Strategies for managerial self‐change in a cleaned‐up bureaucracy: a qualitative study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a set of strategies for effective managerial self‐change within the substantive setting of a cleaned‐up bureaucracy. Design/methodology/approach – Using inductive methodology, data have been collected and analysed from a large Australian public‐sector bureaucracy by means of 26 personal interviews conducted between 2000 and 2002. Findings – A conceptual model of managerial self‐change is presented stressing the importance of both cognitive and behavioural strategies within the context of an “awareness‐understanding‐accomplishment” feedback loop and learning process. The model incorporates and extends some of the major concepts in the extant literature on thought self‐leadership and learned optimism by incorporating attributional analysis into managerial cognitive thought patterns. The findings also suggest refinements to the concept of managerial credibility within cleaned‐up bureaucracies. Research limitations/implications – Findings are derived on the basis of a substantive case study of one cleaned‐up bureaucracy in a particular country. Further research needs to expand this base to encompass other organizations in a wider range of countries across different cultures. Practical implications – The model draws attention to how the behaviour of organisational subordinates within cleaned‐up bureaucracies is significantly affected by the attitudes and actions of their immediate manager. By adopting a set of strategies contained with the conceptual model, managers can learn how to change themselves. Originality/value – The paper departs from the prevalent tendency of the extant literature to employ laboratory or experimentally derived data by using systematically gathered and grounded empirical data in a naturalistic organisational setting. Additionally, the findings have more to say about the nuances of a particular organisational context rather than generalising across numerous contextual environments.