Putting on the Velvet Glove: The Paradox of “Soft” Core Values in “Hard” Organizations

Abstract

Following New Public Management and Reinventing Government reforms, public sector organizations are expected to pursue values such as efficiency, performance, and accountability, reflecting a “hard” identity as managed organizations. By examining the contents of 394 core values retrieved from U.S. federal agencies, this study examines the importance of “hard” values relative to other values reflecting alternative identities. It finds that the agencies prefer to rely on “soft” values such as integrity, respect, openness, and customer orientation to express their identities. The article discusses the implications of these findings for our understanding of organizational actorhood in a public sector context.

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