Leadership style and employee
wellbeing during cutbacks
A study on how and why public managers, through their leadership
style, take employee wellbeing into account during cutbacks.
Student : Stephanie Daniëlle Felix Student number : 1603256
Date : 9 June 2016
Content : Master thesis, concept version
Education : MA Public Administration, Leiden University Supervisors : Prof. dr. S.M. Groeneveld & J.E.T. Schmidt, MSc
Abstract
Due to the financial crisis a lot of public organizations had to deal with cutbacks. The implementation of cutbacks in an organization have a negative influence on employee wellbeing. In the cutback management the public manager is seen as a crucial factor in the cutback implementation process. This study examines how and why public managers, through their leadership style, take the employee wellbeing into account in times of cutbacks. In order to mitigate employee wellbeing during cutbacks it is expected that public managers use the change leadership style and the transformational leadership style. Several actions of the public manager go together with these leadership styles: (1) Clear plan of implementing the cutback, (2) transparent communication, (3) committed with the policy of cutbacks, (4) individual attention, (5) link cutbacks to innovation and redeployment, (6) promote the mission and vision of the organization, (7) act like a role model and (8) stimulate their employees of thinking in ideas and solutions.
To answer this research question a case study has been conducted. Through interviews with public managers from DJI institutions their leadership style has been mapped. This research showed that three actions of the change and transformational leadership style are fulfilled by the public managers. First, public managers stimulate their employees of thinking in ideas and solutions to give them a feeling of responsibility. Second, public managers gave individual attention for employees who experience problems with the changes in their institution, and advice their employees individually. Third, public managers act like a role model, by being visible at the departments the public managers wanted to transfer the attitude which
employees had to adopt. The other five actions are partly fulfilled. First, public managers could not obtain timely a clear plan, because public managers were dependent of the
information they get from the management board. Second, public managers wanted and felted the need to give their employees as much information as possible. They wanted to be
transparent in their communication. Due to the not-involvement by making the plans of cutbacks the public managers could not always explain the decision. Third, public managers were partly committed with the policy of cutbacks. Although, public managers were realistic enough that fight against the cutbacks was useless because every institution had to face the cutbacks. Only, it was not easy for them to see their institution suffer from the cutbacks, because they were proud and wanted the best for their institution. Fourth, public managers saw cutbacks as a successful innovation. However, employees did not feel the cutbacks like
innovation. In other words, the public managers did not well transfer this link towards their employees. The public managers did encouraged employees redeployment. Fifth, public managers had the opinion that, regardless the size of the cutbacks, the mission and vision of their institution must remain unharmed. However, the employees experienced unsafety in the institutions, which is not in line with the mission and vision of the institutions.
Described above is a brief explanation of the leadership style of the public managers. The analysis of this research will go deeper into the why and how of the public managers.
Key words: cutback management, change management, employee wellbeing, public managers, leadership
Index
ABSTRACT ... 2
1. INTRODUCTION ... 5
1.1BACKGROUND ... 5
1.2TYPE AND PURPOSE ... 6
1.3.JUSTIFICATION ... 6
1.3.1 Scientific relevance ... 6
1.3.2 Social relevance ... 7
1.4READING GUIDE ... 8
2. THEORY... 9
2.1LITERATURE REVIEW OF CUTBACK MANAGEMENT ... 9
2.1.1 Framework for the analysis of cutback management ... 9
2.1.2 Cutback implementation ... 11
2.2THE EFFECTS OF CUTBACKS ON EMPLOYEE WELLBEING ... 12
2.2.1 Job security ... 12
2.2.2 Equitable treatment ... 13
2.2.3 Employee benefits ... 14
2.2.4 Summary employee wellbeing ... 15
2.3THE ROLE OF PUBLIC MANAGERS DURING CUTBACKS ... 15
2.4LEADERSHIP OF THE PUBLIC MANAGER... 16
2.4.1 Change Leadership ... 17
2.4.2 Transformational Leadership ... 19
2.5EXPECTATIONS AND CONCEPTUAL MODEL ... 21
3. METHODS ... 23 3.1RESEARCH DESIGN ... 23 3.1.1 Deductive – Inductive ... 23 3.1.2 Qualitative approach ... 23 3.1.3 Case study ... 24 3.2DATA COLLECTION ... 25 3.2.1 Interviews ... 25 3.2.2 Observations ... 26 3.2.3 Document analysis ... 27 3.2.4 Research units ... 27 3.3OPERATIONALIZATION ... 28 3.4DATA ANALYSIS ... 29
3.5RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ... 30
3.5.1 Reliability ... 30
3.5.2 Validity ... 30
3.6CASE DESCRIPTION ... 32
4. ANALYSIS ... 34
4.1PROCESS OF DECISION MAKING... 34
4.2EMPLOYEE WELLBEING ... 35 4.3PUBLIC MANAGERS ... 37 4.4EXPECTATIONS ... 45 5. CONCLUSION ... 47 5.1CONCLUSION ... 47 5.2REFLECTION ... 50 5.2FURTHER RESEARCH ... 50 REFERENCES ... 52 APPENDIX ... 56
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
On April 25th 2013 prison employees came together at the The Hague demonstration against cuts in the judicial sector. State Secretary for Security and Justice and Minister for
Immigration Teeven wanted to cut 340 million euros. This included the closing of a large number of prisons and TBS clinics. As a consequence, thousands of prison employees will lose their job through these cutbacks (Omroep Brabant, 2013). At the The Hague
demonstration a prison employee gave his opinion about the cuts: “This really can’t be true. Teeven must also understand this, but he can’t or don’t want to see that these cuts are a bad idea” (Cup, 2013).
The Masterplan of the Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen (DJI) shows that the Dutch government will cut a total of 340 million euros on the judicial institutions. These institutions accommodate persons after a court decision. Several measures have been taken to implement the cuts. A few examples are the introduction of multi-persons cells, retrenched detention conditions, the disappearance of penitentiary programs and the reintegration release and also closing institutions. The closing of several institutions will happen until 2018. As a result of closing these institutions, many prison employees will lose their job. Therefore, there will be a temporary recruitment freeze so that the current employees could fill in the gaps. Also, the current employees will be guided to go from work to work. This could be within their own sector or another sector within the national government, but the focus will be on finding alternative work within their own sector. The goal of the work from work policy is to avoid forced redundancies. Employees who do not cooperate with this policy could be fired (Dienst Justitiële Inrichtingen, 2013). Demonstrations show that employees who work at DJI are not satisfied with the implementation of cutbacks at DJI.
Several researchers show that cutbacks in an organization have negative effects on the overall wellbeing of the employee. For instance, the research of Kiefer et al. (2014) shows that cutbacks affect the motivation, satisfaction and engagement of employees in a negative way (Kiefer, Hartley, Conway, & Briner, 2014, p. 1300). Other researchers argue that “binding an individual to a course of action is deemed necessary for the successful implementation of change” (Wright, Christensen, & Isett, 2013, p. 741). In other words, employee binding to changes is necessary to implement changes successfully. But at the same time, employee wellbeing might be harmed due to cutbacks.
crucial role in this process. Many authors highlight the important role of public managers towards employee wellbeing in times of cutbacks in an organization (for example Holzer, Lee, & Newman, 2003; Meier, 2009; Pandey, 2010; Van der Voet, 2014). This is because public managers have an important role in the way cutbacks will be implemented. Overmans & Noordegraaf (2014) discuss the differences in responses of public managers on cutbacks. Public managers are using different leadership styles when they have to implement cutbacks (Overmans & Noordegraaf, 2014, p. 101). The leadership style of public managers will affect the way employees handle cutbacks. The leadership style has influence to what extent
employees comply with changes (Schmidt, Groeneveld, & Van de Walle, 2016, p. 9). As told, it is necessary to bind employees for a successful implementation of the change. This makes it important that public managers use a leadership style that takes into account the employee wellbeing.
This research will link these two important corollaries of cutbacks. So, the often problematic cause of cutbacks, the negative impact on the wellbeing of employees, will be discussed. This will be linked to the crucial factor that has influence on this problematic cause, the leadership style of the public managers. This research will look if and how public
managers, through their leadership style, take employee wellbeing into account in times of cutbacks. This will lead to the research question of this thesis:
“How and why do public managers, through their leadership style, take employee wellbeing into account during cutbacks?”
1.2 Type and purpose
This research is a positivistic empirical research. The purpose of this research is to find out which leadership style public managers use during cutbacks at DJI. The leadership style that public managers use tells something about to what extent public managers take the employee wellbeing into account. This is important to know because high employee wellbeing is necessary for a successful implementation of the change. When public managers do not take the employee wellbeing into account well enough, this research could advice a leadership style that contributes to the employee wellbeing.
1.3. Justification
1.3.1 Scientific relevance
This research will be scientifically relevant because the public management literature of the last couple of years shows that public managers could make a difference in delivering the
outputs and outcomes of a public organization (Meier, 2009, p. 485). A period of cutbacks in the public sector will have major influences on the outputs of public organizations. Although the change management literature emphasizes the importance of understanding employee reaction to achieve the organizational goals (Kiefer et al., 2014, p. 1280), very little is known about how public managers take employee wellbeing into account through their leadership style (Kiefer et al., 2014, p. 1280). This refers to the current scientific literature on cutback management that suggests that there is a negative relation between the implementation of cutbacks and the wellbeing of employees. Feelings like dissatisfaction and work-stress will occur by employees (Van der Voet & Vermeeren, 2016, p. 2). These negative feelings will lead to resistance from employees regarding changes that come along with the cutback implementation, then it will be difficult for public managers to implement the cutbacks (Rainey H., 2009, p. 395). Despite these assumptions there is a lack of empirical evidence that public managers are aware of this fact and take this into account in the way they implement cutbacks. This study will contribute to the current lack of empirical evidence. Through the case study of cutbacks at DJI empirical research will be done to find out if public managers use a leadership style that contributes to employee wellbeing. Besides this, the research of Kuipers et al. (2014) shows a review of the recent literature on change management. This review shows gapes in the current literature (Kuipers, Higgs, Kickert, Tummers, Grandia, & Van der Voet, 2014, p. 1). First, current studies about change management mostly write about the top-managers. There is less attention to the lower manager and what they can contribute to the implementation of changes. Also there is less attention to the employee’s contribution (Kuipers et al., 2014, p. 11). This study aims to have more information about if and how the public managers during cutbacks will take employee wellbeing into account. Secondly, the recommendation for future research is explicitly ‘leading change in a public sector context’ (Kuipers et al., 2014, p. 17). This research will focus on the leadership style of the public manager.
1.3.2 Social relevance
This research is also of societal relevance. The cuts at DJI have major influences on the social service that DJI delivers. Public managers have a crucial role to implement the cuts in a way that the public service work of DJI will not suffer too much. The Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging (FNV) is a Dutch democratic association for employees and lobbies for the rights of employees (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, 2016). In September 2014 the FNV was upset about the fact that because of the cuts a couple of hundred jobs will lose. In
their opinion, losing a couple of hundred jobs will be ridiculous because it will lead to high work pressure for employees (Algemeen Dagblad, 2014). This research will give insight in how public managers implement cutbacks. It shows the leadership style of public managers and if the leadership style contributes to employee wellbeing during cutbacks. So, this research could be seen as an advice for public managers. When public managers pay no attention with to the wellbeing of employees, this research could recommend a strategy of implementing cutbacks in a way that employees will suffer minimally. In that way this research contributes to the concerns of the FNV.
1.4 Reading guide
This thesis starts with outlining the theory. These are theories about the main concern of this research and will be seen as the independent and dependent variable of this research. It is about leadership styles of public managers that mitigate the employee wellbeing during cutbacks. Subsequently, in chapter three the methodology of this research will be justified. Chapter four of this research shows the results including the related analysis of this research. Finally, in chapter five the conclusion and the recommendations of this research will be described.
2. Theory
In this chapter the theoretical framework of this research will be outlined. Also, there will be expectations pronounced in this chapter. First, literature on cutback management will be introduced (2.1). This will give general information about the context of this research. Then, employee wellbeing during cutbacks will be discussed (2.2). Subsequently, the important role of public managers during cutbacks will be discussed (2.3). Then, the different leadership styles of public managers will be explained (2.4). There are two most convenient leadership styles in times of cutbacks. These two leadership styles wanted to mitigate employee
wellbeing during cutbacks. That is why this research will focus on specific these two types of leadership, the change leadership (2.4.1) and the transformational leadership (2.4.2). This chapter will end with expectations based on the literature about employee wellbeing and leadership styles of public managers during cutbacks (2.5).
2.1 Literature review of cutback management
2.1.1 Framework for the analysis of cutback management
Implementing cutbacks implies that organizational structures and routines are bound to
change. Therefore, cutback management can be seen as management of change. The theory of change management is very fragmented. Research of Pettigrew et al. (2001) gives four steps on how to address changes in a public organization. They come up with four building blocks that show the aspect of changes in public organization. These building blocks provide a complete and clear picture of what changes involve. These building blocks for changes in the public sector are content, context, process and outcomes (results) (Pettigrew, Woodman, & Cameron, 2001). Kuipers et al. (2014) added a fifth aspect of change management namely the aspect of leadership. This is because the recent literature studies gave more and more attention to the aspect of leadership (Kuipers et al., 2014, p. 2). The concept leadership refers to the crucial role of the leader when implementing changes (Schmidt et al., 2016, p. 15). The content of change refers to what is changed and why it is needed to change. This includes the organizational system, structure and strategy (Schmidt et al., 2016, p. 9). The context of
change contains ‘the organization’s external and internal environments’ (Schmidt et al., 2016, p. 8). It is about which environment the organization has to deal with or which cases the
organization has to deal with. In other words, it is about the situation of the organization. The process of a change refers to ‘the interventions and processes that are involved in the
implemented. In general, these are the different ways to implement changes. The building block outcomes refers to the result of an organizational change. These results could be positive or negative (Schmidt et al., 2016, p. 12)When a change in an organization must be analysed, the building blocks provide a good tool. Based on this model, Schmidt et al. (2016) draw a model that is applicable on a specific type of change; cutbacks.
FIGURE 1 Framework for the analysis of cutback management (Schmidt, Groeneveld, & Van de Walle, 2016, p. 7)
This research is based on the blocks leadership and outcome. The context of this research is a public organization during cutbacks. The case of this research, DJI, shows a process of cutbacks so will suggest a planned change and political responses to the financial crisis of 2008. Due to the financial crisis of 2008 the government had to cut in several government areas. The politics decided to cut 340 million on the government area DJI. Subsequently, policymakers of DJI must decide where they could cut 340 million. Among other things, some institutions of DJI must be close or other cutback measures at the institutions of DJI (Personal Communication, 2016). This process shows a top-down change.
This research will look if and how public managers, through their leadership style, take the employee wellbeing into account in times of cutbacks. The public manager’s leadership style belongs to the block leadership. The wellbeing of employees belongs to the building block outcome. Public managers could, via the process and content of change, influence the
outcome of change. Public managers have, via their leadership style, influences on the way of implementing cutbacks. Eventually, the content and process influences the outcome of the cutback.
Context Leadership
Process Content
2.1.2 Cutback implementation
The scientific literature about implementing cutbacks makes a distinction between macro level and organizational level. On a macro level (or national policy) it concerns the cutbacks through the decisions of the cabinet or the ministers; simply put, policies implemented for a wider audience. Cutbacks on an organizational level, however, involve cuts at lower level. This level focuses more on subunits, or services that organizations deliver, rather than
focusing on overall national policy (Raudla, Savi, & Randma-Liiv, 2015, p. 436). Due to the financial crisis of 2008 in the Netherlands, the government had to implement cutbacks in different domains of society. Among other things, the government chose to cut 340 million euros at the domain DJI.
In the article of Kuipers et al. (2014) orders of change are discussed. They make a difference between the orders sub-system (first order), organization (second order) and sector (third order) (Kuipers et al., 2014, p. 2). A change in a sub-system occurs when part of an
organization must change. It will be incremental changes and not radical changes. The second order change includes changes that are organizational-wide; the whole system of the
organization will change. The third order change includes that there will be changes implemented in a whole sector (Kuipers et al, 2014, p. 3).
Borins (2002) argues that there are three causes that result in change in an organization. First there is the emergent bottom-up approach. These are changes that are initiated by employees (Kuipers et al., 2014, p. 12). Secondly there are the political responses to crises. These are changes that must be implemented in an organization due to a political decision that leaded to a new policy. The last distinction is the organizational turnarounds (Kuipers et al., 2014, p. 12). These changes are due to decisions from an administrative leader who wants a new policy in their organization. The bottom- up approach involves incremental, informal and decentralized changes. While the political responses and the organizational turnarounds are the planned top-down changes. This involves comprehensive and radical changes (Kuipers, et al., 2014, p. 12).
Above, cutback management and cutback implementation is introduced. As told, this research relies on two aspects of cutback implementation: employee wellbeing and leadership style of public managers during cutbacks. This research will look if and how public managers,
through their leadership style, take the employee wellbeing into account in times of cutbacks. In order to examine this, first we have to know the meaning of employee wellbeing. Then, the
important role of public managers including their leadership style will be discussed.
2.2 The effects of cutbacks on employee wellbeing
The literature on cutback management suggests that there is a negative relation between the implementation of cutbacks and the wellbeing of employees (Van der Voet & Vermeeren, 2016, p. 2). The scientific literature about effects of cutbacks on employees emphasizes certain symptoms that could occur. For instance, higher work pressure and lower motivation to work. In this research the concept of employee wellbeing will be addressed with several aspects of employee wellbeing: job security, equitable treatment and employee benefits.
Employees and employers have a social contract with each other. This implies that a contract is agreed upon by both parties regarding moral and ethical standards. This social contract is linked to the employee wellbeing. This is because the social contract entails the ‘pull factor’. The pull factor is the reason why employees want to work in a public organization. The pull factor of the public organizations emphasizes the job security, the equitable treatment and the employee benefits (Pandey, 2010, p. 567). When employees have the feeling that their
organization fulfills this social contract, it will lead to a greater wellbeing of employees. Cutbacks influence this social contract. These several aspects will be discussed in the different parts mentioned below. The combination of these aspects will be seen as employee wellbeing in this research.
2.2.1 Job security
In times of cutbacks the social contract value of job security will come in danger. Kiefer et al. (2014) describe the fact that the announcement of cutbacks in their organization could lead to negative feelings of employees to their job security. The uncertainty that comes along with cutbacks effects employees’ feelings about their job security (Kiefer et al. 2014, p. 1283). In their study, they found that the announcement of cutbacks is likely to negatively affect employee job security (Kiefer et al., 2014, p. 1294). They explain this effect because the announcement of cutbacks, will give employees the feeling that their job and career prospects will change (Kiefer et al., 2014, p. 1296). Lavelle, Rupp and Brockner (2007) named it the social exchange theory. They argue that cutbacks lead to reduced job security and to reduced opportunities for job advancement. Holzer (2003) explains that employees who stay after cutbacks, called the survivors, lose their feeling of security in times of cutbacks.
2.2.2 Equitable treatment
In times of cutbacks the social contract value of equitable treatment will become in danger. Bellou (2007) and Rousseau (1990) explain this as the psychological contract of employees-employer (the manager). This contract means that employees will make efforts and show loyalty towards the organization in return for organizational encouragements (Bellou, 2008, p. 779). If employees feel that they are treated well, then they will be motivated to work hard for their organization. Implementing cutbacks entails changes in the organization, so in times of cutbacks there will be an instable environment for employees. The literature provides evidence that an instable environment stimulates employees’ psychological contract breach. In other words, an organizational change influences the obligations of the organization towards their employees. This lead to a reduction of employees’ belief on the existence of an organizational equitable treatment. Employees will have the feeling that changes have a negative influence on their wellbeing because of the changing treatment of the organization. For instance, often in times of cutbacks in the public sector there will be a pay freeze. Pay freeze entails that there will be no raise in the wages. Due to the pay freeze employees have the feeling that they are threated in a negative way by their employers (Bellou, 2008, p. 779).
Lavelle, Rupp and Brockner (2007) connect the value equitable treatment with the concept of effort. In times of cutbacks, the effort from the organization is lower and therefore employees will also give a lower effort to the organization (Lavelle, Rupp, & Brockner, 2007, p. 848). Lindorff et al. (2011) show in their study that there is a negative relation between cutbacks and the motivation of the employee to work hard for the organization (Lindorff, Worrall, & Cooper, 2011, p. 248).
The research of Van der Voet en Vermeeren (2016) connects the value equitable treatment with the concept of organizational commitment. They define organizational commitment as “the relative strength of an individual’s identification with and involvement in a particular organization” (Van der Voet & Vermeeren, 2016, p. 4). This definition entails the loyalty of an employee towards the organization. A high level of loyalty implies a high level of
commitment towards the organization. The high level of commitment makes it less likely that the employee leaves the organization. In times of cutbacks the effort from the organization is lower and this will bring a lower loyalty of employees towards the organization (Van der Voet & Vermeeren, 2016, p. 4). In that way it is more likely that the employee leaves the
Pandey argues about paradoxes in the public sector. Also the theme employee motivation shows a paradox during cutbacks. Employees are motivated to work for a public organization because they want to serve other persons. But the public organization creates not an ideal setting for their employees in times of cutbacks. As mentioned above, there is not an
equitable treatment in times of cutbacks. Employees have the feeling that they do not work in an ideal organizational setting. This feeling influences in a negative way their motivation to work in the public organization. Also, in contrast to private organizations, the public sector is limited in rewarding that is based on performance (Pandey, 2010, p. 567).
2.2.3 Employee benefits
Employees want to have the feeling that they get benefits in return for working hard for their organization. This entails that employees are satisfied about their job. Kiefer et al. found out that the announcement of cutbacks will decrease job satisfaction of employees (Kiefer et al., 2014, p. 1294). Uncertainty that comes along with the reductions affects employee job-satisfaction (Kiefer et al., 2014, p. 1283). They explain this effect because the announcement of cutbacks, will give employees the feeling that their job and career prospects will change (Kiefer et al., 2014, p. 1296). Employees have the feeling that the work pressure is higher because often the number of employees is reduced but the amount of work remains unchanged (Holzer, Lee, & Newman, 2003, p. 39). Jick and Murray (1983) confirm this statement. They call it the ‘crisis syndrome’. They say that cutbacks may lead to a lower job satisfaction and a high work related stress because of the implemented measures that comes along with cutbacks. Also other authors describe that cutbacks have not only negative
influences on employees who probably will be dismissed through cutbacks, but that cutbacks have also negative influences on employees who stay in organization. This negative influence on employees who stay in the organization is called the ‘survivor syndrome’. For instance, this entails the feelings of lower trust, emotional stress and a higher work pressure. So, the total of these negative feelings will lead to a lower job satisfaction (Van der Voet & Vermeeren, 2016, p. 4).
Research of Van der Voet and Vermeeren (2016) argued that work engagement of employees during cutbacks is under pressure due to the several measures that comes along with
implementing cutbacks. For instance, pay freeze or higher work pressure. Van der Voet and Vermeeren (2016) define work engagement as “a positive, fulfilling work-related state of
mind” (Van der Voet & Vermeeren, 2016, p. 4). It means that the employee is well able to fulfil the tasks of the job.
2.2.4 Summary employee wellbeing
Above several reasons are presented that show the relationship of wellbeing and cutbacks. First, cutbacks have a negative influence on the job security of the employee. Also, the equitable treatment of the organization become in danger during cutbacks. Besides that, cutbacks have a negatively influences on employee benefits.
In sum, the employee wellbeing could be under pressure by cutbacks. Mostly when the wellbeing of the employee decreases, this creates resistance from the employee against changes that come along with cutbacks (Lavelle et al., 2007). Resistance occurs because changes, due to cutbacks, go hand-in-hand with difficult to understand and to implement policy. Rainey (2009) argues that resistance from employees is the greatest threat that could appear (Rainey H. , 2009, p. 395). There are major consequences for the organization when the wellbeing of employees in the organization is not optimal. Bellou discusses that success or failure of implementing changes in an organization is dependent of individual behaviour and attitude (Bellou, 2008, p. 786). In the cutback management public managers are seen as a crucial factor in the cutback implementation process (Schmidt et al., 2016, p. 3). So, it is the important task of public managers to reduce this resistance by mitigates the employee wellbeing during the implementation of cutbacks.
2.3 The role of public managers during cutbacks
Pandey (2010) describes the complexity of managing changes in public organization, rather than managing changes in private organizations. Pandey argues that managing cutbacks in public organizations is a big challenge for public managers. Public managers have to deal with vague, complex and paradoxical themes like the organizational goals, employee motivation and organizational performance (Pandey, 2010, p. 564). The difference between private and public organizations is that public organizations have to deal with their special status of authoritative, nonmarket extensions of the state (Pandey, 2010, p. 565). Public organizations are dependent of the political environment that shapes the policy and structure of the public organization (Pandey, 2010, p. 565). Public managers have to deal with an area of tension. On the one hand, managers have to implement the orders or decisions from the politicians (managing up), on the other hand managers have to deal with employees (managing down). This research focuses on the relationship managing down, so the relationship between managers and employees.
The change management literature has the general assumption that public managers have a critical role in implementing changes. For instance, they have to plan, coordinate, organize and implement the change. Through these tasks managers can influence if the desired goal of the change will be reached or not. The implementation of cutbacks into organizations goes along with changes. That is why the implementation of cutbacks could be seen as a stream of change management (Schmidt et al., 2016, p. 2). In this research Levine’s definition of cutback management will be used: “managerial initiatives or interventions in leading organizational change toward lower levels of resource consumption and organizational activity” (Levine, 1979, p. 180).
Also in cutback management public managers are seen as a crucial factor in the cutback implementation process (Schmidt et al., 2016, p. 3). The current scientific literature about cutbacks shows the negative effects of cutbacks management on employee wellbeing (Van der Voet & Vermeeren, 2016, p. 2). This means that public managers have to implement cutbacks while this has a negative effect on employee wellbeing in the organization. It will be a maintain priority for public managers to keep the organizational capacity, because through the decreased wellbeing of employees, employees are not motivated anymore and this can even lead that the most qualified employees leave the organization (Van der Voet & Vermeeren, 2016, p. 2). That concludes with the statement, based on Meier and O’Toole (2009), that managers have influences and could affect the morale and attitudes of employees towards the cuts (Kiefer et al., 2014, p. 1296). Rainey argues that it is important that public managers listen to this resistance. This is because the importance of employee input is often being underestimate. Employees have the experience and the expertise how the policy will develop in practice (Rainey, 2009, p. 396).
2.4 Leadership of the Public Manager
There are different types of leadership. Mostly leadership in change management is described in a vertical relationship, what means that the leader is seen as the executive head of the agency (Kuipers et al., 2014, p. 12). However, there are also other types of leadership like shared leadership, distributed leadership or team leadership. This research builds on two types of leadership, transformational leadership and change leadership. In times of cutbacks these two types of leadership are most appropriate to use (Herold, Fedor, Caldwell, & Liu, 2008, p. 346). As mentioned above, in times of cutbacks the employee wellbeing is under pressure. These two types of leadership try to bear in mind the
employee wellbeing. These two types of leadership want to mitigate the employee wellbeing during cutbacks. Although, there is an overlap between these two types of leadership, they do represent different concepts. Change leadership refers to the here and now while
transformational leadership refers to a long-term relationship built up over many years between the managers and employees. Also, change leadership handles from a tactical point of view while transformational leadership has more an organizational orientation (Herold et al., 2008, p. 348).
As mentioned earlier, cutbacks have a negative influence on employee wellbeing. Public managers may mitigate employee wellbeing during the implementation of cutbacks. The managers of the organizations could use different strategies in order to implement cutbacks (Kiefer et al., 2014, p. 1281). A central assumption in the change literature is that the
reactions of employees are not only dependent on ‘what’ is changing but is also dependent on ‘how’ it changes. In other words, employees will eventually accept that there will be changes in the organization. Eventually, the way public managers implement cutbacks has influence on the reaction of the employee. The way the public managers implement cutbacks could create a negative or a more positive feeling about changes. This means that the way employees deal with cutbacks is dependent on the process through which changes are
implemented (De Vos, Buelens, & Bouckenooghe, 2007, p. 609). As illustrated in figure 1 the framework of cutback management, public managers are able to affect the outcomes of cutbacks through the process and content of cuts. Also, the research of Kuipers et al. (2014) noticed that in the literature about change management, leadership is a key factor in the process of organizational change (Kuipers et al., 2014, p. 11). Leadership is seen as an important driver of change in the organization. A comprehensive quote is the quote of Charlesworth et al. (2003) who say that ‘effective leadership is the key to leading effective change’ (Charlesworth, Cook, & Crozier, 2003, p. 15). This means that, through the leadership type, public managers could make the difference in implementing changes effectively. Below, change leadership and transformational leadership styles are elaborated upon.
2.4.1 Change Leadership
The scientific literature about change leadership shows some leadership activities to
implement cutbacks successfully. First, for successfully dealing with cutbacks it is necessary that managers make a well-planned cutback idea (Holzer et al., 2003, p. 39). The article of Higgs and Rowland (2005) describes this as shaping behaviour; this implies that the leader,
during cutbacks, provides a plan. This plan explains what the goal is and how to reach this goal. It describes the several stages to reach the preferred end state (Higgs & Rowland, 2005, p. 135). This leads to the following expectation of this research: during cutbacks, public managers will have a clear plan of implementing the cutback.
Secondly, Holzer, Lee and Newman (2003) found out in their study that problems with implementing cutbacks are due to poor transparent communications by managers of the cutback plans. Also a lack of documents or other relevant information is a problem. Cayer (1986) argues that managers can play a big part in helping employees. They have to be open about what is happening a give a clear explanation about the change (Holzer et al., 2003, p. 42). The research of Van der Voet et al. confirms this assumption (Van der Voet, Groeneveld, & Van de Walle, 2014, p. 181). In case of a planned change implementation, they argue that an important task of the public managers is communicating the change plans. Managers must devote a lot of their time to spread information towards their employees about changes. One important aspect of communicating change is make clear why there is a need for change, in order to obtain support for these cutbacks (Van der Voet et al., 2014, p. 182). The article of Higgs and Rowland (2005) describes this as framing change. This entails that public managers can frame the change in a way that employees see that the change is necessary (Higgs & Rowland, 2005, p. 135). Managers must be able to make changes of cutbacks more concrete because of the high abstract level of the cutback information. Then employees could make changes visible in their behaviour. When public managers make a concrete and clear what to expect from employees this will lead to lower resistance from employees (Van der Voet et al., 2014, p. 182). Holzer, Lee and Newman confirm that transparent communication is an important factor for success. The entire period of cutbacks must be characterized by open, frequent and honest communication by the managers. Through this way employees are involved by changes and this contributes to a more effective and humane outcome (Holzer et al., 2003, p. 51). Moreover, it is important to take enough time to inform employees. Because cutbacks come along with anger and fear from employees, it is important that they have enough time to realize and accept what is happening in their organization (Holzer et al. 2003, p. 53). It can therefore be expected that: during cutbacks, public managers will make use of transparent communication.
Thirdly, Holzer et al. (2003) describe that it is very important that the managers show
commitment with the policy of cutbacks. The managers must promote and support the content of the change in order to make employees also supporters of the policy (Holzer et al., 2003, p.
50). Disseminating public values can help showing commitment with the content of cutbacks. When public managers make clear that the reforms support the public values, employees are more likely to accept cutbacks and to commit to the policy (Holzer et al., 2003, p. 52). This leads to the third expectation of this research: during cutbacks, public managers will be committed with the policy of cutbacks.
Moreover, the research of Van der Voet and Vermeeren (2016) show the importance of individual attention. During the implementation process, it is essential that managers pay individual attention to employees who experiences problems with changes within the
organization (Van der Voet & Vermeeren, 2016, p. 7). Besides that, the skills of the retaining employees must be in line with the future direction and requirements of the organization after the implementation of cutbacks (Holzer et al., 2003, p. 52). Public managers must encourage and support each employee individual to acquire these new skills. It can therefore be expected that: during cutbacks, public managers will give employees individual attention.
Moreover, the fact is that successful implementation of cutbacks comes along with successful reinvestment and redeployment. Public managers must make that clear, because in that way employees link cutbacks to redeployment and not to retrenchment. This will minimize
employee negative mind-set and motivations (Holzer et al., 2003, p. 55). Experience cutbacks as an innovation will lead to a positive attitude of employees then when employees experience cutbacks as a retrenchment. This leads to the fifth expectation of this research: during
cutbacks, public managers will link cutbacks to innovation.
2.4.2 Transformational Leadership
Burns (1978) was the first researcher who introduced the concept of transformational leadership. Now this type of leadership is one of the most prominent types within the
leadership literature (Wright & Pandey, 2009, p. 76). Transformational leaders want change in employee attitudes and assumptions. Therefore, public managers must make the employee aware of the importance of the organizational outcomes. The sake of the organization must be higher than the employee self-interest (Wright & Pandey, 2009, p. 76). The opposite of transformational leadership is transactional leadership. The transactional leadership style relies on self-interest of employees. In order to change the performance, employees will get a direct exchange, for instance a financial reward. But in times of cutbacks it is unlikely that public managers will use the transactional style because there are not enough resources (Moynihan, Pandey, & Wright, 2012, p. 147). The transformational leadership style looks
beyond the self-interest of employees and concentrates on the organizational needs. To reach this change in attitude and assumption public managers must exercise a number of activities: to direct (encourage vision), to inspire (role model) and to empower (intellectually stimulate) (Wright & Pandey, 2009, p. 77). Below these several activities will be outlined and
expectations will be established.
First, employees must know the organization’s mission and vision in the future. After being aware of the mission and vision, public managers must encourage and facilitate that mission and vision. There are studies, for example the study of Perry and Porter or Perry and Wise, that researched the influence of a clear organizational vision on employee motivation (Wright & Pandey, 2009, p. 77). These studies argue that the engagement or attraction towards the vision of the organization, will lead to a higher support for changes from employees,
compared to when they feel no engagement or attraction towards the new vision. This makes the important role of public managers to motivate and attract them towards the vision (Rainey & Steinbauer, 1999, p. 16). It can therefore be expected that: during cutbacks, public
managers will promote the mission and vision of the organization.
Then public managers must give the good example, so public managers must function as a role model. Moynihan et al. argue that other studies linked transformational leadership to employee satisfaction and performance (Moynihan et al., 2012, p. 146). These studies argue that, through the effect of the managers on employee beliefs, assumptions and behaviour, employees will be aware of the importance of the collective. This awareness of the collective and organizational outcomes will lead to a higher employee satisfaction and performance. Also, Van der Voet et al. (2014) argue that public managers must be a role model towards his employees. Managers must be visible during the process of implementing cutbacks, and they have to give good examples of how to behave. Then it is for employees more concrete how they have to behave in the right way (Van der Voet et al., 2014, p. 183). An expectation would then be: during times of cutbacks, public managers will be act like a role model. Subsequently, public managers must intellectually stimulate employees of thinking in ideas and solutions for the organization (Wright & Pandey, 2009, p. 77). When employees come up with ideas and solutions, this contributes to their feeling of responsibility for their work and organization. Subsequently, a higher degree of responsibility for their work and organization will lead to a higher degree of motivation (Wright & Pandey, 2009, p. 77). The expectation
that is derived from this is that: during cutbacks, public managers will stimulate their employees of thinking in ideas and solutions.
2.5 Expectations and Conceptual model
This chapter shows that employee wellbeing may suffer under the implementation of cutbacks. This chapter also shows that public managers have influence on employee wellbeing. Through a certain leadership style, the employee wellbeing could be mitigated. This research will expect that public managers will use different leadership styles. Immersive, a public manager wants to have an organization that keeps the wellbeing of employees high during
implementing cutbacks. We expect that managerial activities such as the ones outlined in this chapter may help in ensuring employee wellbeing. This leads to the following expectations of this research:
# Expectations
1 During cutbacks, public managers will have a clear plan of implementing the cutback to
mitigate employee wellbeing.
2 During cutbacks, public managers will make use of transparent communication to
mitigate employee wellbeing.
3 During cutbacks, public managers will be committed with the policy of cutbacks to
mitigate employee wellbeing.
4 During cutbacks, public managers will give employees individual attention to mitigate
employee wellbeing.
5 During cutbacks, public managers will link cutbacks to innovation and redeployment to
mitigate employee wellbeing.
6 During cutbacks, public managers will promote the mission and vision of the organization
to mitigate employee wellbeing.
7 During times of cutbacks, public managers will be act like a role model to mitigate
employee wellbeing.
8 During cutbacks, public managers will stimulate their employees of thinking in ideas and
solutions to mitigate employee wellbeing. TABLE 1 Expectations
These expectations lead to the following conceptual model of this research.
FIGURE 2 Conceptual model
Leadership of the public manager Employee wellbeing
Change Leadership Transformational Leadership - Direct - Inspire - Empower Equitable treatment Job security Employe benefits - Well-planned cutback idea - Transparent communication - Commitment withe the policy
of cutbacks - Indivifual attention - Successful reinvestment and redeployment - Effort - Organizational commitment - Motivation - Uncertainty - Job satisfaction
3. Methods
In this chapter the methods of this research will be explained. First, this chapter explains the research method of this research (3.1). In 3.2 information will be given about the case of this research. Then the research units (3.3) and the data collection (3.4) of this research will be discussed. Then the operationalization of the variables (3.5) and the way of analyzing the data will be explained (3.6). Finally, this chapter describes the reliability and validity of this study (3.7).
3.1 Research design
3.1.1 Deductive – Inductive
This research is deductive in nature. This research linked studies about leadership styles and about the wellbeing of employees during cutbacks. The theoretical section of this research explained leadership styles that are expected in times of cutbacks. This included the change management leadership style and the transformational leadership style. Also the influence of implementing cutbacks on employee wellbeing is discussed in the theoretical section. This research has established expectations of which activities public managers use in order to mitigate employee wellbeing during cutbacks. On the basis of these expectations, this research established a conceptual model. The activities of the change management leadership style and the transformational leadership style are formed into dimensions. These activities are the expectations of how the public manager will lead the organization during cutbacks in order to mitigate employee wellbeing. This conceptual model provided direction to the empirical process of this research, this gave the research a deductive character (Thiel, 2010, p. 34). Also, in order to analyze the data of this research the codes were derived from the conceptual model. The conceptual model could be complemented after the research is done and new findings are gained during researching.
3.1.2 Qualitative approach
This research used a qualitative approach. On the basis of the literature, expectations were formulated. Then, these expectations were researched in order to know if the expectations indeed came to pass (Bleijenbergh, 2013, p. 10). This thesis used the case of cutbacks at DJI to research the expectations. There are a few reasons why this research used a qualitative approach.
First, qualitative research makes it possible to understand the subject from the side of the researched people, with the aim to describe and probably explain the subject (Boeije, 2012, p. 27). In this research, public managers will be researched in order to know if and how public managers, through their leadership style, take employee wellbeing into account in times of cutbacks and the effect of different leadership styles on employee wellbeing.
Also, Boeije (2012) argues that a qualitative approach is appropriate for situations that are complex and changeable. This research is about a complex and changeable situation; the situation in times of cutbacks. Moreover, Boeije (2012) argues that qualitative research could lead to new information and discoveries than initially expected. This characteristic of
qualitative research is in line with the goal of this research to look if and how public managers, through their leadership style, takes the employee wellbeing into account in times of cutbacks. This could also lead to new information of how public managers lead their organization during cutbacks. (Boeije, 2012, p. 28)
The opposite of qualitative research is quantitative research. Quantitative research is a good approach for researches that have a large amount of research units. By contrast, qualitative
research is applicable in research with a small amount of research units. This research makes use of a small amount of research units. This is because a qualitative approach provides rich material because of the extended interviews. This delivers diverse information about how people experience a situation and about the context of the central problem of the research. (Bleijenbergh, 2013, p. 11).
Finally, statements about processes could be done through a qualitative research. In this research the process of implementing cutbacks at DJI has a central role.
3.1.3 Case study
This research used a single case study design. This means that research is within and not across cases. Instead of looking at a few variables for many cases, many interviews and observations were done related to a single case. Toshkov (2016) argues that the single case study design is mostly used for explanatory research (Toshkov, 2016, p. 285). This is because the power of this design is that it provides rich data; detailed information will be visible during the research. An explanatory research need this depth information because it wants to know ‘how’ and/or ‘why’ (Toshkov, 2016, p. 287). As the research question is a ‘how- and why question’, the best research design would be a single case study. This research chose the case of cutbacks within DJI. DJI is an executive agency of the Ministry of Security and
Justice. In order of the Ministry, DJI executes penalties and other custodial measures imposed by the court (Algemene Rekenkamer, 2011). There are a few reasons why the case of DJI fittest the best in this research. First, the context of this research was organizational change due to cutback implementation. DJI satisfied this requirement because they dealing with cutback programs since 2013. Second, the DJI cutback programs were organizational wide, which guaranteed that all DJI public managers were affected by the cutback programs. Despite the fact that some public managers had to implement other cutback programs than other public managers, they all have in common that they had to face the cutbacks. Third, this research linked public manager’s leadership style and the employee wellbeing. Due to the fact that employee wellbeing is such an important component in this research, the case must ensure that the cutbacks affect the employees (wellbeing). The case of DJI showed a high salience of employee wellbeing affected by cutbacks. This is because the cutbacks at DJI were reflected in the work conditions of the employees. In other words, the case of DJI showed cohesion between cutback programs and employee wellbeing. One example is that due to the cutbacks there was an intensification of the multiple prisoners’ cells, which included a different manner of work with the prisoners. The other cutback measures had also an impact on the work conditions of the employees. For these reasons, the DJI perfectly fitted into the desired case.
3.2 Data collection
This research made use of triangulation. This means that several data collection methods are used (Thiel, 2010, p. 61). The methods of data collection were interviews, observations and document analysis. In this study the focus of the collection of information relied on interviews with public managers. Bleijenbergh argues that qualitative research aimed to explain a social phenomenon from the side of the people who are directly involved. These involved people have the knowledge and expertise (Bleijenbergh, 2013, p. 33). The people who are directly involved in this thesis are public managers who have to implement cutbacks in their institution.
3.2.1 Interviews
In this research, the interviews with public managers of the institutions are used as main source of data. In this research, the directors of the DJI institutions are seen as public managers. The directors are in charge of an institution. On the one hand, they have to guide the program for the prisoners, on the other hand they have to guide their employees. Through semi-structured interviews with public managers, information is gained about their leadership
style during cutbacks. Through these interviews the expectations of this research could be answered. This showed how and why public managers, through their leadership style, take employee wellbeing into account in times of cutbacks. This research collected the data through half structured interviews. Half structured interviews write down the formulation of the questions in advance. Also, the orders of the questions are noted but sometimes this could change during the interview. The interview questions are open, so that the respondents could answer the question in their own words (Bleijenbergh, 2013, p. 63). In this research it was important that public managers could answer in own words, because only then it was possible to go into great detail if, how and why the public manager, through their leadership style, takes employee wellbeing into account in times of cutbacks. Appendix 3 shows the topic list that was used during the interviews with public managers.
Before the case selection, some interviews were held with the management board of DJI in order to get a good understanding of the context in which this research took place. The management board of DJI works at the head office in The Hague. The management board is responsible for the whole DJI. Also, the management board guides their institutions (the prisons). In times of cutbacks, the management board decided what must be cut at DJI institutions and public managers were imposed to implement these cutbacks in their institution. The goal of these interviews was to get more information in general about the process of implementing cutbacks at the institutions. After, there was a complete picture of cutbacks at DJI, the process of interviewing public managers at the institutions started. The accessibility of the institutions played parts in choosing the institutions. Some institutions reacted quickly on the question for interviewing the public manager. Other institutions were more rigid and getting an interview was only possible at a later time.
3.2.2 Observations
In this research the observations were used as a sub source of data. Through observations within institutions (prisons), information was gained about the employee wellbeing during cutbacks. In this research the observations were used to control the statements of the public managers. In other words, to check if the public managers really acted in a certain way and not only say that they acted in a certain way. The employees must have experienced the same leadership style of the public managers as the public managers told in the interviews. In this way, this research checked if the public managers gave socially desirable answers or that the employees indeed experienced the actions that the public managers told in the interviews. The observations had the form of an open observation. The researcher walked around the different
departments of the institution and had informal talks with employees. Through memos conspicuous observations were noted. Not only the talks with employees were written down, also impressions of cutbacks in the institution were noted in the memos (Boeije, 2012, p. 71). These observations took place during an extensive tour in the institutions. During these tours extensive talks with employees took place. The benefits of these observations were a good impression of how employees experienced the cutback because the researcher was in their workspace. Also, employees felt comfortable because the researcher talked with them in their familiar surroundings; this made them talk easily about cutbacks in their institution. Besides that, through observations it was possible to talk with a large number of employees. The disadvantage of observations is that it does not give in-depth information. This is because the observations does not give insights into underlying thoughts and ideas of the employees. However, in this research the observations were a sub source of data; observations were only for checking the statements of the public managers. The main source of data in this research are the interviews with the public managers (Thiel, 2010, p. 79).
3.2.3 Document analysis
Besides these interviews and observations, this research also made use of a document analysis. Documents about the Masterplan 1 have been researched. These documents told something about cutbacks at DJI. These document analysis was needed to get information about the case of this research. Masterplan 1contains information about the cutback plans at DJI from 2013 till 2018; how and when cutbacks take place. During the research a second Masterplan was introduced. This Masterplan was a reaction on the first Masterplan and contained new and other cutback plans. This research focused on Masterplan 1, and the consequences of these cutback plans on the leadership style of public managers and on the employee wellbeing. 3.2.4 Research units
The case of this research was DJI. In this research, the directors of the DJI institutions are seen as public managers. To get information on leadership style, interviews were done with public managers. The interviews were done confidential and for that reason the directors of the institutions will be anonymous. In total seven interviews were done with directors of the institutions.
The interviews with the public managers of the institutions serve as main source of date. Also, this research made use of some sub source of data. First, to get information about the casus of this research, Masterplan 1 has been analyzed. Second, five interviews were held with the management board of DJI in order to get a good understanding of the context in which this
research took place. Third, observations at the institutions were held for checking the statements of the public managers. In total four observations at the institutions were held. Table 2 shows an overview.
Public managers / The Directors of the PI’s
Employees of the PI’s
Document analysis
PM 1 E 1 Masterplan DJI 2013 – 2018 (Dienst
Justitiële Inrichtingen, 2013)
PM 2 E 2
PM 3 E 3
PM 4 E 4
PM 5
TABLE 2 Research units
3.3 Operationalization
In the theoretical section of this research the scientific literature provided two main leadership styles that mitigate the wellbeing of employees during cutbacks. This is the ‘change
management leadership style’ and the ‘transformational leadership style’. These two leadership styles became the leading concepts in this research. The description and also the operationalization of these concepts will be discussed in table 4. The interview questions were based on the operationalization of this research. In appendix 3 the interview guide is available.
Dimensions of the
Leadership Style of the Public manager during Cutbacks
Explanation / Indicators / Activities of the public manager
1.Change Leadership 1.1 Activities
Well-planned cutback idea - Clear plan of implementing cutbacks
Transparent communication - Spread information frequently about changes due to
cutbacks
- Openness / transparency about what is happening - A clear and concrete explanation about the policy - Make clear the need for cutbacks.
Individual attention - The manager pay individual attention to employees who experiences problems with changes in the organization
Link cutbacks to successful innovations - Does the manager link cutbacks to innovation and
not to retrenchment
TABLE 3 Operationalization of the concept change leadership
2. Transformational Leadership Style
Direct - Manager must encourage his/her vision
Inspire -Manager must be a role model
Empower -Manager must intellectually stimulate employees
TABLE 4 Operationalization of the concept transformational leadership style
3.4 Data Analysis
In order to analyze the data, the interviews were registered into transcripts. Then, by granting codes the data has been organized. For this, the interviews have been disentangled through several steps. Via a coding scheme the interviews have been disentangled. The coding scheme has a tree structure and consists of the central concepts, dimensions and indicators (Bleijenbergh, 2013, p. 93). This corresponds with the leadership style of the public managers during cutbacks. Also, this corresponds with the conceptual model of this research. Firstly, coding occurred by granting a central concept to the interview fragment. Secondly, by granting a dimension to the interview fragment. Lastly, by granting an indicator to the interview fragment. Through this manner the interview fragments were labeled. This way of coding is also called deductive coding (Bleijenbergh, 2013, p. 97). This connects to the deductive character of this research. The coded transcripts that were relevant showed an overview of the research material of this research.
3.5 Reliability and validity
The decisions that are made in this research related to the methods have consequences for the reliability and validity of this research.
3.5.1 Reliability
Bleijenberg (2013) distincts two types of reliability; the internal reliability and the external reliability. The internal reliability means the controllability of the research. Research could be biased through the influences of the researcher. This research tried to counter a biased
research by choosing a researcher that is not involved in the organization of DJI. Also, the researcher had not a benefit in a certain outcome of the research, so the research could be done objectively. Especially when the research is done by different researches, it must be clear that the differences in outcomes of the research is due to the different answers of the respondents, and not due to influences of the different researchers. This thesis is done by one researcher and therefor benefits the internal reliability.
The external reliability means the repeatability of the research. In other words, if another researcher would do the research, would this researcher get the same outcomes of the research? The external reliability is strengthened through documenting each step of how the research will be done. Then for other researchers it will be clear how the research is carried out (Bleijenbergh, 2013, p. 111). To guarantee the external reliability of this study this research used a topic-list, which made the interview a semi-structured interview. This means that the researcher has a list of topics or questions for the respondents, but there is enough space to add questions during the interview (Bleijenbergh, 2013, p. 63). Each interview used this topic-list, so we know that the results are obtained in the same way. Also, this research will use transcripts. Although this is time-consuming, transcripts will lead to accurate and complete interview representations.
3.5.2 Validity
Bleijenberg (2013) also distinct two types of validity; internal and external validity of a research. The internal validity refers to whether the research exactly measures what the research intends to measure. In order to answer the research question, this research made use of existing scientific literature about leadership style of public managers and employee wellbeing during cutbacks. Then, through the existing scientific literature, these concepts were operationalized. Through precisely operationalizing the concepts, this research will try to enhance the internal validity of this research. Interviews are the most appropriate way to
research these concepts precisely. This is because interviews could describe the actions of public managers into great detail. In that way the ‘how and why’ of the research question could be answered (Bleijenbergh, 2013, p. 21). Also, this research makes use of triangulation. This means that several data collection methods will be used (Thiel, 2010, p. 61). As told, this thesis makes use of interviews, observations and documents. A combination of several data collection methods will give a boost to the deepening of the research to figure out what something really means. The main goal of triangulation is to avoid personal biases of the research, because then you do not rely on just one (group of) opinion(s) but you combine different perspectives about the issue. This research did not only interviewed the public manager, but also observations and documents were used to get the complete story (answer on the research question) (Brink, 2014, p. 37). Moreover, Toshkov (2016) argues that the strongest point of qualitative research is the internal validity, because the research could go into great depth which ensures that the research exactly measures what the research intends to measure (Toshkov, 2016).
External validity refers to the generalizability of the study. The disadvantage of this qualitative research is that only public managers from DJI institutions will be interviewed. However, this is a considered choice because institutions (and employees) at DJI had to suffer a lot during cutbacks. So, this casus is a good example of public managers who have to deal with implementing cutbacks in their institution. Also this thesis aims to increase the external validity, by choosing a broad scale of institutions and thus public managers (Bleijenbergh, 2013, p. 21). Moreover, Toshkov (2016) argues that researches could have substantive relevance. This refers to the real world societal importance of the case. In that way the case represents a broad group (Toshkov, 2016, p. 289). This research also tried to choose a case that represents a broad group. In the Netherlands more departments were faced with cutbacks, so the information of this thesis represent a broad group; it could also be useful for other Dutch departments that had to handle cutbacks. However, a critical comment could be made. It does not mean that all the Dutch departments had the same process of implementing the cutbacks. Besides that, every Dutch department is an unique organization, the Dutch departments are not the same. So, you could argue that it is too easy to generalize this research to all the Dutch departments.
