Public-spiritedness and Speaking-up

Spreitzer and Sonenshein (2004) also questioned whether positive deviance within

organisations is contagious and can be developed via the reconstitution of the psychological contract. They found that promotional communication and action based on the desired norms, the institutional shaping of beliefs and behaviours, regulates appropriateness in the minds of employees. This endorsement helps to amend what ‘members assume is normal‘

(Hatch, 1993, p. 663) and dispel any dissonance that may exist between the current psychological contract, the new organisational values and the ‘new’ behaviours desired within the workplace (March & Olsen, 1989; Moynihan & Pandey, 2007). These initial

cognitions have been described as collateral agreements; psychological contracts of a lesser proportion (Rousseau & Tijoriwala, 1998), and have been shown to influence individuals’

perception of their ability and freedom to alter behaviours, and thus dispel any negative connotations of revised forms of interaction. Collateral agreements lead to a change in the psychological contract if the individuals’ perceptions are affirmed by a positive reaction to their behaviour change from within their referent community.

CV put differently is ‘public-spiritedness’ (Snyder, 2004, p. 51). Robinson and Bennett’s (1995) definition of workplace deviance states it involves ‘a voluntary behaviour that violates the norms of an organisation’ but they also found that organisational deviance, in the form of CV or employee voice, can have several positive outcomes by providing a warning signal to organisations to changing conditions in the environment (p. 556). With the ‘creative tension’

that emanates from CV behaviours providing a counterbalance to inclusive collaboration, resulting in better outcomes during organisational change (Prosser, et al., 2006, p. 248).

Buckley (1998) also uses more neutral language and labels behaviours which depart from the norm as ‘variety’, observing that conformity is neither natural nor normatively preferred.

Positive deviants are situated to the right of a normal distribution curve of behaviours; groups such as internally driven managers and world-class athletes would often be found within this range (Spreitzer & Sonenshein, 2004).

Premeaux and Bedeian (2003) also provide an altered construct of CV behaviours when

examining employee voice, their construct has a distinctive emphasis aiming towards developing cognitive consonance. The term they use is ‘speaking-up’ defined as ‘openly stating one’s views or opinions about workplace matters, including: the actions or ideas of others, suggested or needed changes, and alternative approaches or different lines of reasoning for addressing job-related issues’ (p. 1538). Their definition removes the critical, socially negative focus which has been observed as demonstrating a lack of team spirit and therefore creates a strong disincentive for members of a team to actively participate

(Janssen, 2003; Van Dyne, et al., 2003). As Aristotle (2000) observed, democracy and citizenship requires active, challenging and questioning participation. Gawthrop (1998) suggests ‘rather than devising new operating procedures designed to infuse the public sector with the values of the private sector business community, perhaps a new reassertion of the values and virtues of democracy should be directed’ (p. 130). In Beyond Boundaries (2006a), the Welsh Assembly Government appears to be guiding this process with their democratic citizen-centred approach in the public sphere. This approach is being further developed by the communitarianism which is encompassed within the Big Society policy.

These policies both call for new forms of citizenship, both inside and outside of public

service organisations, built on an appreciation of publicness but also one which is enabled to participate in civicness.

2.9 Concluding Remarks

The aim of this chapter is to review the extant literatures which relate to public services: the organisation, the behaviours and the values and their combined influence on the public servant and their perception of public service citizenship. These influences, considered in terms of the current and emerging public service context, led to the exploration of the public service psychological contract and how it may shape public servants’ perception of acts of CV.

Rooted in the work exploring organisational behaviour (Deutsch, 1948; Katz, 1964; Mayo, 1930; McDougall, 1908; Simon, 1973), the field of organisational citizenship has seen the examination of workplace behaviours become a major research topic in the management arena (Bolino & Turnley, 2003; Brightman & Moran, 1999; LePine, et al., 2002; Moorman, et al., 1993; Organ, 1988; Peelle III, 2007; Podsakoff, et al., 1997; Smith, et al., 1983;

Turnipseed, 1996; Van Dyne, et al., 1994).

However, the inflection towards a management audience with a penchant for a smooth running organisation has seen the examination of philanthropic behaviours dominate the

field; with significant research covering areas such as: employee engagement (Bakker &

Schaufeli, 2008; Macey & Schneider, 2008), creativity (Amabile & Kramer, 2007),

cooperation (Biele, et al., 2008), discretionary effort (Fielder, 2006), motivation (Jurkiewicz, et al., 1998), loyalty (Luchak, 2003), commitment (Pearce & Herbik, 2004) and helpfulness (Van Dyne & LePine, 1998). The result of this volume of work with an altruistic and helpful intonation has made questioning all the more questionable; often being seen as anti-team spirited and obstructive within the organisational setting (Brown, 2000; Janssen, 2003). Then again, the research has not all been in this mould; studies of distinctly anti-organisational behaviours have also made themselves known with crime and deviancy (Appelbaum &

Shapiro, 2006; Robinson & Bennett, 1995), corruption (Palmer, 2008), cheating (Mars, 1983), and general misbehaviour (Vardi & Wiener, 1996) all being examined.

An exploration of the research landscape has made it clear that the field lacks an

examination of behaviours between this range, particularly with respect to CV; with CV being the least researched OCB (Graham & Van Dyne, 2006). The CV perspective provides a counterbalance to the behavioural studies which have helped to paint a norm of employee agreeableness, a norm which smartly halted the early consideration of dynamic

organisations (Follett, 1941), organisational democracy (Slater & Bennis, 1964) and

constructive conflict (Thompson, 1960). Although this theme is latterly being resurrected with a growing body of research examining employee voice (Bennett, 2010; Dundon, et al., 2004;

Hirschman, 2008; Nikolaou, et al., 2008; Whiting, et al., 2008) and speaking-up (Morrison &

Milliken, 2003; Premeaux & Bedeian, 2003).

While within the terrain of public service research; the management agendas (Brewer &

Walker, 2010a; Dunleavy & Hood, 1994; Hood, 1991), the reform paradigms (Andrews &

Martin, 2007; Bell, et al., 2010; Benington, 2009; Boyne, 2003; Boyne & Law, 2005;

Hodgson, et al., 2007) and the policy churn (Entwistle, 2006; Ranson, 2003) continue to be fertile ground for research. Yet, it is clear that the organisational behaviour research field lacks a merging of these two areas; particularly utilising the changing public service

landscape as a backdrop against which to explore public servants’ understanding of public service citizenship, and specifically their perception of acts of CV.

Graham and Van Dyne (2006) called for contextual factors to be considered in future research of CV, specifically in relation to ‘norms regarding interaction, openness, critical analysis, and speaking-up’, together with the influence of ‘organisational structure’ and

‘governance systems’. They note these represent important reciprocal characteristics in the exposition of CV, and are areas which are still unclear (p. 106).

The public services improvement schema, emanating from the Third Way and moving towards the Big Society, promotes partnerships between public service organisations, citizens, the third sector and other stakeholders, encouraging and requiring public servants to become more actively involved in challenging the current modes of public service

provision. The policies encompassed within this agenda, together with the financial crisis, require the renovation of organisational structures but also the reinvention of organisational behaviours within public services. These policies are accompanied by the viewpoint that it is the traditional hierarchies and organisational structures that impede free communication (Festinger, 1954); and thus it is thought that in facilitating the weakening of organisational barriers, and removing these structural impediments, that this will permit the more effective use of social capital, leading to improved public services. This view is not yet supported by evidence (Boyne, 2003; Entwistle & Martin, 2005; Turrini, et al., 2010). And furthermore, the implicit tenet of this argument is that the barriers are external to the individual.

Research undertaken during the early period of NPM identified a disruption in the

psychological contract with a negative behavioural response to its managerialism (Guest &

Conway, 2000). Yet, little is known about the mechanism of this disruption (Vigoda-Gadot &

Meiri, 2008), and how it impacted upon the perception of apposite behaviours within the public service environment. Accordingly, it is unclear how the future public service

environment may be shaped by public servants perception of organisational citizenship, and specifically their perception of acts of CV. Citizenship ‘implies both rights and responsibilities’

(Graham, 1991, p. 251); employee rights to speaking-up but also their responsibilities in speaking-up (Premeaux & Bedeian, 2003). It is said that ‘the worker has not met his responsibility by merely obeying’ (Follett, 1949, p. 171). The present research therefore seeks to explore public servants perception of the notion of CV, with the aim of illuminating how this perception may shape the public service domain.

This lack of clarity on these wide ranging issues is the nature of the current landscape, and is indicative of the value of the present research in exploring this under-researched field.

To develop an understanding of organisations requires that ‘researchers have access not only to what members of the organisation say, but also to what they think but do not say’

(Perlow & Repenning, 2009, p. 3). In additional research often seeks to access the elusive, implicit factors. Since ‘we cannot hope to integrate our differences unless we know what they are’ (Follett, 1941, p. 36), how can this blend of subjective perceptions be made audible? In studying groups Simmel (1955) notes that it is flawed to simply ask members whether elements of contradiction in behaviours are apparent, since the apparent absence of

contradictory behaviour alone cannot serve as an adequate indicator.

However, all language is symbolic with communication taking a variety of forms. Greater understanding comes from the ‘examination of symbols ... the careful scrutiny of the language used to see what it really means’ (original emphasis) (Follett, 1941, p. 41). But what if traditional communication pathways are blocked by intrinsic or extrinsic barriers?

Furthermore, these hidden factors are not only often unspoken but they can also be nonconscious, implicit aspects of identity, often more powerful due to this deep-rooted psychological status. If, as Harmon and Mayer (1986) suggest, employees are often

‘oblivious to the pathologies embedded in the ways they act’ (p. 215) then a different form of dialogue is required.

In the present research this dialogue will utilise, as part of a semi-structured interview, the imagery of projective image elicitation under the auspice of symbolic interactionism as a method to explore these implicit perceptions and assumptions. The next chapter describes the operationalisation of the research; presenting the research design and the development of the research method, before moving on to discuss data analysis and then finally

addressing the issues surrounding rigour and ethics in research.

Chapter Three: Research Design and Methodology

3.1 Introduction

The previous chapter concluded with the clear identification of a field within organisational behaviour research that requires further development. This relates to the need to explore how public servants perceive public service citizenship, specifically in relation to acts of CV.

This present chapter clarifies how this will be operationalised.

The present chapter starts with a description of the understanding of the philosophical issues on which research methodologies are based. This will be followed by a portrayal of how this philosophical stance shapes both the research strategy and the subsequent processes undertaken. Any claim to examine and develop theory or practice puts a duty on the

researcher to carefully consider the ontological and epistemological implications. In reaching this point, this chapter will deal with and describe both the nature of knowledge and the means of accessing that knowledge, with more detailed consideration of the context of a research philosophy which is qualitative in approach and underpinned by interpretivism;

specifically utilising the symbolic interactionism perspective of Blumer (1969) along with the social constructionism of Giddens (1984).

With this aim the present chapter is organised and presented around four connected themes. These include a review of relevant philosophical perspectives, and a detailed description of the paradigm of interpretivism adopted for this study. Then a research design and method consistent with interpretivism is presented, including the previous research from which this method is developed and extended; clearly identifying how this overall

methodology fulfils the specific aims of this research. This is followed by a description of the approach to data collection and review. The chapter then addresses issues of rigour in research before concluding with the consideration of the ethical issues involved.

Part of the methodological approach used in this research is a development on current techniques; and as will be argued it provides a contribution to knowledge in both method and practice; consequently its origins will be illustrated and built upon. This approach aims to redress the predilection of organisational behaviour researchers to rely on observable or reported behaviours rather than the psychological, implicit characteristics that they purport to represent.