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Strategic renewal as a mediator of environmental effects on public sector performance

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Abstract

Building on research in the areas of strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship within the private sector, strategic renewal as a form of entrepreneurship is examined within public sector organizations. An integrative model is proposed that captures the mediating effect of strategic renewal on the external environment–performance relationship within these organizations. Hypotheses are tested using hierarchical regression analysis with data from a sample of CEOs in 134 public sector state and semi-public enterprises in the Republic of Ireland. The findings indicate that environmental munificence is positively related to organizational performance. Strategic renewal further accentuates the impact of munificence on performance. Environmental hostility is also an exogenous driver of performance, but strategic renewal mediates the negative hostility–performance relationship. Decentralized decision-making and a flexible control system have a positive association with strategic renewal. Implications are drawn for theory and practice.

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  1. UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Republic of Ireland

    Claudine Kearney

  2. James W. Walter Eminent Scholar Chair, Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Michael H. Morris

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Kearney, C., Morris, M.H. Strategic renewal as a mediator of environmental effects on public sector performance. Small Bus Econ 45, 425–445 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-015-9639-z

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