Organizational effects on policy implementation in a geographically dispersed natural resources organization

Central administrators in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Division of Forestry perceived that policies were inconsistently implemented at the field level. Data were collected on implementing five policies in 34 field offices and related to organization structure factors. Overall policy implementation was between 85% and 90%, although nearly 30% of the respondents reported implementation of a given policy at or below 75%. Significant differences were found in overall policy implementation among the five administrative regions in the division. Significant differences in implementation were also found among policies and among field offices. Critical factors related to policy implementation included direct influence by people in units above the field office; physical location of the field office in relation to supervisory offices; regional differences in biophysical, social, and economic factors; influence of other DNR units; and feedback from staff specialists about job performance.