scholarly journals Coping With Moral Stress in the Swedish Public Services

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elin Thunman
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Coping Behavior ◽  
Moral Dilemmas ◽  
Professional Standards ◽  
Moral Stress ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Work ◽  
Public Workers

This paper examines how today’s public workers cope with moral stress in organizations where new public management reforms have been implemented. More specifically, the interest is focused on examining which practices are developed in order to fulfill professional standards within the limits of inadequate resources in order to manage moral stress. Case studies at Swedish public work places are analyzed with the help of Lipsky’s theory about street-level bureaucrats’ coping behavior and theories about the elements of resistance in coping. The main result is the discernment of three dominant modificational strategies to manage stressful moral dilemmas in encounters with clients. The paper contributes to the understanding of coping with moral stress by highlighting that the detected coping forms among a varied group of public professionals imply an active adaption, reification, and opposition to the managerial reforms.

Labour-Management Relations and New Public Management: The American Experience

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven W. Hays
Keyword(s):  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
The United States ◽  
Public Agencies ◽  
Management Reform ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
American Experience ◽  
New Public ◽  
Public Workers ◽  
Broad Overview

This paper provides a broad overview of the role that unions have, and have not — played in the unfolding drama of public management reform in the United States. Factors impeding the ability of unions to shape the reform movement are highlighted. Fragmentation of power and even the absence of rudimentary collective bargaining rights in many locations restrict civil servants' ability to influence the reform agenda. As a result, New Public Management (NPM) initiatives have progressed in a fashion that often works to the disadvantage of public workers. ‘De-privileging’, privatisation, and devolution of public agencies have become almost ubiquitous. The paper concludes with the observation that NPM offers a golden opportunity, if not the obligation, for management and labour to adopt a more cooperative and participatory approach to policy making in the workplace.

scholarly journals Siefken, Sven (2018). Parlamentarische Kontrolle im Wandel. Theorie und Praxis des Deutschen Bundestages. Baden-Baden: Nomos. 461 Seiten. ISBN: 978-3-8487-4966-9

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1-2019) ◽  
pp. 232-235
Author(s):  
Tobias Bach
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
New Public ◽  
German Bundestag ◽  
Theorie Und Praxis ◽  
Federal Administration

This book addresses the practices of the German Bundestag in controlling the federal administration. Siefken elaborates on different notions of parliamentary control and provides a detailed mapping of the parliament’s use of formal control instruments from 1949 - 2017. Most interestingly for scholars of public administration, Siefken conducted eight case studies of parliamentary control of federal agencies – both “traditional” and “modern” agencies established according to the ideas of the New Public Management or the independent regulatory agency model. Those case studies are instrumental for answering the book’s overarching research question about the exercise of parliamentary control under the conditions of major changes in the organizational setup of the state. With the exception of regulatory agencies, Siefken finds no major differences in control practices according to those categories, but fleshes out middle-range explanations of parliamentary control behaviour. This is an empirically rich book providing unprecedented insights into the actual practice of parliamentary control.

Explaining process orientation failure and success in health care – three case studies

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 638-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Hellman ◽  
Gustaf Kastberg ◽  
Sven Siverbo
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Health Care Organizations ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Process Orientation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Public ◽  
Mapping Process

Purpose – In order to improve cooperation and collaboration between units, clinics and departments, many health care organizations (HCOs) have introduced process orientation. Several studies indicate problems in realizing these ambitions. The purpose of this paper is to explain and understand the success and failure of process orientation in HCOs. Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted three case studies and applied Actor-Network Theory as an analytic lens. Findings – The realization of process orientation is hindered by neglect or resistance from physicians, who find the process targets to be of low medical priority. However, the authors also see that medical priorities are no stable entities but are susceptible to negotiations. Over time, process organization, process mapping, process measurement activities and the acting of enroled actors may have impact on medical priorities. Originality/value – Contrary to previous research, the findings indicate that New Public Management may not be the main obstacle against processes, that accounting figures may not be hard to disregard and that the role of leadership is not paramount.

"Jedes starre Konzept ist schlecht und passt net' in diese Welt"

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (148) ◽  
pp. 369-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Ludwig-Mayerhofer ◽  
Ariadne Sondermann ◽  
Olaf Behrend
Keyword(s):  
Public Management ◽  
New Public Management ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Unemployed People ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Public Employment Service ◽  
New Public ◽  
Recent Reform ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
New Procedures

The recent reform of the Bundesagentur fijr Arbeit, Germany's Public Employment Service (PES), has introduced elements of New Public Management, including internal controlling and attempts at standardizing assessments ('profiling' of unemployed people) and procedures. Based on qualitative interviews with PES staff, we show that standardization and controlling are perceived as contradicting the 'case-oriented approach' used by PES staff in dealing with unemployed people. It is therefore not surprising that staff members use considerable discretion when (re-)assigning unemployed people to one of the categories pre-defined by PES headquarters. All in all, the new procedures lead to numerous contradictions, which often result in bewilderment and puzzlement on the part of the unemployed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document