This study is about the upcoming challenge Sweden face with a population that grows older and in need of elderly care. The challenge lies in that municipality, as it is today, won’t have the personnel to care for the elders. The study presents two problematic factors that need change for the municipality to be able to guarantee reasonable living standards according to social laws. The first factor is the decreasing profession attractiveness that makes it hard to employ personnel. The second factor, which the study focuses on, is the fact the caregivers are overrepresented in the social insurance office statistics of personnel on sick leave. We choose to focus on the caregiver’s work environment to get a perspective on the problem. To be more exact the study focuses on finding a covariance between experienced New Public Management and Sense of coherence. Our second focus is to see if there is an underlying relation between the experienced New Public Management reforms and the three parts of Sense of coherence; meaningfulness, comprehensibility and manageability. A third focus is to see if the relationship is influenced by the caregivers’ age and work experience. Our main findings are that experienced New Public Management has both positive but mainly negative effect on caregivers’ sense of coherence and therefore on caregiver’s health. Our conclusion is therefore that New Public Management can be seen as a factor for care givers high ratings in the social security offices statistics over sick leave from work.

University culture is seen as University culture is seen as one of the main obstacles to the successful implementation of the process of strategic university management. Although existing organisational approaches of changing processes give theoretical insight, they fail to consider the cultural perspective and how change can be implemented successfully. This article focuses on cultural approach and therefore introduces a cohesive cultural model to the Higher Education (HE) context. It will be shown how this paradigm can be used in strategic management processes at universities and how it can support them. It therefore offers an approach that is applicable to the practice of university management. / Universitätskultur kann als eines der Haupthindernisse für die Implementierung von strategischem Management an Universitäten angesehen werden. Vorhandene Ansätze der Organisationsforschung betrachten zwar Veränderungsprozesse, diskutieren die Rolle der Organisationskultur jedoch nur am Rande und fragen nicht nach dem Wie der Umsetzung einer solchen organisationalen Veränderung. Dieser Artikel betrachtet strategisches Management an Universitäten aus einer kulturtheoretischen Perspektive und überträgt das kohäsionsorientierte Organisationsmodell auf den Hochschulkontext. Es wird gezeigt, wie dieses Modell strategische Prozesse unterstützen kann, so dass es einen praktischen Nutzen für das Hochschulmanagement bietet.

Sverige har en vision om att digitalisera samtliga delar av den offentliga sektorn, med målet att uppnå en god hälsa och välfärd för hela befolkningen. De verksamheter som allt mer blir föremål för digitalisering är bland annat verksamheter som handlägger ärenden om ekonomiskt bistånd. Syftet med denna undersökning är att försöka få svar på hur digitaliseringen av ansökan om ekonomiskt bistånd påverkar det sociala arbetet och klienterna. För att få svar på detta har vi skickat webbenkäter till 15 olika verksamheter för ekonomiskt bistånd i Sverige. Resultatet visar att handläggarna övervägande ser positivt på den digitala utvecklingen där de menar att handläggningen blivit enklare och mer effektiv. Det framkommer även att handläggarna blivit tilldelade fler klienter än tidigare där tiden med varje enskild klient har minskat. En begränsning som är framträdande gällande digitaliseringen av ansökan är att enskilda som inte har tillgång till de digitala verktyg som krävs blir hänvisade att ansöka via pappersansökan. Våra resultat visar att digitaliseringen kan bidra till ett mer effektivt och för klienterna mer lättillgängligt socialt arbete men som behöver utvecklas för att kunna inkludera alla medborgare i det svenska samhället. / Sweden has a vision of digitizing all domains of the public sector, with a goal of achieving good health and welfare for the entire population. The organizations that are increasingly becoming the subject of digitalization are, among other things, those that deal with financial aid matters. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the digitalization of the application for financial aid affects the social work and its clients. To answer this, we have sent out web surveys to 15 financial aid organizations in Sweden. The results show that the social workers for the most part are positive concerning the digitalization since the application process has become easier and more efficient. The social workers express that they have been assigned more clients than before and that they have gotten less time with each individual client. One prominent limitation regarding the digitalization of the application is when individuals who do not possess the digital tools required to apply have to apply via paper application. Our results show that digitalization can contribute to social work being more efficient and easily accessible for clients. Thus, for it to be accessible for the whole Swedish population more development needs to be done.

In this master's thesis, we investigate the meaning and significance of professional networking to Swedish librarians in their everyday professional practices. In addition, we explore the relationship between librarians' networking needs and the needs or expectations presented by their institutional context (i.e. the workings of their specific library organization or, more broadly, the library sector and work life). The study consisted of 1) a pre-study through an online survey directed to librarians at seven public libraries and four research libraries in Sweden 2) qualitative interviews with 21 public and research librarians recruited through the pre-study survey and 3) an additional interview with the chair of the Swedish national library association (Svensk Biblioteksförening). Overall, participants in the study rated the importance of their professional networks highly. When asked the significance of professional networks to everyday professional practice, the responses given by the interviewed librarians favored explanations in terms of 1) knowledge provision and learning, 2) interlinkage of library organizations with the goal of raising the standards of library service and 3) as a means of providing both professional and organisational support. Many of the study's participants also reported an expectation that they should network, citing either a direct expectation from library management or general trends in contemporary Swedish work life. Librarians' professional networking needs were related by respondents to characteristics of their institutional context, where some librarians pointed to factors such as sparse staffing or budget constraints as creating a need for professional support networks. This is a two years master's thesis in Library and information science.

I studien undersöktes hur det dagliga ledarskapet inom offentliga verksamheter tar sig uttryck i relation till det offentliga styrningsidealet samt hur detta kan förstås i relation till chefsnivå. Studien tog sitt stöd ur teoretiska aspekter i form av vårt offentliga etos, styrning ledning och chefsnivåer. Studien har genomförts med semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer där det målstyrda urvalet bestod av fyra institutionella chefer samt fyra administrativa chefer. Resultatet påvisa tendenser till både likheter och skillnader vad gäller arbetet med styrningsideal inom offentlig förvaltning i förhållande till chefsnivå. Detta diskuteras och kan förstås genom att det råder olika logiker beroende chefsnivå. Bifynd upptäcktes även i form av att arbetet med styrningsideal kan bero på vilken verksamhetspraktik organisationen verkar inom. Slutsatsen är således att arbetet med styrningsideal är komplext inom offentliga verksamheter men där demokrativärden generellt tenderar att vara det primära. / The purpose of this study is to explore the daily leadership within public administration concerning control ideas and how it can be understood and seen from a managerial level. The thesis bases its conclusions on theoretical aspects such as our public ethos, control management and managerial level. The thesis derives from eight semi-structured qualitative interviews which of the goal-oriented selection consists of four institutional managers and four administrative managers. The result of the study identifies trends such as similarities and differences in terms of control ideas within public administration concerning the managerial level. Furthermore, the results are discussed and can be understood in terms of that different logics are depending on managerial level. The thesis also finds incidental findings which are that control ideas also can depend on which business internship it operates within. The study concludes that the work with governance ideals is a complex topic within public administrations however, democratic values tend to be the primary focus.

Introduction. This thesis intends to examine and problematize a phenomenon that, until now, has not been the subject of research: the use of temporary employment agencies in Swedish public libraries. The aim of the study is to investigate how the motives for using temporary employed library staff can be understood in relation to two potentially conflicting institutional logics: the market-liberal oriented New Public Management (NPM) logic and the professional library logic. Furthermore, the study aims to examine how these two logics are used as a means of obtaining legitimacy. Theory & Method. The theoretical underpinnings of the study are new institutional theory, and the research method is document analysis. The study’s empirical material consists of public documents, which have been processed through a qualitative thematic content analysis. By focusing on one specific organization - The City of Stockholm public libraries (Stockholms stadsbibliotek) - the investigation is carried out as a case-study. Results & Analysis. Six main themes have been identified: resource efficiency, flexibility, open libraries, competence, stability and administration. All themes contain expressions of both institutional logics. Legitimacy is obtained partly through the NPM logic and in relation to cost efficiency, partly in relation to the professional and democratic principles of the library logic. Thus, both logics are applied to justify the use of temporary employment agencies. Conclusion. The studied documents contain a relatively stable dynamic between the NPM logic and the library logic. Contrary to what some new institutional theorists have argued, the study’s results indicate that multiple logics may be able to coexist within an organizational field. The explanation for the coexistence of these logics might be that they share certain aspirations and perceptions, for example the perception of the library users and administrative work.   This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

The reforms that were implemented in the early 1990s changed the way the Swedish school system worked and how it was governed. This sparked a debate in whether this was beneficial for the equality of the education. The debate regarding the Swedish school system has been never ending since the start and implementation of New Public management reforms that swept through Swedish politics in the late 1980 and the 1990s. The discourse regarding the issues created by the implementation of these reforms and the impact of NPM in this area will be discussed an analyzed in this essay. The essay aims to explain and analyze the impact New public management, decentralization and its reforms has had on the equality of the Swedish education and the discourse it has created.

I föreliggande uppsats studeras tillämpningen av Customer Relationship Management i svenska statliga myndigheter, med särskilt fokus på berörd personals uppfattningar om CRM-system. Undersökningar kring ämnet har tidigare verkställts i bland annat Västeuropa och USA och i dessa studier har tonvikt lagts på hur verksamhetens effektivitet har påverkats av CRM, men inga undersökningar av liknande slag har ägnats åt svenska myndigheter. För att genomföra en sådan studie, inriktad mot svenska förhållanden, har semistrukturerade intervjuer med CRM-kunniga personer på 7 stycken svenska myndigheter genomförts. Undersökningen är baserad på en fenomenografisk forskningsansats och ett antal olika teorier har tillämpats för att kunna tolka det empiriska underlaget från intervjuerna. Teorierna som kommer att beröras gäller Customer Relationship Management, New Public Management, Kritik mot NPM, De fyra E:na, Kunder/klienter, Kommunikationsstrategier, Tillit, Organisationsförändringar/motstånd samt Isomorfism. Analysen har tagit stöd av dessa teorier, varigenom undersökningen har kunnat genomföras från ett allsidigt perspektiv. En slutsats som dragits efter genomförd analys är att respondenterna upplevde att CRM-system har en avsevärd potential att effektivisera de berörda myndigheternas verksamhet. En annan är att det finns ett behov av CRM-forskning inriktad mot svenska myndighetsförhållanden, eftersom dessa på många sätt skiljer sig från de som råder i utlandet. / In the present essay, the application of Customer Relationship Management in Swedish government agencies is studied, with a particular focus on the perceptions of the personnel concerned with CRM systems. Research on the topic has previously been carried out in, among other places, Western Europe and the USA, and in these studies emphasis has been placed on how the business's efficiency has been affected by CRM, but no research of a similar kind has been carried out in Sweden. In order to conduct such a study focused on Swedish conditions, semi-structured interviews with 7 Swedish government authorities have been carried out. The investigation is based on a phenomenographic research approach and a number of different theories have been applied in order to interpret the empirical data. Those to be invoked concern Customer Relationship Management, New Public Management, Criticism of NPM, The four E's, Customers/clients, Communication strategies, Trust, Organizational changes/resistance and Isomorphism. The subsequent analysis has been supported by these theories, whereby it has been possible to carry out the investigation applying an all-round perspective. A conclusion drawn from the analysis was that the respondents felt that CRM systems have considerable potential to streamline the operations of the relevant authorities. Another is that there is a need for CRM research aimed at Swedish government authorities, as these differ in many ways from those that prevail abroad.

The purpose of the essay is to study why and how the Swedish Transport Administration has applied quality management and service design. This study applies the institutional theory and theory behind New Public Management. Total Quality Management and service design are used as study objects. A qualitative method with an abductive approach has been used. The authors use primary and secondary data, which have been collected through semi-structured interviews and (final) reports from the Swedish Transport Administration. According to the employees and (final) reports, The Swedish Transport administration was motivated to apply quality management due to faults in the facilities, and service design due to lack of railway descriptions. The Swedish Transport Administration's quality management work takes place, among other things, through the four-step principle, the project model and ISO standards when working on railways. The Swedish Transport Administration works with service design from an outside and in perspective, to understand its customers and to create successful outcomes in the organization. This is done by, among other things, introducing service maps and creating value for customers. / Syftet med uppsatsen är att studera varför och hur Trafikverket har tillämpat kvalitetsstyrningsarbete samt tjänstedesignarbete. Denna studie tillämpar den institutionella teorin och teorin bakom New Public Management. Total Quality Management och tjänstedesign används som studieobjekt. En kvalitativ metod med en abduktiv ansats har använts. Författarna använder sig av primär-och sekundärdata, vilka har samlats in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer samt (slut)rapporter från Trafikverket. Enligt de anställda och (slut)rapporterna, motiverades Trafikverket till att tillämpa kvalitetsstyrning på grund av fel i anläggningarna och tjänstedesign på grund av bristande järnvägsbeskrivningar. Trafikverkets kvalitetsstyrningarbete sker bland annat genom fyrstegsprincipen, projektmodellen och ISO standarder vid arbete på järnväg. Trafikverket arbetar med tjänstedesign utifrån ett utifrån- och in perspektiv, för att förstå sina kunder och skapa framgångsrika utfall i organisationen. Detta genom att bland annat införa tjänstekartor och skapa värde för kund.

Denna studie syftar till att utforska fenomenet tillitsbaserad styrning inom den offentliga sektorn. Detta med avseende på vilka konkreta styrmodeller som utgör den tillitsbaserade styrningens styrverktyg, samt huruvida detta fenomen inkluderar några andra relevanta aspekter relaterade till styrning. Avsikterna bakom den tillitsbaserade styrningen handlar mycket om att åtgärda sådana negativa bieffekter som den New Public Management-inspirerade styrningen, med sin betoning på mål- och resultatstyrning, ansetts medföra. Dessa bieffekter handlar till stor del om att ökade krav på rapportering och kontroll medfört en administrativ börda, som inneburit att den offentliga sektorns medarbetare tvingats lägga mycket av sin tid på administrativa sysslor. Med hjälp av den tillitsbaserade styrningen, och dess betoning på tillit, ömsesidighet och medborgarfokus, har regeringen därför haft för avsikt att reformera styrningen av den offentliga sektorn. Samtidigt som den tillitsbaserade styrningens avsikter är goda, kan det anses finnas en osäkerhet kring vilka styrmodeller som egentligen utgör dess styrverktyg. I uppsatsen genomförs därför en kvalitativ dokumentstudie av idé- och idealtypsanalytiskt slag, i vilken relevanta dokument från regeringens Tillitsdelegation analyseras. Detta med stöd av styrningsteori som utgår från New Public Management och fyra idealtypiska styrdoktriner, som anses relevanta för den svenska kontexten. Studiens resultat visar att mål- och resultatstyrningen har en central roll som styrmodell även inom den tillitsbaserade styrningen, men i en modifierad form där målen är mer övergripande, långsiktiga och kvalitativa. Den tillitsbaserade styrningen innebär också en ökad betoning på nätverksstyrning och brukarstyrning, samt en strävan efter balans mellan värdena tillit och kontroll. / The purpose of this study is to explore the phenomenon of trust-based governance in the public sector. This regarding which governance models constitute the governance tools of trust-based governance, and whether this phenomenon includes any other relevant aspects related to governance. The intentions behind trust-based governance are largely about addressing negative side effects of the kind of governance that has been inspired by New Public Management, with its emphasis on management by objective. These side effects are largely due to the fact that increased requirements for reporting and documentation entailed an administrative burden, which has meant that public sector employees have been forced to spend a lot of time on administrative tasks. With the help of trust-based governance, and its emphasis on trust, reciprocity and civic focus, the Government has therefore intended to reform the governance of the public sector. Although trust-based governance has good intentions, it can be considered that there is uncertainty about which governance models actually constitute its governance tools. In the essay, a qualitative document study of an idea and ideal type analytical kind is therefore carried out, in which relevant documents from the Government´s Delegation of Trust-Based Governance are analyzed. This is supported by governance theory based on New Public Management and four ideal typical governance doctrines, which are considered relevant to the Swedish context. The results of the study show that that management by objective has a central role as a governance model also in trust-based governance, but in a modified form where the goals are more overall, long-term and qualitative. Trust-based governance also means an increased emphasis on network governance and user governance, as well as an effort to balance the values of trust and control.