Purpose - This paper aims to explore the behaviour of city managers in the ongoing context of city leadership in Italy where there are high levels of political, economic and social turbulence. Design/methodology/approach - A survey was administered to 140 Italian city managers, with a response rate of 56%. The main research questions were the following: Who are the Italian city managers? How do they spend their time? Are their actions influenced by political, administrative, management and/or governance-related pressures? Findings - The results depicted Italian city managers as caged leaders. They feel like they are capable of soaring to great heights outside the boundaries of their organisations, but they are constrained by their day-to-day organisational activities. Originality/value - This paper offers new empirical insights into the different leadership activities carried out by Italian city managers discussing the differences between the time devoted to some activities and the perception of their leadership style.

Sancino, A., Meneguzzo, M., Cristofoli, D. (2014). Italian city managers: Caged leaders?. In J. Diamond, J. Liddle (a cura di), European Public Leadership in Crisis? Critical Perspectives on International Public Sector Management (pp. 75-84). ;Howard House : Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. [10.1108/S2045-794420140000003014].

Italian city managers: Caged leaders?

Sancino, A;Cristofoli, Daniela
2014

Abstract

Purpose - This paper aims to explore the behaviour of city managers in the ongoing context of city leadership in Italy where there are high levels of political, economic and social turbulence. Design/methodology/approach - A survey was administered to 140 Italian city managers, with a response rate of 56%. The main research questions were the following: Who are the Italian city managers? How do they spend their time? Are their actions influenced by political, administrative, management and/or governance-related pressures? Findings - The results depicted Italian city managers as caged leaders. They feel like they are capable of soaring to great heights outside the boundaries of their organisations, but they are constrained by their day-to-day organisational activities. Originality/value - This paper offers new empirical insights into the different leadership activities carried out by Italian city managers discussing the differences between the time devoted to some activities and the perception of their leadership style.
Capitolo o saggio
City manager; city leadership; Italy; local government; leadership style; local governance
English
European Public Leadership in Crisis? Critical Perspectives on International Public Sector Management
Diamond, J; Liddle, J
2014
978-1-78350-901-0
3
Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.
75
84
Sancino, A., Meneguzzo, M., Cristofoli, D. (2014). Italian city managers: Caged leaders?. In J. Diamond, J. Liddle (a cura di), European Public Leadership in Crisis? Critical Perspectives on International Public Sector Management (pp. 75-84). ;Howard House : Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. [10.1108/S2045-794420140000003014].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/103849
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