Public Management - Article Example

Public Management Public Management The study by West and Berman acknowledges that not enough information is available about managers in the public sector, their work habits and how they impact views of organizational performance. They further recommended that a practical strategy of working individually with managers effectively identifies, tackles and conquers bad management habits at work (West & Berman, 2011). Although fruitful habits are observed among the top managers of city governments, they are intertwined with some bad habits in management work and their presence is too significant to ignore.

The undesirable habits are commonly exhibited by managers who are overly judgmental, passive, intimidating and defensive and lack open mindedness. These unproductive work habits in management significantly compromise the gains realized from the productive work habits (West & Berman, 2011). They also stand in the way of promoting the beneficial habits. Raising awareness and exposing bad habits of managers is the correct way towards better performance. Perry, Hondeghem and Wise (2010) refer to motivation as the widely varied forces that direct, energize and uphold behavior.

They believe that Public Service Motivation (PSM) has its roots in unique motives found among public servants while workers in the private sector possess their own motives. The review by Perry, Hondeghem and Wise (2010) implies that at the core of the PSM construct, there is an inclination of people in the public sector to do good for the society. Although discrepancies in inclination occur, there is a commonality in that behavior of humans is driven by motives to regard others and not merely self interests and concerns.

PSM provides an alternative view for research of public management and rational choice theories (Perry, Hondeghem & Wise, 2010). ReferencesPerry, J. L., Hondeghem, A. & Wise, L. (2010). Revisiting the motivational bases of public service: twenty years of research and an agenda for the future. Public Administration Review, 70(5).West, J. P. & Berman, E. M. (2011). The impact of management work habits on public sector performance: A study of local government managers. Public Personnel Management, 40(1), 63-87.