Trapped in the hierarchy: the craft of Dutch city managers
通过日记分析、跟踪观察和利益相关者访谈，近距离剖析荷兰城市管理者在向上、向下和向外三个方向的管理活动，发现层级工作占据其大部分精力，边界跨越活动被高估。
The position of top public managers implies management in three directions: up (political office holders), down (creating organizational capacity), and out (boundary spanning). We know however, little about what these managers do. I present a close-up analysis of city managers using diary analysis, shadowing, and interviews with stakeholders. The analysis interprets their craft as managing up, down, and out. It finds that despite the contemporary emphasis on collaborative public management, the prevalence of boundary spanning activities in top managers’ activity patterns is easily overestimated. Working in the governmental hierarchy consumes most of the managers’ attention.