Moving from talk to action: Implementing austerity-driven change

Organizational change is often proposed as a solution to austerity. Implementing change when there is no budget, however, is difficult. This paper explains how a major Dutch city implemented radical changes in the wake of the global financial crisis. The paper relates the change programme to eight accepted determinants of successful change. Drawing on the experience of 65 employees, the author explores three catalysts for success, which he calls ‘acts of implementation’. The paper explains why successful implementation of austerity-driven change is not just a matter of complying with eight static success conditions but also of crafting dynamic acts that fits the specific context of austerity. Implementers have to deal with politics, resistance and ambiguity to move from talk to action

Innovative austerity management: How city managers create slack for innovation in times of fiscal stress

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to uncover the right type of organizational slack for innovation. It examines how city managers conceive slack, and how they create slack to facilitate innovation while dealing with fiscal stress. Design/methodology/approach: The study is built around a comparative case study approach to uncover contrasts, similarities and patterns of slack-building for innovation in austere times. It relies on the experiences of 12 experienced city managers. Data are sought from elite interviews and one focus group. Findings: The main finding is that innovation in the public sector does not benefit from slack in general, but from a specific type of slack. The evidence shows that useful slack for innovation is not so much about financial slack or HR slack, but about psychological slack. Research limitations/implications: This study adds to the literature that the key questions of slack research should not only focus on identifying the “right amount” of slack but also on identifying of the “right type” of slack. Practical implications: Public managers who want to deal with (fiscal) crises more innovatively might reconsider their perceptions of slack and its value. Rather than operating on a pure cost effectiveness paradigm, they should balance the costs of slack and its innovative abilities. Originality/value: This paper highlights the social/psychological side of austerity management. It concludes that increasing the ability of public organizations to innovatively cope with fiscal stress is not so much about increasing predictive capacity or financial buffers, but about increasing the mental leeway of coworkers

The Austerity Paradox : How Municipalities (Can) Innovatively Cope with Fiscal Stress

This book studies how municipalities (can) deal with fiscal stress. It applies an institutional perspective, arguing that municipalities can move beyond a fiscal focus and performance optimization, towards building institutional capacities to innovatively deal with fiscal crises. The book shows that many municipalities mainly opt for safe financial measures with quick results. It also shows, however, that some municipalities do invest in seeking new measures, and that they deal differently with the current crisis and create leeway to deal differently with future crises. They bend and stretch constraining rules, norms, and beliefs. More innovative responses are established when municipalities move beyond dominant doctrines (deviate), when they identify and translate potential innovations into concise decisions (decipher), and when they perform dynamic acts of implementation that fit the context of austerity (deliver). The book concludes with an emphasis on the ‘austerity paradox’: opting for financially driven austerity actions does not enable municipalities to deal with fiscal crises. Municipalities can bounce forward by opting for alternative solutions that pay attention to the non-financial aspects of dealing with financial crises, most specifically knowledge, routines, cultures and mentalities

The Austerity Paradox : How Municipalities (Can) Innovatively Cope with Fiscal Stress

This book studies how municipalities (can) deal with fiscal stress. It applies an institutional perspective, arguing that municipalities can move beyond a fiscal focus and performance optimization, towards building institutional capacities to innovatively deal with fiscal crises. The book shows that many municipalities mainly opt for safe financial measures with quick results. It also shows, however, that some municipalities do invest in seeking new measures, and that they deal differently with the current crisis and create leeway to deal differently with future crises. They bend and stretch constraining rules, norms, and beliefs. More innovative responses are established when municipalities move beyond dominant doctrines (deviate), when they identify and translate potential innovations into concise decisions (decipher), and when they perform dynamic acts of implementation that fit the context of austerity (deliver). The book concludes with an emphasis on the ‘austerity paradox’: opting for financially driven austerity actions does not enable municipalities to deal with fiscal crises. Municipalities can bounce forward by opting for alternative solutions that pay attention to the non-financial aspects of dealing with financial crises, most specifically knowledge, routines, cultures and mentalities

Moving from talk to action: Implementing austerity-driven change

Organizational change is often proposed as a solution to austerity. Implementing change when there is no budget, however, is difficult. This paper explains how a major Dutch city implemented radical changes in the wake of the global financial crisis. The paper relates the change programme to eight accepted determinants of successful change. Drawing on the experience of 65 employees, the author explores three catalysts for success, which he calls ‘acts of implementation’. The paper explains why successful implementation of austerity-driven change is not just a matter of complying with eight static success conditions but also of crafting dynamic acts that fits the specific context of austerity. Implementers have to deal with politics, resistance and ambiguity to move from talk to action

Innovative austerity management: How city managers create slack for innovation in times of fiscal stress

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to uncover the right type of organizational slack for innovation. It examines how city managers conceive slack, and how they create slack to facilitate innovation while dealing with fiscal stress. Design/methodology/approach: The study is built around a comparative case study approach to uncover contrasts, similarities and patterns of slack-building for innovation in austere times. It relies on the experiences of 12 experienced city managers. Data are sought from elite interviews and one focus group. Findings: The main finding is that innovation in the public sector does not benefit from slack in general, but from a specific type of slack. The evidence shows that useful slack for innovation is not so much about financial slack or HR slack, but about psychological slack. Research limitations/implications: This study adds to the literature that the key questions of slack research should not only focus on identifying the “right amount” of slack but also on identifying of the “right type” of slack. Practical implications: Public managers who want to deal with (fiscal) crises more innovatively might reconsider their perceptions of slack and its value. Rather than operating on a pure cost effectiveness paradigm, they should balance the costs of slack and its innovative abilities. Originality/value: This paper highlights the social/psychological side of austerity management. It concludes that increasing the ability of public organizations to innovatively cope with fiscal stress is not so much about increasing predictive capacity or financial buffers, but about increasing the mental leeway of coworkers

Flexible framing: Analysing innovative austerity talk from a cultural perspective

This article examines how local policy elites conceptualize and communicate potential innovations to overcome the fiscal crisis. Four austerity frames based on cultural theory are developed: an individualist, hierarchist, egalitarian and fatalist frame. Two expectations are tested by tracing frame usage in austerity speeches by the leadership in Birmingham, Cologne and Rotterdam. First, the modest contribution of the individualist frame in NPM-sceptic Cologne is confirmed, but no evidence is found of individualist dominance in NPM-minded Birmingham. Second, it is shown that leaders in Birmingham and Rotterdam combine elements of multiple frames so as to create a new promising narrative which opens up routes towards innovation. The importance of “frame flexibility” is stressed to deal with the complexities of coping with the fiscal crisis in ways that are logical (given available views) and innovative (exploring alternative views), and highlight the importance of further developing understandings of such (municipal) coping

Flexible framing: Analysing innovative austerity talk from a cultural perspective

This article examines how local policy elites conceptualize and communicate potential innovations to overcome the fiscal crisis. Four austerity frames based on cultural theory are developed: an individualist, hierarchist, egalitarian and fatalist frame. Two expectations are tested by tracing frame usage in austerity speeches by the leadership in Birmingham, Cologne and Rotterdam. First, the modest contribution of the individualist frame in NPM-sceptic Cologne is confirmed, but no evidence is found of individualist dominance in NPM-minded Birmingham. Second, it is shown that leaders in Birmingham and Rotterdam combine elements of multiple frames so as to create a new promising narrative which opens up routes towards innovation. The importance of “frame flexibility” is stressed to deal with the complexities of coping with the fiscal crisis in ways that are logical (given available views) and innovative (exploring alternative views), and highlight the importance of further developing understandings of such (municipal) coping

Public value budgeting: propositions for the future of budgeting

Purpose The principles of public value management (PVM) have greatly inspired public management practitioners and scholars, but the application of these ideas to the everyday practice and research of government has proven to be more difficult. This article formulates propositions for how the principles of PVM could affect one of the core processes of government: budgeting. These propositions can inspire practitioners and be tested by future researchers. Design/methodology/approach The article identifies the core principles of PVM and applies these to the budgeting functions of the allocation, management and accountability of public money. This exploration leads to a first conceptualization of “public value budgeting” and generates 12 propositions about how budgeting will change and remain unaltered under the influence of PVM. Findings The central argument is that “public value budgeting” could promote more coordination and integration between public funds and community resources, more involvement of societal stakeholders in the budgetary process and more continuous tweaks and changes to the budget. At the same time, legislative vetoes, financial controls and debates about the best use of public money will remain an important feature of public budgeting. Originality/value The article forwards the first conceptualization of public value budgeting, connects the literatures on public value and public budgeting, and offers both a practical application of PVM to public budgeting as well as a concrete agenda for future research

Aanwezig, maar niet allesbepalend : Acties en invloed van big four accountants bij de ontwikkeling van accountancystandaarden

Om meer duiding te kunnen geven aan de gevoelens die leven in de samenleving over de vermeende invloed van big four (B4) accountants in de accountingpraktijk, heeft de Commissie Toekomst Accountancysector aan USBO advies (Universiteit Utrecht) gevraagd hier onderzoek naar te doen. Het doel van deze studie is het inzichtelijk maken waar B4 accountants zich bevinden in het standaardisatieproces, alsmede het inzichtelijk maken wat hun invloed is op het beleid ten aanzien van de verslaggeving en de wettelijke controle. We hebben twee deelonderzoeken uitgevoerd. Het eerste onderzoek is gericht op het blootleggen van de feitelijke aanwezigheid c.q. participatie van de specifieke actoren in de belangrijkste internationale gremia. Het tweede deelonderzoek is gericht op het verhelderen van de dynamiek van het standaardisatieproces en het verkennen en duiden van de invloed van B4 accountants op de totstandkoming van accountancystandaarden. De kernbevinding van dit onderzoek is dat B4 accountants zeer aanwezig, maar niet allesbepalend zijn. B4 accountants zijn nadrukkelijk aanwezig in het standaardisatienetwerk. Maar liefst 25% van alle actoren is afkomstig van Deloitte, EY, KPMG of PWC. Deze actoren hebben expliciete connecties met relevante normstellende gremia. De verdiepende analyse maakt duidelijk dat B4 accountants een belangrijke bijdrage leveren aan het netwerk. Ze leveren kennis en expertise, financieren een groot deel van de kosten, en delen hun uitgebreide ervaring in de meest uiteenlopende praktijken. Dit onderzoek laat echter ook overtuigend zien dat B4 accountants niet allesbepalend, laat staan doorslaggevend zijn in de ontwikkeling van standaarden. Het standaardisatieproces betreft een genuanceerd proces waarin geen partij dominant is, waarin (deel-) perspectieven strijdig kunnen zijn, en waarin keuzes in de openbaarheid worden gemaakt en/of gedeeld