NCJ Number
143226
Journal
Leadership Journal Dated: (July-September 1992) Pages: 27-35
Date Published
1992
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Using a Likert-scale questionnaire mailed to the police chiefs of the 100 largest cities in Texas, this study measured the attitudes of police chiefs toward eight commonly accepted principles of business management through; 83 chiefs responded.
Abstract
The eight "principles of excellence" characterized here are: a bias for action, staying close to the customer, autonomy and entrepreneurship, productivity through people, hands-on and value-driven management, "stick to the knitting," simple form and lean staff, and simultaneous loose-tight properties. In the police chiefs' questionnaire, 25 statements were aggregated into five clusters related to decisionmaking, line-level innovation and initiation, public input into agency programs, nontraditional program implementation, and chiefs' self-perception of authority. The overall results showed acceptance by police chiefs of these management principles, but indications that actual implementation of nontraditional private sector management practices might be more difficult to realize. It may be that police chiefs believe that, despite their personal support, agency personnel would not accept changes along the lines described here. 1 table, 18 references, and 1 appendix