Examining the Links between Senior Managers’ Engagement in Networked Environments and Goal and Role Ambiguity

Abstract

Public management scholars consistently argue that public organizations must now deliver services in the context of networks that span multiple jurisdictions and sectors and that they are subjected to greater degrees of goal and role ambiguity as compared to private organizations. Yet, limited research examines the degree to which these phenomena are connected. We seek to develop a perspective that merges these two research traditions by asserting that the extent to which managers engage their networked environment clarifies their interpretations of goals and work roles within the home organization. Findings from a series of structural equation models reveal that increases in perceived goal clarity are associated with increased engagement with actors in the networked environment, and increased interaction in networked environments is associated with enhanced role clarity by virtue of clarifying organizational goals.

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