Penetrating the Performance Predicament: Communication as a Mediator or Moderator of Organizational Culture's Impact on Public Organizational Performance

The role of communication in public administration has been emphasized over time in public administration theory. Nonetheless, communication—with the exception of political communication—has been neglected in scholarship. Garnett's performance predicament posits the difficulty of showing linkages between communication and performance. This paper explores the role that communication plays in achieving organizational performance through a review of research that bears on communication's direct and indirect influences on performance. The primary thrust is communication's indirect role in achieving performance by mediating or moderating the effects of organizational culture on performance, thereby adding another perspective on the culture–performance relationship. Adapting the typology of Zammuto and Krakower, two types of organizational culture—rule-oriented culture and mission-oriented culture—are examined to explore how the relationship between organizational culture and organizational performance is influenced by communication. The analysis supports the claim that communication acts as a meta-mechanism for shaping and imparting culture in mission-oriented organizational cultures, thereby influencing performance. In particular, task orientation, feedback, and upward communication have positive effects on perceived organizational performance in mission-oriented organizations but potentially negative effects on performance in rule-oriented cultures.     

Why Do Nonprofit Performing Arts Organizations Offer Free Public Access?

A number of studies have shown that arts and cultural programs offer multifarious benefits to individuals and communities. However, there has been little discussion in the public management literature regarding access to cultural programs for people with limited disposable income. Although the arts industry is increasingly emphasizing the importance of expanding cultural access for all, we know little about what drives individual nonprofit organizations’ strategies. This article draws on benefits theory and resource dependence theory to explore the relationships between different types of revenue and the extent to which performing arts nonprofits offer free access. The authors use a unique data set compiled by DataArts to test how various types of revenue influence accessibility to the arts and find that performing arts nonprofits receiving grants from local governments, foundations, and corporations offer more free access. The article concludes with a discussion of study implications and an application of benefits theory to other types of nonprofits.