| 1. |
- Knutsson, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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Do strategy and management matter in municipal organisations?
- 2008
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 24:3, s. 295-319
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Sweden, a large share of public services are organised, produced and delivered by municipalities, large and small, rich and poor. Contextual conditions (size and location) and economic conditions (efficiency and wealth) differ considerably among these service-providing organisations. The question raised in this paper is whether a municipality's economic situation is a direct consequence of the contextual situation or the organisation's strategy and management – that is: Do strategy and management matter? Our analysis rests on a resource-based view of organisation strategy. Both quantitative and qualitative observations have been made. First, cost savings data from 50 municipalities were examined for patterns and relationships between contextual and economic conditions. Second, about 100 representatives – municipal executive board members and leading officials – from 20 municipalities with different characteristics were interviewed. In this paper we outline an analytical framework and propose that sound and sustainable provision of municipal service depends on whether organisational decision-making is in harmony with work methods and objectives. The results indicate that strategy and management do matter. Among the municipalities included in our study, we identify four prevalent basic strategies. Strategy tends to coincide with the economic situation rather than the contextual situation. A low-performing municipality tends to have a predominantly outward orientation in its decision-making, whereas a higher-performing municipality makes decisions with both inward and outward orientation.
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| 2. |
- Knutsson, Hans, et al.
(författare)
-
Do strategy and management matter in municipal organisations?
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Financial Accountability & Management. - : Wiley. - 1468-0408 .- 0267-4424. ; 24:3, s. 295-319
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In Sweden, a large share of public services are organised, produced and delivered by municipalities, large and small, rich and poor. Contextual conditions (size and location) and economic conditions (efficiency and wealth) differ considerably among these service-providing organisations. The question raised in this paper is whether a municipality's economic situation is a direct consequence of the contextual situation or the organisation's strategy and management - that is: Do strategy and management matter? Our analysis rests on a resource-based view of organisation strategy. Both quantitative and qualitative observations have been made. First, cost savings data from 50 municipalities were examined for patterns and relationships between contextual and economic conditions. Second, about 100 representatives - municipal executive board members and leading officials - from 20 municipalities with different characteristics were interviewed. In this paper we outline an analytical framework and propose that sound and sustainable provision of municipal service depends on whether organisational decision-making is in harmony with work methods and objectives. The results indicate that strategy and management do matter. Among the municipalities included in our study, we identify four prevalent basic strategies. Strategy tends to coincide with the economic situation rather than the contextual situation. A low-performing municipality tends to have a predominantly outward orientation in its decision-making, whereas a higher-performing municipality makes decisions with both inward and outward orientation.
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| 3. |
- Nordgren, Lars
(författare)
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The Healthcare Voucher: Emergence, Formation and Dissemination
- 2010
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability & Management. - : Wiley. - 1468-0408 .- 0267-4424. ; 26:4, s. 443-464
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Market-inspired healthcare reforms have been introduced in Sweden: Freedom of Choice in Healthcare in 1989 and the National Healthcare Guarantee in 2005. After the general election 2006 the idea of the Healthcare Voucher has followed. Built on a theoretical framework composed of Foucault's concept of 'discursive formation' supported by Butler's concept of the ‘performativity of discourse’ the purpose is to analyse the emergence, formation and dissemination of this idea into healthcare in Sweden. The Voucher is disseminated in a form reminiscent of a chain linking a series of texts, referring to each other and building on each other's formulations strengthening each other's messages. It circulates under designations such as healthcare voucher and money and seems to be disseminated by being combined with 'freedom of choice' forming the theme customer choice. The Healthcare Voucher then becomes a means of being able to realise an idea of a political nature, building markets in healthcare. The paper offers a way of analysing how ideas influence the policy agenda, in particular for the voucher/s. Distinctions could be made between the voucher idea and 'money following the patient' in quasi markets. A critical issue in introducing choice and competition, not explored here, is the issue of ‘cream skimming’.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Thomasson, Anna
(författare)
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Exploring the Ambiguity of Hybrid Organisations: A Stakeholder Approach.
- 2009
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability & Management. - : Wiley. - 1468-0408 .- 0267-4424. ; 25:3, s. 385-398
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper focuses on hybrid organisations, which have both public and private sector elements. Therefore, stakeholders of hybrid organisations have different views regarding what to expect from the organisation and the role of stakeholders tend to be multifaceted. This creates ambiguity that imposes demands on the management of hybrid organisations. In this paper a stakeholder approach is used in order to explore the ambiguity of hybrid organisations and the demands this imposes on managers.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Aidemark, Lars-Göran, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
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Measurement and health care management
- 2009
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - Oxford : Blackwell publishing. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 25:2, s. 253-276
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Over recent decades many health care organisations have "modernised" their management accounting systems by using the balanced scorecard (BSC). However, public health care involves multi-dimensional goals and resolving conflicts of interest. The question is whether a management control system based on measurements is suitable in a health care context. Light can be shed on this question using a study of the application of a BSC over a ten-year period at Hogland Hospital. The study shows that the BSC and measurements of output and behaviour became a way of approaching unanswered questions about processes and quality development. Medical professionals with management responsibility, in co-operation with medical professionals responsible for different specialities, determined measures and targets and the measurements were integrated into activity processes and affected activities.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Catasús, Bino, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
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More peace for less money : Measurement and accountability in the Swedish Armed Forces
- 2005
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - : Wiley. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 21:4, s. 467-484
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies of measurement and accountability are leading public sector transformation. By examining military work, this paper addresses the relationship between measurements and accountability by highlighting the measurements. Evidence was gathered from documents, political statements and field research. Several layers of accountability systems were found in the organisation. The principal can be the weak link in an accountability relationship if the measurement agenda is in the hands of the agent. The problems seem to go beyond performance and output, and a more fundamental question is challenging the public sector: `Are we doing the right things?' Or an even more dramatic existential question arises: `Why do we exist?'
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| 10. |
- Jacobs, Fred A., et al.
(författare)
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The combined effect of donation price and administrative inefficiency on donations to US nonprofit organizations
- 2009
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Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - : Wiley. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 25:1, s. 33-53
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examine the effects that two accounting measures of nonprofit organization (NPO) inefficiency, administrative inefficiency and donation price, have on donations to US NPOs using a better-specified model and industry-specific samples. Although numerous studies examine the effect that donation price has on donations (e.g., Marudas and Jacobs, 2006; Marudas, 2004; Khanna and Sandler, 2000; and Tinkelman, 1999), only three studies examine the effect of administrative inefficiency on donations (Tinkelman and Mankaney, 2007; Frumkin and Kim, 2001; and Greenlee and Brown, 1999). However, none of these studies tests donation price and administrative inefficiency in one model and only two test industry-specific samples of NPOs. We find that misspecifying the model by including only one of these two inefficiency measures creates substantial bias and the effect of administrative inefficiency on donations varies substantially across industries. Administrative inefficiency has a significantly negative effect on donations to NPOs in the full sample and the philanthropy sample, but no significant effect on donations to NPOs in the arts, education, health, or human services samples. Furthermore, donation price has a significantly negative effect on donations to NPOs in the full sample and the education, health and human services samples, but not in the arts or philanthropy samples. Results are also reported for the other variables in the model - government support, program service revenue, fundraising and organizational age, wealth and size.
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