Determinents of Public Utility's Performance

31 Pages Posted: 24 Dec 2012

See all articles by V. Ranganathan

V. Ranganathan

Indian Institute of Management (IIMB), Bangalore

L. Prasad

Indian Institute of Management (IIMB), Bangalore

Sanjay Gupta

Indian Institute of Management (IIMB), Bangalore

Date Written: January 30, 2001

Abstract

Organizations under public ownership have earned the dubious distinction that nonperformance is the hallmark of public ownership and even any improvement can at best be only ephemeral. Several agencies based and democracy based theories have explained why they cannot perform. But no study has addressed the significant variations in their performance and tried to explain these variations in terms of motivations of the owner-government and the agent-manager. This paper addresses this question. Public ownership is not a homogeneous concept and the agent manager's discretion, which largely determines the strategic behavior of the organization is conditioned by the type of demands the government puts on the organization and the diligence with which the government's goals are pursued. The paper explores the connection between the expectations of the external actors, the owners and resource providers ^and the firm's managers on the strategy formulation of the organization which in turn shape the structure, controls, incentives and processes of the organization, which ultimately determine the performance. The paper draws from the study of two electric utilities in India and one in Thailand, all of them being State owned.

Suggested Citation

Ranganathan, V. and Prasad, L. and Gupta, Sanjay, Determinents of Public Utility's Performance (January 30, 2001). IIM Bangalore Research Paper No. 165, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2161253 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2161253

V. Ranganathan (Contact Author)

Indian Institute of Management (IIMB), Bangalore ( email )

Bannerghatta Road
Bangalore, Karnataka 560076
India

L. Prasad

Indian Institute of Management (IIMB), Bangalore ( email )

Bannerghatta Road
Bangalore, Karnataka 560076
India

Sanjay Gupta

Indian Institute of Management (IIMB), Bangalore

Bannerghatta Road
Bangalore, Karnataka 560076
India

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