Modelling the relationship between counter‐knowledge and open‐mindedness for policy development

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1605
• Date: 01 August 2017
• Published date: 01 August 2017

■Academic Paper

Modelling the relationship between

counter-knowledge and open-

mindedness for policy development

Pedro-José Martínez-Ortiz

1

, Sandra Moffett

2

,

Juan-Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro

1

*and Fernando A. López Hernández

1

1

Facultad de Ciencias de la Empresa, Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Cartagena, Spain

2

School of Computing and Intelligent Systems, Ulster University, Londonderry, UK

Counter-knowled ge refers to flaws in citizens’mental models arising from utilization of rumours, inappropriate

knowledge struct ures, outdated routi nes or procedures. When c ounter-knowledg e is applied to civil se rvants, it

may result in problems of efficiency, equity and motivation. This paper examines the relationship between

counter-knowledge and open-mindedness to model a framework for improving city marketing and policy develop-

ment. This study test ed two measurement mo dels. While the theo retical model represen ts the effect of counte r-

knowledge on city marketing and that the latter has a negative effect on open-mindedness, the alternative model

involves that counter-knowledge has a positive indirect impact on open-mindedness. These relationships are exam-

ined through an empirical investigation of 203 Spanish city halls. The results show a potential positive indirect

effect of counter-kn owledge on open-min dedness through cit y marketing programm es. This paper clarifies the

existing literature, which tries to contribute to the discussion of city marketing, and helps us to obtain meaning

out of the relationship between counter-knowledge, city marketing and open-mindedness. Copyright © 2016 John

Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

INTRODUCTION

Citizensand businesses demandbetter publicservices

(McCunn & Gifford, 2014). They want more friendly

civil servants who should always be approachable,

willing to listen and willing to provide great advice

when needed (Wiig, 2002). In local government, a

large number of workers are knowledge workers.

Drucker (1999) describes knowledge workers as those

who think for a living, utilize their br ains more than

their hands to produce value and are carriers of orga-

nizational knowledge (Galbreath, 2002). In this vein,

civil servants as knowledge workers play a key role

within local administration, shaping and modelling

local policy and delivering quali ty servic es to citi-

zens (Wiig, 2002; Hájková & Hájek, 2014). Their

responsibilities are considerable and include such

areas as management of local affairs, administra-

tion of local services and external relations with

citizens (Farrell, 1996; Van Ryzin, 2011).

The preceding considerations call on civil ser-

vants to be open-minded and willing to learn.

Open-mindedness is receptiveness to new ideas

(Sinkula, Baker, & Noordewier, 1997), and it is one

of the most sought-after employee traits (Baker &

Sinkula, 1999). Being open-minded attributes to a

willingness to listen to other ideas and opinions

and consider the possibility that you may change

your own perspective (Sinkula et al., 1997). While

open-mindedness may be considered as a way of

acknowledging and correcting mistakes (Baker &

Sinkula, 1999), being open-minded is an innovation

that potentially helps civil servants to focus on the

*Correspondence to: Juan-Gabriel Cegarra-Navarro, Facultad de

Ciencias de la Empresa, Technical University of Cartagena, C/

Real 3, Cartagena 30201, Spain.

E-mail: juan.cegarra@upct.es

Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 1 of 13

Journal of Public Affairs

Volume 17 Number 3 e1605 (2017)

Published online 10 February 2016 in Wiley Online Library

(www.wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/pa.1605