Customer orientation in an Australian public service agency and its effect on public service motives: developing a research study

The Australian public service has experienced dramatic changes during the last few decades. One of the changes is the push for public servants to behave in accordance with private sector principles, such as customer service orientation. This paper is developing a research study that aims to analyse the motivational forces that enable (or disable) the behavioural changes of public servants and what impact (if any) those changes have on traditional public service motives. The study intends to use an extended expectancy-valence model together with a public service motive measurement scale to identify if there are relationships between motivational forces, customer service oriented behaviour and public service motives.