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Executive Succession and the Performance of Public Organizations
Author(s) -
Boyne George,
Dahya Jay
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9299.00299
Subject(s) - ecological succession , contingency , variety (cybernetics) , contingency theory , government (linguistics) , contingency plan , public sector , business , succession planning , public administration , accounting , economics , public relations , political science , management , computer science , economy , philosophy , linguistics , artificial intelligence , ecology , biology
A theoretical framework is developed for the analysis of the impact of executive succession in public organizations. The central concepts in the model are the motives of chief executives, the means at their disposal and the opportunities available for influencing performance. The main hypothesis that flows from the model is that the effect of executive succession is likely to be small but significant. Furthermore, the strength of the impact of succession is contingent on a variety of external and internal circumstances. Seventeen testable hypotheses concerning these contingency effects are presented as a research agenda for studies of top management change in the public sector. The theoretical arguments are illustrated with reference to UK local government.