Managerial networking is performed by managers and high-ranking employees in different organisations. This networking is done to achieve goals of the organisation. There are several factors that...Show moreManagerial networking is performed by managers and high-ranking employees in different organisations. This networking is done to achieve goals of the organisation. There are several factors that pose an effect on managerial networking. These can be factors within the organisation itself and factors of the external environment in which an organisation exists. In this thesis, institutional factors that influence managerial networking are analysed. Management capacity, formalisation, decentralisation, specialisation, and expertise are hypothesised to pose an effect an managerial networking. Analysing managerial networking behaviour more deeply, four types of managerial networking are tested: activating, framing, mobilising, and synthesizing. Lastly, results of networking are analysed in this research to include a view on what the managerial networking behaviour would eventually lead to. Three different types of results are analysed: resource allocation, political support, and legitimacy. A conceptual model is developed in which institutional factors, managerial networking behaviour, and results of networking are included. After conducting qualitative research in the form of interviews, hypothesis about the institutional factors are tested and the conceptual model is adapted. Institutional factors are deleted from the model and newly found factors that pose an effect on managerial networking are added. Moreover, an overview is given of specific relationships between certain institutional factors, managerial networking behaviours, and networking results.Show less
What is environmental turbulence? How does it affect organisational performance? And how is this relationship moderated by stabilising features? This thesis delves into the topic of organisational...Show moreWhat is environmental turbulence? How does it affect organisational performance? And how is this relationship moderated by stabilising features? This thesis delves into the topic of organisational stability in the wake of turbulence stemming from the outside of (public) organisations. It uses COVID-19 crisis as an example of environmental turbulence and assesses its impact on the provision of education in The Netherlands. Moreover, this thesis investigates the moderating role of stabilising features, conceptualised as personnel stability in the form of personnel tenure, forms of employment and teacher-to-student ratio. This thesis is quantitative and deductive. In order to test this relationship, a statistical model has been set up, with the data on 429 public schools in the secondary education in The Netherlands. This thesis finds positive support for the argument that stabilising features attenuate the negative effect of environmental turbulence on the organisational performance, albeit weakly. This thesis recommends to delve further into contextual factors that could have an impact on aforementioned relationships, by choosing, for instance, a smaller N, or investigating one or few particular schools through interviews and thick description.Show less
The scientific literature on Public Administration pays much attention to managerial networking. However, the effect of hierarchy on networking behaviour has received less attention. Yet, hierarchy...Show moreThe scientific literature on Public Administration pays much attention to managerial networking. However, the effect of hierarchy on networking behaviour has received less attention. Yet, hierarchy is still a part of many public organisations. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to find out how the hierarchy of a public organization influences the networking behaviour of its civil servants. Thus, qualitative research was conducted by means of semi-structured interviews with eight civil servants and a former State Secretary of the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Using an inductive approach, previous findings from the literature were refuted. It also showed that the personality of the civil servant and their network partners has a major influence on networking behaviour. The results of the interviews lead to a very unexpected conclusion on the question of how hierarchy influences the networking behaviour of civil servants. The influence of hierarchy on networking behaviour turned out to be negligible. Officials described that they do not approach their network based on their hierarchical position, but because of interdependence with partners in the network. External validity and reliability in the method of this research are not guaranteed. Therefore, the theory about the influence of interdependence in government networks will be best tested in future research through quantitative research.Show less
