Navigating in the landscape of ambiguity: A stakeholder approach to the governance and management of hybrid organisations
Author
Summary, in English
During the last decades the influence of New Public Management and the “marketisation” of public services, have given us organisations in the public sector that fit neither the mould of what constitutes public sector organisations nor that of private companies. Instead, we now have so-called hybrid organisations. These have become an attractive alternative to the more “bureaucratic” public agencies. However, the introduction of market-like organisations for the production of public services has been subjected to criticism and raises questions regarding governance and management.
In this book, I use a stakeholder approach in order to analyse the heterogeneous character of hybrid organisations, the ambiguity of the context and the challenges this imposes on the governance and management of hybrid organisations and how owners, directors on the board and managing directors respond to these challenges. This is done by analysing three municipally owned limited companies in Sweden.
I have discovered that, due to the heterogeneous character of hybrid organisations, stakeholders have ambiguous roles, demands and expectations. This is what generates the ambiguous context and imposes challenges on governance as well as management. My findings show that these challenges are best handled by the managing director through balancing and responding to the interests of stakeholders. To do this, the managing director needs to be able to constantly adapt the organisation to match the demands and expectations of the stakeholders and to create a fit between external demands and internal operations.
In this book, I use a stakeholder approach in order to analyse the heterogeneous character of hybrid organisations, the ambiguity of the context and the challenges this imposes on the governance and management of hybrid organisations and how owners, directors on the board and managing directors respond to these challenges. This is done by analysing three municipally owned limited companies in Sweden.
I have discovered that, due to the heterogeneous character of hybrid organisations, stakeholders have ambiguous roles, demands and expectations. This is what generates the ambiguous context and imposes challenges on governance as well as management. My findings show that these challenges are best handled by the managing director through balancing and responding to the interests of stakeholders. To do this, the managing director needs to be able to constantly adapt the organisation to match the demands and expectations of the stakeholders and to create a fit between external demands and internal operations.
Department/s
Publishing year
2009
Language
English
Publication/Series
Lund Studies in Economics and Management
Volume
110
Document type
Dissertation
Publisher
Lund Institute of Economic Research
Topic
- Business Administration
Keywords
- stakeholder perspective
- hybrid organizations
- governance
- management
- public sector organizations
- municipal companies
Status
Published
Supervisor
- Magnus Lagnevik
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0284-5075
- ISBN: 10 91-85113-36-0
Defence date
16 September 2009
Defence time
13:00
Defence place
EC3: 207, Holger Crafoords Ekonomicentrum, Tycho Brahes väg 1, Lund
Opponent
- Irvine Lapsley (Professor)