Market Orientation of Theatres in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Market orientation has lately become one of the major research issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina, mainly because of the country transition to market economy. This process requires essential changes in business behavior of organizations which need to become market oriented. Our study measures the level of market orientation of theaters in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We tried to find out up to which level theaters in Bosnia and Herzegovina implement activities known as intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination and responsiveness. Research results show that the level of market orientation is, according to three MARKOR subscales, low. Theaters collect information from their environments and they have a certain process of organizational communication which results in the level of functional compatibility of (re)actions aimed to the market. Nevertheless, the conclusion is that all the analyzed activities are in their early stages of development.market orientation, business behavior

Local government strategies in the face of shocks and crises: the role of anticipatory capacities and financial vulnerability

This article, building on governmental financial resilience literature, and using data from a survey of over 600 local governments in Germany, Italy and the UK, looks at the role that external shocks, anticipatory capacities and associated perceived vulnerabilities play in determining different organizational response strategies (i.e. ‘bouncing back’ versus ‘bouncing forward’ strategies) at times of crisis. In the face of shocks, higher perceived vulnerabilities will especially be associated with bouncing back strategies, whereas the presence of anticipatory capacity will be associated with bouncing forward strategies. Points for practitioners: The present study reveals the crucial role of perceived vulnerabilities and anticipatory capacities for local governments that face shocks and crises. While organizational responses in the sense of bouncing back (e.g. retrenchment, buffering, downsizing, cutbacks) are strongly linked to the associated vulnerabilities, the implementation of bouncing forward strategies (e.g. transformation, repositioning, reorientation) turns out to mainly be dependent on anticipatory capacities, which enable organizations to better recognize potential shocks before they arise. This emphasizes the importance of developing wider anticipatory capacities within local governments as a key element to cope effectively under difficult conditions, as well as to build and nurture a financial resilience culture

Taking Stock: The Role of the Institutional Context for Local Government Financial Resilience

Financial resilience describes the ability of local governments to anticipate, absorb and react to shocks affecting their finances and service delivery. Resilience is the result of interactions in-between environmental conditions (institutional, economic and social context) local governments operate in as well as internal capacities (i.e. anticipatory and coping capacities). This chapter looks on mechanisms of how the institutional context influences local government’s ability to anticipate, absorb and react to financial shocks. Drawing upon empirical research on governmental financial resilience, the authors take stock of lessons learned from case studies in eleven countries as well as a large-scale quantitative survey of local governments in three major European economies (Germany, Italy and the UK) following the global financial crisis. The concise overview adds to the understanding of how rules, regulations and (austerity) policies of upper-governmental levels influence different dimensions of local government financial resilience and why the latter may play out very differently within a given country. The findings support a more general understanding of how local governments face shocks and crises and thus may offer initial clues on local government financial resilience in the global COVID-19 pandemic

Local government strategies in the face of shocks and crises: the role of anticipatory capacities and financial vulnerability

This paper, building on governmental financial resilience literature, and using data from a survey of over 600 local governments in Germany, Italy, and the UK, looks at the role that external shocks, anticipatory capacities, and associated perceived vulnerabilities, play in determining different organizational response strategies (i.e., “bouncing back” vs. “bouncing forward” strategies) at times of crisis. In the face of shocks, higher perceived vulnerabilities will especially be associated with bouncing back strategies, whereas the presence of anticipatory capacity will be associated with bouncing forward strategies

The motivations for the adoption of management innovation by local governments and its performance effects

This article analyses the economic, political and institutional antecedents and performance effects of the adoption of shared Senior Management Teams (SMTs) – a management innovation (MI) that occurs when a team of senior managers oversees two or more public organizations. Findings from statistical analysis of 201 English local governments and interviews with organizational leaders reveal that shared SMTs are adopted to develop organisational capacity in resource‐challenged, politically risk‐averse governments, and in response to coercive and mimetic institutional pressures. Importantly, sharing SMTs may reduce rather than enhance efficiency and effectiveness due to redundancy costs and the political transaction costs associated with diverting resources away from a high‐performing partner to support their lower‐performing counterpart

Local Governments’ Resilience in Times of the Pandemic: A European Perspective

International audienc

Government financial resilience – a European perspective

International audienceIn a context where crises and shocks are becoming frequent, governments increasingly need to be aware of their financial resilience and its underlying dimensions. This chapter proposes a framework for understanding and assessing the financial resilience of municipalities, by jointly considering how types of shocks, financial vulnerabilities, anticipatory capacities, and coping capacities dynamically intertwine to shape responses to crises, and financial and non-financial performance. The chapter also highlights the main features of these dimensions in municipalities in the largest European countries (France, Germany, Italy and the UK), under recent crises. Finally, it reflects on how this research can inform practice and policy through the development of a governmental financial resilience toolkit

Contrasting and explaining purposeful and legitimizing uses of performance information: a mayor’s perspective

This study looks at purposeful and legitimizing types of performance information use in local governments. Drawing on a survey of Austrian mayors who are at the politico-administrative apex of local government, the paper shows that purposeful and legitimizing uses of performance information coexist, but they appear to be negatively associated. In exploring the contextual and organizational conditions under which legitimizing uses prevail over purposeful ones, the analysis shows that oversight (coercive) and political (normative) pressures, hierarchical culture, and low-performance information availability foster the dominance of the legitimizing use type over the purposeful one