Public management theory generally assumes that public and private organizations' decisions and decision processes differ. However, surprisingly little research has identified specific, empirically-derived differences and similarities. Seeking to fill this gap between research and theory, this study examines the influence of publicness on types of strategic decisions encountered by managers. Two different concepts of publicness are examined, one based on organizations' legal status or ownership, the other a dimensional concept whereby organizations can be more or less public depending on the degree of external political control of their resources and activities. Drawing upon data from a mail survey of 210 upper managers in 39 organizations, the analysis indicates that (1) publicness has a small influence on the types of strategic decisions addressed; (2) publicness is associated with greater decision participation but not smoothness; and (3) the ownership concept of publicness is important in accounting for differences in strategic decision making, but the dimensional publicness concept accounts for differences beyond those attributable to ownership alone.
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© 1990 American Society for Public Administration