<p>The Swedish government decided in 1996 that the governmental authorities are to implemement</p><p>environmental management systems. Each year, the Swedish Environmental Protection</p><p>Agency compiles the authorities’ reports on their environmental management systems. The</p><p>compilation shows that not more than 20 % of the authorities perform environmental audits.</p><p>This study aims to investigate the authorities’ view of internal environmental audits, the incentives</p><p>of performing them. It also investigates if the environmental audits contribute to continuous</p><p>improvements. The study is a case study of nine participating authorities that all reported</p><p>to have performed environmental audits in 2005. The interviews were analysed based</p><p>on the extent of the internal environmental audits. The result shows that three of the nine participating</p><p>authorities did not perform any environmental audit at all. The results suggest that</p><p>the incentives of the greatest importance for internal environmental audits in the other six</p><p>authorities are external requirements, mainly requirements in ISO 14001, as well as commitment</p><p>in environmental issues among the employees and the organisational management. The</p><p>study also suggests that continuous improvement is a result of the internal environmental audit.</p><p>This is mainly due to the increased environmental awareness within the administration</p><p>and because of the continuous improvement of the environmental management system.</p>

The Swedish government decided in 1996 that the governmental authorities are to implemement environmental management systems. Each year, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency compiles the authorities’ reports on their environmental management systems. The compilation shows that not more than 20 % of the authorities perform environmental audits. This study aims to investigate the authorities’ view of internal environmental audits, the incentives of performing them. It also investigates if the environmental audits contribute to continuous improvements. The study is a case study of nine participating authorities that all reported to have performed environmental audits in 2005. The interviews were analysed based on the extent of the internal environmental audits. The result shows that three of the nine participating authorities did not perform any environmental audit at all. The results suggest that the incentives of the greatest importance for internal environmental audits in the other six authorities are external requirements, mainly requirements in ISO 14001, as well as commitment in environmental issues among the employees and the organisational management. The study also suggests that continuous improvement is a result of the internal environmental audit. This is mainly due to the increased environmental awareness within the administration and because of the continuous improvement of the environmental management system.

The crucial factor for successful municipal climate work is that there are driving forces. Most importantly is that the senior officials and politicians in the municipality are dedicated to the cause considering that they have the power to influence and make a change. Besides proactive and committed individuals, it is necessary that the work is organized and anchored by clear and concrete documents and control systems. It is also important that the work is continuously monitored and evaluated. To collaborate with other municipalities, authorities or participate in various networks is another factor contributing to the improved climate work in the form of exchange of information, knowledge and experience. A major driving force for municipalities to improve themselves is the distribution of state aid and grants. Being able to measure and compare themselves with other municipalities is also important because it encourages and motivates further efforts. One problem today is that there are no clear definitions and guidelines for a completely objective assessment of the climate work. According to the UN's climate panel, global emissions of greenhouse gases must be reduced with several percent to prevent global temperature increases from causing catastrophic and irreversible consequences. The greatest hope is placed on technology and development including better and more efficient engines and fuel. A transfer between transport modes, for example, from road and air to rail plays another big part. Swedish studies also show that efficient transport planning and changing behavior is of great significance for achieving the national vision. Municipalities have a great responsibility considering they transfer the overall goals into local action plans. The report examines the climate work of the three municipalities; Örebro, Eskilstuna and Östersund. The aim is to study the factors and driving forces behind a successful climate work. The goal is to contribute to a greater understanding of the local participants. A sidetrack of the report was to highlight how municipalities relate to government authorities. One result of this was a desire for better collaboration, in this case between the Transport Administration, the Sweden Energy Agency, the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, but also towards the municipalities themselves. Instead of handing out manuals and guidelines the government authorities should take on a coordination role and help the municipalities to build a sustainable structure of their climate work. Municipalities in this report were selected because it is suggested that they conduct a both active and successful climate work. The scrutiny was done with focus on organization and arrangements and interviews with responsible municipal officials have been implemented. Despite differences in the municipal organizational model they are still very similar in terms of centralization of climate work permeated with great commitment, clarity and sustainability. / Den avgörande faktorn för ett framgångsrikt kommunalt klimatarbete är att det finns drivande eldsjälar.  Allra viktigast är att de ledande tjänstemännen och politikerna i kommunen är engagerade då det är de som sitter på makten att påverka och förändra. Utöver drivande och engagerade individer är det nödvändigt att arbetet organiseras och förankras genom tydliga och konkreta dokument och styrsystem samt att det genomförs kontinuerliga uppföljningar och resultatredovisningar av arbetet. Att samverka med andra kommuner, myndigheter eller delta i olika nätverk är en annan faktor som bidrar till förbättrat klimatarbete i form av informations- kunskaps- och erfarenhetsutbyte. En stor drivkraft för kommunerna att förbättra sig är utdelning av statliga stöd och bidrag. Att kunna mäta och jämföra sig med andra kommuner är också viktigt då det sporrar och motiverar till ytterligare ansträngning. Ett problem idag är dock att det inte finns tydliga definitioner och riktlinjer för en helt objektiv bedömning. Enligt FN:s klimatpanel måste de globala utsläppen av växthusgaser minska flera procent för att undvika att jordens medeltemperatur ökar så kraftigt att det medför katastrofala och oåterkalleliga konsekvenser. Störst förhoppning läggs på tekniken och utveckling av bland annat bättre och effektivare motorer och drivmedel. Överflyttningar mellan trafikslag, exempelvis från väg och flyg till järnväg är en annan stor del. Svenska studier visar också att transportsnål samhällsplanering och förändrade beteenden har stor betydelse för att nå den nationella visionen. Kommunerna har ett stort ansvar då det är de som bryter ner och översätter de övergripande målen till lokala handlingsplaner. I rapporten granskas tre kommuner och dess klimatarbete. Kommunerna är Eskilstuna, Örebro och Östersund. Syftet är att försöka se vilka faktorer och drivkrafter som ligger bakom ett framgångsrikt klimatarbete. Målet är att bidra med ökad förståelse för de lokala aktörerna. Ett sidospår med rapporten har varit att belysa hur kommunerna ser på statliga myndigheter. Ett resultat av detta var ett önskemål om bättre samverkan, i det här fallet mellan Trafikverket, Energimyndigheten, Boverket och Naturvårdsverket men även gentemot kommunerna själva. En samordningsroll från myndigheternas sida där man inifrån hjälper till att bygga upp en hållbar struktur hos kommunerna är att föredra framför goda idéer, handböcker och riktlinjer. Kommunerna är valda då det antytts att de bedriver ett både aktivt och framgångsrikt klimatarbete. Granskningen har skett med fokus på organisation, samverkan och åtgärder och intervjuer med ansvariga tjänstmän har genomförts. Trots olikheter i den kommunala organisationsmodellen finns stora likheter i form av en centralisering av klimatarbetet som genomsyras av stort engagemang, tydlighet och långsiktighet.

Innovationer har betydelse för att både driva samhället framåt, men även för organisationers överlevnad. Det är en nyckelfaktor för att organisationer kan förändra och förbättra vad de erbjuder marknaden och möta kundernas behov. Förändringen påverkar även hur organisationen arbetar och därmed berörs även affärsmodellen. Vid benämning av organisationer framkommer det även att de består av både privata företag och statliga myndigheter. Respektive arbetar med olika syften, men innovation är fortfarande en nyckelfaktor för att de ska kunna leverera bästa möjliga värde till marknaden. Tidigare forskning visar däremot att statliga myndigheter står inför barriärer för att driva innovation som privata företag inte har. Vidare framkommer det även att traditionella teorier för affärsmodeller och innovation fokuserar på privata företag. Det finns därför ett behov av att undersöka hur traditionella affärsmodeller kan appliceras på statliga myndigheter och hur de anpassas genom innovation som drivs. Studien syftar således till att öka förståelsen för statliga myndigheters affärsmodeller, med målet att undersöka hur affärsmodellens delar anpassas genom innovationer och innovationsprocesser. Studien har en abduktiv ansats och en kvalitativ metod där fyra utvalda statliga myndigheter som driver en innovation i en innovationsprocess undersöktes: Lantmäteriet, Arbetsförmedlingen, Tillväxtverket och Försäkringskassan. Intervjuer har genomförts med representanter från respektive myndighet för att öka förståelsen för den innovation som de driver. Slutsatserna som studien visar är att samtliga undersökta myndigheter driver inkrementella och teknologiska innovationer för att förbättra antingen processer eller produkter. Vidare befinner sig även myndigheterna i en innovationsprocess och har inte genomfört en implementation ännu. För affärsmodellen ser vi att samtliga byggstenar anpassas, men inte signifikant. Effektivitetsdelen av affärsmodellen är den enda som det går att dra slutsatser om att den anpassas då interna resurser och aktiviteter måste läggas till för att kunna driva innovationen framåt. Det går inte att dra slutsatser om anpassningen av värdedelen av affärsmodellen, då detta först kan mätas när en implementation är genomförd. / Innovations are important for driving society forward, but also for the survival of organizations. It is a key factor for organizations to change and improve what they offer to the market and meet customer needs. The change also affects how the organization works and therefore the business model is also affected. When it comes to organizations, it also appears that they consist of both private companies and government authorities.Both work for different purposes, but innovation is still a key factor for them to deliver the best value to the market. Previous research shows, however, that government authorities face barriers to drive innovation that private companies do not have. Furthermore, it appears that traditional theories for business models and innovation focus on private companies. There is therefore a need to investigate how traditional business models can be applied to government authorities and how they are adapted to the innovation. The study thus aims at increasing the understanding of government authorities’ business models, with the aim of exploring how the parts of the business model are adapted to innovations and innovation processes. The study has an abductive approach and a qualitative method in which four governmental authorities that engage in innovation in an innovation process were investigated: Lantmäteriet, Arbetsförmedlingen, Tillväxtverket and Försäkringskassan. Interviews have been conducted with representatives from the respective authorities in order to increase understanding of the innovation they operate. The conclusions shown by the study are that all investigated authorities are pursuing incremental and technological innovations to improve either processes or products. Furthermore, the authorities are also in an innovation process and have not yet implemented the innovation. For the business model, we see that all building blocks are adapted, but not significantly. The efficiency part of the business model is the only one to conclude that it is adapted as internal resources and activities need to be added to drive innovation forward. We cannot draw conclusions about adjusting the value of the business model, as this can first be measured when an implementation is completed.

Denna studie undersöker hur statliga myndigheter är som hyresgäster på den svenska lokalhyresmarknaden. I studien analyseras myndigheternas hyreskontraktslängder samt den faktiska hyresperioden för respektive lokal. Därutöver utreds hur respektive myndighet hanterar sin lokalförsörjning både organisatoriskt och strategiskt. För att få en tillförlitlig perception om dagens situation har såväl historisk utveckling samt rådande trender och framtidsutsikter i den statliga lokalförsörjningen beaktats. Tidigare forskning kring myndigheters lokalhyrestider är begränsad, således är förhoppningen att denna studie ska bringa klarhet i detta. Vidare ämnar studiens syfte till att klargöra statliga myndigheters strategi gällande lokalförsörjning. Studien bygger på en kvalitativ del vilken innefattar intervjuer med fem statliga myndigheter. Dessa myndigheter är personalintensiva och har en sådan verksamhet som nyttjar en stor andel kontorsyta. Utöver den kvalitativa delen har en kvantitativ studie genomförts där myndigheternas hyreskontrakt analyserats, både historiska och nuvarande. Lokalförsörjning är inte statliga institutioners kärnverksamhet, detta har gjort att en vanlig uppfattning är att institutionerna inte prioreterar sin hyressituation. Denna studie visar att hyressituationen haft en sekundär roll men att myndigheterna idag fått kontroll eller arbetar med att få kontroll över sin hyressituation. Statliga myndigheter sitter kvar markant längre än de skriver hyreskontrakt på. En tendens är att de kortat ner sina kontraktslängder samtidigt som de sitter kvar längre i sina lokaler. Vid omlokalisering av en myndighet uppstår stora flyttkostnader detta medför att en myndighet hellre stannar kvar i sina lokaler än genomför en flytt. Vid ändrade förhållanden av hyressituationen föredras en anpassning av den befintliga lokalen framför en omlokalisering. Myndigheter som analyserats är Arbetsförmedlingen, Domstolsverket, Försäkringskassan, Polisen samt Skatteverket. / This study examines how government authorities behave as tenants in the Swedish rental market. The study analyses the authorities’ rental contract lengths and the actual rental period for each of the subject premises. In addition, the study investigates how each authority handles its premises, both organisationally and strategically. To get an accurate perception of the current situation, historical and current trends and future prospects of premises have been taken into account. As previous research of authorities’ rental periods is limited; this study aspires to bring clarity to the subject. Further, the purpose of the study is to clarify the government authorities’ policies and strategies regarding their premises rentals. The study is based on one qualitative part which includes interviews with five government authorities. These authorities are labour-intensive with businesses using large proportions of office space. In addition to the qualitative part, a quantitative study has been carried out, regarding historical and current government leases, followed by an analysis. Premises are not the core business of the Government institutions, which has led to a widespread belief that institutions are not prioritising their rental situation. This study shows that the rental situations historically have had a secondary role, but that authorities today have good control, or working to gain control of their rental situation. Government authorities are still occupying the premises significantly longer than the lease length they originally sign for. One tendency is that they have shortened their contract lengths, but stay longer in their facilities. A relocation of an authority is associated with major moving-costs, which is why Government authorities tend to occupy their existing premises instead of moving. The authorities prefer tenant improvements (TI’s) in their actual premises before relocation. Analyzed authorities are the Public Employment Service, the National Courts Administration, the Social Insurance Agency, the Police and the Tax Agency.

Yes / Second generation web-based technologies (Web 2.0) such as social media and networking sites are increasingly being used by governments for activities ranging from open policy making to communication campaigns and customer service. However, this in turn has brought about additional challenges. By its very nature, Web 2.0 technologies are more interactive than the traditional models of information provision or creation of digital services. Such technologies open up a new set of benefits, costs and risks to those government authorities who make use of these social and digital media to enhance their work. This study draws on the extant literature together with an in-depth qualitative case enquiry to propose an emergent framework for evaluating the intra-organisational use of Web 2.0 technologies and its impact on local government. The study findings identified additional four factors (i.e. benefits: intra-marketing, informal engagement, costs: workload constraints and risk: integration with other systems) as part of the evaluation criteria which have not previously been discussed in the existing literature surrounding the context of Web 2.0 use in local government. The study concludes that a combined analysis of the evaluation and impact assessment factors, rather than one particular approach would better assist decision makers when implementing Web 2.0 technologies for use by public administration employees.

I Sverige ökar antalet nyanlända människor som ska etablera sig i det svenska samhället. Sysselsättning och deltagande på den svenska arbetsmarknaden har visat sig vara grundläggande för att integrering av nyanlända ska ske så snabbt som möjligt. Samtidigt är Arbetsförmedlingen en av de allra första myndigheterna som en nyanländ möter i Sverige. Studien har därmed avsett att undersöka Arbetsförmedlingens interkulturella kommunikationsarbete med syfte att bringa klarhet kring hur en svensk myndighet arbetar gentemot dess multikulturella befolkning. Myndighetens kommunikationsarbete har studerats utifrån begreppet interkulturell kommunikation inom organisationer och studien bygger på fem stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer och en gruppintervju med anställda vid Arbetsförmedlingen.     Resultatet av studien visar att myndigheten i högsta grad arbetar med interkulturell kommunikation gentemot deras nyanlända medborgare, samtidigt som många hinder försvårar myndighetens kommunikationsarbete. Språket är den främsta svårigheten, där tolkens roll blir oerhört viktig och antingen hjälper eller stjälper kommunikationen. Samtidigt bidrar många andra orsaker, så som svagt förtroende för myndigheter, traumatiserade människor eller bristande resurser till att myndigheten inte kan utföra sitt kommunikativa arbete på bästa sätt. / In Sweden, the numbers of immigrants are constantly increasing. Participation at the Swedish labour market is crucial when it comes to a successful establishment for the newcomers. Arbetsförmedlingen (the Swedish labour authority), is also one of the first authorities a newcomer encounters once in Sweden. With this in consideration, this study was designed to investigate the intercultural communication work at Arbetsförmedlingen with the aim to bring clarity around how a Swedish authority works toward its growing multicultural population. We have studied Arbetsförmedlingens communicational work based on the concept of intercultural communication within organizations. The study is based on four semi-structured interviews and one group interview with employees at Arbetsförmedlingen.   The result of the study shows that the government authority works with intercultural communication towards their newcomers on a high level but obstacles in the intercultural communication hamper the communicational efforts. Language barriers are seen as the main difficulty, and the interpreter’s role becomes extremely important and can either help or hinder the communication. At the same time, many other difficulties are contributing to communicational problems for the authority. Lack of trust in authorities, traumatized people and lack of resources hinders the authority to achieve a truly good intercultural communication.

This diploma thesis deals with an electronic communication with Civil Service and local government authorities in the Czech Republic. The introductory part defines the Civil Service and local government, in the other parts the thesis deals with the electronic communication itself. Further the thesis focuses on a communication through data boxes. Data boxes were put into practice in 2009 year. They are mandatory especially for institutions of Civil Service and local government authorities and business entities. An individual can also set up the data box voluntarily. Using the data box with an electronic signature, the individual can communicate with authorities electronically. The aim of the thesis was to map a state of the electronic communication in the Civil Service and local government authorities in the Czech Republic, South Bohemian region. This goal was carried out by means a questionnaire survey that took place in February 2012. Employees of the Regional Authority in České Budějovice were addressed, as well as employees of municipalities and job centres in chosen cities. The questionnaire survey showed that respondents evaluate the project of the data boxes mostly positively. Most respondents use the data boxes at their work as well as the electronic signature. This diploma thesis could serve to people who will start to work with the data boxes or they are thinking to set it up. However, the thesis also can serve to people who are interested in the topic of the electronic communication.

Electronic government (e-Government) in terms of public service delivery and administration has endured signification transformation over the last decade. More recently, modern second generation web technologies (Web 2.0) have started to be used to deliver e-Government. However, this in turn has brought about additional challenges. By its nature, Web 2.0 is more interactive than the traditional model of information provision or creation of digital services and as such opens up a new set of benefits, costs and risks to those who make use of it as part of their e-Government approach. In the main, the usage of Web 2.0 is in its infancy within e-Government and this creates a need for research into exploring the application of Web 2.0 technologies in e-Government and to provide practical advice to practitioners. This research draws on the existing literature to present a novel conceptual model that could be used to guide implementation and evaluation of Web 2.0. The conceptual model draws the existing literature into the traditional information systems (IS) evaluation model (benefits, costs and risks) specifically in terms appropriate to Web 2.0. In turn that evaluation is set in the context of the impact on the organisation in terms of organisational, technological and social consequences. This conceptual model was tested in a United Kingdom local government authority (LGA) that had recently started to make use of Web 2.0 in terms of service delivery and for internal work purposes by its employees. The result was a qualitative enquiry making use of interviews and documentary evidence to explore the validity of the conceptual model as a tool to assist decision making in this field. The findings elicited from the in-depth case study offer an insight into IS evaluation criteria and impact factors of Web 2.0 from both a practical setting and an internal organisational perspective. An interesting finding of this study was the contrast between the agreement on the need for evaluation of Web 2.0 tools and how to carry that out, and the fact that this had not been formally carried out by the case study with respect to its early Web 2.0 projects. This study concludes that a combined analysis of the evaluation and impact factors rather than a singular approach would better assist the decision making process that leads to effective application of Web 2.0 technologies. Keywords: e-Government, Web 2.0, Information Systems Evaluation, Impact, Local Government Authorities (LGAs).

The diploma thesis deals with the statute of the Municipality of the capital city Prague, which is the central authority of public administration and municipal government in the city. The city of Prague is not only province, but also corporate town and the largest domicile in the Czech Republic. The thesis analyses legal boundaries of the capital city in relevant acts (Municipalities Act, Capital City Act) and depicts the historical development of its administration between 1918 - 2009. The authorities of the Municipality of capital city Prague, its inner structure, competencies and major task in the areas of public administration and municipal government are also described within the thesis. It summarizes the relationships between the Municipality and local council (political leadership of the city), central offices of the public administration and subordinate units. In the end, it also sums the internal legal norms (financial management, requirements on the officers etc.) up and provides the evaluation of the contemporary state.