Performance management and accountability: the role of intergovernmental information systems

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Policy učenje u lokalnoj samoupravi: uloga refleksivnog vodstva

The paper addresses three interrelated issues in policy learning, based on survey data from a representative sample of all Norwegian councillors. The authors ask: What characterizes the policy learning behaviour of local councillors? This issue is addressed through data on what councillors find to be useful information sources in their capacities as decision-makers and agenda-setters. The paper documents three policy-learning profiles: cosmopolitans (who draw largely on external sources of information), locals (who draw on internal sources), and party loyalists (who draw on party sources). The authors also ask if policy learning profiles make a difference to councillors as decision-makers and agenda-setters. The paper documents that cosmopolitans are the most active agenda setters. Do new patterns of policy learning indicate the emergence of a new type of leadership in local government? It is argued that political interest in publicly available information that contextualizes the municipality’s current performance is part of a larger syndrome that we term ‘reflexive leadership’.U radu se istražuju tri međusobno povezana pitanja policy učenja, na temelju podataka prikupljenih anketnim istraživanjem na reprezentativnom uzorku lokalnih vijećnika u Norveškoj. Pitanje je bilo što obilježava policy učenje lokalnih vijećnika. Do odgovora se pokušalo doći preko podataka o tome što vijećnici smatraju korisnim izvorima podataka u njihovom poslu donošenja odluka i utvrđivanja političkog dnevnog reda (agenda-setting). Nađena su tri profila vijećnika s gledišta policy učenja: kozmopoliti (koji se u velikoj mjeri oslanjaju na vanjske izvore informacija), lokalci (koji se oslanjaju na unutarnje izvore) te stranački poslušnici (koji se oslanjaju na izvore političke stranke). Istraženo je i utječu li ta tri profila vijećnika na odlučivanje i postavljanje političkog dnevnog reda. Utvrđeno je da su kozmopoliti najaktivniji postavljači dnevnog reda (najviše utječu na to koja će pitanja doći na dnevni red političkog odlučivanja). Postavilo se i pitanje ukazuje li nova struktura policy učenja na pojavu novog tipa vodstva u lokalnoj samoupravi. Autori smatraju da je politički interes u javno dostupnim informacijama koje se bave uspješnošću lokalnih jedinica dio šireg sindroma koji se može nazvati refleksivnim vodstvom

Koronakommisjonens evalueringshåndverk

I april 2020 nedsatte regjeringen Koronakommisjonen for å gjøre en grundig evaluering av myndighetenes håndtering av pandemien. Ett år etter forelå NOU 2021: 6 Myndighetenes håndtering av koronapandemien. Rammebetingelsene var så gode at rapporten kan betraktes som en kritisk case for god evalueringspraksis. Artikkelen legger et evalueringsfaglig perspektiv på rapporten og spør hvordan Koronakommisjonen begrunnet sine vurderende konklusjoner. Funnet er at kommisjonen mange steder er tause om hvilke kriterier de har lagt til grunn for sine konklusjoner. At det er vanskelig å ta informert stilling til om man deler eksperters vurderinger, er uheldig i en tid med økende mistro til kunnskap og faglig ekspertise. Mangelfull redegjørelse for konklusjoners grunnlag kan dessuten føre til at solide konklusjoner forkastes og at svakt funderte råd, vurderinger og konklusjoner tas til følge i senere beslutninger.publishedVersio

NAV i støpeskjeen. En studie av NAV-reformens interimsfase, 2005–2006

The report studies events that took place between May 2005, when the Norwegian parlament decided to reform the Norwegian welfare administration, and June 2006, when the new state agency called NAV was established. The report provides information about the NAV reform’s background and the affected state agencies. Then the report studies how the Government organized and followed up the reform process during the year-long transition phase, including its establishment of a temporary directorate called NAV interim. The report studies how this NAV interim constructed an organizational structure for the new welfare administration (NAV) and how it made a division between the NAV directorate which would be responsible for strategic tasks and a «directorate within the directorate», NAV Drift og Utvikling, which would be responsible for operative tasks at the national level. In conclusion the report discusses patterns of influence in the interim process, why the former state agencies entered the process with different attitudes, negation aspects in the process, NAV in a reform context, and the reform dynamics in NAV beyond the interim phase.Denne rapporten ser på hendelser som foregikk mellom mai 2005, da Stortinget vedtok å reformere den norske arbeids- og velferdsforvaltningen, og juli 2006, da den nye etaten kalt NAV ble etablert. Rapporten gir bakgrunnsinformasjon om NAV-reformens opptakt og de berørte statsetatene. Deretter ser rapporten på hvordan Regjeringen ved Arbeids- og sosialdepartementet organiserte og fulgte opp reformarbeidet i den ettårige overgangsfasen, blant annet ved å opprette et midlertidig direktorat, NAV interim. Så flyttes fokus inn i NAV interim. Rapporten ser nærmere på hvordan man her utarbeidet en organisasjonsstruktur for Arbeids- og velferdsdirektoratet og hvordan man gjorde et skille mellom direktoratet som skulle ha strategiske oppgaver og NAV Drift og Utvikling som skulle løse NAVs operative oppgaver på sentralt hold. Avslutningsvis diskuteres innflytelsesfohold i interimsprosessen, hvorfor statsetatene gikk inn i arbeidet med ulik innstilling, forhandlingsaspekter ved interimsprosessen, NAV i reformkontekst og interimsfasen og videre dynamikk i NAV-reformen

Student Financing for Social Equity in Norway, 1947-2020

This chapter traces the development of Norway’s higher education student financing policy programme from its genesis in 1945, through transformations including the incorporation of non-repayable grants in the late 1950s, the conversion from needs-based to universal eligibility for support around 1970 and the introduction of progression-dependent grants in the 2000s. With the student financing programme, Norway’s political leaders have sought to tackle multiple challenges, including inequalities between the rich and the poor, the urban and the rural population, and men and women. The chapter argues the programme is a success, although not a success any of the 22 governments that have come and gone since 1945 can claim for themselves. Success was enabled by governments repeatedly taking the long view and seeking political compromise solutions rather than trying to build ideological, party-political, prestige projects. As a result, governments have, in the main, incrementally changed the programme and avoided reversing past governments’ reforms. This rationalistic approach to policymaking was assisted by a long list of ad hoc advisory committees consisting of experts and interested parties providing policy proposals. The policy story, therefore, has strong elements of corporatism and evidence-based policymaking

Governance and Learning: Policy Tools and Capabilities for Better Governance Design, 2015

This project studied the design and performance of governance structures that surround the following policy issues - Integration of immigrants, regional research and innovation and urban and regional planning. The project aimed to describe the content of these governance structures, and to explain why the governance designs in the three selected policy areas have their current character and content. Further, the project evaluated what consequences governance designs have for policy control and policy learning. Data are freely available for downloading

Performance management and accountability of welfare state agencies. The cases of Norwegian hospital, welfare and immigration administration

This paper examines how administrative and managerial accountability are balanced in public sector performance management systems and how the formal affiliation between ministry and agency, and agency tasks affect this balance. The empirical base is a study of the management‐by‐objective‐and result arrangement in five Norwegian welfare state agencies. The paper reveals that there is not a tight coupling between the performance manage performance management model and how it works in practice; that there is a complex relationship between and administrative and managerial accountability and that performance management system is dependent on organizational factors.publishedVersio

Performance Management and Organisational Intelligence : Learning from a Norwegian Local Government Experience

The overarching research question addressed in this thesis is whether or not performance management can facilitate organisational intelligence in governmental organisations. Like most themes under the umbrella of so-called New Public Management (NPM), performance management and its applicability to governmental organisations is subject to much debate. The analysis is based on clinical research into a Norwegian local government experience in which the performance management-system “the Balanced Scorecard” (BSC) was implemented over a period of five years, 1996-2001. The thesis narrates and compares the parallel change experiences of four functional units within the context of Larvik Municipality in Norway: the Technical department, the Culture and Sports department, the Work and Employment department and Byskogen primary school. Together, these departments cover a wide range of the public services provided by Norwegian municipalities. Informed by March and Olsen’s (1976) distinction between two fundamental processes of organisational intelligence, the analysis started from the following assumption: in order to fruitfully discuss the performance management doctrine, its ability to facilitate both fundamental processes of organisational intelligence had to be taken into account: management control is one, organisational learning the other. The first question addressed is whether management control was facilitated by the BSC-reform. The narration of the departments’ experiences shows that this was indeed the case. However management control can take many shapes. In the relation between upper management and the Technical departments, a “close” management practice emerged. This was a system with many, detailed and unambiguous controls; a system for close measuring and monitoring of most aspects of performance: outputs as well as outcome. In the case of Byskogen school, on the other hand, no such system emerged. Here, measures of performance were few and ambiguous. Byskogen’s PI-system facilitated “prospects-oriented” management control; a system that could be used by the CEO less as a tool for close measuring and monitoring than as a tool for evaluation, planning and estimation of future prospects. As for the other process of organisational intelligence, learning from experience, the departments’ experiences varied less. The narration showed how the BSC-reform over time brought all four departments studied into a substantially more active intrusiveness mode. This means that they actively and regularly scanned a range of sources in their respective environments for feedback about their performances, and subsequently made considerable efforts to make sense of it. Hence, the departments were given the opportunity to learn form their experiences. In fact, innovative interpretation activities were spurred in all four departments, not least in Byskogen, by arguably “ambiguous” data from e.g. surveys of staff and user satisfaction. The term used in this thesis for such indicators of performance is “tin openers”. By itself, a tin-opener provides only an incomplete and inaccurate picture. Such indicators do not give answers but prompt further interrogation and inquiry, or at least discussion. Discussions about the significance and implications of such data took place on multiple levels in Larvik: Between department managers and department staff; Between department managers and upper management in the municipality and, last but not least, between managers of different departments. One of the lessons that can be drawn from the Larvik experience is thus that in managing complex, decentralised governmental organisations, the BSC is a tool as much, if not more, attuned to facilitate the process of organisational learning as the process of management control. This conclusion has several implications for an important aspect of performance management; the question of what makes for good performance indicators. According to Neil Carter (1991), it is an established truth in the management accounting literature that the only good performance indicator (PI) is an unaboiguous PI. In Larvik, tin opener PIs proved just as valuable as dials in facilitating organisational intelligence, in that they often provided the basis for the process of learning. The Larvik experience thus forcefully challenges the “established truth” that only dials are good PIs. By it’s “parents”, Kaplan and Norton, the Balanced Scorecard is presented as a tool for enhancing strategic management above all. The Larvik experience illustrated that the BSC is in fact able to facilitate such “strategy-focusedness”, as a hierarchy of objectives did emerge. However, the experience also indicated that there are limits to the scope for strategic management in a decentralised, diversified organisation like a municipality. The thesis argues that the ability of the Balanced Scorecard to “translate strategy into action” in is dependant upon at least two things. The first is the strategies themselves, the second the design of the management process. This latter point leads us to the next and last lesson I draw from the Larvik experience: implementation and management style matters. Not forgetting the arguably multiple and substantial successes of the 1996-2001-reform in Larvik, make no mistake: the BSC is no magic formula. The management concept cannot be distinguished from its implementationThe fact that both processes of organisational intelligence were facilitated in Larvik, as well as a notable degree of strategic management, is hence evidently due to a mixture of the BSC concept itself, a series of innovative managerial interventions and an inclusive management style

Between Lockdown and Calm Down: Comparing the COVID-19 Responses of Norway and Sweden

This article studies the difference in the government response to COVID-19 in Norway and Sweden drawing upon theories of agenda setting, crisis management and multi-level governance. Despite having virtually identical systems of government and, initially, facing similar infection threats, Sweden opted for far less strict countermeasures than Norway. While Norway’s government response was similar to that of many European countries, Sweden received international attention for choosing befuddlingly soft measures, mostly recommendations and guidelines. This divergence is discussed vis-à-vis the multiple streams lens of agenda setting theory, highlighting differences in institutional and organisational legacies (e.g., the autonomy of government agencies) and intergovernmental relations (e.g., whether infectious disease expertise and authority is located at the local level)