4. Self-efficacy
Human resources play a basic role in translating municipal politics into tangible actions. Self-efficacy of human resources is one of the most important instruments to generate positive performance and in turn, positive outcomes for urban areas.
Bandura (1997) describes self-efficacy as one's belief or judgment on what he or she can do with the skill he or she possesses within a certain environment. Self-efficacy beliefs consists of three interrelated dimensions including generalizability, magnitude, and strength. Within the municipalities context these skills might be what decision makers can do, such as using research in preparing plans, managing transport and using information technology to analyze. “Generalizability” is about the degree to which one's belief is limited to a specific domain of activity. Thus, individuals with high “generalizability” are expected to be able to confidently use different types of research. The “magnitude” refers to the level of capability expected. Thus, individuals
with high “magnitude” (i.e. self-efficacy) perceive themselves competent to accomplish more difficult tasks with minimum support and assistance compared to those with lower “magnitude” of self-efficacy .The “strength” of selfefficacy
refers to the confidence an individual has regarding their ability to use research in the decision making process It will be interesting to see how this variable
works out in practice since efficacy could have two opposing impacts. A high level of self-efficacy might on the one hand mean that the individual will be highly confident and competent at making decisions without perceiving a need to use research findings. Alternatively it may result in a more engaged and evidence based approach that would mean greater use of research findings, and it is this standpoint that underpins the hypothesis that a lack of selfefficacy will have a negative impact on the use of research in the decision making process.