Effects of Managers’ Work Motivation and Networking Activity on Their Reported Levels of External Red Tape

This study brings together two perspectives on managers’ reported levels of red tape. The work motivation perspective explains how managers’ characteristics, such as work engagement (alienation) or commitment, affect their reported levels of red tape. The external control perspective explains how managers’ feedback relations with external actors and organizations reduce miscommunications and conflicts between multiple sources of rules, regulations, and procedures. Hypotheses are derived about the effects of managers’ levels of work engagement, commitment to the organization, and networking activity with external actors and organizations on their levels of reported red tape. The hypotheses are simultaneously tested on a cross-sectional data set of Dutch primary school principals with information about their reported levels of externally generated general red tape (n = 792) and personnel red tape (n = 787). The results of the analyses suggest that work engagement reduces and commitment increases reported levels of red tape. Networking activity with national government is associated with high levels of reported general red tape and personnel red tape. Networking activity with local government and interest organizations in the labor relations domain are associated with low levels of reported personnel red tape. Finally, commitment moderates the effect of networking with national government on general red tape and the effect of networking with interest organizations on personnel red tape. These results are discussed with reference to the two perspectives on red tape