Tom Christensen – författare

Den här boken ger en introduktion till organisationsteori med speciellt fokus på den offentliga sektorns specifika förutsättningar och målsättningar.I första delen introduceras tre olika perspektiv på hur offentliga organisationer är uppbyggda och hur de fungerar: det instrumentella perspektivet, kulturperspektivet och mytperspektivet.I andra delen av boken använder författarna dessa olika perspektiv för att beskriva och analysera centrala delar av offentliga organisationer. Några av de centrala aspekterna är ledning, styrning, organisationsförändringar och lärande.Boken avslutas med ett kapitel som syftar till att öka förståelsen för offentliga organisationers komplexitet. Författarna menar att man behöver växla mellan de tre olika perspektiven för att få en rättvisande bild av hur offentlig sektor fungerar.

Sagt om boken"Offentlig sektor står inför stora utmaningar och omfattande omställningsprocesser. Därför är behovet av en lärobok med empiri från svensk offentlig sektor och med en disciplinär anknytning till statsvetenskap särskilt stort. Till skillnad från svensk statsvetenskap har den norska i mycket hög grad utnyttjat organisationsteori i forskning och undervisning. Hur fruktbart det kan vara illustreras av den här spännande läroboken om offentlig organisation och styrning, skriven av fyra framstående norska statsvetare. Boken har förtjänstfullt anpassats till en svensk läsekrets." Rune Premfors, professor i statsvetenskap, Stockholms universitet och föreståndare för Stockholms centrum för forskning om offentlig sektor (Score).

Om författarnaFörfattarna är alla professorer i statsvetenskap vid olika universitet i Norge. Fackgranskning: Anders Ivarsson Westerberg, Södertörn högskola, och Anders Forssell vid Uppsala universitet. Översättning: Anders Ivarsson Westerberg.

Public-sector organizations are fundamentally different from their private-sector counterparts. They are part of the society’s political organizations and are major political actors. They are multifunctional, follow a political leadership and the majority do not operate in an external market. In an era of rapid reform, reorganization and modernization of the public sector, this book offers a timely and illuminating introduction to the public-sector organization that recognizes its unique values, interests, knowledge and power base.Drawing on both instrumental and institutional perspectives within organization theory, as well as democratic theory and empirical studies of decision-making, the book addresses five central aspects of the public-sector organization:■ goals, values and motivation■ leadership and steering■ reform and change■ effects, learning and implications■ understanding and designThe book challenges conventional economic analysis of the public sector, arguing instead for a political-democratic approach and a new prescriptive organization theory. A rich resource of both theory and practice, Organization Theory and the Public Sector: Instrument, Culture and Myth is essential reading for anybody studying the public sector.This second edition of the book contains a range of new and updated themes, examples and references.

Public-sector organizations are fundamentally different from their private-sector counterparts. They are part of the society’s political organizations and are major political actors. They are multifunctional, follow a political leadership and the majority do not operate in an external market. In an era of rapid reform, reorganization and modernization of the public sector, this book offers a timely and illuminating introduction to the public-sector organization that recognizes its unique values, interests, knowledge and power base.Drawing on both instrumental and institutional perspectives within organization theory, as well as democratic theory and empirical studies of decision-making, the book addresses five central aspects of the public-sector organization:■ goals, values and motivation■ leadership and steering■ reform and change■ effects, learning and implications■ understanding and designThe book challenges conventional economic analysis of the public sector, arguing instead for a political-democratic approach and a new prescriptive organization theory. A rich resource of both theory and practice, Organization Theory and the Public Sector: Instrument, Culture and Myth is essential reading for anybody studying the public sector.This second edition of the book contains a range of new and updated themes, examples and references.

There is growing concern that welfare states are inefficient, unsustainable and lack popular support. New Public Management reforms affected the balance between managerial and political accountability and disrupted administrative, legal, professional and social accountability, causing confusion as to whom public organizations are really accountable. The Routledge Handbook to Accountability and Welfare State Reforms in Europe assesses multi-dimensional accountability relations in depth, addressing the dynamic between accountability and reforms. Analyzing how welfare state reforms oriented towards agencification, managerialism and marketization affected existing relationships in services traditionally provided by public institutions, the theoretically informed, empirical chapters provide specific examples of their effect on accountability. Expert contributors explore the relationship between accountability and performance and the impact of reforms on political, administrative, managerial, legal, professional and social accountability. The role of specific actors, such as the media and citizens, on the accountability process addressing issues of blame avoidance, reputation and autonomous agencies is discussed. Comparative chapters across time, countries, administrative levels and policy areas are included, along with discussions linking accountability with concepts like legitimacy, democracy, coordination and performance. This handbook will be an essential reference tool to those studying European politics and public policy.

Following on from the success of the editors' previous book, New Public Management: The Transformation of Ideas and Practice, which examined the public reform process up to the end of the last decade, this new volume draws on the previous knowledge both theoretically and empirically. It examines and debates the post-new public management reform development in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand. The ideal follow-up to the previous volume, this book includes many of the same contributors in addition to some fresh voices, and is a must for anyone looking for an integrated framework of analysis. Comprehensive and analytical, it is an important contribution to the study of public administration and particularly to the reform of public management.

This collection provides a comprehensive, state-of-the art review of current research in the field of New Public Management (NPM) reform. Aimed primarily at a readership with a special interest in contemporary public-sector reforms, The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management offers a refreshing and up-to-date analysis of key issues of modern administrative reforms. This volume comprises a general introduction and twenty-nine chapters divided into six thematic sessions, each with chapters ranging across a variety of crucial topics in the field of New Public Management reforms and beyond. The principal themes to be addressed are: ¢

Public bureaucracies are the workhorses of contemporary government, responsible for implementing public policies, and in the process making far more laws than do legislatures and adjudicating more cases than do the courts. How do bureaucracies function within a political system? How do they behave in the context of surrounding systems? To what extent do governmental structure and political culture shape the performance of bureaucracies? In this comparison of two countries_Norway and the United States_the authors analyze similarities and differences in political-administrative systems, measuring the capacity to govern and the influence of structure and culture in each case. They provide a framework for a broader understanding of public bureaucracy, its importance in a given political system, and how it interacts with other institutions to govern.

Following on from the success of the editors' previous book, New Public Management: The Transformation of Ideas and Practice, which examined the public reform process up to the end of the last decade, this new volume draws on the previous knowledge both theoretically and empirically. It examines and debates the post-new public management reform development in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand. The ideal follow-up to the previous volume, this book includes many of the same contributors in addition to some fresh voices, and is a must for anyone looking for an integrated framework of analysis. Comprehensive and analytical, it is an important contribution to the study of public administration and particularly to the reform of public management.

This collection provides a comprehensive, state-of-the art review of current research in the field of New Public Management (NPM) reform. Aimed primarily at a readership with a special interest in contemporary public-sector reforms, The Ashgate Research Companion to New Public Management offers a refreshing and up-to-date analysis of key issues of modern administrative reforms. This volume comprises a general introduction and twenty-nine chapters divided into six thematic sessions, each with chapters ranging across a variety of crucial topics in the field of New Public Management reforms and beyond. The principal themes to be addressed are: ¢

There is growing concern that welfare states are inefficient, unsustainable and lack popular support. New Public Management reforms affected the balance between managerial and political accountability and disrupted administrative, legal, professional and social accountability, causing confusion as to whom public organizations are really accountable. The Routledge Handbook to Accountability and Welfare State Reforms in Europe assesses multi-dimensional accountability relations in depth, addressing the dynamic between accountability and reforms. Analyzing how welfare state reforms oriented towards agencification, managerialism and marketization affected existing relationships in services traditionally provided by public institutions, the theoretically informed, empirical chapters provide specific examples of their effect on accountability. Expert contributors explore the relationship between accountability and performance and the impact of reforms on political, administrative, managerial, legal, professional and social accountability. The role of specific actors, such as the media and citizens, on the accountability process addressing issues of blame avoidance, reputation and autonomous agencies is discussed. Comparative chapters across time, countries, administrative levels and policy areas are included, along with discussions linking accountability with concepts like legitimacy, democracy, coordination and performance. This handbook will be an essential reference tool to those studying European politics and public policy.

This book focuses on regulatory reforms and the autonomization and agencification of public sector organizations across Europe, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. The central argument of the book is that regulation and agencification occur and perform in tandem. Comparative analysis on the processes, effects and implications of regulatory reform and the establishment of semi-independent agencies are undertaken, and the practice of trade-offs between political control and agency autonomy is explored. The contributors also discuss the challenges of fragmentation, coordination, 'joined-up' government and other government initiatives in the aftermath of the New Public Management movement and its focus on agencification. Finally, the complexity of deregulation/re-regulation, new emergent forms of regulation, control and auditing as well as reassertion of the centre are examined.Until now, there has been little attempt to link the study on regulation and regulatory reforms with that of autonomous central agencies. In this book the two fields are brought together.Autonomy and Regulation will find its audience amongst scholars and researchers working in the areas of political science, public administration and public management, organization theory, institutional analyses and comparative administration. It will also appeal to scholars and those directly involved in public sector and regulatory reforms including politicians and managers.

This book discusses how modern universities increasingly use reputation management in relation to internal and external challenges.