How Much Decentralization? : managerial autonomy in the canadian public service
- Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications, June 2005
This article examines the extent of managerial autonomy middle managers in Canadian governments repor in financial and human resources management areas. It analyzes wheter during a period of intense government restructuring middle managers'autonomy has increased or not and whether there are any environmental ar structural factors that could explain the variation in the extent of managerial autonomy reported by them. Managers reported the most autonomy regarding quality and client consulation issues and relaively high levels of autonomy for performance management, training and development, and staffing decisions. The extent of perceived managerial autonomy was found to be statiscally significantly related to being a manager of a work unit in the periphery, managing a small unit, leadinga corporate unit, and having greater emphasis on results.