| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Do top managers view the implementation of results-based management tools differently than do lower-level workers?A total of 4,186 workers in eight state departments of revenue were surveyed about the deployment and the impacts of nine results-based management tools in their agency. The top hierarchical levels were consistently, and often dramatically, more optimistic than lower-levels. The largest differences were generally found in the assessments of worker participation, and in the assessments of the customer relations tools and cross-functional coordination tools. Follow-up interviews were used to suggest reasons for the consistent perceptual differences. Six overlapping causes were suggested by agency members: top isolation, bottom spin, different perspective ranges, inadequate communication, top selective perception, and lower level cynicism. These findings suggest that management reformers must be prepared to bridge very large perceptual differences between levels, and a number of possible bridging approaches are discussed. The findings also suggest that survey-based public management research will often be misleading if based on surveys of just top managers. |
