The public sector in Sweden has in recent decades undergone a large change due to market and liberalism impact. This change has meant that marketing communication and its concepts have been adopted by administrative authorities. In this thesis, we used governmentality, social constructivism and an interpretive perspective to examine the staff at the County Administrative Board in Kalmar County and their experiences and opinions of the concepts ”customer” and ”trademark”. The study was designed as a case study with qualitative interviews. The study showed that the experiences can be divided into three categories: those that are positive, those who are worried and see risks as well as those who believe the concepts are just empty words. We also discovered that there was a discrepancy between the management's view of the market influenced communication, which was positive and more liberal, and the rest of the staff which emphasized the traditional bureaucratic rhetoric.

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze how managerial discretion is influenced by the environment and, thereby, increase the theoretical knowledge of the concept. Hambrick and Finkelstein (1987) introduced environment as a level affecting managerial discretion. However, the authors only discussed it in an industry context. Moreover, in this dissertation we developed the environmental level by adding two more contexts. Thereby, a theoretical input –and output model were created. These include three environmental sublevels: Industry characteristics, public sector and transition economy. The analysis is under a strategic perspective, which defines top managers’ discretion as the latitude of strategic actions. Hence, managerial discretion varies in the scope of available actions influenced by environmental factors. To fulfill the purpose of this dissertation, the methodical approach is a case-study. Thus, the data consists of interviews, observations and public documents collected in a governmental organization. The findings have shown that a dynamic environment, such as a country undergoing a transition, provides context-specific factors affecting the degree of managerial discretion. Context-specific factors, such as powerful outside forces and quasi-legal constraints can increase and/or decrease the degree of top managers’ degree of discretion. The conclusion summarizesthe findings of how the different factors within each sublevel, affect the degree of managerial discretion. Moreover, the conclusion also contains the contributions of this dissertation. Firstly, the study contributes to the theory of managerial discretion, by introducing context specific factors within the public sector and a transition economy. Secondly, the study enhances the empirical knowledge about the concept, by providing new empirical evidence of managerial discretion. Finally, the results of this dissertation can help policy makers as guidelines when implementing policies. Recommendations for future research include adding the governance perspective, and/or conducting a comparison research with different organizations/contexts.

This study looks at the differences in lean project management between projects done in the public sector and projects done in the private sector. The private sector consist of companies around Sweden, while municipalities are representing the public sector in this study. This study is based on the understanding that the lean philosophy can have advantages for the efficiency of project management, both for the private and the public sector, knowing that there are differences in the nature of these organizations. This thesis begins with an introduction that explains the theory that is important for this research, and that describes the research gap that has been found. The research gap is the basis for the research questions. After defining the research questions, an examination has been done on existing literature about the concepts of lean, project management, project managers, and lean project management. Prior research gives ideas about the challenges project managers encounter, and shows in what way lean can influence the efficiency of projects. As part of this qualitative research, and with an inductive approach, 12 semi-structured interviews have been conducted. During this interviews, project managers and persons with a connection to projects in the different organization were asked to describe projects in their organizations. This study is exploratory and has a cross-sectional design as the center of attention was on different organizations from both the private and the public sector in different parts of Sweden. In the analysis the results of the interviews are categorized and interpreted. The results show that projects are used in every organization, making use of, in almost every case, a project model which makes sure that different projects are run in similar ways. Although different organizations make use of the principles of lean, no organization is implementing the ideas completely. Major differences that have been found are differences in the background of the project manager, the level of standardization of projects, and differences in efficiency that in many situations are caused by legislation. It became clear that projects in the private sector are organized in a stricter way, with experienced project managers that follow project models strictly. In the public sector projects are mostly led by project managers that are interested in a certain project, and in those organizations project models are not followed strictly. As for lean projects, we have found no real evidence that any organization is currently having projects organized according to the lean principles. This can be expected however, seeing that lean project management is a generally unexplored part of the lean philosophy.

Smart acquisition was the change programme introduced at the end of the twentieth century charged with transforming the effectiveness of defence procurement within the United Kingdom. The initiative was rolled-out as a cornerstone of the Blair government’s strategic defence initiative from 1998 onwards and represents, today, the management philosophy, public sector organisational structures and UK industrial strategy for delivering defence equipment. This research seeks to understand the manner and extent of changes to defence procurement derived from the smart acquisition initiative, viewed as a ‘technology’ through which government exercises power. Accordingly, understanding smart acquisition develops and deepens our knowledge of the nature of government itself. I offer, initially, in chapters 1 and 2 an introduction to smart acquisition, its background and historical antecedence. I discuss the methodology employed for interrogating the phenomenon as an auto/ethnographical study of UK defence practices. Chapter 3 details the factors that drove defence reorganisation, whilst chapter 4 derives smart acquisition as rational and benign managerial change. Chapter 5 critiques this perspective by unveiling smart acquisition as a neoliberal construct through which government procures and cements assemblages of regimes of control and socialisation, legitimised through managerial narratives and governmentalist forms. A revised critical analytical model of smart acquisition embracing governmentalist notions is, consequently, provided in chapter 6. Chapter 7 introduces a specific defence procurement project team and describes its transformation strategy and emerging business model. In chapter 8 the project team is superficially revealed as a rational change agent embedding and embracing management reform. Chapter 9 critiques this, presenting the team as a constructed governmentalist regime, an expression of control, socialisation and surrender of agency. Chapter 10 concludes the research by observing that smart acquisition is a complex set of understandings and a multiplicity of forms and discourses.

Syftet med vår studie var att undersöka hur organisatoriska faktorer som krav i arbetet och stödfunktioner kan påverka grundskolans mellanchefers förutsättningar att vara tillgängliga för medarbetare enligt medarbetarnas förväntningar. För att får svar på vårt syfte använde vi oss av en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet från vår kvalitativa undersökning analyserade vi med hjälp av teorier kring krav i arbetet, kontrollspannetsbetydelse, mellanchefers behov av stöd och chefen som stötdämpare. Resultatet visar att medarbetarna förväntar sig att chefen är nåbar och tar sig tid genom att faktiskt lyssna aktivt när medarbetaren behöver det. Hur stödet ser ut påverkar hur mycket tid chefen kan lägga på att vara tillgänglig enligt medarbetarnas förväntningar. Ett stöd som fungerar frigör tid med medarbetarna medan ett ofungerande stöd istället tar tid från medarbetarna. Kraven på cheferna ökar, möjliga faktorer handlar om att omvärlden förändras och då ändras även arbetets förutsättningar som exempelvis fler uppgifter att hantera. / The aim of our study was to examine how organizational factors such as job demands and support can influence primary school middle managers opportunities to be available to subordinates under subordinates' expectations. To answer our purpose, we used a qualitative approach with semi structured interviews. The results was analyzed using theories of job demands, span of control, middle managers need for support and a theory about middle managers acting as a shock absorber between subordinates wishes and the managements demands. What kind of support the manager have affects how much time the manager can spend on being available for the subordinates. If the support isn´t adapted for the managers situation, the result will be more unnecessary duties for the manager and less time for the subordinates. The results show that subordinates expect the middle manager to be reachable and to take time to priority the subordinate when the subordinate needs it. Even if the manager can prioritize subordinates needs today, changes inside and outside the organization leads to higher demands on the managers.

Syftet med studien är att se hur det kreativa arbetsklimatet ser ut på två avdelningar inom en offentlig sektor och jämföra dessa samt se om det finns något samband med ett utvecklande ledarskap. Vi använde oss av en metodkombination för vår undersökning och inledde med att genomföra en kvantitativ datainsamling med hjälp av en enkät och därefter genomföra en kvalitativ datainsamling i form av fyra intervjuer där vi intervjuade både chefer och medarbetare för att se frågan från båda perspektiven. Vi kan utifrån resultaten av vår studie se att det kreativa klimatet är bättre på den avdelningen där det finns ett utvecklande ledarskap men att det också finns andra organisatoriska faktorer som påverkar detta.

Η Διαφθορά, συνήθως γνωστή ως η κατάχρηση της δημόσιας εξουσίας για προσωπικό όφελος υπάρχει σε όλο τον κόσμο, και είναι ευρέως διαδεδομένη. Ενώ η διαφθορά είναι γνωστό σε όλους ότι υπάρχει, η κατανόησή της για τις βλαβερές συνέπειες της έχει αυξηθεί ουσιαστικά κατά τις τελευταίες δεκαετίες. Η διαφθορά έχει αποδειχθεί ότι είναι πολύ δαπανηρή για την οικονομική ανάπτυξη των χωρών. Στρεβλώνει την εφαρμογή των νόμων και των κανονισμών, και περιορίζει την ποιότητα των δημόσιων υπηρεσιών. Η διαφθορά συνδέεται με κλειστές, αδιαφανείς διαδικασίες, αποκλείοντας τους πολίτες από την ανοικτή συμμετοχή στη διακυβέρνηση, αφήνοντας τους πολιτικούς και τους γραφειοκράτες λιγότερο υπόλογους. Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία που διεξάγεται στο πλαίσιο του Μεταπτυχιακού προγράμματος του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών, ασχολείται με τις απόψεις, στάσεις και αντιλήψεις των εργαζομένων του Ιδιωτικού και Δημοσίου τομέα σχετικά με το φαινόμενο της διαφθοράς ιδίως στον δημόσιο τομέα. Μετά την αναφορά στον εννοιολογικό προσδιορισμό της διαφθοράς, τις διαστάσεις, μορφές και τους τύπους, τις πηγές και τις επιπτώσεις της στην κοινωνική, οικονομική και πολιτική ζωή γίνεται αναφορά στον τρόπο μέτρησής της. Επίσης παρουσιάζεται βιβλιογραφική επισκόπηση παλαιότερων ερευνών σχετικά με την επίδραση των προσωπικών χαρακτηριστικών στο βαθμό αντίληψής της διαφθοράς. Από την έρευνα που πραγματοποιήθηκε μέσω προσωπικών συνεντεύξεων καταγράφηκε ο βαθμός αντίληψης της διαφθοράς τόσο γενικά όσο και ειδικά σε συγκεκριμένους τομείς. Παράλληλα ερευνήθηκε η στάση των εργαζομένων έναντι του φαινομένου, η ανοχή τους και οι απόψεις τους σχετικά με τις πηγές δημιουργίας του, η αποτελεσματικότητα των μέτρων αντιμετώπισης, καθώς επίσης και οι προτάσεις τους για τα μέτρα που πρέπει να ληφθούν σχετικά με την αντιμετώπιση του φαινομένου. Η σχετική βιβλιογραφία καθώς και τα συμπεράσματα παλαιότερων ερευνών επαληθεύονται από τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας που διενεργήθηκε. Συγκεκριμένα κατέδειξαν την αναγνώριση εκ μέρους των εργαζομένων της σημαντικότητας της διαφθοράς στο δημόσιο τομέα. Επίσης υπέδειξαν τα Πολιτικά κόμματα, τα Μ.Μ.Ε και τις Συνδικαλιστικές ηγεσίες ως τους πιο διεφθαρμένους θεσμούς. Ταυτόχρονα θεωρούν ότι οι προσωπικές επαφές είναι σημαντικές όσον αφορά στις συναλλαγές στο δημόσιο τομέα. Αισθάνονται ότι τα μέτρα αντιμετώπισης της διαφθοράς δεν επαρκούν, ενώ είναι διατεθειμένοι να λάβουν δράση απαντώντας ότι θα κατήγγειλαν περιστατικά διαφθοράς. Τέλος θεωρούν η ανεπάρκεια στη δικαιοσύνη αποτελεί πρωταρχική πηγή διαφθοράς ενώ ταυτόχρονα παρουσιάζεται η σημαντικότητά της ως μέτρο αντιμετώπισης. Λέξεις κλειδιά: διαφθορά, δημόσιος τομέας, εργαζόμενοι, απόψεις, στάσεις, αντιλήψεις / Corruption, commonly known as the abuse of public power for private gain, is a worldwide and widespread phenomenon. While corruption was always known to exist, the understanding of the harmful effects which poses has increased substantially in recent decades. Corruption not only has been proven to be very costly for the economic development of countries but also, distorts the application of laws and regulations and limits the quality of public services. Corruption is associated with closed, non-transparent procedures, excluding citizens from open participation in governance and leaving politicians and bureaucrats less liable. The main objective of this dissertation, conducted as part of the Master's program at the University of Patras, is to determine the attitudes, opinions and perceptions of private and public sector employees towards the phenomenon of corruption in public sector. This study starts with a reference to the conceptual definition of corruption, the dimensions, shapes, types and sources of corruption, its impact on social, economic and political life and corruption’s measurement indicators. Also, a throughout literature review presenting previous research on the effect of personal characteristics on the degree of perception of corruption is shown. From the survey conducted through personal interviews, the degree of perception of corruption both in general and in specific areas was recorded. Alongside with the perception of corruption, was investigated the attitude of employees towards the phenomenon, their tolerance and their views on the sources of its creation and finally, the perception of effectiveness, as well as, their proposals for response measures regarding the treatment of corruption. Previous research findings verify the results of this study. Specifically, the results indicate that public and private sector employees identify the importance of corruption in the public sector. Also, is suggested that political parties, media and trade union leaderships are the most corrupt institutions. Simultaneously, the respondents of this research believe that personal contacts are important, regarding the transactions with the public sector. They feel that corruption measures are inadequate and are willing to take action in response by denouncing corruption cases. Finally, they consider the failure of justice as a primary source of corruption and show its importance as a response measure. Key words: corruption, public sector, employees, views, attitudes, perceptions.

South Africa is experiencing a process of formidable and fundamental change. Public administrators as well as politicians are under tremendous pressure as heavy demands are being placed on them. These demands include coping with interventions such as Affirmative Action, Employment Equity, and the importance of managing diversity in the workplace. Despite improvements in race relations in the past twenty years, dysfunctional and ineffective behaviour still occur. This may be a reflection of the discomfort and anxiety experienced by employees in the work setting. In order to comply with legislation, organisations created opportunities for Black, Asian and Coloured males and females, White females and disabled people. This, in return, leads to perceptions of preferential hiring. The view that Affirmative Action involves preferential hiring and treatment based on group membership creates resistance to its implementation and original purpose. The reason for this resistance might be linked to the fact that people still perceive discrimination and injustice in the workplace. These perceptions seem true in public organisations even though public organisations have taken a positive stance with regard to implementing Equal Employment and Affirmative Action plans. A qualitative design with an availability sample (N = 20) of employees working in a public organisation was used. The qualitative research makes it possible to determine the subjective experience of employees in a public organisation. Semi-structured interviews based on the phenomenological method were conducted with employees working in different sections and different positions in a public organisation. Non-directive questions were asked during the interview. The tape-recording of the interview was transcribed verbatim in order to analyse the information. Content analysis was used to analyse and interpret the research data in a systematic, objective and quantitative way. A literature-control has been done to investigate relevant research in order to determine the comparativeness and uniqueness of the current research. Results indicated that Affirmative Action has been used as a tool in achieving its goal by focusing on preferential hiring. From the responses it was clear that the majority of the participants are of opinion that preferential hiring led to the appointment of incompetent candidates. It appears from the interviews that appointments are made without basing it on merit. This is against the basic principle of the public organisation of hiring and promoting employees by set standards. Due to the fact that previous disadvantaged groups are being placed in positions of which they have no experience or are not trained in, job related knowledge seems to present a problem. From the interviews it appeared that employees felt that poor customer service increased across the organisation due to the appointment of incompetent candidates. This also seems to have an effect on the workload being handled. It seems that predominantly white employees tend to be ambivalent towards Affirmative Action. Part of the reason for this ambivalence is the fear of change, especially when that change involves a radical re-thinking of past strategies. White employees, employed by the old apartheid system, feel alienated and/or marginalised in the new Affirmative Action process. White employees are also leaving organisations because they seem not to be part of the Affirmative Action process. This leads to loss of expertise occurring in organisations. Though organisations show a considerable amount of improvement on relationships between black and white, discrimination still seems to present itself through the implementation of Affirmative Action. Managing diversity is crucial for the effective management and development of people. It is important not to focus only on cultural differences but also concentrate on individual needs and perceptions. Unfortunately, it appears that South Africa is in the process of making the same mistakes as other countries in focusing on a power game and corruption. Black employees in particular, seem to be actively recruited, placed in senior positions and given the related finishing. In other words top management are using their 'power' to enforce Affirmative Action. There are also those who want to abuse the system or maybe understand the system incorrectly. Corruption coming from top management tends to make employees negative. In order to address these issues, a succession and career planning process needs to exist which is closely tied to the organisations' strategic plan. Employment Equity, as a strategic objective, is managed by the organisation, but needs the Human Resources function in a support and consultancy role. As such, it requires translation into practical objectives for departments, managers and employees. Recommendations were made for future research. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

Viešasis sektorius paskutiniu metu susiduria su darbuotojų migracijos problemomis, kurios yra susijusi su prastomis motyvavimo sistemomis viešajame sektoriuje, kur stokojama dėmesio darbuotojų kompetencijos palaikymui, lėšų šiuolaikinės personalo vadybos principus atitinkančioms darbo sąlygoms. Viešajame sektoriuje dirbančius žmones dėl geresnių darbo sąlygų perima privatusis sektorius, todėl darbuotojų motyvavimas viešajame sektoriuje, siekiant ne tik aukštos jų darbo kokybės, bet apskritai jų išlaikymo darbe, reikalauja kur kas didesnio teorinio bei praktinio susitelkimo nei iki šiol. Kad būtų išsiaiškinta viešojo sektoriaus darbuotojų motyvavimo sistema Mažeikių bei Telšių savivaldybėse, buvo atliktas kiekybinis tyrimas, apklausiant 144 darbuotojus Mažeikių ir 130 – Telšių savivaldybėse. Tyrimo duomenys paneigė hipotezę, kad viešojo sektoriaus darbuotojams svarbesni yra nematerialiniai nei materialiniai motyvaciniai veiksniai, nes darbe Mažeikių bei Telšių savivaldybių darbuotojai prioritetiniais veiksniais laiko darbo užmokestį ir socialines garantijas, kurios juos labiausiai tenkina darbinėje veikloje. Paaiškėjo, kad dauguma Mažeikių bei Telšių savivaldybių darbuotojų norėtų geresnių darbo sąlygų ir mano, jog dirbtų geriau, jei darbo užmokestį lemtų rezultatai ir kokybė. Taip pat didžioji dalis tyrinėjamų savivaldybių darbuotojų teigia, kad motyvavimas yra reikalingas ir kad jie dažniausiai yra skatinami finansinėmis priemonėmis. Beveik pusė Mažeikių ir Telšių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Recently public sector confronts with employees migration problems which are connected with mean motivation systems in public sector wherein it is lack of attention to employees competence support and of finances for work conditions which would match principles of the modern staff management. People working in public sector migrates to private sector for the better work conditions therefore employee motivating in public sector (not only with the view of high work quality but to maintain them in their current workplace in general) demands higher theoretical and practical concentration than before. In order to ascertain the public sector employees’ motivating systems in the administrations of Mažeikiai and Telšiai local governments the quantitative research was accomplished. There were 144 participants in Mažeikiai local government and 130 participants in Telšiai local government. The results denied the hypothesis that immaterial motivating factors motivate employees in public sector more than material motivating factors, because preferential factors for employees in the administration of Mažeikiai and Telšiai local governments are salary and social guarantees, by which they are mostly satisfied. Majority of the employees in the administrations of Mažeikiai and Telšiai local governments would like better work conditions and think that they would work better if salary would depend on their working results and quality. Majority of the participants also state that motivating is... [to full text]

Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjamas Šiaulių miesto savivaldybės darbuotojų motyvavimo klausimas. Darbo tikslas yra išanalizuoti organizacijos darbuotojų skatinimo ypatumus, t.y. nustatyti pagrindinius darbo motyvaciją bei demotyvaciją lemiančius veiksnius, pateikti efektyviausius skatinimo būdus, būdingus Šiaulių miesto savivaldybės darbuotojams. Darbas susideda iš dviejų dalių: teorinės ir tiriamosios (empirinės) dalies. Teorinėje dalyje atskleidžiama darbuotojų motyvacijos ir motyvavimo sąvokų samprata, nagrinėjamos pagrindinės šiuolaikinės darbuotojų motyvacijos teorijos. Taip pat teorinėje dalyje išskiriamos pagrindinės viešųjų institucijų darbuotojų motyvavimo priemonės. Empirinėje dalyje pateikiami Šiaulių miesto savivaldybės darbuotojų motyvacijos tyrimo gauti rezultatai. Atlikus statistinių duomenų analizę pateikiamos išvados ir rekomendacijos savivaldybės darbuotojų darbo motyvacijai didinti. / The bachelor paper explores the issues of motivation analyzed in the institution of the Šiauliai municipality. The main aim of this work is to analyze the workers motivation features of organization, i.e. to determine the main work motivation and dismotivation factors of employees. Also to produce the most effective ways to promote workers of municipality. The work consists of two parts: theoretical and research (empirical) part. The theoretical part describes the employees' motivation concept and analyze the main issue in the modern theory of motivation. It also identifies methods, how to motivate workers in public sector. In the empirical part of work present the results of the research. After statistical analysis to supply present conclusions and recommendations, how to improve work motivation in Šiauliai municipality.