NCJ Number
129986
Journal
American Journal of Police Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: (1990) Pages: 25-37
Date Published
1990
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Eighty-three police chiefs from some of the largest cities in Texas responded to a questionnaire regarding their attitudes toward non-traditional management techniques enunciated by researchers Peters and Waterman as those leading to organizational excellence.
Abstract
The issue clusters in the questionnaire related to whether chiefs thought it advisable to share decisionmaking with line personnel, supported line-level innovation initiation, favored greater public input into agency programs, saw personal advantage in non-traditional program implementation, and felt they had authority to make significant changes. In general, the police chiefs expressed support for the management practices representatives of the Peters and Waterman principles in terms of shared decisionmaking, greater innovation among line officers, and increased interaction with the community. Their answers were more ambiguous on the questions relating to actual implementation of a principle. The group appeared to think it appropriate for administrators to assume some risk and to encourage organizational change. No significant differences in answers were found based on agency or respondent characteristics. 1 table, 18 references, and 1 appendix