New public management values and Person-Organization Fit: A socio-psychological approach and empirical examination among public sector personnel

This paper takes a socio-psychological approach to NPM and its value-based theory in public administration. We develop a model for the study of NPM values based on the idea of Person-Organization Fit (POF) and examine it empirically. Findings, based on a survey of 205 Israeli local governance personnel, revealed that the POF of several core NPM values (that is, responsiveness, transparency, innovativeness, and achievement orientations) was positively related with job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and service climate, as reported by these public personnel. The findings suggest that, beyond modern strategies and effective policies for the public sector, lies an essential quest for NPM value-fit with public personnel. Consequently, the study advocates a better theoretical and practical understanding of the socio-psychological interfaces, such as POF, in public administration. Implications and directions for future studies are discussed, both in the context of public administration research and in the generic field of organizational behaviour theory and practice. The detailed results of the factor analyses are available directly from the authors.