Public Agencies and Private Firms

There is an increasing interest in applying organization theory to public organizations as such, and a need for clarifying the distinction between public and private organizations. This quantitative case study compares questionnaire responses by middle managers in nonprofit public agencies and private profit-making corporations, to test hypotheses concerning differences in incentive structures, organizational goal clarity, and individual role characteristics. The public managers perceive a weaker relationship between performance and extrinsic rewards (weaker "expectancies'") and regard formal personnel procedures (e.g., civil service systems) as constraints on the administration of such rewards. They show higher scores on formalization scales, and are lower on certain dimensions of work satisfaction. There are no differences on scales of organizational goal clarity, role conflict, role ambiguity, and motivational variables.