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Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory Advance Access published online on December 18, 2007
Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, doi:10.1093/jopart/mum039
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Centralization, Organizational Strategy, and Public Service Performance

Rhys Andrews and George A. Boyne

University of Cardiff

Jennifer Law

University of Glamorgan

Richard M. Walker

University of Hong Kong and Cardiff University

Address correspondence to the author at andrewsr4{at}cardiff.ac.uk.

We test the separate and joint effects of centralization and organizational strategy on the performance of 53 UK public service organizations. Centralization is measured as both the hierarchy of authority and the degree of participation in decision making, whereas strategy is measured as the extent to which service providers are prospectors, defenders, and reactors. We find that centralization has no independent effect on service performance, even when controlling for prior performance, service expenditure, and external constraints. However, the impact of centralization is contingent on the strategic orientation of organizations. Centralized decision making works best in conjunction with defending, and decentralized decision making works best in organizations that emphasize prospecting.


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