<p>I de flesta offentliga organisationer arbetas idag i projekt¬arbets¬form. Dessa organisationer måste ta hänsyn till att projekt inte längre är ett undantag och skapa strukturer och metoder för koordination av projektverksamheten. Vid projektplaneringen kan ett antal olika metoder användas för att undvika fel och brister som lätt uppstår när flera personer är inblandade. Fel och brister gynnar inte den inre effektiviteten. Ett likartat arbetssätt, ibland i form av projektmodell, kan användas för ökad kontroll av projektarbetsformen. Projektmodellen medför struktur och rutiner som förbättrar utnyttjandet av projekt¬arbets¬formen.</p><p>Syftet med denna magisteruppsats i industriell projektledning är att undersöka och be¬skriva om projektledarna inom offentliga organisationer använder metoder som bidrar till att öka den inre effektiviteten i projektledarens projektplanering.</p><p>Undersökningsmetoden är av kvalitativ art. Den empiriska datainsamlingen har skett genom telefonintervjuer eller besöksintervjuer med tolv respondenter fördelade på sex av Sveriges länsstyrelser.</p><p>Med utgångspunkt från undersökningen har vi konstaterat att den inre effektiviteten på¬ver¬kas av i vilken mån metoder för projektplanering används. För att öka projektets inre effek¬tivitet och förankringen av projektet bör intressentanalys och kravanalys föregå den över¬enskommelse som resulterar i en tydlig beskrivning av projektets mål.</p><p>Vi har funnit att ansvar och befogenheter måste anges tydligare än vad som är brukligt idag för att öka den inre effektiviteten samt fördelar med att placera projekten utanför den vanliga linjeorganisationen. Beträffande kommunikation behöver fler rapporter skrivas i avsikt att gynna lärandet inom organisationen och finnas tillgängliga i större utsträckning.</p><p>Den inre effektiviteten kan öka om projektledaren förutom kunskap i sakämnen också besitter kunskap i metoder för projektplanering. En generell slutsats är att en projekt¬modell och/eller en väl genomförd och strukturerad planering gynnar den inre effek¬tiviteten eftersom problem och konflikter minimeras när så sker.</p> / <p>The work in most public sectors today is sometimes done in project work form. These organizations have to realize that projects are no longer an exception, but rather the norm, and create structure and methods to coordinate the projects. There are some different methods that can be used during project planning to avoid mistakes and shortcomings, which can easily happen when many people are involved. Mistakes and shortcomings do not improve the efficiency of the organization. A similar way of working, often in the way of a project model, can be used to increase the control of the project. The project model intro¬duces structure and routine which in turn increases the use of the project work form.</p><p>The purpose of this master thesis in Industrial Project Management is to examine and describe if project managers within the public sector use methods of project planning to increase the efficiency of the organization.</p><p>The research method is of qualitative conduction. The empirical data collection has been done through phone interviews and personal interviews with 12 respondents representing six of Sweden’s county ministries.</p><p>Starting with the study, we concluded that the efficiency of an organization depends on which level of methods the organization use for project planning. To increase a project’s efficiency and to attain organizational commitment a stakeholder analyse and analysis of requirements should be done before the agreement of the project result. The agreement must show a detailed description of the project goal.</p><p>We have found that responsibility and duties have to be more clearly specified to increase the efficiency. If the project is organized outside the normal guidelines we have found an improvement of the efficiency. To improve the learning within the organization more reports need to be done and be easily accessible.</p><p>The efficiency of the organization will improve if the project manager not only is know¬ledgeable about the project idea but also has good knowledge about project planning methods. A general conclusion is that problems and conflicts are minimized if the project is well planned and structured or a project model is used. In consequence of those actions the project efficiency will increase.</p>

<p>As more and more local governments begin to understand that the great promises of e-service delivery are harder than expected to realize, efficient use of ICT-resources have become increasingly important. Since simply providing more e-services is not the solution, the need to understand what constitutes a suitable e-service has arisen. Public services reach beyond the market domain; therefore, the complexities of public value must be dealt with when services are appraised. Furthermore, due to the heterogeneous nature of local government services it is impossible to evaluate all the options in depth; thus, there is a clear need for early-stage appraisal. However, existing methods of appraisal are burdened by intricacy, and associated with high costs. In response, this paper presents a model capable of reducing this intricacy. The model was developed through a participatory design process involving members on both operational and strategic level in the municipality of Skellefteå. The model implements state of the art into the workspace context while taking measures to reduce intricacy such as: incremental filtering, moving high intricacy elements to the end of the process, and exploitation of available data. As a result the organization is enabled to capture not only the low hanging fruit, but also the long tail of services. Furthermore, the improved understanding of e-service delivery has the potential to open up opportunities for new ways of business development and private-public partnerships. Finally, whereas the model presented is highly context-dependent, the implications outlined in this paper are not limited to this narrow scope.</p> / Models for Strategic Business Development in Public Service

<p>The increased attention to performance measurements is evident in both private and public sector organizations and among both academics and practitioners. Although there is a strong belief in the possibilities of using measurements for managing organizations, both academics and practitioners have questioned measurements potential. This thesis takes part in debating the potentiality of performance measurements by attending to the development, use and consequences of non-financial indicators that are considered a specific form of performance measurements.</p><p>When investigating the development of indicators, it became evident that several of the new indicators developed proved to be reformulations of non-financial measurements already used within the organizations before the development work. What had changed was primarily the meaning ascribed to the measurements. As a consequence of this ‘re-cycling’ of measurements, it is concluded that the meaning given to specific non-financial indicators change over time. The present investigation also reveals that three shifting rationales are informing the development of indicators. This finding contributes with insights into the construction of indicators and how the link between indicators and action are conceived and established in a development process.</p><p>A main finding of the investigation concerns how indicators are used. In contrast to previous studies, the results show that indicators can have a negative impact on performance unless the indicators are used in a sophisticated way. Based on these results it is argued that it is insufficient to attend solely to <i>if</i> indicators are used, i.e. greater attention needs to be paid to the question of <i>how</i> they are used. The investigation also presents evidence suggesting that the often used adage “what gets measured gets managed” needs to be revised. It is argued that measuring is not a means to activate the organization <i>per se</i>. Rather, measurements support those issues that are already mobilized within the organization.</p><p>In conclusion, this investigation suggests that the potentiality of indicators depends on the meaning ascribed to indicators, how indicators are assumed to link to action, how indicators are used and how indicators are related to other organizational activities.</p>

The central objective of this study was to establish the extent to which public procurement, as applied at Sedibeng District Municipality, contributes to the development of designated suppliers. Previously, procurement was considered just another function of government responsible for purchasing and receiving goods. Currently, procurement is considered a strategic function that can be utilized by government to achieve certain policy objectives, such as Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and Local Economic Development (LED).If implemented properly, without favoritism, nepotism and corruption, public sector procurement will promote the empowerment of designated groups. In this way, it will address socio-economic imbalances of the past. The study's hypothesis implied that Sedibeng District Municipality has laudable objectives to promote black economic empowerment through procurement. However, the implementation procedures and processes showed considerable constraints. Academic literature and government procurement documents were reviewed; and interviews were conducted at Sedibeng municipal area. The literature study was based on best procurement practices both in government and private sector. Empirical research was conducted on Sedibeng District Municipality's procurement unit practices, Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise development and the benefits of procurement to designated suppliers. The purpose was to determine the role that procurement policies play in promoting black economic empowerment. Eventually, a number of models and systems were recommended to improve procurement policies and procedures at Sedibeng District Municipality. These methods include: Management Assessment System; Realistic Objectives System; Departmental Evaluation Plan; Contract Progress Report Form; and Checklists. In the view of the researcher, a combination of these methods can assist to improve procurement policies and procedures. / Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2009.

Dieses Sonderheft der Schriftenreihe des Lehrstuhls für Public Management präsentiert ausgewählte Ergebnisse eines Lehrforschungsprojektes. Dabei wurde in Anlehnung an Mintzbergs Managementforschung die Frage gestellt, wie Führungskräfte in der Verwaltung tatsächlich ihre Organisationen steuern. Das Sonderheft enthält die explorativen Befunde aus drei empirischen Studien, die von Teilnehmern und Teilnehmerinnen des Seminars durchgeführt wurden. / This Special Issue of the Chair of Public Management’s publication series presents some results of a student research seminar. Following Mintzberg’s approach of management research, we posed the question, “What do public managers really do?” when it comes to managing their organizations. The Special Issue reports the explorative findings of three empirical studies conducted by participants of the research seminar.

Since Sweden has one of the most comprehensive welfare states, the role of voluntary organizations active in the field of welfare is often neglected. The unique Swedish nonprofit sector is characterized by 1) the tradition of popular mass movements in which members are central and the real owners of the organization, 2) large membership and volunteering, but low employment levels, 3) dominance in the fields of culture and recreation, but the relative marginalization in welfare. This Ph.D. dissertation empirically studies work and the perception of work in voluntary welfare organizations (VWOs) in Sweden. I completed a series of 38 interviews of employees and volunteers in four VWOs: 1) a children’s rights organization; 2) a women’s center; 3) a volunteer bureau; and 4) a humanitarian organization. A quantitative survey of some 200 VWOs supplements the qualitative data. Looking at the internal work setting and interactions between workers one realizes that work in VWOs is influenced not only by the popular mass movements (folkrörelser), which are the foundation model of all Swedish voluntary organizations, but also by paradigms emerging out of the public and for-profit sectors: 1) the public paradigm permanently shapes voluntary welfare organizations through the action of paid workers who often have public sector work experience; and 2) work in voluntary organizations is partly integrated into the regular labor market, and interfaces emerge between volunteering and professional life (for-profit paradigm). The private sphere also interferes with volunteering. Finally, this sheds a new light on the claims of VWOs that they are autonomous, “free” entities, and their contribution to social integration and strengthening of social ties.

In the new millennium the ideas of New Public Management (NPM) have become more and more popular within the public sector and its health care. NPM is a management philosophy that, among other things, aims at making public organizations more business like. The study explores the encounter between the organizational practice and an NPM idea, the idea of quality, at Landstinget in Värmland (LiV). More precisely the study aims at contributing to the discourse on effects of institutionalization as well as to knowledge on the process of local institutionalization. Another purpose of the study is to contribute to quality development in organizations. In order to do this, a project of quality (LiV 2002) at LiV is followed in time and space. In the empirical section three actor groups are identified, the new management, the old officials and the health care personnel. Between the old officials and the new management, and between the health care personnel and the new management conflicts burst out. The reason for these conflicts is, among other things, the actor groups’ diverging cultural conceptions. In the conclusion the idea of quality is, to a certain extent, found to be institutionalized in the formal structure of LiV. But the greater part of the actors’ action and thought schemes are unaffected. However, the actors at LiV are not fully unaffected by the idea of quality. It is argued that the cultural conceptions of the old officials and the health care personnel are reproduced during the work on quality. In the discussion concerning contributions, a model for studying local institutionalization from the perspective of sensemaking is put forward. It is argued that the model enables students of local institutionalization to focus on the cognitive micro processes of institutionalization. In the discussion on quality development, the focus is on difficulties and obstacles with quality development. These are found to be cultural conceptions, preservative sensemaking, processes of translation and that most public organizations are arena organizations.

This doctoral thesis focuses on translating Total Quality Management (TQM). The reason for this focus is that ideas such as TQM rarely or never contain a complete description of how the idea is to be “installed” in an organisation if it is to achieve the intended result. This often has the consequence that the result the idea is expected to produce in the organisation is only achieved in part, if at all. In Sweden there has been a great interest in working with the SIQ Model for Performance Excellence. In the thesis the model is viewed as an operationalisation of the TQM concept. The theoretical perspective of sensemaking is applied to understand what happens when organisations begin to use the model. This work is in the thesis seen as a translation process and contrasts the rational view of implementation. The sensemaking perspective rests on a social constructionist viewpoint, which distinguishes it from the view that TQM has on organisations. The study is placed in the interpretative paradigm and two service organisations in public sector have been studied with a longitudinal design. The main contribution of the study is a new way of looking at the work with the model. Thus, the interpretations could be seen as aspects, which together present a detailed description of the translation process. These aspects are, in summary, a way of looking upon and understanding: • the translation process as a number of parallel and reciprocal processes • the role of the translators • the relationship between translators and top management • the contextual prerequisites of the translation process. In addition to this, the thesis can work as a driving force towards a more constructive and critical attitude among practitioner of TQM. The somewhat seductive rhetoric and the risk to work with the model without an apparent intention are highlighted in the study. It seems that the model in itself can lead to collective sensemaking that gets the work done without discussing the intention. In light of the interpretations it becomes clear that working with the model is a relatively complicated process. Many of the failed attempts to reach excellence could be explained by unrealistic expectations of the character and requirement of the work. In the thesis, the translator has been introduced as a counterbalance that possibly could help dealing with the complexity of TQM.

The increased attention to performance measurements is evident in both private and public sector organizations and among both academics and practitioners. Although there is a strong belief in the possibilities of using measurements for managing organizations, both academics and practitioners have questioned measurements potential. This thesis takes part in debating the potentiality of performance measurements by attending to the development, use and consequences of non-financial indicators that are considered a specific form of performance measurements. When investigating the development of indicators, it became evident that several of the new indicators developed proved to be reformulations of non-financial measurements already used within the organizations before the development work. What had changed was primarily the meaning ascribed to the measurements. As a consequence of this ‘re-cycling’ of measurements, it is concluded that the meaning given to specific non-financial indicators change over time. The present investigation also reveals that three shifting rationales are informing the development of indicators. This finding contributes with insights into the construction of indicators and how the link between indicators and action are conceived and established in a development process. A main finding of the investigation concerns how indicators are used. In contrast to previous studies, the results show that indicators can have a negative impact on performance unless the indicators are used in a sophisticated way. Based on these results it is argued that it is insufficient to attend solely to if indicators are used, i.e. greater attention needs to be paid to the question of how they are used. The investigation also presents evidence suggesting that the often used adage “what gets measured gets managed” needs to be revised. It is argued that measuring is not a means to activate the organization per se. Rather, measurements support those issues that are already mobilized within the organization. In conclusion, this investigation suggests that the potentiality of indicators depends on the meaning ascribed to indicators, how indicators are assumed to link to action, how indicators are used and how indicators are related to other organizational activities.

This case study focuses on the intentions of public sector transformation. In particular, on a Swedish public authority, the National Rail Administration (NRA) this is studied and analysed. As in other parts of the Swedish public sector, the management of this authority is planning and executing ‘marketisation’ reforms. Parts of NRA’s monopoly are to be ended and to be guided by the market. The aim of the study is to examine how conflicts between management and employees are shaped according to the changes taking place. Firstly, the study assesses how management interprets the new demands put upon the organisation and translates them into action. These actions illustrated as changes from 'monopoly to market' in order to be a legitimate business competitor; from ‘bureaucracy to flexibility’ in order to enhance competence and changing employees' identities from 'technique to tactic' in order to serve the customer properly The study then examines the management-driven implementation of these reforms; and how the employees respond to the changes from a resistance perspective. The discussion highlights what happens when the new management-driven organising principles meet the old, technology-oriented principles of employees. This contributes to a deepened understanding of why organisational changes made in the name of ‘market’, ‘flexibility’ and ‘customer’ meet resistance in the public sector. From a resistance perspective the changes are understood as ‘rationalisation’, work intensification’ and increased ‘individual control’, which per se leads to undermining of the traditional safety culture and technical skills. The customer orientation is met with highly ironic attitudes and interpreted as ‘infantilisation’ of the employees. The concluding remarks are that conflict and antagonism is ever present in organisations and in this case manifest in three domains, legitimating, restructuring and revaluating, and between management perspective and resistance perspective.