| 1. |
- Johansson, Tobias, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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Explaining the utilization of relative performance evaluation in local government: A multi-theoretical study using data from Sweden
- 2009
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability & Management. - Oxford : Blackwell. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 25:2, s. 197-224
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the more lasting imprints that New Public Management (NPM) has made in the public sector is an increase in the popularity of performance measurement. In Sweden, performance measurement has gained popularity in the public sector, not least at the local government level with the use of relative performance evaluation (RPE). Because utilization of RPE is a decentralized and optional mode of governance, a somewhat heterogeneous practice has evolved. The aim of this paper is to examine the causes of this differentiated practice. We jointly examine economic, political and institutional/cultural explanations in order to account for the utilization of RPE. The empirical material consists of archival data and a questionnaire sent to all Swedish municipalities in late 2005. We show that RPE adoption and use partly has different antecedents and that the institutional/cultural perspective appears to have greater explanatory power than economic and political, not least as a consequence of the potential to explain decoupling and the importance of change facilitating capabilities. The investigation contributes specifically to the literature on the utilization of RPE in local governments and more generally to the literature on why and to what extent management accounting practices are utilized.
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| 2. |
- Siverbo, Sven, 1970, et al.
(författare)
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Relative performance evaluation in Swedish local government
- 2006
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability & Management. - : Wiley. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 22:3, s. 271-290
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse how Swedish municipalities conceptualise and apply RPE (Relative Performance Evalutaion). Swedish municipalities are of principle interest because they operate in a context of ample freedom of action and local self- governance where RPE has become a popular method initiated by the munici- palities themselves. The scope of the description and discussion is limited to how popular RPE is compared to other performance management models, how local governments choose to work with RPE, and how they exercise their freedom of action in order to choose different working methods and adapt RPE to local requirements and conditions. The article describes Swedish RPE practices on the basis of a questionnaire distributed to all Swedish municipalities in autumn 2005.
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| 3. |
- Siverbo, Sven, 1970
(författare)
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The purchaser‐provider split in principle and practice: Experiences from Sweden
- 2004
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability & Management. - : Wiley. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 20:4, s. 401-420
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the public sector, market‐inspired organisation, control and accounting, along with business‐like relationships between organisational units, usually goes under the name of New Public Management (NPM). One organisational form associated with NPM is the purchaser‐provider split. The model was first used in Sweden by county councils at the end of the 1980s. It was considered to be an effective and democratic method for managing Swedish health care. Over the past few years, researchers in many countries have begun doubting the model's suitability and whether it has really been used in the way that was intended. However, the model is still popular in the Swedish health care sector. This article presents the effects of the purchaser‐provider split found in Swedish studies. These effects are compared to the anticipated effects when the model was launched, and the effects of the purchaser‐provider split in Britain. The aim of this article is to explore the effects of the purchaser‐provider split in practice.
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| 4. |
- Kastberg, Gustaf, et al.
(författare)
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The design and use of management accounting systems in process oriented health care : an explorative study
- 2013
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 29:3, s. 246-270
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Process orientation has made its entrance in Health Care Organizations (HCOs). The purpose is to improve patients’ journeys through the health care system. One factor that potentially affects process orientation is the design and use of Management Accounting Systems (MAS). In the literature there are worries that process orientation often is not supported by a well designed and used MAS but, on the contrary, is counteracted by a MAS designed for other purposes than supporting processes. This study contributes to the existing knowledge in that it shows how the introduction of process orientation within health care is accompanied by the development of horizontally oriented MAS (HMAS) which is used in different ways and by different actors. Generally, the use of HMAS for diagnostic control is limited. The main use of HMAS is for the purpose of mastering the events and interactive control, and the main users are the persons connected to the processes. The observation in earlier research that the existence of vertically oriented MAS may be a threat to process orientation is to some extent corroborated in the paper.
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| 5. |
- Siverbo, Sven, 1970-
(författare)
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The implementation and use of benchmarking in local government : A case study of the translation of a management accounting innovation
- 2014
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 30:2, s. 121-149
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Benchmarking is a management accounting innovation (MAI) that can be used for performance measurement and management in both the private and the public sectors. Although public sector accounting researchers have reported some success with the use of benchmarking, it is frequently charged problems exist in implementing and using this management technique. To look beyond the technical and institutional explanations, this paper takes a translation approach and presents a case study of a local government benchmarking network. We conclude that there is a link between benchmarking implementation problems and initiators’ failure to build a strong network of benchmarking allies. Implementation is facilitated if actors other than the initiators recognize the possibility of making benchmarking more relevant and less cost focused. However, even when a network of actors has a favourable attitude towards benchmarking, benchmarking may still appear as an unruly ‘actant’. Furthermore, the perception of implementation failure and success is heterogeneous and connected to various actors’ adoption of benchmarking. We also conclude that there is a connection between the use of benchmarking and 1) actors’ possibilities to use benchmarking in the struggle for resources and 2) the perception of benchmarking information as ‘factual’ or ‘factual enough’. However, the perception of benchmarking information as ‘factual’ or ‘factual enough’ seems not only a matter of correct or incorrect ratios but also of whether such information serves actors’ interests. A final conclusion is that the use of benchmarking increases when actors other than the initiators complement the original idea and ‘counter interest’ the initiators.
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| 6. |
- Siverbo, Sven, 1970-
(författare)
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Verbal rewards and public managers' autonomous motivation
- 2023
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 39:3, s. 534-553
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The aim of this paper is to examine how verbal rewards (praise) from superior public managers influence subordinate public managers' work motivation coming from experiencing work tasks as important, exciting, interesting, and fun, so-called autonomous motivation. We use self-determination theory (SDT) to theorize that depending on how they are provided, verbal rewards can enhance or undermine autonomous motivation. This is because different verbal reward practices have different effects on subordinate public managers' basic psychological needs, which in turn influences their autonomous motivation. Based on a cross-sectional survey completed by 331 public managers in four Swedish local government organizations, we find that verbal rewards that are performance-contingent and provided frequently undermine public managers' autonomous motivation. Verbal rewards enhance autonomous motivation when they are based on skills and results. Our study contributes to the public management literature discussing the applicability of rewards in public sector organizations where autonomous motivation is crucial for performance. It contributes to practice by suggesting that superior managers who provide skills/result-based verbal rewards are more likely to enhance than undermine the autonomous motivation of subordinates. In support of SDT, the overall conclusion is that the impact of verbal rewards on public managers' autonomous motivation is contingent on how verbal rewards are provided by superiors. However, our results should be interpreted with some caution due to the circumstance that cross-sectional survey research can only ensure associations between constructs and not causality.
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