The Effect of Organizational Structure on Adaptivity of Municipal Governments in the Netherlands
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2023-08-22
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en
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This research paper investigates the effect of organizational structure on the adaptivity of municipal governments in the Netherlands. As societal and environmental challenges continue to evolve rapidly, the ability of governmental organizations to adapt becomes crucial for effective governance and service delivery. However, as limited research has explored the influence of organizational structure on the adaptivity of municipal governments this research aims to describe how the structures that are applied in municipal governments relate to their adaptivity to variation in demand.
Drawing on theoretical frameworks from organizational structure theory and theory on adaptivity, this study employs a qualitative methodology with multiple cases, and utilizes in-depth interviews among municipal secretaries, advisors, directors, mayors, and intergovernmental advisors, to gather rich and contextual insights into the influence of organizational structure on adaptivity.
This paper finds that bureaucratically organized municipalities may be limited to resilience-based adaptability strategies, whereas flexible or network organized municipalities may opt for both resilience and agility-based adaptability strategies. While respondents from all structure types see agility-based strategies as more desirable, earlier empirical insights show 75% of municipalities had a bureaucratically organized structure that may not support agility-based strategies in 2010. This research connects an organizational structural framework that may provide concrete solutions to design organizational structures that contain the adaptivity required of modern-day municipal governments.
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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen