Purpose

This paper compares the impact of leadership behaviours on the discretionary power, and well-being, and affective commitment of police officers from Italy and the United Kingdom (UK). In contrast to Italy, UK is an example of a core-New Public Management (NPM) country that has implemented reforms, in turn, changing the management and administration of public organizations. Consequently, it is expected that there will be significant differences in the behaviour of police officers. In particular, the paper examines the antecedents and outcomes of police officers' well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

The study involves collecting and analysing survey data using Structural Equation Modelling from 220 Italian and 238 UK police officers.

Findings

There was a significant path from Leadership to Discretionary Power to Employee Well-being to Affective Commitment – at least for the Italian sample. The UK sample does not have a significant link between leadership and discretionary power. Discretionary power was similarly low for both groups as was affective commitment. Authentic leadership and discretionary power explained approximately a third of their well-being, particularly discretionary power. Together, directly and indirectly (mediated by well-being), they explained at least a third of police officers' commitment to their organization. Well-being appears to be the key to ensuring effective police officers.

Research limitations/implications

The limitation of this paper includes the use of cross-sectional data (Podsakoff et al., 2003). However, a common latent factor (CLF) was included, and several items that were explained by common method variance were controlled, as per George and Pandey's recommendations (2017). Additionally, a Harmon's single factor test was applied to the data.

Practical implications

The UK police officers have significantly lower commitment compared with the Italian police officers (non-commitment), and both Italian and UK police officers have less discretionary power and well-being compared with police from the United States of America (USA) police officers and other street-level bureaucrats (SLBs). The findings suggest that the present police leadership behaviours erode rather than supports police officers' discretionary power and well-being, leading to a low organizational commitment. Leadership training will better prepare managers to ensure the well-being of police officers working under conditions of work intensification.

Originality/value

The UK police officers have significantly lower commitment compared with the Italian police officers (non-commitment), and both Italian and UK police officers have less discretionary power and well-being compared with US police officers and other SLBs. The findings show that the police leadership erodes rather than supports police officers' discretionary power and well-being, leading to low organizational commitment. Leadership models that enhance employee well-being rather than efficiency targets must be a priority if police are to be prepared to cope effectively with emergencies and pandemics.

中文翻译：

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比较真实领导对意大利和英国警察的自由裁量权、幸福感和承诺的影响

目的

本文比较了领导行为对意大利和英国警察的自由裁量权、幸福感和情感承诺的影响。与意大利相反，英国是一个实施改革的核心新公共管理 (NPM) 国家的例子，反过来又改变了公共组织的管理和行政。因此，预计警务人员的行为会有显着差异。特别是，本文考察了警察福利的前因和结果。

设计/方法/方法

该研究涉及使用结构方程模型收集和分析来自 220 名意大利和 238 名英国警察的调查数据。

发现

从领导力到全权委托，再到员工幸福感再到情感承诺，有一条重要的路径——至少对于意大利样本而言是这样。英国样本在领导力和自由裁量权之间没有显着联系。两个群体的自由裁量权和情感承诺一样低。真正的领导和自由裁量权解释了他们大约三分之一的幸福感，尤其是自由裁量权。总之，直接和间接（以幸福为中介），他们至少解释了警察对其组织的承诺的三分之一。福祉似乎是确保有效警务人员的关键。

研究限制/影响

本文的局限性包括使用横截面数据（Podsakoff等，2003）。但是，根据 George 和 Pandey 的建议（2017 年），包含了一个共同潜在因素 (CLF)，并控制了由共同方法方差解释的几个项目。此外，对数据应用了 Harmon 的单因素检验。

实际影响

与意大利警官相比，英国警官的承诺明显较低（不承诺），意大利和英国警官的自由裁量权和福利均低于美利坚合众国（USA）警官和其他街头官僚 (SLB)。研究结果表明，目前的警察领导行为削弱而不是支持警察的自由裁量权和福利，导致组织承诺低。领导力培训将使管理人员更好地做好准备，以确保在工作强化条件下工作的警官的福祉。

原创性/价值

与意大利警官相比，英国警官的承诺明显较低（不承诺），与美国警官和其他 SLB 相比，意大利和英国警官的自由裁量权和福利均较少。调查结果表明，警察领导削弱而不是支持警察的自由裁量权和福利，导致组织承诺低。如果警察要做好有效应对紧急情况和流行病的准备，就必须优先考虑提高员工福祉而不是效率目标的领导模式。