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When complexity meets culture: new public management and the Swedish police

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  • Thomas Andersson
  • Stefan Tengblad

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how new public management (NPM) reform from the national level is implemented as practice in a local unit within the police sector in Sweden. Design/methodology/approach - A qualitative case‐study approach is applied using semi‐structured interviews, participant observations and analysis of documents. Findings - The paper illustrates different kinds of resistance at the organizational level. The dominant form of resistance was found to be cultural distancing. The paper demonstrates a tendency among police officers to deal with a changing and more complex work context by embracing a traditional work role. Research limitations/implications - The paper shows that reforms that add complexity may fail because of potential contradictions and the limited capacity and motivation of employees to deal with the complexity in the manner prescribed by NPM. Practical implications - The paper shows that the popular trend to adopt multi‐dimensional forms of control (for instance the balanced‐scorecard approach) may fail if there is a lack of consensus about what goals and measurement are important and/or there is a lack of dialogue about how the new goals should be implemented in practice. Originality/value - Research about NPM‐reforms in the police sector is rare. The original contribution of this paper is to study NPM‐reforms with a focus on the role of complexity in relation to resistance.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Andersson & Stefan Tengblad, 2009. "When complexity meets culture: new public management and the Swedish police," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(1/2), pages 41-56, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:qrampp:v:6:y:2009:i:1/2:p:41-56
    DOI: 10.1108/11766090910940656
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ben D. MacArthur & Richard O. C. Oreffo, 2005. "Bridging the gap," Nature, Nature, vol. 433(7021), pages 19-19, January.
    2. Sharon C. Bolton, 2004. "A Simple Matter of Control? NHS Hospital Nurses and New Management," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 317-333, March.
    3. Sharon C. Bolton & Maeve Houlihan, 2005. "The (mis)representation of customer service," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 19(4), pages 685-703, December.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & Danture Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Post-Print hal-01661685, HAL.
    3. Monica Kapuria & Edward R. Maguire, 2022. "Performance Management and the Police Response to Women in India," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Goddard, Andrew & Assad, Mussa & Issa, Siasa & Malagila, John & Mkasiwa, Tausi A., 2016. "The two publics and institutional theory – A study of public sector accounting in Tanzania," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 8-25.
    5. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & D. T. Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-00676570, HAL.
    6. Björk, Lisa & Härenstam, Annika, 2016. "Differences in organizational preconditions for managers in genderized municipal services," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 209-219.
    7. Vassili Joannides & Nicolas Berland & Danture Wickramasinghe, 2010. "Post-Hofstede diversity/cultural studies: what contributions to accounting knowledge?," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01661685, HAL.

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