Balancing Tight Budget Control and Quality Within Social Services in a Danish Municipality

Authors

  • Per Nikolaj Bukh Aalborg University Business School, Denmark https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2374-6975
  • Anne Kristine Svanholt Center of Drug Addiction Treatment Copenhagen, Municipality of Copenhagen, Denmark

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v26i3.7012

Keywords:

Management Control, Budgeting, Public Sector, Levers of Control, Municipalities, Social Services

Abstract

This paper examines how managers in a Danish municipality balance tight budgetary control with flexibility when providing quality services. Using the levers of control framework as an analytical lens, the study shows how managers tackle complexities and uncertainties using accounting information and interactive control processes. Furthermore, it demonstrates how control processes enable professional judgments while simultaneously achieving tight budgetary control. While previous research within social services has often emphasised resistance to accounting information, this study shows how interactive control systems facilitate innovation and achieve tight budgetary control.

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Author Biographies

Per Nikolaj Bukh, Aalborg University Business School, Denmark

Per Nikolaj Bukh, M.Sc., Ph.D., is a professor at the Aalborg University Business School, Denmark (http://www.pnbukh.com/). He has published articles and books on a number of subjects, including budgeting, management accounting and control, payment by results, and strategy. In addition to his research activities, Per Nikolaj Bukh often contributes to postgraduate programs and conferences.

Anne Kristine Svanholt, Center of Drug Addiction Treatment Copenhagen, Municipality of Copenhagen, Denmark

Anne Kirstine Svanholt, M.Sc., is Head of Center, Center of Drug Addiction Treatment Copenhagen, Municipality of Copenhagen. She submitted her doctoral thesis on management and accounting in the social services in 2020. Before enrolling in the Ph.D. program at Aalborg University, Anne Kirstine was employed in various administrative and managerial positions in the public sector.

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Published

2022-09-15

How to Cite

Bukh, P. N., & Svanholt, A. K. (2022). Balancing Tight Budget Control and Quality Within Social Services in a Danish Municipality. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 26(3), 91–113. https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v26i3.7012

Issue

Vol. 26 No. 3 (2022)

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Per Nikolaj Bukh, Anne Kirstine Svanholt

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Authors contributing to Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration agree to publish their articles under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 license. This means means articles are free for anybody to read and download, and to copy and disseminate for non-commercial purposes as long as appropriate credit is given, a link is provided to the license, and any changes made are clearly indicated. Authors retain copyright of their work.