Kommunala huvudmannastrategier för kostnadspress och utveckling : en studie av kommunal teknik
(2000) In Lund Studies in Economics and Management 57.- Abstract
- The aim of the study is to improve the understanding of strategy in politically governed organisations. From the perspective of a specific responsible authority the main purpose of the study is to describe and analyse how strategies emerge and develop. Competitive tendering and inter-municipal co-operation, has been studied as a two principally different strategic approaches to reduce costs and stimulate innovation in the municipal engineering sector.
By combining two different theoretical traditions, general strategy theory and political science approaches for public administration, I have developed a conceptual framework that permits the use of the strategy concept in a context of political organisations. According to... (More) - The aim of the study is to improve the understanding of strategy in politically governed organisations. From the perspective of a specific responsible authority the main purpose of the study is to describe and analyse how strategies emerge and develop. Competitive tendering and inter-municipal co-operation, has been studied as a two principally different strategic approaches to reduce costs and stimulate innovation in the municipal engineering sector.
By combining two different theoretical traditions, general strategy theory and political science approaches for public administration, I have developed a conceptual framework that permits the use of the strategy concept in a context of political organisations. According to the framework, it is possible to identify three types of actors within the responsible municipal authority. Each of these is characterised by a specific logic. Political actors act for political purposes, professional actors act for professional purposes and occurring private contractors act for commercial purposes. The three different types of logic are recognised to have a major impact on the emerging strategy within a supply. By confronting the theoretical framework with the empirical data, conclusions concerning the content and application of the strategies of municipal authorities are generated.
Traditionally, strategy in political organisations has been considered a matter for hired professionals. By regarding political demands as an external factor, strategy is used as a means to treat and handle the governing effort of elected politicians. This situation is regrettable in view of the arguments for democracy put forward by political scientists. The thesis’ suggested framework casts political actors and professionals in the roles of initiators of strategic approaches. The emergent and realised strategy is a matter of political and professional judgement in interplay with occurring external contractors, thus strategy does not function as a filter between political decisions and implementing executives. Strategy supposedly emerges as the result of actions initiated by the three types of actors. Outcomes vary depending on the actor who’s rationality dominates each specific situation. In the study three hypotheses are presented. Depending on the type of actor, strategic reflection will appear in different arenas. Which problems and solutions appear urgent and interesting will depend on which actor’s perspective we chose to take our starting point in. Finally, most strategy studies of public organisations assume a public production unit. When initiated strategic approaches (politicians and executives) are analytically separated ex ante, a discussion in terms of strategy becomes meaningful, no matter how the production is provided. (Less) - Abstract (Swedish)
- Popular Abstract in Swedish
Under det senaste decenniet har utvecklingen i Sverige inneburit en ökad press på den kommunala sektorn vars roll och uppgifter i samhället har ifrågasatts. Ett återkommande ämne för debatt är betydelsen av politiskt inflytande i förhållande till behovet av effektiv produktion av offentlig service. I denna avhandling studeras vilka möjligheter en enskild kommunal försörjning har att agera och framgångsrikt anpassa interna och externa förhållanden så att dess inriktning överensstämmer med krav från omgivningen?
I denna avhandling redovisas resultat från en studie av kommunala huvudmannastrategier inom kommunalteknisk försörjning. Konkurrensutsättning och inter-kommunal samverkan... (More) - Popular Abstract in Swedish
Under det senaste decenniet har utvecklingen i Sverige inneburit en ökad press på den kommunala sektorn vars roll och uppgifter i samhället har ifrågasatts. Ett återkommande ämne för debatt är betydelsen av politiskt inflytande i förhållande till behovet av effektiv produktion av offentlig service. I denna avhandling studeras vilka möjligheter en enskild kommunal försörjning har att agera och framgångsrikt anpassa interna och externa förhållanden så att dess inriktning överensstämmer med krav från omgivningen?
I denna avhandling redovisas resultat från en studie av kommunala huvudmannastrategier inom kommunalteknisk försörjning. Konkurrensutsättning och inter-kommunal samverkan studeras som två exempel på tillämpade strategier. Dessa har ansetts bidra till att den befintliga kommunala försörjningen tillgodogörs innovationer för ökad produktprestanda och lägre total kostnadsnivå. Studien visar att kommunala huvudmannastrategier formas i samspel mellan politiker, professionella tjänstemän och i förekommande fall även privata entreprenörer. Dessa aktörskategorier kännetecknas av olika logiker som konkurrerar om inflytandet i samband med beslutsfattande och strategiska val. På så vis utgör politiska ställningstaganden en central drivkraft i formerandet av strategin och inte, som i tidigare forskning, en omvärldsvariabel att neutralisera. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/19812
- author
- Mattisson, Ola LU
- supervisor
- opponent
-
- Professor Ståhlberg, Krister, Department of Public Administration, Åbo Akademi University
- organization
- alternative title
- Municipal responsible authorities' strategies for cost reduction and innovation - a study of the municipal engineering sector
- publishing date
- 2000
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- municipal engineering, strategy, Municipal responsible authority, process, competitive tendering, co-operation, innovation, cost reduction, Management of enterprises, Företagsledning, management
- in
- Lund Studies in Economics and Management
- volume
- 57
- pages
- 311 pages
- publisher
- Lund Business Press
- defense location
- Crafoordsalen, Ekonomicentrum
- defense date
- 2000-09-22 10:15:00
- external identifiers
-
- other:ISRN: LUSADG/SAEK-00/1062-SE
- ISSN
- 0284-5075
- ISBN
- 91-973738-4-2
- language
- Swedish
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 19925018-9362-45fc-9a12-ff3fcc25f3c2 (old id 19812)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 11:04:08
- date last changed
- 2019-05-21 19:02:51
@phdthesis{19925018-9362-45fc-9a12-ff3fcc25f3c2,
abstract = {{The aim of the study is to improve the understanding of strategy in politically governed organisations. From the perspective of a specific responsible authority the main purpose of the study is to describe and analyse how strategies emerge and develop. Competitive tendering and inter-municipal co-operation, has been studied as a two principally different strategic approaches to reduce costs and stimulate innovation in the municipal engineering sector.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
By combining two different theoretical traditions, general strategy theory and political science approaches for public administration, I have developed a conceptual framework that permits the use of the strategy concept in a context of political organisations. According to the framework, it is possible to identify three types of actors within the responsible municipal authority. Each of these is characterised by a specific logic. Political actors act for political purposes, professional actors act for professional purposes and occurring private contractors act for commercial purposes. The three different types of logic are recognised to have a major impact on the emerging strategy within a supply. By confronting the theoretical framework with the empirical data, conclusions concerning the content and application of the strategies of municipal authorities are generated.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Traditionally, strategy in political organisations has been considered a matter for hired professionals. By regarding political demands as an external factor, strategy is used as a means to treat and handle the governing effort of elected politicians. This situation is regrettable in view of the arguments for democracy put forward by political scientists. The thesis’ suggested framework casts political actors and professionals in the roles of initiators of strategic approaches. The emergent and realised strategy is a matter of political and professional judgement in interplay with occurring external contractors, thus strategy does not function as a filter between political decisions and implementing executives. Strategy supposedly emerges as the result of actions initiated by the three types of actors. Outcomes vary depending on the actor who’s rationality dominates each specific situation. In the study three hypotheses are presented. Depending on the type of actor, strategic reflection will appear in different arenas. Which problems and solutions appear urgent and interesting will depend on which actor’s perspective we chose to take our starting point in. Finally, most strategy studies of public organisations assume a public production unit. When initiated strategic approaches (politicians and executives) are analytically separated ex ante, a discussion in terms of strategy becomes meaningful, no matter how the production is provided.}},
author = {{Mattisson, Ola}},
isbn = {{91-973738-4-2}},
issn = {{0284-5075}},
keywords = {{municipal engineering; strategy; Municipal responsible authority; process; competitive tendering; co-operation; innovation; cost reduction; Management of enterprises; Företagsledning; management}},
language = {{swe}},
publisher = {{Lund Business Press}},
school = {{Lund University}},
series = {{Lund Studies in Economics and Management}},
title = {{Kommunala huvudmannastrategier för kostnadspress och utveckling : en studie av kommunal teknik}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/5686979/1002077.pdf}},
volume = {{57}},
year = {{2000}},
}