The overall aim of this thesis is to present a model for rational goal-setting and to illustrate how it can be applied in evaluations of public policies, in particular policies concerning sustainable development and environmental quality. The contents of the thesis are divided into two sections: a theoretical section (Papers I-IV) and an empirical section (Papers V-VII). Paper I identifies a set of rationality criteria for single goals and discusses them in relation to the typical function of goals. It is argued that goals are typically set to enhance goal achievement. A goal that successfully furthers its achievement is “achievement-inducing”. It holds for each of the identified criteria that, ceteris paribus, improved satisfaction of a criterion makes a goal better in the achievement-inducing sense.Paper II contains an analysis of the notion of goal system coherence. It is argued that the coherence of a goal system is determined by the relations that hold among the goals in the system, in particular the relations of operationalization, means and ends, support, and conflict. Paper III investigates the rationality of utopian goals. The paper analyzes four arguments that support the normative criterion of attainability: that utopian goals are (1) too imprecise and (2) too far-reaching to guide action effectively, (3) counterproductive, and (4) morally objectionable. A tentative defence of utopian goal-setting is built on counter-arguments that can be put forward to weaken each of the four objections. Paper IV investigates the nature of self-defeating goals. The paper identifies three types of situations in which self-defeating mechanisms obstruct goal achievement: (1) situations in which the goal itself carries the seeds of its own non-fulfilment (self-defeating goals), (2) situations in which the activity of goal-setting contributes to goal failure (self-defeating goal-setting), and (3) situations in which disclosure of the goal interferes with progress (self-defeating goal disclosure). Paper V provides a brief description of the Swedish system of environmental objectives and a preliminary inventory of the management difficulties that attach to this goal system.Paper VI contains an investigation into the rationality of five Swedish environmental objectives through an application of the rationality criteria identified in Papers I-II. The paper identifies and discusses some difficulties that are associated with management by objectives and the use of goals in environmental policy. Paper VII analyses the rationality of the Swedish environmental quality objective A good built environment. Among the conclusions drawn in the paper are that some of the sub-goals to the objective are formulated in terms that are unnecessarily vague from an action-guiding standpoint and that others are problematic from the viewpoint of evaluability. / QC 20100715

Le risk management d’entreprise (ERM) est un ensemble de politiques, de structures et de pratiques infuses d’idéaux sociaux de bonne gouvernance et de contrôlabilité. Nous nous demandons ici dans quelles mesures le travail des acteurs permet l’adoption durable de l’ERM dans l’organisation. Dans le cas du Groupe La Poste, l’appropriation des pressions externes par les auditeurs internes a été cruciale. Une fois introduit dans l’organisation postale, l’ERM a d’abord été confronté à l’indifférence du management. Les contenus réglementaires et normatifs ont été adoptés sans être mis en œuvre. Des structures partielles d’ERM ont été peuplées de risk managers détenant les compétences nécessaires pour répondre aux attentes externes. Ces risk managers ont ensuite travaillé à légitimer et structurer le dispositif conformément aux « meilleures pratiques » en réalisant un travail de recouplage – action intentionnelle des individus visant à aligner le risk management organisationnel avec les traits externes et abstraits de l’ERM. L’étude du cas La Poste suggère ainsi une explication organisationnelle au fait que l’ERM ne puisse être révoqué une fois en place. / Enterprise-wide risk management (ERM) is a set of policies, structures and practices infused with social ideals of good governance and controllability. In this research, we seek to know how actors’ work allows ERM lasting adoption in the organization. In La Poste, the enactment of external pressures by internal auditors turned out to be critical. When introduced in the postal organization, ERM first encountered management disregard. As a consequence, ERM regulatory and normative meanings and categories were adopted but not implemented in the business. Partial ERM structures were created and inhabited by risk managers who hold necessary skills to help organizational compliance with external expectations. Newly appointed risk managers worked internally to legitimize and structure the device consistently with external “best practices” performing what we named recoupling work - the purposive action of individuals and organizations aimed at aligning organizational risk management with external ERM abstract features. Thus, our case suggests an organizational explanation to the fact that risk management could not be rescinded after its initial settlement.