Leadership change and public services: Reinvigorating performance or reinforcing decline?

Boyne, George (2017). Leadership change and public services: Reinvigorating performance or reinforcing decline? [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: Economic and Social Research Council. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-850341

Data description (abstract)

In local government, much emphasis has been placed on recruiting new political and managerial leaders who, it is assumed, will produce better results than their predecessors. Yet do new politicians and top managers indeed turn around organizations that are performing poorly, and lead high performers to even greater success? Or do new leaders reinforce decline in poor performers and cause high performers to deteriorate? By answering these questions, the project aims to clarify the links between leadership and public service performance. The project also examines whether the level of performance is associated with the extent of leadership turnover. The major research objectives are to; Examine whether public service performance affects political and managerial succession; Explore the relative effects of objective and subjective performance measures on leadership succession; Examine whether new ruling political elites generally replace the senior managers that served the previous regime; Assess how changes in political and managerial elites are related to subsequent changes in service Performance Identify the aspects of performance most open to influence by new leaders. These objectives will be addressed through statistical analyses of a large data set on leadership and performance, and through case studies of local authorities.

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