Previous research has shown that cutbacks in public spending often impact the range and quality of the public services delivered, leading to negative behaviors on the part of public servants. This article examines how sudden cutbacks caused by a major state financial crisis have an impact on interpersonal trust within a special police unit. We present the results of a longitudinal case study using a combination of qualitative methods. The lack of foreseeability and reliability caused by drastic changes resulting from cutbacks has a negative effect on members’ trust in their capacity to perform.
AlvessonM.KarremanD. (2007). Constructing mystery: Empirical matters in theory development. Academy of Management Review, 32(4), 1265–1281. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.26586822
2.
Ann FeldheimM. (2007). Public sector downsizing and employee trust. International Journal of Public Administration, 30(3), 249–270. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900690601117739
3.
BehnR. D. (1995). The big questions of public management. Public Administration Review, 55(4), 313–324. https://doi.org/10.2307/977122
4.
BergM.JohanssonT. (2020). Building institutional trust through service experiences—Private versus public provision matter. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 30(2), 290–306. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muz029
5.
BormanW. C.MotowidloS. J.RoseS. R.HanserL. M. (1987). Development of a model of soldier effectiveness: Retranslation materials and results. Human Resources Research Organization Alexandria Va, 87(29), 1–20. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA181832
6.
BostockJ.BreeseR.Ridley-DuffR.CrowtherP. (2020). Challenges for third sector organizations in cutback management: A sporting case study of the implications of publicness. Public Management Review, 22(2), 184–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2019.1577911
7.
BütheT. (2002). Taking temporality seriously: Modeling history and the use of narratives as evidence. The American Political Science Review, 96(3), 481–493. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055402000278
8.
CampbellJ. W.ImT. (2015). Identification and trust in public organizations: A communicative approach. Public Management Review, 17(8), 1065–1084. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2014.881531
9.
CarneiroJ. (2017, May 5). Cinco motivos que levaram o Rio à pior crise de segurança em mais de uma década [Five reasons that led Rio to the worst security crisis in more than a decade]. BBC. Retrieved from:https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil-39816208
10.
CarsonJ. B.TeslukP. E.MarroneJ. A. (2007). Shared leadership in teams: An investigation of antecedent conditions and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 50(5), 1217–1234. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2007.20159921
11.
CepikuD.Bonomi SavignonA. (2012). Governing cutback management: Is there a global strategy for public administrations?International Journal of Public Sector Management, 25(6/7), 428–436. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513551211260603
12.
ChoY. J.LeeJ. W. (2011). Perceived trustworthiness of supervisors, employee satisfaction and cooperation. Public Management Review, 13(7), 941–965. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2011.589610
13.
ChoY. J.ParkH. (2011). Exploring the relationships among trust, employee satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Public Management Review, 13(4), 551–573. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2010.525033
14.
ChoY. J.PoisterT. H. (2013). Human resource management practices and trust in public organizations. Public Management Review, 15(6), 816–838. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2012.698854
15.
ChoY. J.PoisterT. H. (2014). Managerial practices, trust in leadership, and performance: Case of the Georgia department of transportation. Public Personnel Management, 43(2), 179–196. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026014523136
16.
ColquittJ. A.LePineJ. A.ZapataC. P.WildR. E. (2011). Trust in typical and high-reliability contexts: Building and reacting to trust among firefighters. Academy of Management Journal, 54(5), 999–1015. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2006.0241
DestlerK. N. (2017). A matter of trust: Street level bureaucrats, organizational climate and performance management reform. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 27(3), 517–534. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muw055
19.
Estado do Rio de Janeiro [Rio de Janeiro state]. (2016). Diário Oficial do Estado do Rio de Janeiro [official gazette of the state of Rio de Janeiro]. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ioerj.com.br/portal/
20.
FaveroN.MeierK. J.O’TooleL. JJr. (2016). Goals, trust, participation, and feedback: Linking internal management with performance outcomes. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 26(2), 327–343. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muu044
21.
FraherA. L.BranickiL. J.GrintK. (2016). Mindfulness in action: Discovering how US Navy Seals build capacity for mindfulness in high-reliability organizations (HROs). Academy of Management Discoveries, 3(3), 239–261. https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2014.0146
22.
FraherA. L.GrintK.BranickiL. (2017). Sustaining mindfulness in high-reliability organizations: A multi-modal study of US Navy SEALs. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2016(1), 10613.
23.
GillespieN. (2003). Measuring trust in working relationships: the behavioural trust inventory. Paper presented at the Academy of Management Meeting, Seattle, August 2003.
24.
HannahS. T.CampbellD. J.MatthewsM. D. (2010). Advancing a research agenda for leadership in dangerous contexts. Military Psychology, 22(sup1), S157–S189. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995601003644452
25.
HannahS. T.Uhl-BienM.AvolioB. J.CavarrettaF. L. (2009). A framework for examining leadership in extreme contexts. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(6), 897–919. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.09.006
26.
HascheN.HöglundL.MårtenssonM. (2020). Intra-organizational trust in public organizations–the study of interpersonal trust in both vertical and horizontal relationships from a bidirectional perspective. Public Management Review, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2020.1764081
27.
JacksonP. (2006). The present as history. In GoodinR.TillyC. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of contextual political analysis (pp. 490–505). Oxford University Press.
28.
JensenU. T.KjeldsenA. M.VestergaardC. F. (2020). How is public service motivation affected by regulatory policy changes?International Public Management Journal, 23(4), 465–495. https://doi.org/10.1080/10967494.2019.1642268
29.
JickT. D.MurrayV. V. (1982). The management of hard times: Budget cutbacks in public sector organizations. Organization Studies, 3(2), 141–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/017084068200300204
30.
KickertW. (2012). State responses to the fiscal crisis in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. Public Management Review, 14(3), 299–309. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2011.637410
31.
KieferT.HartleyJ.ConwayN.BrinerR. B. (2015). Feeling the squeeze: Public employees’ experiences of cutback-and innovation-related organizational changes following a national announcement of budget reductions. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 25(4), 1279–1305. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/muu042
32.
LevineC. H. (1979). More on cutback management: Hard questions for hard times. Public Administration Review, 39(2), 179–183. https://doi.org/10.2307/3110475
33.
LevineC. H. (1980). Managing fiscal stress: The crisis in the public sector. Chatham House.
34.
LevineC. H.RubinI. S.WolohojianG. G. (1981). Resource scarcity and the reform model: The management of retrenchment in Cincinnati and Oakland. Public Administration Review, 41(6), 619–628. https://doi.org/10.2307/975737
35.
LewickiR. J.TomlinsonE. C.GillespieN. (2006). Models of interpersonal trust development: Theoretical approaches, empirical evidence, and future directions. Journal of Management, 32(6), 991–1022. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206306294405
36.
LindsayD. R.DayD. V.HalpinS. M. (2011). Shared leadership in the military: Reality, possibility, or pipedream?Military Psycholog, 23(5), 528–549. https://doi.org/10.1080/08995605.2011.600150
37.
MagendzoA. (2009). Moral dilemmas in teaching recent history related to the violation of human rights in Chile. Journal of Moral Education, 38(4), 445–465. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057240903321923
38.
MayerR. C.DavisJ. H.SchoormanF. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734. https://doi.org/10.2307/258792
39.
MiguelesC. P.ZaniniM. T. (2018). The volitional nature of motivation and cultural creativity: An anthropological investigation. Cad. EBAPE.BR, 16(3), 355–366. https://doi.org/10.1590/1679-395168923
40.
NyhanR. C. (1999). Increasing affective organizational commitment in public organizations: The key role of interpersonal trust. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 19(3), 58–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X9901900305
41.
NyhanR. C. (2000). Changing the paradigm: Trust and its role in public sector organizations. The American Review of Public Administration, 30(1), 87–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/02750740022064560
42.
OvermansT.NoordegraafM. (2014). Managing austerity: Rhetorical and real responses to fiscal stress in local government. Public Money and Management, 34(2), 99–106. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540962.2014.887517
Paul BattaglioR.JrCondreyS. E. (2009). Reforming public management: Analyzing the impact of public service reform on organizational and managerial trust. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(4), 689–707. https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mun030
46.
PearceC. L.CongerJ. A. (2003). Shared leadership: Reframing the hows and whys of leadership. Sage Publications.
47.
PerryR. W. (2004). The relationship of affective organizational commitment with supervisory trust. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 24(2), 133–149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X03262452
48.
PollittC.BouckaertG. (2011). Continuity and change in public policy and management. Edward Elgar Publishing.
49.
RaaphorstN. (2018). How to prove, how to interpret and what to do? Uncertainty experiences of street-level tax officials. Public Management Review, 20(4), 485–502. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2017.1299199
50.
RaudlaR.SaviR.Randma-LiivT. (2015). Cutback management literature in the 1970s and 1980s: Taking stock. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 81(3), 433–456. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852314564313
51.
RedfieldR. (1941). The folk culture of the Yucatan. Chicago University Press.
Rio de Janeiro State Industry Federation (2017). Avanço da criminalidade no estado do Rio de janeiro – Retrato e propostas para a segurança pública. Publicações Sistema FIRJAN. https://www.firjan.com.br/publicacoes, accessed 10 July 2021.
54.
RoussoH. (2016). The lasted Catastrophe. History, the present, the contemporary. Chicago University Press.
SchmidtE.GroeneveldS.Van de WalleS. (2017). A change management perspective on public sector cutback management: Towards a framework for analysis. Public Management Review, 19(10), 1538–1555. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2017.1296488
57.
SchoormanF. D.MayerR. C.DavisJ. H. (2007). An integrative model of organizational trust: Past, present, and future. The Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 344–354. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.24348410
58.
SkehillC. (2007). Researching the history of social work: Exposition of a history of the present approach. European Journal of Social Work, 10(4), 449–463. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691450701356895
SweeneyP. J.ThompsonV.BlantonH. (2009). Trust and influence in combat: An interdependence model. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(1), 235–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00437.x
62.
Van der VoetJ.Van de WalleS. (2018). How cutbacks and job satisfaction are related: The role of top-level public managers’ autonomy. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 38(1), 5–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X15609409
63.
Van der VoetJ.VermeerenB. (2017). Change management in hard times: Can change management mitigate the negative relationship between cutbacks and the organizational commitment and work engagement of public sector employees?The American Review of Public Administration, 47(2), 230–252. https://doi.org/10.1177/0275074015625828
WilliamsT. A.GruberD. A.SutcliffeK. M.ShepherdD. A.ZhaoE. Y. (2017). Organizational response to adversity: Fusing crisis management and resilience research streams. Academy of Management Annals, 11(2), 733–769. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2015.0134
66.
WrightB. E.ChristensenR. K.IsettK. R. (2013). Motivated to adapt? The role of public service motivation as employees face organizational change. Public Administration Review, 73(5), 738–747. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12078
67.
ZaniniM. T.MiguelesC. P.ColmerauerM.MansurJ. (2013). Os elementos de coordenação informal em uma unidade policial de Operações Especiais. Revista de Administração Contemporânea, 17(1), 106–125. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1415-65552013000100007
