Janus-faced reorganization: specialization and coordination in four OECD countries in the period 1980—2005
- 1 September 2007
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in International Review of Administrative Sciences
- Vol. 73 (3), 325-348
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852307081144
Abstract
It is believed that the New Public Management (NPM) doctrine resulted in a disaggregation and a suboptimal fragmentation of government in the 1980s and 1990s, which called for a re-strengthening of the coordination capacity through renewed hierarchy-type mechanisms, market-type mechanisms and network-type mechanisms. In order to assess the validity of this assumption, this article identifies the trajectory of specialization and coordination in four countries (New Zealand, United Kingdom, Sweden, France). The results support the assumption, although different trajectories are discernible. Also, the results point to the renewed emphasis on coordination based on hierarchy, along with markets and networks.Keywords
This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit:
- The UK Core Executive's Use of Public Service Agreements as a Tool of GovernancePublic Administration, 2004
- The study of organisational autonomy: a conceptual reviewPublic Administration and Development, 2004
- Joined-Up Government in the Western World in Comparative Perspective: A Preliminary Literature Review and ExplorationJournal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 2004
- Delivering joined–up government in the UK: dimensions, issues and problemsPublic Administration, 2002
- Budgeting in SwedenOECD Journal on Budgeting, 2001
- The Machinery of Government, 1979–97Political Studies, 1997
- Treating Networks Seriously: Practical and Research-Based Agendas in Public AdministrationPublic Administration Review, 1997
- The Problems of Policy Coordination: The New Zealand ExperienceGovernance, 1992
- A PUBLIC MANAGEMENT FOR ALL SEASONS?Public Administration, 1991
- THE CABINET OFFICE AND COORDINATION 1979–87Public Administration, 1990