Adam Ferreira

Date

5-5-2017

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

The public sector is often lauded for its egalitarian principles and penchant for mutual cooperation, but competition is increasingly becoming the norm which may affect communication, efficiency, goals, and objectives. The purpose of this study is to explore the effects that competition and private sector practices have on public servants. A survey was sent to 700 employees of municipal governments in Massachusetts; 45 respondents completed the survey over the course of two weeks. The principle lesson learned from this research was that while public servants view competitive practices negatively, and nearly half of respondents viewed their performance evaluations negatively, neither competitive practices nor irrelevant performance evaluations seem to have any impact on perceived job satisfaction. The implications of this are that in spite of all the criticisms of new public management, it is unlikely to have an impact on job satisfaction. Limitations such as a small, restricted survey demonstrates the need for a larger, more representative survey investigating the effects of competition on public servants.

Department

Political Science

Thesis Comittee

Melinda Tarsi (Thesis Director)

Na Sai

Brian Frederick

Copyright and Permissions

Original document was submitted as an Honors Program requirement. Copyright is held by the author.

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