Responsiveness to reform values: The influence of the environment on performance information use

Abstract

Administrative reforms encode a set of behavioral expectations for bureaucrats to follow. The authors argue that scholars can usefully contribute to understanding accountability by studying whether bureaucrats follow these expectations and what factors encourage such responsiveness to reform values. To demonstrate this approach, the authors examine performance information use as a behavioral measure of responsiveness to results-based reforms. Using a sample of Texas school superintendents, they fi nd that general openness to the environment goes hand in hand with responsiveness to reform values. The authors propose that such a pattern will hold when reform values align with environmental preferences. The perceived influence of stakeholders, networking with stakeholders, and reliance on partnerships all positively predict performance information use. Environments marked by student diversity and stakeholder conflict also correlate with higher use of performance data, while capacity, less managerial experience, and a unifi ed organizational culture correlate positively with higher reported performance information use. © 2012 by The American Society for Public Administration.