GENERAL RESEARCH INTERESTS
Dr. De Waele engages in academic as well as applied research into a variety of public management issues, using quantitative, qualitative, experimental as well as mixed methods designs. He actively shares research plans and outcomes with peers and practitioners to ensure results are accessible to a wide variety of audiences. Consequently, he regularly conferences such as the European Academy of Management, the Academy of Management, the International Research Society for Public Management, Public Management Research Conference and the European Group for Organizational Studies. Lode strongly believes research, teaching, and consulting activities should constantly strengthen each other. Furthermore, Lode is one of the founders of the Corruption in the Public Sector (CorPuS)-project.
STRUGGLING BETWEEN CONTROL, COMPETITION, AND COLLABORATION
Many organizations today are behaving as hybrids in that they are simultaneously combining different governance logics, such as those of Traditional Public Management, New Public Management, or Public Value Governance. In this context, the main aim of the project is to develop a conceptual framework that can be used to determine if a given public organization behaves as a hybrid. In addition, a secondary aim is to gain more insight into the underlying antecedents at both individual and organizational levels that may drive organizations towards hybridity, with the third and final aim being to determine how hybridity may affect organizational performance.
This project has resulted in unique expertise, driven by sound empirical research in public hospitals, state-owned enterprises, local administrations and Ministries.