O conceito de produtividade é um termo utilizado em grande escala no setor industrial, porém, no setor de serviços a produtividade ainda é vista de forma um tanto nebulosa pela sua intangibilidade e heterogeneidade inerente a sua natureza. Com a dificuldade encontrada para a mensuração mais adequada da produtividade, tendo em vista a influência do cliente no processo de serviços, surgiu a necessidade do presente estudo. Inicialmente, se realizou uma vasta procura na literatura nacional e internacional sobre o tema produtividade e qualidade no setor de serviços, sendo encontrados poucos autores que indicavam métodos de mensuração da produtividade neste setor, bem como autores que utilizassem a qualidade percebida pelo cliente como fator importante nesta mensuração. Os estudos encontrados se atêm a literatura ou tratam a qualidade e produtividade de forma separada. Essa lacuna no contexto de Centro de Serviços Compartilhados (CSC) é ainda maior, não sendo encontrados estudos com metodologias que incorporassem a qualidade e a produtividade, assunto relevante visto que estes centros são cada vez mais utilizados pelas empresas para o fornecimento de serviços de apoio Após a revisão teórica sobre o tema partiu-se para a proposição de um método de mensuração da produtividade e qualidade percebida em CSC, que considera a análise e separação do processo de serviços em atividades de front office e back office, para a melhor definição de métricas de desempenho dos serviços. O método faz uso de ferramentas como SSA (Service System Architecture) e service Blueprinting para mapeamento do processo e de instrumentos de avaliação da qualidade percebida para a avaliação da percepção do cliente ajuste das métricas de produtividade. Para teste do modelo, o mesmo foi aplicado em duas empresas do setor de serviços. Ambas as empresas escolhidas para o estudo possuíam métodos de mensuração de produtividade distintos, porém possui em comum um setor de CSC, que presta serviços financeiros para ambas as empresas. Para comparação foi realizado este estudo em uma célula de serviços comum às empresas: célula de serviços logísticos. Os resultados da aplicação foram comparados identificando diferenças e similaridades nos casos analisados. / The concept of productivity is a term used on a large scale in the industrial sector, but in the service sector productivity is still somewhat blurred by its intangibility and heterogeneity inherent in its nature. With the difficulty found for the most adequate measurement of productivity, considering the influence of the customer in the service process, the need arose for the present study. Initially, a great demand was made in the national and international literature on the topic of productivity and quality in the service sector, with few authors indicating methods of measuring productivity in this sector, as well as authors who used the quality perceived by the customer as an important factor in this measurement. The studies found stick to the literature or treat quality and productivity separately. This gap in the context of Shared Services Center (SSC) is even greater, and studies with methodologies that incorporate quality and productivity are not found, a relevant issue since these centers are increasingly used by companies to provide support services After the theoretical review on the subject, we started with the proposal of a method of measuring productivity and quality perceived in SSC, which considers the analysis and separation of the service process in front office and back office activities, in order to better define performance metrics. The method makes use of tools such as Service System Architecture (SSA) and service blueprinting for process mapping and perceived quality assessment tools for the evaluation of customer perception adjustment of productivity metrics. To test the model, the same was applied to two companies in the service sector. Both companies chosen for the study had different methods of measurement of productivity, but they have in common a SSC sector, which provides financial services for both companies. For comparison, this study was carried out in a service cell common to companies: cell of logistics services. The results of the application were compared identifying differences and similarities in the cases analyzed.

M.Tech. (Construction Management) / This research provides an overview of intra-organisational centralised/decentralised structures and inter-organisational consortia. It then aims to provide a theoretical explanation of Management Shared Services, prior to providing case study evidence of management shared services performance and proposed areas of improvement, comprising business units and services departments of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. The research provides empirical evidence of the proposed improvement areas of selected processes of management shared services as a viable structural option for improving services provided to the business units and a starter to currently untapped reservoir of potential research. It suggests an additional improvement options to be considered in determining the optimum management shared services model and to provide business case evidence and suggestions for optimum usage of the management shared services. The research assessed the actual level of performance of Management Shared Services Unit in order to provide a basis on which to identify potentials for efficiently improving and optimising existing Management Shared Services Unit. The research identified two areas as success areas in the current set-up and six other areas as requiring improvement if Management Shared Services Unit is to serve the purpose of providing non-core services to the Business Units. The first area of success is the organisation, governance and compliance in the Management Shared Services Unit. The second is in the area systems and technology. The areas identified by research as requiring improvement are strategy, customer relations, human resources, business processes, performance management and continuous improvement.

This thesis deals with the organisational structure of human resources. The aim is to identify the role of HR in companies, explore the transformation process, recognize the main reasons for transformation and uncover the new structure of HR. This thesis places emphasis on the HR Business Partnership model and its three main parts - HR Business Partner, Shared Services Centre and Centre of Excellence. It is based partly on secondary data and partly on structured interviews with chosen companies.

This diploma thesis focuses on the area of outsourcing and shared services centers. It includes general characteristics of outsourcing. It deals in addition with definition and description of koncept shared services, its history, advantages, disadvantages, comparison with similar organization models and strategic aspects of this concept. Part of thesis focuses on audit in area of shared services center. This thesis deals with issues of performance management of accounting shared services centers in areas of accounts payable and accounts receivable in the USA, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The practical part of this thesis is established on mentioned theoretical themes. There is described and evaluated situation in specific accounting shared services center in the Czech Republic from view of performance and maturity of shared services center.

This diploma thesis is focused on the area of outsourcing and Shared Services Centers. It includes an introduction to outsourcing, its history, the life cycle and the advantages and disadvantages associated with it. The paper is than focused on the Shared Services Centers model, their definition, description, history and benefits and risks arising from them. The thesis also analyzes problems of the implementation process of accounting shared services from a theoretical point of view. This theoretical part is followed by a case study about an establishment of SSC by Czech companies.

To cope with constant changes in the economic environment, organizations continuously strive to implement appropriate business models that will contribute to increased productivity, reduced costs and a competitive advantage. Organisations need however to choose among different business models and select the option that offer the greatest potential to improve their service delivery, reducing costs and enable them to focus on their core business. This study conceptualized the shared services business model, by focusing on key factors, such as the rationale for implementing a shared services unit over other business models, establishing the processes followed by the banking industry with the implementation of a human capital shared services model, identifying the advantages versus disadvantages of the implementation of the model and to provide recommendations for the development and implementation of shared services models within specific organisational context. The researcher conducted mixed method research to address the research problem which incorporated both qualitative and quantitative research. In the study research was conducted in three phases. During the first phase exploratory research was conducted, consisting of desk study research and industry reports as well as surveys, periodicals and academic publications.During the second phase qualitative research was conducted, through semi-structured interviews. Findings from this research phase were used during the third phase, which was a quantitative study, whereby information gathered from the interviews informed the design of questionnaires. It is evident from the results that there were many similarities between the analyses of the interviews and questionnaires in relation to the literature review. Many commonalities amongst the three banks were identified during the implementation process and in many instances corroborated statements by key authors during the literature review. Both the interviews and analysis of the questionnaires confirmed cost savings, improved customer services and standardization as benefits of a shared services model. It was concluded that the implementation of a human capital shared services model within the banking sector in South Africa contribute positively to each of the banks used in the sample, both from a cost perspective as improvement of efficiencies. It was further concluded that the processes, systems and people involved in the implementation process are critical to successful implementation. Based on the information gathered the researcher recommends that a project team be appointed from inception to finalization of the implementation of a shared services model, which will be required to deal with the planning phase, feasibility study and the full implementation plan relating to the implementation of the model. In practice, this study will provide shared services managers with insights with regards to the implementation process to be followed for implementing a human capital shared services model. It can also provide valuable insight to management with regard to important or key factors to consider, ensuring the effective implementation of the model. Findings of this study may also be extended to other organizations in South Africa, considering the implementation of the shared services model. / Graduate School for Business Leadership / M. Tech. (Business Administration)

Syftet med denna kandidatuppsats är att undersöka hur ett HR-Shared Service Center fungerar ur ett användarperspektiv inom offentlig sektor. Fokus ligger på att undersöka första linjens chefers erfarenheter av Region Dalarnas motsvarighet till ett Shared Service Center (SSC), benämnt HR-Direkt. Utifrån studiens teoretiska referensram är SSC en av tre funktioner i vad Ulrich (1995) kallar HR-transformation vilket ska bidra till att effektivisera HR-arbete. Övriga delar i HR-transformationen är expertenheter och Human Resources Business Partners (HRBP). HR-transformation är kärnan i ett centraliserat HR-arbete där fokus ligger på kostnadsreducering och därmed förenlig med offentlig sektors skattefinansierade verksamhet. Vi argumenterar för att HR-transformationen direkt och indirekt får en betydande roll för både personalarbetets och organisationens effektivitet. Resultatet visar att första linjens chefers erfarenheter och åsikter om Regionens SSC; HR-Direkt står i direkt korrelation med första linjens chefers relation med sin HRBP, de första linjens chefer vilka har en god relation till sin HRBP har även en bra upplevelse av funktionen HR-Direkt medan de första linjens chefer vilka har en sämre relation till sin HRBP är missnöjda med HR-Direkt. Vidare visar resultatet att en otydlig ansvarsfördelning mellan HRBP och HR-Direkt bidrar till ett missnöje av HR-funktionen som helhet bland första linjens chefer. Studien har genomförts utifrån en kvalitativ ansats där nio semistrukturerade intervjuer med första linjens chefer, HRBP samt HR-Chef från Region Dalarna har genomförts. Resultatet från intervjuerna jämförs sedan med tidigare forskning i flera analysdelar och därefter presenteras en avslutande diskussion och slutsats. Vi anser att den befintliga forskningen tenderar att fokusera på organisatoriska aspekter av nyttan med ett SSC, till exempel ekonomisk vinning genom ett effektiviserat arbete. Vår förhoppning är att kunna påvisa att mer forskning bör riktas mot användare av SSC inom HR-fältet samt att vår studie kan fylla en del av kunskapsgapet avseende användares erfarenheter av ett SSC. / The purpose of the study was to explore how a HR Shared Service Center operates from a user perspective within the public sector. The focus is to explore the experience of Line Managers using Region Dalarna´s equivalent to a HR Shared Service Center, called HR-Direkt. Based on the study´s theoretical frame of reference, SSC is one of three functions that will contribute to the streamlining HR activites as part of a HR transformation programme as outlined by Ulrich. Other parts of the HR transformation are units of expertise and Human Resources Business Partner. HR transformation is the core of centralized HR work where the focus is cost reduction and thus compatible with public sector tax-financed function. It can be argued that the HR transformation has a great significance for the efficiency of both personnel work and the organization both directly and indirectly. The results have shown that line managers experiences concerning the Regions HR-SSC are in direct correlation with the line managers relationship with Human Resources Business Partner. The respondents who have a good relationship with their HRBP also have a good experience of HR-Direkt while respondents who have less favourable relationship with their HRBP are dissatisfied with HR-Direkt. Furthermore, the results show that an unclear distribution of responsibilities between HRBP and HR-Direkt causes dissatisfaction with the whole HR function among Line Managers. The study was based on a qualitative approach where nine semi-structured interviews with line managers, HRBP and the HR manager from Region Dalarna were conducted. The results from the interviews were then compared with the previous research using several forms of analysis before a discussion and conclusion are presented. The believe is that existing research tends to focus on organizational aspects of the benefits of an SSC, such as financial gain through streamlined work. The aim of this paper is to be able to demonstrate that more research should be directed at users of SSC in the HR field and that this study can fill part of the knowledge gap regarding users’ experiences of an SSC.

Thesis (MBA (Business Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This report presents a structured approach to design and implement a shared services model for Capricorn Investment Holdings (CIH), Namibia. Shared services are tactical by nature and aim to support the organisation's strategy. Shared services are the consolidation of support activities into a business unit which operates on business principles and focuses on value creation, and the leverage of the skills and knowledge in an organisation. The successful transformation to a shared services business unit requires the transformation of the employees (people), business processes, and technology. Without the required transformation shared services will remain "faddish-, and the organisation will not gain the full benefits associated with shared services. The banking operations under the CIH group, similar to the other banks in Namibia are under ever increasing pressure to reduce costs, improve service, develop and deliver high quality banking products. These issues are important to increase market share and profits in order to position themselves as leaders against both traditional and non-traditional competition. CIH group now has a perfect opportunity, with business in Botswana, Zambia and Namibia to build a shared services model suitable to its needs and also to support the group strategy to expand throughout Africa. Although geographically dispersed operations or transaction centres will not go the way of the dinosaur, companies must design and manage each support function according to the integrated and, when possible, standardised model. This framework should allow for necessary geographic, regulatory or cultural variations, while ensuring maximum control and management. It must also achieve economies of scale and leverage employee expertise. That is why CIH firstly started off, with the process blueprint project, which caters for standard processes, and will be rolled out to the rest of the banking business. Secondly, after completion of the process blueprint project, CIH is going to follow a component business approach in order to make the transition to a shared services model much easier. Component business models offer a proven approach to driving a specialised focus, both internally and externally. With this exercise, CIH will be in a position to identify both the core and non-core components of its banking business. This will enable the group to take an informed decision on which components to share and which should remain in the different business units. Thirdly, the group is going to redesign the supply chain. Especially with the shared services model, a much closer, deeper relationship with intermediaries and service companies should be built to ensure that the group move in a customer centricity way. The optimum relationship would be long-term cooperation, joint planning of sales strategy and operations, and shared knowledge in order to optimise business, develop innovative initiatives and continuously improve to consolidate market position. Further to this study, CIH is going to re-evaluate its value chain where the support activities in a single organisation are extended across organisations, multiple companies, divisions or business units to cater for its expansion strategy. Lastly CIH, with its approach to firstly sharing the IT structure, then business processes, still have a few critical decisions to make. The shared services centre involves finding and assessing service providers, determining geographies from which to source the services, like will it be Botswana, Zambia, Windhoek or South Africa? Other critical issues are developing contracts, defining service levels and a myriad of other tasks. Whichever road CIH chooses, successful implementation demands considerable front-end investment and cultural transformation. To clear these initial hurdles, the group, especially senior management, must be fully committed to significant change. Key to successful implementation is distinguishing between the types of services to share, developing service contracts, choosing shared services staff carefully, benchmarking the service against outside vendors, establishing a governance board and designing an implementation approach unique to the specific needs of the group. It is very important to ensure successful transformation of the shared services model, existing of all the projects currently running within the group. In order to do that the executive team should know that implementing shared services is not a simple process. The rollout and implementation will take time, at least one to two years. Finally, building a shared services model requires focusing on the internal clients. The solution is not a simple, quick fix, but calls for careful consideration and implementation of all the points made throughout the course of this research report, from strategy and design to governance and transparent metrics. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie verslag stel 'n gestruktueerde benadering voor tot die ontwikkeling en implimentering van 'n gedeeldedienste-model vir Capricorn Investment Holding groep (CIH) Namibie. Gedeeldedienste is takties van aard en het ten doel om organisasie- struktuur te ondersteun. Die beginsel van gedeeldedienste impliseer die samevoeging van Ondersteuningsaktiwiteite en fokus op waarde ontsluiting en die hefboom van kennis en vaardighede binne die organisasie. Die sukses van transformasie na gedeeldedienste is afhanklik van die transformasie van die mense, prosesse en tegnologie in die organisasie. Sonder hierdie transformasie sal gedeeldedienste onsamehangend gelewer word en sal die organisasie nie die volle voordele daarvan geniet nie. Bankdienste binne die CIH groep, soos ook die geval is met ander handelsbanke in Namibie,is geduring onder toenemende druk om kostes te verlaag, dienslewering- standaarde te verhoog en bankprodukte van kwaliteit te voorsien. Hierdie aangeleenthede is belangrik om markaandeel te verhoog en wins te verseker, maar ook om die CIH groep te posisioneer as markleiers onder beide tradisionele en minder tradisionele rolspelers. Die CIH-groep is nou in 'n gunstige posisie met besigheid in Botswana, Zambie en Namibia, om 'n gedeeldedienstemodel daar te stel wat die groep se strategie vir uitbreiding in Afrika kan ondersteun. Alhoewel geografies wydverspreide operasies of dienspunte nie sal verdwyn nie, moet die onderskeie maatskapye ondersteuningsdienste ontwerp en bestuur volgens 'n geintegreerde en, waar moontlik, 'n gestandaardiseerde model. Hierdie raamwerk moet ruimte laat vir geografiese, wetlike en kulturele verskille terwyl dit effektiewe kontrole en bestuur moet verseker. Dit moet ook aan die beginsel van skaalekonomiee voldoen en moet die optimale benutting van vaardighede van personeel verseker. Om hierdie rede het CIH 'n projek geloots, Proses Witskrif, wat die standaard prosesse verval. Hierdie projek sal uiteindelik ook die res van die prosesse in die bank se besigheid insluit. Na voltooiing van die Proses Witskrif projek sal CIH 'n benadering volg van besigheid in komponente om sodoende die transformasie na 'n gedeeldedienste-model te vergemaklik. Die model van besigheid in komponente bied 'n beproefde benadering tot die implimentering van 'n gespesialiseerde fokus, beide intern en ekstern. CIH sal met die implimentering van hierdie projek beide kern en nie-kern komponente van die bank se besigheid kan identifiseer. Dit sal die groep in staat stel om ingeligte besluite te neem oor watter komponente gedeel behoort te word, en oor watter komponente in die verskillende besigheidseenhede moet bly. Hierna kan die groep die verskaffingsketting herontwerp. Om te verseker dat die groep sake doen in 'n klientgesentreerde manier, veral met die gesentreerdedienste-model moet hegter verhoudings met tussengangers en diensverskaffers gesmee word. Die ideale verhouding is een van langtermyn samewerking, gesamentlike beplanning van verkoopstrategiee, die implementeering van operasies, en 'n gedeelde poel van kennis om sodoende operasies, ontwikkeling van innoverende voorstelle en deurlopende verbetering van markaandeel te bewerkstellig. Vervolgens gaan CIH sy waardeketting herevalueer waar ondersteuningsaktiwiteite in die groep oor die grense van organisasie, maatskappye, afdelings of besigheids- eenhede strek om sodoende te beantwoord aan sy uitbreidingstrategie. Laastens sal CIH met 'n benadering van gedeelde tegnologiese platvorms en besigheidprosesse nog 'n paar kritieke besluite moet neem. Die gedeeldedienste-sentrum moet geskikte diens- verskaffers identifiseer en beoordeel, of dit in Botswana, Zambia, Namibie of Suid Afrika moet wees. Verdere uitdagings is die ontwikkeling van kontrakte en definiering van diensleweringstandaarde asook ander aspekte. Afgesien van watter rigting die groep mag inslaan, sal suksesvolle implementering 'n relatiewe hoe aanvanklike beleggings- en kulturele-transformasie verg. Ten einde hierdie aanvanklike hindernisse te oorkom, moet die groep, veral senior bestuur, ten volle toegewyd wees aan groot verandering. Die sleutel van suksesvolle implementering le in die vermoe om te bepaal watter dienste gedeel moet word, watter standaarde van diensleweringooreenkomste te ontwikkel, personeel wat gedeelde dienste moet lewer noukeuring te kies, dienslewering te meet aan standaarde van eksterne verskaffers, 'n beheerliggqaam te vestig en 'n benadering tot implementering te ontwerp wat die spesifieke behoeftes van die groep kan vervul. Dit is belangrik om te verseker dat suksesvolle transformasie van die gedeeldedienste-model alle bestaande projekte kan akkomodeer. Die kompleksiteit hiervan moet nie deur senior bestuur onderskat word nie. Die ontwerp en implimentering kan een tot twee jaar neem. Dit verg verder 'n deurlopende benadering van fokus op interne kliente. 'n Oplossing verg deeglike oorweging en implimentering van alle aspekte wat tydens die navorsing na vore gekom het. Dit sluit strategie en ontwerp in om sodoende deursigtige beheer te verseker.

Business functions and processes of all industries are under intense pressure to increase their efficiency and effectiveness which means to deliver better services for less money. HR is no exception. Human Resources transformation aligns with business transformation by facing productivity, reengineering, globalization, services and technology changes. Under the review cost, processes, administration, strategy and expertise in accordance with HR¡¦s transformation, HR shared services is became a HR transactional and administrative to handle standard processes oriented center. By taking Hewlett-Packard APJ as an example, this research seeks for the implementation of HR shared services in Chennai/India to handle all APJ HR transactions by tiers-supporting model. With the ability of technology and self-services, HR shared services can be achieved and located in low-labor rate with high potential labor. There are 14 processes for HP HR shared services to be standardized and reengineered. Moreover, to implement in 14 countries, internal portal, customer relationship management tool, and self-services tools are key to the objective and goal. By observing a whole picture of HR shared services set up, it will be helpful to leave more experiences to other companies to learn and to avoid errors.

Traditionellt har HR-arbetet främst varit fokuserat på administrativa uppgifter och inte ansetts vara tillräckligt effektivt och värdeskapande. För att HR-arbetet ska bli mer strategiskt behöver funktionen organiseras så att den tillgodoser dessa behov (Boglind et al, 2013). Vi menar att HR-funktionens relation till ledare och linjechefer är avgörande för hur framgångsrikt deras arbete blir. Syftet med detta arbete är därför att undersöka hur chefer uppfattar HR-funktionens förändrade roll och vilken typ av stöd de förväntar sig av den. Vi vill också undersöka om uppfattningen av HR-funktionen skiljer sig åt beroende på hur den är organiserad. Undersökningen är baserad på en multipel fallstudie utförd på Falu och Avesta kommun. Totalt har tretton djupintervjuer genomförts, där fem personer representerar HR-avdelningarna och åtta personer representerar linjecheferna. Falu kommun började genomföra en HR-transformation vid årsskiftet 2013/2014, Avesta kommun har inte genomfört en HR-transformation utan har funktionen uppdelad i två team. Av empirin framkommer att linjecheferna i båda kommunerna har en ganska vag uppfattning om HR-funktionens organisation och trots de strukturella skillnaderna mellan kommunerna efterfrågar linjecheferna något mer. I Avesta är samtliga respondenter överens om att en samsyn kring HR-funktionens arbetsuppgifter inte finns på grund av att en tydlig strategi för HR-funktionen saknas. Cheferna i Avesta efterfrågar ett arbete med personalfrågor från grunden samt ett mer strategiskt arbete. I Falun visar empirin att linjechefer och HR-personer har olika åsikter kring huruvida det finns en samsyn. Även om flera linjechefer i Falun anser att HR-funktionen fungerar bättre efter transformationen efterfrågar samtliga en kontakt med en specifik HR-person istället för att kontakta ett HR-center. Trots att de organisationer vi studerat har HR-funktioner som skiljer sig åt i storlek och struktur kan vi konstatera många likheter. Vi drar därför slutsatsen att de problem som linjecheferna beskriver inte är relaterade till HR-avdelningens organisering, utan snarare kan kopplas till en obalans i HR-arbetets inneboende dualitet som uppstått i och med ett mer strategiskt fokus. Vi anser att båda kommunernas HR-funktioner bör ha en tydlig och kontinuerlig dialog med linjecheferna för att maximera värdeskapandet dem emellan. Sammanfattningsvis menar vi att kommunerna bör lägga fokus på att identifiera vilka aspekter av personalarbetet som är värdefulla och unika för just deras organisation samt arbeta strategiskt utifrån dessa. / Traditionally, HR work has not been considered sufficiently effective and value creating because of its main focus on administrative tasks. For HR work to become more strategic the function has to organize in a way that meet the new needs (Boglind et al, 2013). We believe that the success of the HR function depends on their relationships to leaders and line managers. The purpose of this essay is to examine how line managers perceive the changing role of the HR function and what kind of support they expect from them. We also want to investigate whether the perception of the HR function is related to how it’s organized. The survey is based on a multiple case study conducted in Falu and Avesta municipality. A total of thirteen in-depth interviews were conducted where five respondents represented the HR departments and eight respondents represented the line managers. Falun municipality began implementing an HR transformation at the turn of 2013/2014. Avesta municipality has an HR function divided into two teams and hasn’t performed an HR transformation. Our empirical data reveals that line managers in both municipalities have a rather vague idea of the HR function and its organization. Despite structural differences between the municipalities line managers in both organizations demand something more. All respondents in Avesta municipality agree to a lack of consensus regarding the duties of the HR function, due to an absence of a distinct strategy. The line managers of Avesta requests a more fundamental and strategic HR management. Empirical data from Falun municipality reveals that line managers and HR respondents disagree on whether there is a consensus regarding the tasks of the HR function. Although several line managers in Falun mentions that the HR function have improved from the transformation, they still prefer close relations to a specific HR person over contacting the HR call center. Although the studied HR functions differ in size and structure, we observe many similarities. We therefore conclude that the difficulties described by line managers isn’t related to the structure of the HR function, but instead relates to an imbalance in the immanent duality of the HR work that emerge from a more strategic focus. We believe that the HR function in both municipalities should have a consistent and continuous dialogue with line managers to maximize the exchange of value. In conclusion we suggest that the municipalities should focus on identifying the aspects of HR work that is most valuable and unique to their organization and build their strategies from these.