and managers of governmental organizations.  As a current topic of international administrative research, public service motivation has received a great deal of attention during the past few years.  The research project follows up on this and deals with additional gaps in current research papers.  Another goal of the project is to examine how important public service motivation is for administrative practice within the framework of the HRM public administrations.

Research Questions

In this regard, questions exist regarding the existence of PSM in various public institutions, the influence of PSM on the binding character of organizations, and the behavior of the persons involved (organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior).  Key for public institutions is the question of the extent to which their basic organizational framework impacts the PSM, or employee commitment, and how the organizational structural traits, processes, and tools develop their potential.  Finally, this is related to the central question of whether performance, or rather the performance of individuals and organizations, can be influenced based on different basic organizational frameworks and their related management tools, as well as their identification and motivational impacts. 
In additional stages, the project will also explore the question of how the steering of the performance orientation on organizational and individual levels can be improved using indicator and incentive systems in governmental institutions.  Currently, such systems are being extensively implemented on both the international and national levels.  In many places, however, their effectiveness remains unclear, or rather the need for improvement is becoming increasingly clearer.  An in-depth study of Swiss administrative practice related to the causes, processes, and effectiveness of performance measurement and its connection to the theoretical motivational peculiarities of public institutions is urgently needed and should be achieved by this project.  Up to now, no relevant research studies with a comparable empirical approach exist in and for Switzerland.

Methodology

Within the context of the project reports, both qualitative research methods (e.g., Grounded Theory approach, qualitative content analysis) and quantitative data-collection and analytical methods are used (e.g., regression model, SEM, HLM).  An international comparative analysis of 12 nations on all continents is in progress.

Anticipated Findings

The study contributes, on both the national and international levels, to the acquisition of new data on the existence, mode of operation, and impact of different motivating factors in the work in public institutions.

Project director: Prof. Dr. Adrian Ritz