Modernizing the Public Sector

Irvine Lapsley is director of the Institute of Public Sector Accounting Research at the University of Edinburgh Business School, UK.Hans Knutsson is a senior lecturer at the School of Economics and Management at Lund University, Sweden.

• 1. Making Sense of Public Sector Reforms: Scandinavian Perspectives Irvine Lapsley 2. New Public Management in a Scandinavian Context Hans Knutsson, Ola Mattisson, Salme Nasi, Kari Nyland & Peter Skarbak Part 1: Management3. Shaping NPM: Social Democratic Values at Work Tom S. Karlsson4. Challenging the Myth of NPM in Denmark – An Argument from the Health SystemNikolaj Kure and Margit Malmmose5. Process-orientation and Management Control in Health Care Organizations Gert Paulsson6. The Welfare Sate that Wanted to Keep Track of its Citizens: Personal IdentityNumbers as Administrative Technology Alexander PaulssonPart 2: Governance7. The Unfolding of Agency Autonomy over Time: The Swedish Social InsuranceAgency 2003-2015 Louise Bringselius8. Audit in a Trusting Climate Age Johnsen, Kristin Reichborn-Kjennerud, Thomas Carrington, and Kim KlarskovJeppesen9. Local Government Cooperation – A Better Way to Respond to Conditions? Ola Mattisson10. What About the Boards? Issues of Transparency and Accountability in BoardCompositionAnna Thomasson11. Leadership and Strategy in a Transforming Academic Field. Christine BlomqvistPart 3: Marketization12. Market Solutions Fredrik Andersson13. Introducing Quasi-markets in Primary Care: The Swedish Experience Anna Hager Glenngard & Anders Anell14. Managing Profits and Professionalism in the Swedish School System Robert Wenglen15. Welfare Choices: A Story of Market Forces and Social Progress Hans KnutssonPart 4: Ending Note16. Modernizing the Public Sector: The Scandinavian Way Hans Knutsson, Ola Mattisson, Ulf Ramberg & Age Johnsen

It is a common mistake to equate ‘New Public Management’ with the ideas and practices of the Anglo-American world. This book provides a valuable corrective to that view by analysing the development of New Public Management from a Scandinavian perspective. It brings out the Scandinavian historical roots of some important ideas about modern public service management, traces their dynamics and brings out the special social context that shapes their outcomes. Anyone interested in how to make public services work effectively should read this book.Professor Christopher Hood, Emeritus Fellow, All Souls College, University of Oxford, UK