India’s District Collectors as administrative entrepreneurs: myth or reality?

Jagannath, Harish P. (2017) India’s District Collectors as administrative entrepreneurs: myth or reality? International Journal of Public Leadership, 13 (4). pp. 260-275. ISSN 2056-4929

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Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the relationship between administrative entrepreneurship and bureaucratic (administrative) leadership in government bureaucracies. Design/methodology/approach This topic is empirically examined in the context of India’s district administration. A within-case analysis is conducted of a District Collector’s efforts to initiate change using a case study research methodology. Data from elite interviews, analyzed in NVivo 11, are used to draw descriptive inferences that are tested against a set of conditions using the process tracing technique. Findings The District Collector in the study aspired to be a transformational leader by demonstrating administrative entrepreneurship, but in reality due to the formal organizational structures, the style of bureaucratic leadership functioning is transactional. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to furthering public leadership theory as it opens up the classic question: what type of leadership is expected out of administrative leaders in government bureaucracies? This is a critical issue given that District Collectors are responsible for the welfare of one-sixth of the world’s population. Practical implications District Collectors need to get comfortable with the duality inherent in their position – that their organizational structures allow them to be both administratively entrepreneurial and rigid – and learn the art of navigating these complex structures. Public sector training academies for career civil servants need to engage with the subject of administrative entrepreneurship and leadership. Originality/value This is the first study, to the best of knowledge, to develop an analytical typology that can be used as a diagnostic tool for administrative leaders to holistically assess their leadership style.

Item Type:	Article
Authors:	Jagannath, Harish P.
Document Language:	Language English
Subjects:	Social sciences > Sociology & anthropology > Social interaction Social sciences > Public administration
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > School of Public Policy and Governance
Full Text Status:	None
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/7297
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPL-01-2017-0002

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