The purpose of this dissertation is to study the application of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the Information Systems (IS) development processes. The study describes and evaluates TQM concepts and techniques in the IS development processes and interprets sub-organizational elements in the application of TQM in the public sector. This dissertation uses a multiple case study methodology to study the development processes of IS in three public agencies. This study attempts to examine what quality means across these public organizations and to discover the differences between IS development methodologies that do or do not apply TQM concepts and techniques. The late Dr. W. Edwards Deming, regarded as "father" of post war Japanese economic miracle as well as leading advocate of the TQM movement in the United States, developed a systematic approach to solving quality related problems which aims to fulfill customer expectations. His system of management is adopted as the theoretical basis to this dissertation. The "lessons learned" from these case studies, empirically and in literature, reveal multiple experiences of TQM applications to IS development processes in the public sector. / Ph. D.

This qualitative study investigates which factors influence public service motivation among managers in the Swedish public sector. Specifically, it examens the impact of organizational, societal, and political factors on public service motivation. Conducted within a local authority facility, the study employs a thematic analysis of interviews with managers to derive its results. The findings indicate that organizational, societal, and political factors do influence public service motivation at the managerial level, although the extent of influence varies among individuals. Additionally, the study identifies various intrinsic motivation factors contributing to the experienced level of public service motivation. In conclusion, while this study sheds light in the manifestation of public service motivation among managers, it suggests further exploration through deeper studies to enhance the understanding in this area.

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The economic potential in introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the Swedish Public administration is substantial and it is calculated to be approximately 140B SEK per year[5]. However, without a comprehensive AI strategy and lack of sufficient digital competence, an AI implementation becomes a struggle [9]. According to IBM Research, 120 million people around the world admitted that they may need to upskill due to automation and AI, which has aggravated during the pandemic. However, the lack of digital skills is the biggest barrier to this process. This study analyzes the challenges of an application of the AI technology, Natural Language Processing (NLP), in public procurement. Through a qualitative method with an abductive approach, 10 semi-structured interviews are conducted with experts from the public- and private sector and identify key challenges of NLP in public procurement which are the lack of digital skills, legal-, ethical- and organizational challenges of NLP in the public context and the public sector’s inability to create partnerships and use business networks. This thesis is a case study of IBM that contributes to research on AI in the public sector and aims to help fill the research gap that exists within this field. The study’s purpose is to analyze and provide better insight into public procurement of NLP to increase the use of NLP technologies within public administration in Sweden. / Den ekonomiska potentialen i att införa artificiell intelligens (AI) i den svenska offentliga förvaltningen är stor och beräknas vara cirka 140 miljarder kronor per år [5]. Men utan en omfattande AI- strategi och brist på tillräcklig digital kompetens blir ett AI- genomförande en utmaning [9]. Enligt IBM Research medgav 120 miljoner människor runt om i världen att de kan behöva kvalificera sig på grund av automatisering och AI, vilket har förvärrats under pandemin. Brister på digital kompetens är dock det största hindret för denna process. Denna studie analyserar utmaningarna med en tillämpning av AI- teknologin, Natural Language Processing (NLP), vid offentlig upphandling. Genom en kvalitativ metod som går ifrån en abduktiv forskningsansats genomförs tio semistrukturerade intervjuer med experter från den offentliga- och privata sektorn samt en identifiering av de viktigaste utmaningarna för NLP i offentlig upphandling. Dessa är bristen på digitala färdigheter, juridiska-, etiska- och organisatoriska utmaningar av NLP i det offentliga sammanhanget och den offentliga sektorns oförmåga att skapa, använda och dra fördel av partnerskap och affärsnätverk. Denna rapport är en fallstudie av IBM som bidrar till forskning om AI inom den offentliga sektorn och syftar till att fylla det forskningsgap som finns inom detta område. Studiens syfte är att analysera och ge en bättre insikt i offentlig upphandling av NLP för att öka användningen av NLP- teknologi inom offentlig förvaltning i Sverige.

The public sector, particularly healthcare organisations are under ever increasing pressure to do more with less. This coupled with the need to keep up to the constant technological changes and ever increasing abundance of information has led to many public sector organisations adopting Business Intelligence (BI) in order to leverage business value and improve decision-making. However, many organisations such as the National Health Service (NHS) continue to fail in their Information Technology (IT) related initiatives. While the rise of BI and its growing influence in organisations has attracted much academic attention, this has largely been from architectural, design and technological perspectives, whilst little is known about how BI is used by various organisational actors to reach decisions, nor much is understood regarding its resulting impact on organisational power dynamics. Thus, there remains an under researched area of discussion in the literature from the perspective of BI users. While studies report how BI can impact organisational effectiveness, facilitate data driven decision making and supposedly overcome intuitive decision making, the extent to which BI impacts and alters power dynamics between organisational actors across the organisation has received little attention. Accordingly, this research adopts a qualitative case study approach to explore power resulting from BI use within a large NHS trust by conducting 30 semi-structured interviews consisting of operational managers and BI analysts. Through taking a human-centric approach, this research uncovers how BI is altering power dynamics between organisational actors, whereby BI analysts are becoming increasingly influential as a result of their analytical skills. It was found that operational managers are becoming more reliant upon data analysts, resulting in the analysts having more and more influence. However, this research finds it is only when the analysts supplement their technical skill-set with their institutional knowledge, that they have the ability to influence and enact power within the organisational settings. The research also offers insights into the contestations and conflicts which arise from the use of BI, between operational managers and analysts as well as between in-house analysts, based in the operation setting and the centralised analysts, operating across the entire trust. Accordingly, this research empirically validates a BI Power Enactment Framework and proposes the BI Power Matrix, which may assist policy makers in identifying determining key factors which are contributory to the success or failure of technological initiatives.

Detta examensarbete syftar till att undersöka hur inkluderande ledarskap uppfattas av ledare inom offentlig verksamhet och vilka konsekvenser denna typ av ledarskap kan ha för medarbetare, ur ledarnas perspektiv. Genom en kvalitativ studie har empiri samlats in via semistrukturerade intervjuer med ett urval av ledare inom den offentliga sektorn. Analysen av intervjuerna identifierade huvudteman och mönster i ledarnas uppfattningar om inkludering och inkluderande ledarskap samt de strategier och verktyg som används för att främja inkludering på arbetsplatsen. Dessutom har ledarnas uppfattningar om de konsekvenser som det inkluderande ledarskapet kan ha för medarbetarna undersökts. Resultaten visade ledarnas övertygelse om betydelsen av att skapa en miljö som främjar inkludering och som möjliggör delaktighet och engagemang hos medarbetarna. Inkluderande ledarskap kan leda till ökad produktivitet, innovation och trivsel på arbetsplatsen. Ledarna framhöll även vikten av att implementera konkreta strategier och verktyg för att stödja inkludering, såsom utbildning och medvetandehöjande åtgärder. Resultaten gav även insikt i hur inkluderande ledarskap uppfattas och praktiseras, samt vilka konsekvenser det kan ha för medarbetarna. Denna studie har bidragit till en fördjupad förståelse för inkluderande ledarskap ur ledarnas perspektiv inom offentlig verksamhet. Ledarnas uppfattningar om inkluderande ledarskap omfattar att skapa en tillitsbaserad arbetsmiljö, engagera medarbetare och anpassa sig till medarbetarnas individuella behov men även att begreppet inkluderande ledarskap inte används inom den offentliga sektorn. / This thesis aims to investigate how inclusive leadership is perceived by leaders in the public sector and what consequences this leadership can have for employees from the leaders' perspective. Through a qualitative study, empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with a selection of leaders in the public sector. The analysis of the interviews identified main themes and patterns in leaders' perceptions of inclusion and inclusive leadership, as well as the strategies and tools used to promote inclusion in the workplace. Additionally, leaders' perceptions of the consequences of inclusive leadership for employees were examined. The results showed the leaders' belief in the importance of creating an environment that promotes inclusion and enables employee participation and engagement. Inclusive leadership can lead to increased productivity, innovation, and well-being in the workplace. The leaders also emphasized the importance of implementing concrete strategies and tools to support inclusion, such as training and awareness-raising measures. The results also provided insights into how inclusive leadership is perceived and practiced, as well as its consequences for employees. This study has contributed to a deeper understanding of inclusive leadership from the perspective of leaders in the public sector. Leaders' perceptions of inclusive leadership include creating a trust-based work environment, engaging employees, and adapting to employees' individual needs, but it is also noted that the concept of inclusive leadership is not widely used in the public sector in Sweden. / <p>PE207G. Exainationsdatum: 2023-06-08.</p>

The study's primary objective is to investigate the obstacles associated with agile implementation in ICT public services and the importance of government facilitation and removal of these obstacles. It employs a case study strategy which includes data collection and analysis methods. The case study's purpose is to investigate the challenges of implementing the agile methodology in Kuwait's public services, and the findings are presented at the end. Thus the study is formulated around the following research questions: “What are the challenges of implementing agile methodology into the Kuwait ICT public services?” and “What are the recommendations for the government side to facilitate adopting agile transformation?”. In order to gain a better understanding, the study uses the appropriate approach for producing thematic analysis results in a table of themes, categories, and codes covering ICT managers and decision-makers in the public and private sectors who participated in semi-structured interviews. The conclusions are based on the data collected and analyzed, and the study provides evidence to support the final recommendations. The study concludes that implementing Agile methodology in Kuwait's public services faces several challenges, including cultural or regulation factors. The study provides recommendations for the Kuwaiti government to facilitate adopting Agile transformation, including developing a clear vision, providing training and support, and creating a culture of trust and collaboration. The findings also suggest that the Kuwaiti government can adopt an agile methodology to provide public services in the IT domain with faster response and feedback while changing the bureaucratic culture and ancient rules to be more adaptive and reasonable.

The demand for social housing has grown recently more than its supply, particularly in the United Kingdom (UK). The existing literature addresses the lack of a sustainability policy and its contribution to the lack of political intent to support the achievement of social housing homeownership predominantly under the Right-to-Buy. This research highlights that several government projects have failed in the past to deliver satisfying outcomes for the public; thus, their value to social housing tenants and public value has been largely neglected. The main aim of this research project is to evaluate social housing policies through the lens of public value that drives the decision-making process and to construct a conceptual framework to enhance the accountability and efficiency of social housing tenants in the context of local government. This has been achieved through key research objectives and the key citizens, barriers and recommendations have been explored to enlighten social housing sustainability policy. This conceptual framework was tested in UK local government authorities and with local citizens who had recently started to address diverse sustainability factors in terms of social housing policy. The result was a qualitative case study enquiry based on the use of focus group-interviews, the vignettes approach and documentary evidence to explore the validity of the conceptual framework as a tool for supporting the decision-making process in this field. The findings obtained from the in-depth case study provided an insight into the social housing evaluation criteria and the influences of a sustainability policy from both a practical background and an internal organisational perspective. The findings addressed the poor affordability of a whole-life value of a property, insufficient funding due to austerity, poor legal frameworks, poor governance, a lack of suitable designs for social cohesion, poverty, the well-organized use of resources and environmental protection.

This empirical research explored the capacity building of human resources in the emerging oil and gas sector in Ghana. Ghana’s oil and gas were discovered in commercial quantities in 2007 by GNPC and its partners in Jubilee field in the Cape Three Point in the western region, which signified a turning point in the development effort of the state. Local skills shortage perceived as a significant challenge. Thus the government envisaged the need to build local skill capacity which attracted an initial grant of US$38 million from World Bank to facilitate the implementation of oil and gas capacity building project in 2010. The study adopted a mixed method approach for primary data collection. Matched samples of employees (226) working in four public sector organisations in the oil and gas sector were surveyed using the simple random technique, while human resource/training and development directors (9) were purposively sampled and interviewed on the human resources capacity building to assess and corroborates the survey data. The study findings confirmed shortcomings in local skills in the public organisations in the petroleum industry. Comparatively, the results suggested that the performance appraisal tools could be further improved. The study also found local skills mismatch. It revealed that inadequate funding and delays in the release of funds affected local skill capacity building in the public-sector organisations in the industry. Originality, this is one of the very few studies to explore the shortcomings of local skill capacity in the selected organisation including the strategies used in addressing the skill gap. Research implications, more matched-sample studies are necessary to understand further how private companies (IOC’s) contributing to local skill capacity building. Practically, the study is of significance to the policymakers to address the skill gap in the energy sector. The main contribution of the research is to conceptualise the concept of HRM in Ghana’s context. The thesis, therefore, is an essential contribution to our understanding of the skill gap in the oil and gas industry in Ghana and the role of HR in this field.

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