On Justification Work: How Compromising Enables Public Managers to Deal with Conflicting Values

Abstract

In the public administration literature, a variety of responses to value confl icts have been described, such as trade-off s, decoupling values, and incrementalism. Yet little attention has been paid to the possibility of constructive compromises that enable public managers to deal with confl icting values simultaneously rather than separately. Th e authors use Luc Boltanski and Laurent Th évenot’s theory of justifi cation to extend current conceptualizations of management of confl icting values. On the basis of a qualitative study of daily practices of Dutch health care managers (executives and middle managers), they show how compromises are constructed and justifi ed to signifi cant others. Because compromises are fragile and open to criticism, managers have to perform continuous “justifi cation work” that entails not only the use of rhetoric but also the adaption of behavior and material objects. By inscribing compromises into objects and behavior, managers are able to solidify compromises, thereby creating temporary stability in times of public sector change.