AMOR

Article Details

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2026): August

Integrating Public Management and Leadership to Explain Local Government Performance

https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v8.n1.p15-31.2026

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to examine how New Public Management (NPM) inf0luences Public Service Performance through two leadership mechanisms, namely Leadership Behaviour as an instrumental mechanism and Servant Leadership as a value-based mechanism, in Indonesian local government organizations.

Methodology: This research was conducted in local government organizations in Indonesia using a quantitative explanatory design. Data were collected through a survey of 385 civil servants in South Korea. The study employed a structured questionnaire and analyzed the data using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS software to test both direct and indirect relationships among variables.

Results: The results show that New Public Management has a strong positive effect on both Leadership Behaviour and Servant Leadership. However, only Servant Leadership has a significant direct effect on Public Service Performance and acts as a significant mediating variable between NPM and Public Service Performance. Leadership Behaviour does not have a significant direct effect on Public Service Performance.

Conclusions: The study concludes that managerial reforms alone are insufficient to improve Public Service Performance. Value-based leadership, particularly Servant Leadership, is a crucial mechanism for translating New Public Management reforms into meaningful service outcomes.

Limitations: This study is limited by its cross-sectional design and reliance on self-reported data from a single regional context, which may restrict its generalizability.

Contributions: This study contributes to the public management literature by integrating managerial reform and leadership and providing empirical evidence of the role of servant-oriented leadership in public sector performance.

Keywords

Leadership Behaviour Local Government New Public Management Servant Leadership Public Service Performance Public Service Accountability

How to Cite

Herman, H., Amin, S., Indrawijaya, S., & Rosita, S. (2026). Integrating Public Management and Leadership to Explain Local Government Performance. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 8(1), 15–31. https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v8.n1.p15-31.2026

Download Citation

Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS) BibTeX

References

  1. Abenoja, J., Blase, D., & Almagro, R. (2025). A correlational study on organizational culture and leadership style. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 6(4), 303-321. doi:https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v6i4.2454
  2. Alaverdyan, D., Kučera, F., & Horák, M. (2018). Implementation of the Smart City concept in the EU: importance of cluster initiatives and best practice cases. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Knowledge, 6(1), 30-51. doi:https://doi.org/10.2478/ijek-2018-0003
  3. Ashok, M., Mouza Saeed Mohammed Al Badi Al, D., Madan, R., & Dzandu, M. D. (2021). How to counter organisational inertia to enable knowledge management practices adoption in public sector organisations. Journal of Knowledge Management, 25(9), 2245-2273. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/jkm-09-2020-0700
  4. Awasthi, P., & Walumbwa, F. O. (2022). Antecedents and consequences of servant leadership in local governance: Evidence from three case studies. Public Administration Review, 82(6), 1077-1094. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13552
  5. Brohi, N. A., Jantan, A. H., Mehmood, S. A., Khuhro, M. A., & Aktar, M. S. (2018). Does servant leadership behavior induce positive behaviors? a conceptual study of servant leadership, psychological safety and turnover intention. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, 7(4.15), 530. doi:https://doi.org/10.14419/ijet.v7i4.15.26326
  6. Cho, B. (2023). Bibliometric analysis of Academic Papers Citing Dunleavy Et Al.’s (2006) “New Public management is dead long live digital-era governance”: Identifying research clusters and future research agendas. Administration & Society, 55(5), 892-920. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997231157753
  7. Chow, T. W., & Singh, H. (2022). Cultivating emerging leadership competencies for individual and organizational success. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 4(2), 129-145. doi:https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v4i2.1492
  8. Creswell, J. (2003). W. Research design, qualitative and quantitative aproaches: Jakarta: KIK Press.
  9. Darko, I. L. O., Bans-Akutey, A., Amoako, P., & Affum, L. K. (2024). Employee retention and organizational performance: Evidence from Ghana Police Service. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 5(3), 219-230. doi:https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v5i3.1855
  10. Demir, T., Reddick, C. G., & Ponomariov, B. (2019). Political conflict in city councils: Implications for power and leadership of professional managers. Public Administration Quarterly, 43(2), 252-285. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/073491491904300206
  11. Dewi, N. W. K., & Riana, I. G. (2019). The role of work motivation in mediating the effect of servant leadership on employee performance at Legian Beach Hotel, Kuta Bali. International Journal of Contemporary Research and Review, 10(02), 21408-21417. doi:https://doi.org/10.15520/ijcrr.v10i02.670
  12. Dextras-Gauthier, J., Gilbert, M. H., Dima, J., & Adou, L. B. (2023). Organizational culture and leadership behaviors: is manager’s psychological health the missing piece? Frontiers in Psychology, 14. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1237775
  13. Dung, K. (2024). Leadership, Proactive behavior and innovative work behaviors of teachers in Barkin-Ladi. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 6(1), 13-24. doi:https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v6i1.1867
  14. Faruqi, A. H. A. (2020). The effect of servant leadership on establishment of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) Through organizational commitment of employee in PT. Awam Bersaudara. Airlangga Development Journal, 3(2), 180. doi:https://doi.org/10.20473/adj.v3i2.19304
  15. Garvey, A. (2024). Habermas, relational leadership, and public sector workplace bullying. Annals of Social Sciences & Management Studies, 9(5). doi:https://doi.org/10.19080/asm.2024.09.555775
  16. Granizo, G. G. U., Mostacero, S. J., & Puente, M. (2024). Exploring the competencies, phases and dimensions of municipal administrative management towards sustainability: A systematic review. Sustainability, 16(14), 5991. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su16145991
  17. Grøn, C. H., & Andersen, L. B. (2023). Developing perceived and experienced identity: How leadership training affects leadership identity. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 44(2), 268-294. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371x221146718
  18. Gunasekara, H. (2023). Article review: Entrepreneurship in public management: the Case of Sri Lankan Administrative Service (SLAS) by R. Lalitha S. Fernando (2006). International Journal of Governance and Public Policy Analysis, 4(01). doi:https://doi.org/10.31357/ijgppa.v4i1.6220
  19. Hendrickse, R. (2023). Ethnic leadership in the age of disruption: implications for South African Municipalities. International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), 12(7), 224-234. doi:https://doi.org/10.20525/ijrbs.v12i7.2791
  20. Istianto, B., & Wahyurudhanto, A. (2023). The role of good governance in transmitting the influence of new public management and leadership in public servants’ performance. Journal of Government and Politics, 263-280. doi:https://doi.org/10.18196/jgp.v13i2.14447
  21. Karimi, S., Malek, F. A., Farani, A. Y., & Liobikienė, G. (2023). The role of transformational leadership in developing innovative work behaviors: The mediating role of employees’ psychological capital. Sustainability, 15(2), 1267. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021267
  22. Kartono, K., Setiawan, M., Sunaryo, S., & Moko, W. (2023). The effect of servant leadership on employee performance as mediated by leader-member exchange and organizational citizenship behavior. Kne Social Sciences. doi:https://doi.org/10.18502/kss.v8i9.13357
  23. Lutfi, I., Titisari, P., Lelly, W., Setyanti, H., Sularso, R. A., & Susanto, A. B. (2023). The influence of servant leadership on motivation, work engagement, job satisfaction and teacher performance of vocational hight school teachers in Jember City. Qas, 24(194). doi:https://doi.org/10.47750/qas/24.194.30
  24. Mabhanda, W., & Masukume, H. (2025). Impact of succession planning practices on employee relations among health professionals in one government hospital in Zimbabwe. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 6(3), 221-236. doi:https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v6i3.2413
  25. Makambe, U., & Moeng, G. J. M. (2019). The effects of leadership styles on employee performance: a case of a selected commercial bank in Botswana. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 1(1), 39-50. doi:https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v1i1.274
  26. Marothia, P., & Vyas, P. (2020). Servant-leadership through Bhagavad Gita: A review and synthesis of servant leadership characteristics and a conceptual model. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 8475-8503. doi:https://doi.org/10.53555/v24i10/400235
  27. Muringa, T., & Shava, E. (2024). Examining the efficacy of core competencies of municipal leaders in transforming local government In South Africa. International Journal of Public Leadership, 20(3/4), 330-346. doi:https://doi.org/10.1108/ijpl-04-2024-0032
  28. Mwesigwa, D. (2021). Technical–politics dichotomy in Mid-Western Uganda: Interrelationship between municipal councillors and administrators in service delivery. doi:https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v2i2.856
  29. Mwosi, F., Eton, M., Olupot, S. P., & Ogwel, B. P. (2024). Employee retention and organizational performance in Kabale District Local Government, Uganda. Annals of Management and Organization Research, 6(1), 1-12. doi:https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v2i2.856
  30. Ndevu, Z. (2019). Trust and organisational performance: A Grounded Theory approach for a South African District Municipality. Sa Journal of Human Resource Management, 17. doi:https://doi.org/10.4102/sajhrm.v17i0.1158
  31. Ngumbela, X. G. (2022). The relationship between policy, governance and service delivery in local government in South Africa. International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Social Science(2(34)). doi:https://doi.org/10.31435/rsglobal_ijitss/30062022/7810
  32. Pillay, S. S., & Kikasu, E. T. (2024). Servant leadership style: A key to effective good governance and sustainable public service delivery in Africa. Open Journal of Political Science, 14(01), 52-80. doi:https://doi.org/10.4236/ojps.2024.141004
  33. Ranchod, R. (2020). The data-technology nexus in South African Secondary Cities: The challenges to smart governance. Urban Studies, 57(16), 3281-3298. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098019896974
  34. Sabrina, R., & Aulanda, N. F. (2023). The effect of work environment and servant leadership on employee performance with work motivation as an intervening variable (Case Study in Bank Sumut Medan Sharia Branch Office). Migration Letters, 20(6), 570-585. doi:https://doi.org/10.59670/ml.v20i6.3507
  35. Settanni, E., Heijungs, R., & Srai, J. S. (2023). Where have all the equations gone? A unified view on semi-quantitative problem structuring and modelling. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 74(1), 290-309. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/01605682.2022.2039565
  36. Sugito, S., Agung, A. A. G., Yudana, I. M., & Ariawan, I. P. W. (2022). Digital testing application in knowing the effect of servant leadership and work motivation on teacher performance. International Journal of Health Sciences, 6(2), 682-698. doi:https://doi.org/10.53730/ijhs.v6n2.7583
  37. Tzavella, V. (2023). The Leader – Manager debate in the greek public administration: a critical review of the literature and future research agenda. International Conference on Business and Economics - Hellenic Open University, 2(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.12681/icbe-hou.5357
  38. Valdivieso, P., & Andersson, K. (2018). What motivates local governments to invest in critical infrastructure? Lessons From Chile. Sustainability, 10(10), 3808. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/su10103808
  39. Walker, R. M., & Andrews, R. (2015). Local government management and performance: A review of evidence. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 25(1), 101-133. doi:https://doi.org/10.1093/jopart/mut038
  40. Wei, W., Zhang, Z., & Yang, K. (2022). Local institutions and public service outsourcing: Managerial professionalism, mayoral strength, and electoral rules. Public administration review, 82(6), 1095-1123. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13525
  41. Widiartanto, W., & Qomariyah, A. (2022). Pengaruh servant leadership terhadap budaya organisasi, Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) dan kinerja karyawan (Studi pada karyawan Pt. Prima Zirang Utama Semarang). Business Uho Jurnal Administrasi Bisnis, 7(2), 252. doi:https://doi.org/10.52423/bujab.v7i2.28232
  42. Wooi, C. T. (2020). Leader versus manager: Lessons from top business executives. Annals of Management and Organization Research (AMOR), 2(1), 53-65. doi:https://doi.org/10.35912/amor.v2i1.630
  43. Yeboah‐Assiamah, E., Asamoah, K., & Adams, S. (2018). Transdisciplinary public leadership theory: between the extremes of “traditional public administration” and “new public management”. Journal of Public Affairs, 19(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1887

Authors

1 Herman Herman
Universitas Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia
2 Shofia Amin
Universitas Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia
3 Sigit Indrawijaya
Universitas Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia
4 Sry Rosita
Universitas Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Downloads

View PDF

Statistics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2026): August
Section: Articles
WhatsApp Instagram Facebook LinkedIn Email