Public productivity
Subtitle: panacea or placebo
By: David A. Whetten
Contributors: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. College of Commerce and Business Administration
Series: Faculty working papers -- no. 547; Faculty working papers -- v. no. 547.
Publisher: College of Commerce and Business Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Published: 1979
Place of publication: [Urbana, Ill.]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 19
Subjects: Civil service; Organizational effectiveness; Labor productivity
Description: "This paper expresses concern about public administrators' apparent preoccupation with productivity. The fact that government has responded to the recent 'tax revolt' by proposing new measures to increase efficiency, rather than improve effectiveness, is used as an illustration of this tendency. The relationship between efficiency and effectiveness proposed by traditional economic models is criticized, and a new model based on a political perspective is advocated. Possible organizational dynamics which might be fueling this preoccupation with productivity in our public institutions are discussed. In addition, the potential dysfunctional consequences of administrators attending to the pressures, to increase efficiency, while overlooking warnings to improve effectiveness are addressed."
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 18-19).