Professionalism and Organizational Performance in the Wake of New Managerialism
(2015) In European Political Science Review 7(4). p.499-523- Abstract
- With New Public Management came the idea that public organizations should be led by professional managers, rather than by professionals. This has been referred to as new managerialism. This article explores how new managerialism may affect professional autonomy in a public organization that enjoys a high – and constitutionally protected – degree of organizational autonomy. A framework distinguishing between organizational and occupational professionalism is adopted, in a 10-year case study of the Swedish National Audit Office (SNAO). The study shows how the autonomy of professionals at the SNAO was highly restricted, while management control systems were continuously expanded. At the same time, SNAO performance has been reduced. For... (More)
- With New Public Management came the idea that public organizations should be led by professional managers, rather than by professionals. This has been referred to as new managerialism. This article explores how new managerialism may affect professional autonomy in a public organization that enjoys a high – and constitutionally protected – degree of organizational autonomy. A framework distinguishing between organizational and occupational professionalism is adopted, in a 10-year case study of the Swedish National Audit Office (SNAO). The study shows how the autonomy of professionals at the SNAO was highly restricted, while management control systems were continuously expanded. At the same time, SNAO performance has been reduced. For example, the SNAO has been criticized for its high overhead costs. The study presented in this article, shows the complex interplay between professionalism, new managerialism, and organizational performance. Based on the findings from this study, the article maintains that it is equally important to consider how autonomy is distributed within agencies, as it is to consider how autonomy is distributed between the political sphere and the administration, when trying to explain organizational performance. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4466300
- author
- Ahlbäck Öberg, Shirin and Bringselius, Louise LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2015
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- professionalism, managerialism, professional autonomy, organizational autonomy, organizational performance, supreme audit institution, SAI
- in
- European Political Science Review
- volume
- 7
- issue
- 4
- pages
- 499 - 523
- publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000362971800001
- scopus:84944278712
- ISSN
- 1755-7747
- DOI
- 10.1017/S1755773914000307
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 72e44636-e506-4556-84bf-77424db5d19b (old id 4466300)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 10:22:03
- date last changed
- 2022-04-27 21:24:03
@article{72e44636-e506-4556-84bf-77424db5d19b,
abstract = {{With New Public Management came the idea that public organizations should be led by professional managers, rather than by professionals. This has been referred to as new managerialism. This article explores how new managerialism may affect professional autonomy in a public organization that enjoys a high – and constitutionally protected – degree of organizational autonomy. A framework distinguishing between organizational and occupational professionalism is adopted, in a 10-year case study of the Swedish National Audit Office (SNAO). The study shows how the autonomy of professionals at the SNAO was highly restricted, while management control systems were continuously expanded. At the same time, SNAO performance has been reduced. For example, the SNAO has been criticized for its high overhead costs. The study presented in this article, shows the complex interplay between professionalism, new managerialism, and organizational performance. Based on the findings from this study, the article maintains that it is equally important to consider how autonomy is distributed within agencies, as it is to consider how autonomy is distributed between the political sphere and the administration, when trying to explain organizational performance.}},
author = {{Ahlbäck Öberg, Shirin and Bringselius, Louise}},
issn = {{1755-7747}},
keywords = {{professionalism; managerialism; professional autonomy; organizational autonomy; organizational performance; supreme audit institution; SAI}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{4}},
pages = {{499--523}},
publisher = {{Cambridge University Press}},
series = {{European Political Science Review}},
title = {{Professionalism and Organizational Performance in the Wake of New Managerialism}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1755773914000307}},
doi = {{10.1017/S1755773914000307}},
volume = {{7}},
year = {{2015}},
}