Understanding the mediating role of operational steering information flows on work autonomy in public sector organizations

Abstract

This thesis examines how operational steering information flows – flows of information about directives that mandate public service delivery and their application - mediate work autonomy of employees at lower hierarchical levels in public sector organizations. Public services concern all of us. They are delivered according to national or local authorized directives, which are often deliberately vaguely formulated to allow for local adaptations. Employees who deliver these services adapt directives to their specific local situations. Even though these employees are often remotely located from their managers and colleagues, they need to autonomously carry out their work and deliver public services that are aligned with a shared understanding of how to apply directives. This understanding is negotiated between managers and employees, as well as among employees themselves. The primary research aim of this thesis is to explore how flows of operational steering information convey this critical information and enact autonomous and compliant public service delivery. The three articles in this thesis together explore the ways in which flows of operational steering information circulate within public sector organizations and connect employees, fostering a shared understanding of how to apply directives. This, in turn, enables them to autonomously carry out their work. The findings indicate that operational steering information flows have the action-enabling capability, providing employees with useful information to support autonomous and compliant delivery of public services. The combinations and particularly intersections of vertical and horizontal operational steering information flows enable employees to access, negotiate and legitimize a shared understanding of how to apply directives in their local situations. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that operational steering information flows consist of fixed and flexible gatekeeping structures. These structures encompass fixed, pre-defined arrangements of information sources and channels and flexible, varying arrangements of information sources and channels. The interplay between the fixed and flexible gatekeeping structures within operational steering information flows, and these flows' action enabling capabilities, shapes the work autonomy of public sector employees. This study is part of a larger interdisciplinary project titled "Improving trust-based management in Nordic urban governance and management education" (ManagementTRUST). This project evaluated the implementation of trust-based management in the City of Oslo. This management model relies on managers trusting and encouraging their subordinates to autonomously conduct their work which assumes that employees know how to apply directives. This, in turn, emphasises the role of operational steering information flows, providing an interesting context for studying these flows. Data was collected through survey, semi-structured interviews, and non-participant observations. The theoretical contribution of this thesis lies in its novel conceptualizations of operational steering information and operational steering information flows as part of the connecting information infrastructure in the fields of information behaviour and information management. Moreover, this thesis contributes to public administration literature by delineating how operational steering information flows facilitate the negotiation of a shared understanding of appropriate conduct among employees. Furthermore, this thesis adds to the trust-based management literature by elucidating that operational steering information flows mediate work autonomy, thereby supporting implementation of trust-based management. In addition, this thesis provides practical insights into how directives are adapted and applied in public sector organizations, as well as how policy implementations are carried out. Managers in public sector organizations, as well as those responsible for internal communications, may find valuable insights in this study for information management and trust development initiatives in their contexts.