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Public productivity : panacea or placebo

by: Whetten, David A. (David Allred), 1946-; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. College of Commerce and Business Administration

Publication date: 1979

Topics: Organizational effectiveness, Civil service

Publisher: [Urbana, Ill.] : College of Commerce and Business Administration, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Collection: university_of_illinois_urbana-champaign; americana

Contributor: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Language: English

Volume: BEBR No. 547

Includes bibliographical references (p. 18-19)

"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."