Beyond-Compliance Behaviour: Concept and Operationalization in the Context of Using Domestic Products Policy in Public Procurement

Introduction

Studies have shown that various difficulties and barriers can be encountered despite efforts to implement policy, causing individuals to persist in behaving similarly (Nizigiyimana et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2021; Yoong et al., 2021). Furthermore, public policy implementation has diverse challenges, and Matland’s model explains how conflicts and ambiguities within policy can impact its execution (Matland, 1995). Individual behavior plays a crucial role in successful policy implementation when addressing challenges. The effectiveness of public policy depends on the actions taken by individuals, groups, and organizations, often informed by behavior science (Fox & Sitkin, 2015).

Studies defined policy implementation behavior as adherence to already established policy. A gradual method of addressing policy must be adopted to prevent any adverse consequences resulting from policy trends (Esteves & Barclay, 2011). Addressing policy challenges requires individuals to exhibit behavior beyond mere compliance (Anthony et al., 2019; Flynn, 2018; Jensen, 2020; J. Kim & Oh, 2015; Nobbie & Brudney, 2003). Several studies have explored the concept of Beyond-Compliance, particularly concerning how organizations respond to regulations and policy (Hopkins, 2007; Prakash, 2001; Rorie et al., 2018).

This study delved deeper into the actions of individuals during policy implementation, looking beyond-compliance behavior. This research aims to introduce the concept of the beyond-compliance behavior of individuals in policy implementation and operationalize it on using domestic products policy in public procurement. Using domestic products and paying attention to small and medium enterprises in public procurement is becoming increasingly popular and is expected to positively impact society and the economy (Esteves & Barclay, 2011). Meanwhile, several studies in various countries show that policies to use domestic products in public procurement experience various challenges in their implementation, thus requiring strategies in their implementation in order to run effectively and efficiently (Collins, 2018; Esteves & Barclay, 2011; Hansen, 2020; Kalyuzhnova et al., 2022; Kazzazi & Nouri, 2012; Ovadia, 2012; Wells & Hawkins, 2010).

This research consists of two stages. The first stage is determining the dimensions of beyond-compliance behavior from several previous studies through a literature review. The second stage is to identify and operationalize variables in the context of policies on the use of domestic products and public procurement through interviews. Furthermore, the study’s results analyzed the impact of beyond-compliance compared to compliance. This research also presents theoretical and practical implications that may be useful for future studies.

Literature Review

Street Level Beauracratic and Beyond-Compliance Behavior

In the bureaucratic street-level theory, Michael Lipsky assumes that individual policy implementers are directly involved in policy implementation (Taylor & Kelly, 2006; Tummers & Bekkers, 2014). Regulations are often open-ended and allow for flexibility and discretion in implementation (Taylor & Kelly, 2006). Street-level bureaucratic implementation behavior describes how regulations sometimes do not fit the specific conditions and require discretion (Taylor & Kelly, 2006; Tummers & Bekkers, 2014).

Beyond-compliance behavior is similar to implementation behavior in Lipsky’s concept. Beyond-compliance behavior brings an organizational concept in responding to policies (Hopkins, 2007; Prakash, 2001; Rorie et al., 2018) into the context of the individual (Li et al., 2017). Beyond-compliance behavior is the behavior of individuals who are compliant in implementing policies and make various efforts outside of their duties to ensure policies can be appropriately implemented.

Lipsky’s concept focuses on implementation discretion as a form of implementation flexibility (Taylor & Kelly, 2006; Tummers & Bekkers, 2014). This concept is slightly different from the concept of beyond-compliance behavior, which focuses on extra efforts made in response to implementation barriers faced in the field (Li et al., 2017). Beyond-compliance behavior upholds compliance and even goes the extra mile, while street-level bureaucratic behavior leads to discretionary compliance to deal with conditions that are not as expected.

Beyond-Compliance Behavior: Conceptual Framework, Dimensions and Aspect

Acceptability, feasibility, suitability, and compliance are the most commonly measured implementation outcomes (Allen et al., 2020). Behavior itself is multidimensional and flexible so that the analysis can be adapted to the characteristics of the behavior under study (Flynn, 2018; Gkargkavouzi et al., 2019; Lambe & Craig, 2020; Meneses & Palacio, 2016; Yang et al., 2019). In the context of using domestic products policy implementation in public procurement, more than compliant behavior is needed because various challenges must be faced (Collins, 2018; Esteves & Barclay, 2011; Hansen, 2020; Kalyuzhnova et al., 2022; Kazzazi & Nouri, 2012; Ovadia, 2012; Wells & Hawkins, 2010). Beyond-compliance behavior is necessary for a change effort (Bakari et al., 2017).

In several policy-related studies, obedience behavior in policy implementation predominantly focuses on compliance (Christine & Nielsen, 2017; Gibson, 2019). Compliance refers to an individual’s behavioral response, indicating their attitude to accepting or rejecting a regulation (Christine & Nielsen, 2017; Meyer, 2021). It can also be defined as an individual behavior response that shows an attitude of accepting or rejecting policy implementation. Therefore, compliance is crucial in implementing policy (Anthony et al., 2019; Flynn, 2018; Jensen, 2020; J. Kim & Oh, 2015; Nobbie & Brudney, 2003).

Some related studies beyond compliance focused more on organizational context in responding to regulations or policy (Hopkins, 2007; Prakash, 2001; Rorie et al., 2018). Li et al. introduced the concept of ‘Extra-Role Behavior’ as Beyond-Compliance Behavior at an individual level (Li et al., 2017). Extra-role behavior entails creative behavior that is voluntarily performed and exceeds the assigned role or task (S. S. Kim, 2020; Vigoda-Gadot, 2007; Wuyts, 2007). This concept is relevant to beyond-compliance in policy implementation, where behavior goes beyond assigned roles (extra-role behavior). It shows obedience to duties and functions while voluntarily engaging in creative behavior that supports achieving policy objectives.

This study specifically examined compliance dimension and extra-role behavior as dimensions of beyond-compliance behavior. Compliance Dimension, in the context of using domestic products policy, is based on the work of Meyer and Christine & Nielsen (Christine & Nielsen, 2017; Meyer, 2021). Compliance refers to the actions taken by individuals to either support or oppose the use of domestic products in public procurement, as shown through their behavior (Christine & Nielsen, 2017; Meyer, 2021). Furthermore, the dimension or aspect of extra-role behavior that explains creative behavior is closely related to the existence of strategies, plans in implementation, and voluntary behavior, providing suggestions for improvement (Hsu et al., 2015; S. S. Kim, 2020; Srivastava & Dhar, 2019). In using domestic products in public procurement, the extra-role behavior dimension incorporates these three aspects to develop dimensions or aspects, namely strategies, plans, and suggestions for implementing policy.

The dimensions and aspects of beyond-compliance behavior are further mapped in Figure 1. Beyond-compliance behavior has two dimensions, namely compliance and extra-role behavior. Compliance is behavior that shows acceptance or rejection of the policy. This compliance is the basic behavior expected in policy implementation. Meanwhile, extra-role behavior exceeds the expected tasks or basic behavior. Extra-role behavior can take the form of efforts to formulate strategies in dealing with obstacles, careful planning in policy implementation, and providing suggestions and input for continuous improvement.

Figure 1.Dimensions and Aspects of Beyond-Compliance Behavior

Method

This study comprised two distinct stages. The report created dimensions and aspects of beyond-compliance behavior in the first stage. Meanwhile, the second stage focused on operationalizing variables. As a pilot study on beyond-compliance behavior, it was essential to formulate dimensions and aspects of the variable. A comprehensive literature review of prior studies was conducted to establish dimensional or aspect constructs, while interviews were conducted to operationalize variables. The interview stage played a role in operationalizing variables, particularly in implementing the policy on using domestic products in public procurement.

This study was conducted in Indonesia, a Country focusing on using domestic products in public procurement policy following the Presidential Regulation of Indonesia 16 of 2018 and its amendments on Government Procurement of Goods/Services. In order to obtain precise and dependable data, nine people from three distinct organizations were interviewed (Donkoh, 2023). These agencies had different achievement grades for policy implementation, categorized as high, medium, and low. The agencies selected the individuals interviewed as representatives who held a specific role in public procurement planning, selection, and contracting processes. Individuals hold procurement manager positions or structural positions with additional duties in public procurement.

Interview Procedure and Analysis

This research was conducted using semi-structured interviews asking about individuals’ efforts in implementing domestic products policy in public procurement. This research also explored aspects and dimensions of beyond-compliance behavior in the interviews. Data collection was conducted inductively with open-ended questions. Open-ended questions were prepared based on the dimensions and aspects discussed in the next sub-chapters presented in Figure 1. The following are the things that were asked to identify behavior in policy implementation:

1. What are the considerations in conducting public procurement?

2. How can agencies use domestic products in public procurement as currently achieved?

3. What is the role of individuals in implementing domestic products in public procurement?

4. What obstacles are faced during implementation?

5. How do you deal with these obstacles? What strategies were used?

6. Can you explain how you intend to plan the implementation to ensure its smooth operation?

7. What is done if there is a need for input in policy implementation?

According to the results of the exploration of dimensions and aspects also presented in Figure 1, there are 2 (two) dimensions, namely compliance and extra-role behavior, both identified operationally through interviews. Compliance is the implementation behavior by the policy, namely essential compliance by considering the use of domestic products in the procurement of goods/services. Meanwhile, extra-role behavior is anything beyond essential compliance to encourage policy implementation.

The results of these interviews were subsequently analyzed using the Constant Comparative Method, which involved deductive and inductive coding through open, axial, and selective techniques (Harding, 2018). The Atlas.ti application assisted coding in this study. Atlas.ti very helpful for qualitative data analysis in social science disciplines (Hwang, 2008). Open coding is carried out by codifying inductively and deductively from the results of interviews, which produce several behaviors related to policy implementation. Furthermore, axial coding is carried out by combining codes with similarities and the exact meaning to obtain key codes that represent all informants. Finally, selective coding is carried out by matching behavior codes with dimensions and aspects of beyond-compliance behavior.

Selective coding produced the final themes resulting from the operationalization of the variables. Because the number of themes is quite large and varied from the codification results, the themes were sorted according to the number of occurrences in the nine interviewees. Furthermore, key behaviors that match the dimensions and aspects of beyond-compliance behavior and have the most frequent occurrence are called ‘salient themes’ of beyond-compliance behavior. In the compliance dimension, 5 (five) themes were taken, and in the extra-role behavior, 6 (six) themes with the highest number of occurrences are presented in Table 1. There is no minimum frequency standard, and it can fulfill only some aspects previously mapped. This consideration was taken because, operationally, not all aspects may appear.

Results

Interviews were conducted based on the arranged dimensions or aspects in the literature review. Structured questions were designed to explore the variables proposed in this study within the context of using domestic products policy in public procurement. The interview results were analyzed through deductive and inductive open coding, generating general codes. The codification results were subsequently grouped by considering the similaritation, known as categorization or axial coding, which results in crucial behaviors. Lastly, the crucial behaviors found were selected and matched with aspects and dimensions of beyond-compliance behavior, resulting in central themes of beyond-compliance behavior called selective coding.

Based on selective coding, an accumulation of code frequencies emerged from all respondents, wherein several high-frequency themes were identified as the salient themes of beyond-compliance behavior. These particular themes revealed the operational form of each dimension and aspect examined in this study. The highest frequency results of each variable are further presented in Table 1. The results of the operationalization should provide valuable input forusing domestic products policy in public procurement in Indonesia. Subsequent studies will focus on preparing questionnaires and quantitative studies to measure beyond-compliance behavior.

Based on this result, a comprehensive exploration of different perspectives was conducted to analyze the salient themes and their impact. The first focus was to examine how beyond-compliance behavior affected the environment (Cascio, 2008; Csutora, 2012). This analysis was instrumental in showing the differences between compliant and beyond-compliance behavior. Furthermore, theory and policy practice implications are also discussed in this article.

Discussion

Spreading Impact of Beyond-Compliance Behavior

The results of the interviews showed that all variables were identifiable through operational means, and employee behavior impacted the organization (Cascio, 2008). An individual’s behavior cannot be separated from its impact on the surrounding environment, regardless of whether the impact is as expected (Csutora, 2012). The extra-role behavior dimension had a more diffuse impact based on the operational behavior resulting from these two dimensions. In contrast, compliance behavior had a more direct impact on the organization; this result is presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2.Dimensional Impact of Beyond-Compliance Behavior

Figure 2 shows the operationalization and impact of the Dimensions and Aspects of Beyond-Compliance Behavior in Figure 1. Compliance with policies is operationally found by considering the use of domestic products in public procurement and the organization’s needs. This behavior influences the organization. Furthermore, the extra-role behavior that emerges from the operationalization results is strategic behavior and voluntarily provides input to the organization and leaders. Strategic behaviors include paying attention to the quality of goods procured that impact the organization, encouraging businesses to be involved in public procurement, communicating and coordinating with various stakeholders for successful implementation, encouraging implementation from users who use procured products, and continuous learning efforts for individuals.

The policy was found to be implemented thoroughly with beyond-compliance behavior involving various parties. Policy implementation involves a wide range of actors and organizations, and relationships between actors in the policy form a policy network, where successful implementation requires cooperation and coordination within existing policy networks (DeGroff & Cargo, 2009; Hall & O’Toole, 2000; Y.-J. Kim, 2021; Lim, 2019). In implementing this policy, beyond-compliance behavior was expected to encourage smooth coordination from various parties. Policy-implementing individuals focused on personal success in accomplishing policy-related tasks and made efforts to achieve collective policy implementation successfully.

Implementing policy in the organization is inseparable from the changes that will occur. Changes in public organizations can have different criteria, resistances, and factors contributing to success or failure (Kuipers et al., 2014). These changes can be incremental or planned at the beginning of policy implementation, with the potential to be revisited, expanded, refined, and reevaluated throughout the implementation process (Damschroder et al., 2009).

Meanwhile, resistance to the change process is strongly related to employee behavior and how employee participation in decision-making can affect change (Agboola & Salawu, 2011; Amarantou et al., 2018; Kuipers et al., 2014). In this study, individuals who went beyond-compliance followed regulations, paid attention to the organizational needs, and actively provided input, indicating they were less likely to resist organizational changes and could even become catalysts for change.

The success of an organization in implementing policy can be measured from various perspectives as it differs from one organization to another (Marsh & Mcconnell, 2010). It can also be influenced by behavioral factors from within and outside the organization (Siddique, 2016). In this study, combining two dimensions in beyond-compliance behavior showed a diffuse impact. The impact of behavior may affect intrinsic behavior for individuals and organizations or extrinsic behavior on all parties related to using domestic products policy in public procurement.

Groups or individuals interested in public policy are essential in determining policy agenda and subsequent decision-making from government and non-government (Brugha & Varvasovszky, 2000). The government’s role as a stakeholder in public policy is also a significant contributor to driving policy (Brugha & Varvasovszky, 2000). According to using domestic products policy in public procurement, the government occupies various roles in agencies, with some acting as policy formulators, implementers of public procurement, or even users of goods/services. Nevertheless, an important role is the mobilization of stakeholders outside the government. When referring to the pervasive impact of beyond-compliance behavior in this study, non-government stakeholders also gain attention from individuals involved in public procurement. When owned by policy implementers, beyond-compliance behavior is expected to maximize the role of the government in mobilizing both internal and external parties to support policy implementation.

This study also described the interaction between the dimensions of compliance and extra-role behavior. Based on the results of the interviews, it is known that there are individuals who need to be more fully compliant or discretionary implementation but make extra efforts as many as three out of nine interviewees. Six out of nine interviewees were found to be simultaneously compliant and making extra effort. This study did not find individuals who were wholly non-compliant and without extra effort and who were compliant but did not make extra effort. In other individuals, it is possible to find these variations, so measurement instruments need to be developed to see how the existence of these two dimensions in individuals in the context of implementing policies on the use of domestic products in public procurement.

Theoretical Implication: Innovative Approach and Potential Future Studies

The policy implementation study primarily prioritizes the measurement of policy adherence (Anthony et al., 2019; Flynn, 2018; Jensen, 2020; J. Kim & Oh, 2015; Nobbie & Brudney, 2003). Policy compliance enforcement typically relies on the authority of those in leadership roles (Passini & Morselli, 2009). However, the process of policy implementation often presents various challenges that demand solutions to ensure successful execution (Nizigiyimana et al., 2022; Wang et al., 2021; Yoong et al., 2021). Then, this fact raised a fundamental question: Can compliance solely address these challenges and ensure successful policy implementation?

This study introduced an innovative approach to assessing policy implementation behavior by examining beyond-compliance behavior. The behavior is expected to contribute significantly to the successful implementation of policy. Consequently, there is a substantial potential for further investigations and the development of theories on this subject, as beyond-compliance behavior is likely to evolve beyond the confines of the policy context.

This study can be continued with further research to develop a questionnaire, measure beyond-compliance behavior, and assess the impact on the organization and its influencing factors. The variable operationalization stage ensures accurate measurements and can be followed by the formulation and testing of the questionnaire (Emmerich et al., 2016; Haghbin, 2015; Jespersen et al., 2018). The operationalization stage and results provided valuable insights for future studies conducted in diverse contexts, offering substantial benefits to policymakers and experts.

People Management: Implication to Procurement Policy and Practices

This research combines the two dimensions of compliance and extra-role behavior as beyond-compliance behavior. Individual behavior within an organization can also be influenced by organizational support. Both compliance and extra-role behavior require support from management (Humaidi & Balakrishnan, 2018; Knies & Leisink, 2014; Reychav & Sharkie, 2010).

Management support was also found to affect compliance behavior indirectly (Humaidi & Balakrishnan, 2018). Compliance management strategy depends on the level of compliance that occurs, including incentivizing and persuasive communication (Arias, 2015). Compliance needs to be investigated first through the 5W’s (What, Why, When, Where, and Who); this method is considered to investigate compliance comprehensively to determine the next strategic step (Arias, 2015). This approach will likely be used to manage compliance with public procurement policies, including using domestic products policy. Procurement managers can drive policy compliance by first investigating the compliance background with the 5 W’s method and determining the most suitable strategy.

As with compliant behavior, encouraging extra-role behavior is also influenced by management (Knies & Leisink, 2014; Reychav & Sharkie, 2010). Reward expectations, management values, psychological support, and trust in management influence trust in the organization, which can encourage extra-role behavior (Reychav & Sharkie, 2010). People management also affects individual ability commitment and extra-role behavior (Knies & Leisink, 2014). As well as driving compliance, it is essential for procurement managers to do good people management so that individuals are encouraged to perform extra-role behaviors.

The importance of beyond-compliance behavior in the implementation of policies in public procurement means that procurement managers need to pay attention to aspects that can encourage this behavior. In general, people management needs to be done to increase the ability and commitment of individuals (Knies & Leisink, 2014). Investing in human resource management to encourage individual ability and commitment is critical to organizational success (Knies & Leisink, 2014). Therefore, public procurement policies must also specify technical policies related to human resource management to achieve successful implementation.

It is identifying the appropriate public procurement policy that can foster behavior beyond mere compliance. Previous studies showed that various beliefs and perceptions could influence behavior (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011). Leveraging these beliefs in policy development can create effective policy strategies (McDougall, 2016; Miller & Macintyre, 1999). Further research is needed on perceptions and beliefs that can drive beyond-compliance behavior in implementing domestic products policy in public procurement.

The importance of management support in implementing the policy of using domestic products in public procurement is also evident from the results of this study. Based on the results of interviews from three agencies, it is known that three people from the same agency with the lowest achievement tend to exercise discretion in implementing policies on the use of domestic products in public procurement. The discretion exercised by the interviewees is to prioritize quality considerations and organizational compliance. One of the interviewees said that if goods need to meet the quality, the policy of using domestic products can be ignored. The perception that the leader’s order must be carried out even though not by the policy of using domestic products in public procurement also emerged from one of the interviewees. This perception was not found in the other two organizations. This result shows that implementation behavior is also influenced by leadership support. Leaders are essential in mobilizing management (Ahn et al., 2004; Su & Baird, 2018). Differences in leadership and management support may be the difference in policy implementation in this study. However, research on the influence of leadership and management values on beyond-compliance behavior needs to be investigated further. Prominent leadership and management values need to be identified and compared with the results of measuring beyond-compliance behavior.

Limitation of Study

This research is a pilot study. The concept of beyond-compliance behavior is still very likely to be refuted and developed. The findings and concepts in this study need to be more superficial. Although beyond-compliance behavior can benefit organizations, further research needs to be conducted. Methodologically, this concept may also be operationalized with other relevant approaches, such as through literature reviews for themes that are widespread and in-depth observations for behaviors that are very difficult to explore.

Research on the relationship between beyond-compliance behavior and organizations also requires further, more comprehensive research. Several studies have found that behavior can influence organizational performance (Espedal et al., 2012; Javed, 2020; Lewis, 1994). On the other hand, it has also been found that organizations (e.g., organizational values) can influence behavior (Avota et al., 2015; Saleem, 2014; Shahin et al., 2014). This research has yet to find and describe clearly the reciprocal relationship between beyond-compliance behavior and organizations that need to be followed up with further research.

Conclusion and Contributions

In conclusion, this study has formulated behavior dimensions or aspects beyond-compliance. These dimensions and aspects were developed by drawing insights from previous studies on behavior. This preliminary stage provided an overview of how to formulate variable dimensions and aspects before operationalizing them into indicators, as well as the investigation of the salient themes of each variable, which was a necessary step before the preparation and testing of questionnaires (Emmerich et al., 2016; Haghbin, 2015; Jespersen et al., 2018).

This study could serve as a valuable reference for further investigations, as it offered insights for shaping the domestic products policy in Indonesia. Moreover, it illustrated the operational aspects of beyond-compliance behavior in policy implementation practices. This pioneering study was expected to spur similar investigations in diverse contexts and offer an overview of behavioral policy research. This research has many limitations, including shallow concepts, methodologies, and findings that need more comprehensive. The limitations of this study are the potential for ongoing research and improvement.

Through variable operationalization, salient themes were identified for beyond-compliance behavior within the context of using domestic products policy in public procurement. These themes showed that beyond-compliance behavior, particularly in the extra-role behavior dimension, had a diffuse impact on various parties. The characteristics of policy implementation that closely aligned with multiple stakeholders were in line with the characteristics of beyond-compliance behavior (DeGroff & Cargo, 2009; Hall & O’Toole, 2000; Maghfiroh et al., 2021; Meehan et al., 2016).

The results held practical implications for procurement policy and practice. Beyond-compliance behavior was predicted to have a positive impact on multiple stakeholders. Therefore, it was recommended that policies be developed to promote this behavior. Policies related to human resource management are needed to encourage behavior that is beyond-compliance (Knies & Leisink, 2014; Reychav & Sharkie, 2010). In addition, research related to beliefs and perceptions that can influence beyond-compliance behavior is also needed to encourage this behavior through appropriate policies (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2011). More comprehensive research on the relationship between beyond-compliance behavior and organizations should also be conducted in the future.

Acknowledgment

The authors are grateful to LPDP (Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education) for generously awarding a scholarship, which enabled the pursuit of this academic study.