We analyse how public managers interact with external stakeholders during cutbacks. Relying on strategic management scholarship, we develop an argument on why public managers decide for a closed or an open cutback management strategy. In the former, they try to close off the process for external stakeholders, whereas, in the latter, they actively engage with external stakeholders. A multiple qualitative case study of cutbacks in the Dutch prison sector shows that the choice to actively engage with external stakeholders depends on public managers’ position within the organisational hierarchy, their perception of the stakeholder environment and their process goals. The factors that impact public managers strategic stance can be categorised as contextual, institutional and organisational and environmental determinants. The article contributes to the scholarship on cutback management, accounting and strategic management and shows why these perspectives should be bridged in order to understand managerial behaviour during cutbacks

中文翻译：

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防守、探查或反应？荷兰监狱部门裁员期间的战略管理

我们分析了公共管理者在裁员期间如何与外部利益相关者互动。依靠战略管理学术，我们就公共管理者为何决定采用封闭式或开放式削减管理战略展开论证。在前者中，他们试图关闭外部利益相关者的流程，而在后者中，他们积极与外部利益相关者接触。荷兰监狱部门削减的多项定性案例研究表明，积极与外部利益相关者互动的选择取决于公共管理人员在组织层次结构中的地位、他们对利益相关者环境的看法以及他们的流程目标。影响公共管理者战略立场的因素可分为背景、制度和组织以及环境决定因素。