| 1. |
- Knutsson, Hans, et al.
(författare)
-
Do strategy and management matter in municipal organisations?
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 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.
|
|
| 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.
|
|
| 3. |
- Thomasson, Anna
(författare)
-
Exploring the Ambiguity of Hybrid Organisations: A Stakeholder Approach.
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Financial Accountability & Management. - : Wiley. - 1468-0408 .- 0267-4424. ; 25:3, s. 385-398
-
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.
|
|
| 4. |
- Aidemark, Lars-Göran, 1979-, et al.
(författare)
-
Measurement and health care management
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - Oxford : Blackwell publishing. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 25:2, s. 253-276
-
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.
|
|
| 5. |
|
|
| 6. |
- Catasús, Bino, 1962-, et al.
(författare)
-
More peace for less money : Measurement and accountability in the Swedish Armed Forces
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - : Wiley. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 21:4, s. 467-484
-
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?'
|
|
| 7. |
- Jacobs, Fred A., et al.
(författare)
-
The combined effect of donation price and administrative inefficiency on donations to US nonprofit organizations
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - : Wiley. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 25:1, s. 33-53
-
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.
|
|
| 8. |
- Johansson, Tobias, 1977, et al.
(författare)
-
Explaining the utilization of relative performance evaluation in local government: A multi-theoretical study using data from Sweden
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Financial Accountability & Management. - Oxford : Blackwell. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 25:2, s. 197-224
-
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.
|
|
| 9. |
- Johansson, Tobias, 1977-
(författare)
-
Municipal contracting out : Governance choices, misalignment and performance in Swedish local government
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Financial Accountability and Management. - : Wiley. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 24:3, s. 243-264
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper we apply a Transaction Cost Theory framework to analyse the use and effects of contracting out in Swedish local government. During the last decade Swedish local authorities, like in many other countries, have, to a larger extent, started to contract external subcontractors to fulfil their responsibilities towards its citizens. It is not only in the traditional subcontracting sectors such as housing, infrastructure, and technical services that this trend is evident, but also in policy areas like education, social care, and elderly care. In fact, very little is known about the overall effects of, and the mechanisms underlying, governance choices. The overall results corroborate transaction cost reasoning. Supplier competition and specificity have anticipated effects on municipal de-integration. Too little, but not too much, use of contracting out, in relation to theoretical predictions, worsens performance. The latter aspect is not fully in accordance with TCE-propositions.
|
|
| 10. |
- Siverbo, Sven, 1970, et al.
(författare)
-
Relative performance evaluation in Swedish local government
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Financial Accountability & Management. - : Wiley. - 0267-4424 .- 1468-0408. ; 22:3, s. 271-290
-
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.
|
|
