Toxic Managerialism in Public Organizations: A Thematic Network Analysis

This study explores how managerialist arrangements interact with organizational contexts to enable, legitimize, and reproduce toxic managerial behavior in public organizations. While research on toxic leadership has largely focused on individual traits and interpersonal dynamics, less attention has been paid to the structural and ideological conditions through which harmful managerial practices become accepted and sustained. Using an expert-informed qualitative interpretivist design, this study analyzes semi-structured interviews with 22 management experts through thematic network analysis. The findings identify four overarching themes: managerialism as a public-sector governing logic, manifestations of toxic managerial behavior, legitimation and reproduction of toxic managerial behavior, and erosion of human capital, service quality, and public trust. The findings suggest that managerialist arrangements may redefine competence through numerical achievement, prioritize upward accountability, legitimize harmful practices, and normalize authoritarian control and psychological pressure. The study advances toxic leadership research by highlighting organizational conditions beyond leader pathology.