Explaining variation in organizational change: the reform of human resource management in the European Commission and the OECD (in Special Issue: Reforming the European Commission ed. Michael W. Bauer)

Abstract: This article investigates the reforms of human resource management in the European Commission and the OECD by analysing comparatively to what extent both organizations have adjusted their respective structures towards the ideal type of the so-called new public management (NPM). The empirical findings show that reforms towards NPM are more pronounced in the Commission than in the OECD. These findings are surprising for two reasons: first, it seems paradoxical that the OECD as central promoter of NPM at the international level lags behind the global trend when it comes to reforming its own structures. Second, this result is in contradiction to theoretical expectations, as they can be derived from theories of institutional isomorphism. Nevertheless, to account for the surprising results, it is necessary to modify and complement existing theories especially with regard to the scope conditions of their causal mechanisms.