Explaining the Dynamics of Management by Objectives and Results Post-NPM: The Case of the Swedish National Executive

Authors

  • Helena Wockelberg Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden
  • Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v25i2.7114

Keywords:

NPM, NPG, MBOR evolution, central government agencies, agency task, agency budgets

Abstract

This research concludes that the Swedish institution of Management by Objectives and Results (MBOR) has changed as a result of a top-down reform. The aim of the reform, which was to reduce the number of requests for performance information that the government makes to the central government agencies, has been successfully implemented. In analysing the national government’s requests for performance information from 182 central government agencies (N=1752), this study confirms earlier claims of MBOR de-escalation. De-escalation is explained by stakeholder learning and the new policy that re-interprets performance management in terms that fit the ideals of New Public Governance. This research concludes that the size of an agency’s budget has a positive effect on the total number of requests and the government’s interest in quantitative performance indicators. Agency tasks that are relatively easy to measure and count have a significant positive effect on the number of government requests. Task is more important than budget size when governments decide what mix of indicators to request from a specific agency. In this respect, the Swedish government adjusts its requests for information to the agencies’ tasks. The results from this study contribute to the ongoing debate on the application of performance management in a post-New Public Management setting.

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Author Biographies

Helena Wockelberg, Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden

Helena Wockelberg is Associate Professor of Political Science at Uppsala University. Her research interest is executive power and public management reform. Recent publications (in English) are Wockelberg, H., Ahlbäck Öberg, S. (2016). Reinventing the Old Reform Agenda: Public Administrative Reform and Performance According to Swedish Top Managers. In Gerhard Hammerschmid, et al. (eds.) Public Administration Reforms in Europe: The View from the Top Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing; Ahlbäck Öberg, Shirin & Wockelberg, Helena (2016), “Nordic Administrative Heritages and Contemporary Institutional Design” in Greve, Carsten et al. (eds.), Nordic Administrative Reforms – Lessons for Public Management, London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg, Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden

Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg is Professor of Political Science at Uppsala University. Her research interest is the auditing and monitoring of the public sector, and how contemporary public management reforms challenge professionalism in the public sector. Recent publications (in English) are: Ahlbäck Öberg, Shirin & Wockelberg, Helena (2020). ”Agency Control or Autonomy? Government Steering of State Agencies 2003–2017”, International Public Management Journal (Epub ahead of print); Ahlbäck Öberg, Shirin & Bringselius, Louise (2015). “Professionalism and Organizational Performance in the Wake of New Managerialism”, European Political Science Review, 7: 4, 499– 523 and Ahlbäck Öberg, Shirin et al. (2016). “Professions under Siege”, Statsvetenskaplig tidskrift 118:1, 123–156

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Published

2021-06-15

How to Cite

Wockelberg, H., & Ahlbäck Öberg, S. (2021). Explaining the Dynamics of Management by Objectives and Results Post-NPM: The Case of the Swedish National Executive. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 25(2), 43–71. https://doi.org/10.58235/sjpa.v25i2.7114

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Section

Original Articles

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