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.

The Norwegian public sector, in particular local Councils as the principal supplier of welfare services, face great challenges in the coming years. Expectations and demands upon public services are increasing in proportion with the increase in private wealth. Among the consequences are higher demands on the distribution of welfare services, and the need for a more effective use of resources. Inspired by New Public Management theories, Norwegian local Councils have made considerable changes in management over the last 10-20 years. To meet the demands for increased activity, public sector has undergone a transition towards a less hierarchal organisational structure, their delegation to appropriate performance units has increased, and systems to monitor aims and results have been introduced. With respect to the latter, it has become crucial that data concerning resource utilisation and economy are made easily available and can be related to management issues. In 2001 the national government introduced the so-called KOSTRA public reporting system (Kommune-ST-at-Rapportering) The overall aim of KOSTRA is to produce relevant, reliable, current and comparable management information. In addition, the KOSTRA reporting system will provide an improved database as an aid to service provision, as well as providing a foundation for improved Council management. Our aim with this assignment has been to take a closer look at KOSTRA as a suitable tool for resource management within local Councils, and to see whether Councils do in fact use it actively in their own administrational priorities and activities. We have illustrated this by taking a closer look at possible connections between active use of KOSTRA and the Councils` economic situation, priorities and effectiveness. We have found no grounds in our studies to indicate that there is any difference in the allocation of priorities between those local Councils using KOSTRA in management-related activities and those who do not. On the other hand, we have discovered links between active use of KOSTRA and the Councils`economic situation. This connection is very interesting. It is the Councils under financial stress which appear to be using KOSTRA actively. Our major conclusion is that KOSTRA alone does not produce all necessary and relevant management information. KOSTRA is more applicable when seen in context with the complexity of public sector, and with a firm knowledge of the system's underlying indicators.

The current study analyzes the impact of ethical work climates (caring, law and code, rules, instrumental and independence climates) and perceptions of organizational justice (distributive, procedural and interactional justice) on workplace deviance (organizational and interpersonal deviance) which is associated with huge financial, social and psychological costs for the organizations and organizational members. The findings of the research are based on a quantitative survey conducted among 219 employees in a public organization. The results obtained after controlling the significant effect of demographic variables revealed that it was only the perceptions of procedural justice that had a significant negative impact on organizational deviance. Distributive and interactional justice predicted neither interpersonal nor organizational deviance. Among the ethical work climates, caring climate was found to be the only ethical climate type that predicted organizational deviance. The remaining types of ethical work climates had significant relationships with neither one of the interpersonal or organizational deviance. Results also showed that ethical work climate was a better predictor of organizational deviance than interpersonal deviance.

Bakgrund Under de senaste 30 åren har företag inom det privata näringslivet alltmer fokuserat på att skapa nära relationer till sina leverantörer. I motsats till utvecklingen inom det privata näringslivet, har utvecklingen inom offentliga verksamheter alltmer kommit att präglas av att inköpen skall konkurrensutsättas. Lagen om offentlig upphandling (LOU) reglerar i hög grad offentliga organisationers relationer till sina leverantörer. Emellanåt väcks frågan om inte offentliga organisationer skulle ha nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer, liknande de som finns inom det privata näringslivet, där båda parter känner varandra och varandras behov väl. Syfte Syftet med undersökningen har varit att klarlägga huruvida den offentliga sektorn skulle kunna dra nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer när det gäller inköp av vissa tjänster, samt att utreda i vilken utsträckning LOU tillåter ett nära samarbete mellan den offentliga sektorn och dess privata leverantörer. Genomförande Undersökningen har genomförts i form av en fallstudie, då vi har undersökt relationerna mellan Linköpings kommun och dess leverantörer. Fallstudien har genomförts dels genom en kvantitativ enkätundersökning bland Linköpings kommuns leverantörer, dels genom kvalitativa intervjuer med upphandlare och andra ämneskunniga personer. Resultat Undersökningen har visat att offentlig sektor skulle kunna dra nytta av närmare leverantörsrelationer för att tillfredsställa tre olika typer av behov. Dessa behov gäller utveckling och effektivisering av verksamheten, leverantörernas medverkan i utformningen av tjänsterna samt längre avtalstider inom vissa verksamheter. Undersökningen har även visat att offentliga organisationer idag har möjlighet att samarbeta med sina leverantörer under flera olika former. Dessa samarbetsformer tillfredsställer till viss del de behov av närmare leverantörsrelationer som idag finns inom offentlig sektor. / Background During the past 30 years, companies within the trade and industry have more and more focused on creating closer relationships with thier suppliers. In contrast to the development in the trade and industry, purchases within the public sector is nowadays caracterized by keen competition. The relationship between public organisations and their suppliers is regulated to a great extent by The Law of Public Purchases (LOU). Occasionally, the question is raised whether public organisations would benefit from closer relationships with their suppliers, relationships similar to those that can be observed in the trade and industry, where both parties know each other and each others interests well. Purpose The aim of this paper is to find out whether the public sector would benefit from closer supplier relations when it comes to certain services, as well as to investigate to what extent LOU allows a closer collaboration between the public sector and ther private suppliers. Implementation The investigation has been implemented in the form of a case study, since we have studied the relations between the municipality of Linköping and its suppliers. The case study has been implemented partly though a quantitative survey among the suppliers of the municipality of Linköping, partly through qualitative interviews with purchasers and other people that have a lot of knowledge and experience of this matter. Results The investigation has shown that the public sector would benefit from closer relationships in order to satisfy three different types of needs. These needs concern development and effectivisation of the activity, the suppliers participation of the design of the services and longer time limits for contracts. The investigation has also shown that there are possibilities for public organisations to collaborate with their suppliers in different ways. These ways of collaboration partly satisfy the needs of closer supplier relations that we can find today within the public sector.

Diskussionen om den svenska vården är ständigt aktuell, särskilt den som rör de tio till tolv procent som utgör privat verksamhet. De ekonomiska drivkrafter som finns i ett företag med vinstintresse kan anses vara oförenliga med vård av god kvalitet. Det är viktigt att kunna balansera incitamenten kvalitet och vinstintresse för att undvika att patienter eller brukare blir missgynnade. Den privata vården och omsorgen tampas med dagens rådande organisationskultur som säger att det är fult att tjäna pengar på vård. Den offentliga sektorn i sin tur arbetar mot kvalitetsmål vare sig de är företagsekonomiskt effektiva eller ej, samtidigt som de brottas med svårigheter gällande krav på ökad ekonomisk effektivitet, åtstramningar och problem med att mäta graden av framgång baserat på prestationer. Det komplexa i att kunna balansera vinstintresse och kvalitet och på bästa sätt möta omvärldens krav på styrning och mål har lett fram till denna undersöknings forskningsfråga som lyder: Vilka likheter och skillnader förekommer i mellanchefers målarbete beroende på vinstintresse? I en kvalitativ studie har sex stycken mellanchefer inom vård- och omsorgssektorn intervjuats med avsikt att skapa förståelse kring hur deras målarbete bedrivs. Vidare syftar studien till att försöka urskilja om och i så fall på vilket eller vilka sätt incitamentet vinstintresse påverkar detta målarbete. Utifrån studien har flera slutsatser dragits. Det finns skillnader i målarbete på grund av incitamentet vinstintresse. Exempel på dessa är konkretisering av mål och förtydligande av övergripande syfte. Samtidigt kan detta incitament inte betraktas som angörande för hur målarbetet utförs. Nyckelord: Incitament, offentlig sektor, privat sektor, vinstintresse, mål.