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More of the Same? A Dual Case Study Approach to Examining Change Momentum in the Public Sector
Author(s) -
Barker Laura,
McKeown Tui,
Wolfram Cox Julie,
Bryant Melanie
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
australian journal of public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-8500
pISSN - 0313-6647
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8500.12306
Subject(s) - public sector , private sector , facilitation , momentum (technical analysis) , political science , politics , dual (grammatical number) , qualitative property , public relations , public economics , sociology , public administration , economic growth , economics , finance , law , art , literature , machine learning , computer science
Despite the significant amount of change experienced by the public sector, there has been relatively limited empirical examination of how change agendas affect public sector employees in Australia. This article presents a comparative analysis of two Australian public sector organisations that implemented the same positive work change agenda, but experienced very different outcomes. Using a critical realist approach, we draw on a mix of qualitative techniques to suggest that textbook notions of ‘successful change’, which are often derived from large private sector expectations, may fail to capture the complex nature of how public sector change initiatives may unfold. In particular, we demonstrate how political, temporal, contextual, and process factors interact to shift change momentum. Illustrative examples are provided throughout and the findings are discussed in terms of their implications for theory building, for change facilitation, and for future research.