Filling In the State: A Mixed-Methods Examination on How Involuntary Backsourcing Affects Bureaucratic Behavior

• In Event: Selection Processes & Bureaucratic Behavior

Abstract

What happens in government bureaucracies when contracted managers are backsourced as public servants (Quasi public servants, QPS)? While previous research has primarily paid attention to fiscal and efficiency aspects of contracting in and out, there has been limited exploration of how politically-driven administrative reforms may have influenced public servants’ perceptions of bureaucratic culture and work motivation. Utilizing South Korea as a compelling case study, we draw from in-depth interviews conducted at multiple branches of Veterans Service Center (VSC), an organization within the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs. We find that involuntary backsourcing brought about a new type of public service; we refer to this as quasi-public service. The qualitative findings revealed intraorganizational conflict between public servants recruited from competitive service and quasi-public servants, shedding light on pertinent issues associated with backsourcing. We also unveiled that quasi-public servants faced challenges such as role ambiguity, excessive red tape, and inequitable performance assessments. To triangulate our qualitative findings, we conducted a large-scale survey on a representative sample of South Korean civil servants. We hypothesized in-group and out-group conflict and performance-oriented organizational culture as psychological and organizational mechanisms of perceptions towards quasi-public servants. We suggest that cultivating a performance-oriented culture marked by fairness can play a pivotal role in fostering intergration withinin government bureaucracies following backsourcing.

Authors

• Yongjin Ahn, Korea University - Sejong Campus

• Hemin Choi, Hallym University, Graduate School of Global Cooperation