Abstract
A scholarly consensus holds that turbulent environments have damaging effects on public service performance. Turbulence, both internal and external organizations, has been demonstrated to negatively impact chances for organizations to meet goals and sometimes to survive. Less scholarly attention, however, is paid to how turbulence affects managerial strategy. This paper seeks to address how managerial strategy changes toward external environments and investigates what alternations managers make to combat turbulence. This question is theoretically and practically appropriate to comprehensively understand the effects of environmental turbulence for public organizations.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
For example, the average district has an enrollment of 3,986 students, yet the range is from 7 to 211,762 students. The standard deviation of 11,917 suggests the data include a variety of districts, ranging from small to large.
References
Aldrich, H. (1999). Organizations evolving. London: Sage.
Anderson, C. R., & Paine, F. T. (1975). Managerial perceptions and strategic behavior. The Academy of Management Journal, 18, 811–823.
Anderson, P., & Tushman, M. (2001). Organizational environments and industry exit: the effects of uncertainty, munificence and complexity. Industrial and Corporate Change, 10, 675–711.
Andrews, R. (2009). Organizational task environments and performance: An empirical analysis. International Public Management Journal, 12(1), 1–23.
Aragon-Correa, J., & Sharma, S. (2003). A contingent resource-based view of proactive corporate environmental strategy. Academy of Management Review, 28(1), 71–88.
Ashmos, D. P., & McDaniel, R. R. (1996). “The role of external critical task specialists in strategic decision making”. Decision Sciences, 26(4).
Ashmos, D., Duchon, D., & McDaniel, R., Jr. (2000). Organizational responses to complexity: the effect on organizational performance. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 13(6), 577–594.
Bidwell, C. (1965). The school as a formal organization. In J. G. March (Ed.), Handbook of organizations (pp. 972–1022). Chicago: Rand McNally.
Boisot, M., & Child, J. (1999). “Organizations as adaptive systems in complex environments: the case of China.”. Organization Science, 10(3), 237–252.
Bourgeois, L. J., III. (1980). Strategy and environment: a conceptual integration. Academy of Management Review, 5(1), 25–39.
Bourgeois, L., Jay, D., McAllister, D. W., & Mitchell, T. R. (1978). The effects of different organizational environments upon decisions about organizational structure. The Academy of Management Journal, 21, 508–514.
Boyd, B., Dess, G., & Rasheed, A. (1993). Divergence between archival and perceptual measures of the environment: Causes and consequences. Academy of Management Review, 18, 204–226.
Boyne, G. A., & Meier, K. J. (2009). “Environmental turbulence, organizational stability, and public service performance. Administration and Society, 40(8), 799–824.
Burns, T., & Stalker, G. (1961). The management of innovation. London: Tavistock.
Cameron, K. S. (1984). Organizational adaptation and higher education. Journal of Higher Education, 55, 122–144.
Cameron, K., Myung, K., & Whitten, D. (1987). Organizational effects of decline and turbulence. Administrative Science Quarterly, 32, 222–240.
Chandler, A. D., Jr. (1962). Strategy and structure. New York: Doubleday.
Coleman, J. S. (1990). Equality and achievement in education. Boulder: Westview Press.
Conner, D. (1998). Leading at the edge of chaos: how to create a nimble organization. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Dess, G., & Beard, D. (1984). Dimensions of organizational task environments. Administrative Science Quarterly, 29, 52–73.
Donaldson, L. (1995). American anti-management theories of organization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Donaldson, L. (1996). For positivist organization theory. London: Sage.
Drucker, P. (1980). Managing in turbulent times. New York: Harper and Row.
Duncan, R. (1973). Multiple decision making structures in adapting to environmental uncertainty. Human Relations, 26, 273–291.
Eisenhardt, K., & Sull, D. (2001). Strategy as simple rules. Harvard Business Review, 79(1), 106–116.
Emery, F., & Trist, E. (1965). The causal texture of organizational environments. Human Relations, 18, 21–32.
Evans, W. N., Murray, S. E., & Schwab, R. M. (1997). Schoolhouses, courthouses, and statehouses after Serrano. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 16(Winter), 10–31.
Gordon, S., Stewart, W., Sweo, R., & Luker, W. (2000). Convergence versus strategic reorientation: The antecedents of fast-paced organizational change. Journal of Management, 26, 911–945.
Hannan, M., & Freeman, J. (1984). Structural inertia and organizational change. American Sociological Review, 49, 149–164.
Hannan, M. T., & Freeman, J. (1989). Organizations and social structure. In Organizational ecology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Hanushek, E. (1996). School resources and student performance. In B. Gary (Ed.), Does money matter (pp. 43–73). Washington: Brookings.
Harris, R. (2004). Organizational task environments: An evaluation of convergent and discriminant validity. Journal of Management Studies, 41, 857–882.
Hedges, L. V., & Greenwald, R. (1996). Have times changed? The relation between school resources and student performance. In B. Gary (Ed.), Does money matter? (pp. 74–92). Washington: Brookings Institution.
Hicklin, A. K. (2004). Network stability: Opportunity or obstacle? Public Organization Review, 4, 121–133.
Hicklin, A., O’Toole, L., Meier, K. J., & Robinson, S. (2009). Calming the storms: Collaborative public management, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and disaster response. In R. O’Leary & L. Bingham (Eds.), The Collaborative Public Manager: New Ideas for the 21st Century. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown.
Hofer, C. (1980). Turnaround strategies. The Journal of Business Strategy, 1, 19–31.
Huber, G. P. (1984). The nature and design of post-industrial organizations. Management Science, 30(8), 928–951.
Jencks, C., & Phillips, M. (Eds.). (1998). The black-white test score Gap. Washington: Brookings Institution.
Khandwalla, P. N. (1977). The design of organizations. New York: Harcourt Brace, Javanovich.
Koberg, C., & Ungson, G. (1987). The effects of uncertainty and dependence on organizational structure and performance: A comparative study. Journal of Management, 13, 725–737.
Kraatz, M., & Zajac, E. (2001). How Organizational Resources affect Strategic change and performance in trubulent envrionments: theory and evidence. Organization Science, 12(5), 632–657.
Kuivaleinen, O., Sundqvist, S., Puumalainen, K., & Cadogan, J. (2004). “The effect of environmental turbulence and leader characteristics on international performance: are knowledge- based firms different? Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 21, 35–50.
Lawrence, P.R., and J. Lorsch. 1967. Organization and environment. Boston: Division of Research, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University.
Li, H., & Atuahene-Gima, K. (2001). “Product innovation strategy and the performance of new product ventures in china. The Academy of Management Journal, 44, 1123–1134.
Lin, X., & Germain, R. (2003). Organizational structure, context, customer orientation and performance: lessons from Chinese state-owned enterprises. Strategic Management Journal, 24, 1131–1151.
Longstaff, P. H. (2005). Security, resilience and communication in the unpredictable environments such as terrorism, natural disasters and complex technology. Boston: Harvard University Program on Information Resources, Policy Research Report.
Lynn, L., Heinrich, C., & Hill, C. (2001). Studying governance and public management: Challenges and Prospects. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 10, 233–261.
Mason, R. (2007). The external environment’s effect on management and strategy: a complexity theory approach. Management Decision, 45(1), 10–28.
McCann, J. E., & Selsky, J. (1984). Hyperturbulence and the emergency of type 5 environments. Academy of Management Review, 3, 460–470.
Meier, K. J., & O’Toole, L. J., Jr. (2001). Managerial strategies and behavior in networks: A model with evidence from U.S. public education. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 11, 271–295.
Meier, K. J., & O’Toole, L. J., Jr. (2003). Public management and educational performance: The impact of managerial networking. Public Administration Review, 63, 675–685.
Meier, K. J., & O’Toole, L. J., Jr. (2005). Managerial networking: Issues of measurement and research design. Administration and Society, 37(5), 523–541.
Meier, K. J., & O’Toole, L. J. (2008). Management theory and occam’s razor: how public organizations buffer the environment. Administration and Society, 39(8), 931–958.
Meier, K. J., O’Toole, L., Boyne, G., & Walker, R. (2006). Strategic management and the performance of public organizations: testing venerable ideas against recent theories. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 17, 357–377.
Meier, K. J., O’Toole, L., & Hicklin, A. (2010). I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain: public management and performance after a natural disaster. Administration and Society, 41, 979–1003.
Melton, E. K., Walker, M., & Walker, S. (2010). “Management strategies and performance: an examination of minority managers in public organizations.” Economics, Management and Financial Markets, 5(3), 131–159.
Miles, R. E., & Snow, C. C. (1978). Organizational strategy, structure, and process. New York: McGraw- Hill Book Company.
Miles, R. E., Snow, C. C., Meyer, A. D., & Coleman, H. J. (1978). Organizational strategy, structure and process. Academy of Management Review, 3(3), 546–571.
Milliken, F. (1987). Three types of perceived uncertainty about the environment: State, effect, and response uncertainty. Academy of Management Review, 12, 133–143.
Milward, H. B. (1996). Symposium on “The hollow state: capacity, control and performance in interorganizational settings.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 6, 193–313.
Milward, H. B., & Provan, K. G. (1993). The hollow state: private provision of public services. In H. Ingram & S. R. Smith (Eds.), Public Policy for Democracy (pp. 222–237). Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
O’Toole, L. J. (1997). Treating Networks Seriously: Practical and research-based agendas in public administration. Public Administration Review, 57(1), 45–52.
O’Toole, L. J., Jr., & Meier, K. J. (1999). Modeling the impact of public management: Implications of structural context. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 9, 505–526.
O’Toole, L. J., Jr., & Meier, K. J. (2003). Plus ça change: Public management, personnel stability, and organizational performance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 13, 43–64.
Pennings, J. (1992). Structural contingency theory: a reappraisal. Research in Organizational Behavior, 14, 267–309.
Pfeffer, J., & Salancik, G. (2003). The external control of organizations: A resource dependence perspective. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Piening, E. (2013). Dynamic capabilities in public organizations. Public Management Review, 15(2), 209–245.
Pitts, D. (2005). Diversity, representation, and performance: Evidence about race and ethnicity in public organizations. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 15(4), 615–631.
Pitts, D., Hawes, D., Hicklin, A., & Melton, E. (2010). Competing drivers of diversity management implementation: evidence from public organizations. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 20(4), 867–886.
Power, B., & Reid, G. (2005). “Flexibility, firm-specific turbulence and the performance of the long-lived small firm. Review of Industrial Organization, 26, 415–443.
Rainey, H. (2003). Understanding and managing public organizations. San Francisco: Jossey- Bass.
Rattsø, J. (1999). Aggregate local public sector investment and shocks: Norway 1946–1990. Applied Economics, 31, 577–584.
Scott, R. W. (1981). Organizations: rational, natural and open systems. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Scott, R. (2003). Organizations: Rational, natural and open systems. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
Siggelow, N., & Rivkin, J. (2005). Speed and search: designing organizations for turbulence and complexity. Organization Science, 16(2), 101–122.
Simon, H. (1947). Administrative behavior. New York: The Free Press.
Smart, C., & Vertinsky, I. (1984). Strategy and the environment: a study of corporate responses to crises. Strategic Management Journal, 5, 199–213.
Snow, C., & Hambrick, D. (1980). Measuring organizational strategies: Some theoretical and methodological problems. Academy of Management Review, 5(4), 527–538.
Starbuck, W. G., Greve, A., & Hedberg, B. (1978). Responding to crisis. Journal of Business Administration, 9, 111–137.
Steers, R. M. (1977). Organizational effectiveness: a behavioral view. Santa Monica: Goodyear.
Sutton, R. I. (1987). The process of organizational death: Disbanding and reconnecting. Administrative Science Quarterly, 32, 542–569.
Termeer, C., & van de Brink, M. (2013). Organizational conditions for dealing with the unknown unknown. Public Management Review, 15(1), 43–62.
Terreberry, S. (1968). The evolution of organizational environments. Administrative Science Quarterly, 12(4), 590–613.
Thompson, J. D. (1967). Organizations in action. New York: McGraw Hill.
Tosi, H., Aldag, R., & Storey, R. (1973). On the measurement of the environment: An assessment of the Lawrence and Lorsch environmental subscale. Administrative Science Quarterly, 18, 27–36.
Vorhies, D. (1998). An investigation of the factors leading to the development of marketing capabilities and organizational effectiveness. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 6(1), 3–23.
Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Wenglinsky, H. (1997). How educational expenditures improve student performance and ho w they don’t. Princeton: Educational Testing Service.
Wirt, F. M., & Kirst, M. (1997). The political dynamics of American education. Berkeley: McCutchan Publishing Corporation.
Withey, S. B. (1962). Reaction to uncertain threat. In G. W. Baker & D. W. Chapman (Eds.), Man and society in disaster (pp. 93–123). New York: Basic Books.
Zajonc, R. (1965). Social facilitation. Science, 149, 269–274.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Melton, E.K. Testing Turbulence: Exploring the Determinants of Managerial Networking. Public Organiz Rev 17, 19–37 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-015-0324-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-015-0324-0