When do we think farther and deeper? Interacting impacts of accountability focus and organizational learning on proactive policy orientation

Abstract

Purpose This study attempts to answer the question: "how are the two drivers, accountability focus and organizational learning, independently and interactively associated with public agencies' proactive policy orientation?" The first driver is the multiple accountabilities that public agencies pursue: (1) bureaucratic, (2) legal, (3) professional and (4) political. The second driver is the organizational learning activities of public agencies: (1) socialization, (2) externalization, (3) combination and (4) internalization. Design/methodology/approach For data, 800 respondents from the public agencies in South Korea were surveyed. Findings The analysis provided several findings: (1) the discretionary accountabilities (professional and political) have a greater positive influence on the proactive policy orientation; (2) the conventional accountabilities (legal and bureaucratic) tend to have negative impacts on the proactive policy orientation and (3) among the four types of accountability, legal accountability can be more significantly complemented by organizational learning activities, which can enable both visionary and realistic administration in a balanced manner. Originality/value This study provides a unique insight on how organizational proactivity can be ensured through the interactions of organizational accountabilities and organizational learning.