Towards formalisation: The organisation of work in the public and private sectors in Nordic countries

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 315-333
Author(s):  
Timo Anttila ◽  
Tomi Sakari Oinas ◽  
Armi Mustosmäki

According to European comparative studies, organisational change and restructuration have been especially prevalent in Nordic countries. In particular, public-sector organisations have been under turbulence due to pressures for cost reduction and increased efficiency. Yet, not much is known about how these changes have affected the organisation of everyday work. Based on the three waves of European Working Conditions surveys (2000, 2005, 2010), this paper analyses the change in the organisation of work in Nordic countries. The aim is to look into types of work organisation in public- and private-sector organisations in Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. The questions asked are how the type of work organisation differs between sectors and to what extent are there changes in the prevalence of work organisation types. According to the results, the trend is a move away from the use of forms of work organisation characterised by high levels of learning and autonomy to more constrained or formalised forms. However, differences were also found between countries and sectors. The formalisation of work (i.e. features characteristic especially of the lean model of work organisation) is more common in the public sector and in Finland and Denmark compared to Sweden.

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moumita Acharyya ◽  
Tanuja Agarwala

PurposeThe paper aims to understand the different motivations / reasons for engaging in CSR initiatives by the organizations. In addition, the study also examines the relationship between CSR motivations and corporate social performance (CSP).Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from two power sector organizations: one was a private sector firm and the other was a public sector firm. A comparative analysis of the variables with respect to private and public sector organizations was conducted. A questionnaire survey was administered among 370 employees working in the power sector, with 199 executives from public sector and 171 from private sector.Findings“Philanthropic” motivation emerged as the most dominant CSR motivation among both the public and private sector firms. The private sector firm was found to be significantly higher with respect to “philanthropic”, “enlightened self-interest” and “normative” CSR motivations when compared with the public sector firms. Findings suggest that public and private sector firms differed significantly on four CSR motivations, namely, “philanthropic”, “enlightened self-interest”, “normative” and “coercive”. The CSP score was significantly different among the two power sector firms of public and private sectors. The private sector firm had a higher CSP level than the public sector undertaking.Research limitations/implicationsFurther studies in the domain need to address differences in CSR motivations and CSP across other sectors to understand the role of industry characteristics in influencing social development targets of organizations. Research also needs to focus on demonstrating the relationship between CSP and financial performance of the firms. Further, the HR outcomes of CSR initiatives and measurement of CSP indicators, such as attracting and retaining talent, employee commitment and organizational climate factors, need to be assessed.Originality/valueThe social issues are now directly linked with the business model to ensure consistency and community development. The results reveal a need for “enlightened self-interest” which is the second dominant CSR motivation among the organizations. The study makes a novel contribution by determining that competitive and coercive motivations are not functional as part of organizational CSR strategy. CSR can never be forced as the very idea is to do social good. Eventually, the CSR approach demands a commitment from within. The organizations need to emphasize more voluntary engagement of employees and go beyond statutory requirements for realizing the true CSR benefits.


Author(s):  
Lisa Waddington

This chapter explores the relationship between disability quota schemes and non-discrimination law in Europe. While at first sight they seem to sit uneasily beside each other, the chapter reveals how, in some instances, quota schemes can serve to facilitate compliance with non-discrimination legislation. At the same time, the chapter explores seeming incompatibilities between the two approaches and considers whether there are differences between common and civil law jurisdictions in this respect. Tentative conclusions suggest that there is a greater willingness to establish quota schemes through legislation in civil law jurisdictions compared to common law jurisdictions, and that quota schemes in civil law jurisdictions are more likely to provide for the imposition of a levy in the case that employers fail to meet their quota obligations through employing the required number of people with disabilities. There also seems to be some indication that there is greater awareness of the potential for conflict or tension, in various forms, between non-discrimination law and quota schemes in common law jurisdictions than in civil law jurisdictions. Finally, the two schemes operating in the common law states are only applicable to the public sector—whilst in civil law states quotas are generally applied to both public and private sector employers. This may indicate different perceptions regarding the role of public sector employers and the legitimacy of imposing quota requirements.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean D. Darling ◽  
J. Barton Cunningham

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify unique values and competencies linked to private and public sector environments. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on critical incident interviews with a sample of senior leaders who had experience in both the public and private sectors. Findings The findings illustrate distinct public and private sector relevant competencies that reflect the unique values of their organizations and the character of the organization’s environments. This paper suggests a range of distinct public sector competencies including: managing competing interests, managing the political environment, communicating in a political environment, interpersonal motivational skills, adding value for clients, and impact assessment in decision-making. These were very different than those identified as critical for the private sector environment: business acumen, visionary leadership, marketing communication, market acumen, interpersonal communication, client service, and timely and opportunistic decision-making. Private sector competencies reflect private sector environments where goals need to be specifically defined and implemented in a timely manner related to making a profit and surviving in a competitive environment. Public sector competencies are driven by environments exhibiting more complex and unresolvable problems and the need to respond to conflicting publics and serving the public good while surviving in a political environment. Originality/value A key message of this study is that competency frameworks need to be connected to the organization’s unique environments and the values that managers are seeking to achieve. This is particularly important for public organizations that have more complex and changing environments.


Author(s):  
Andreas Wörgötter ◽  
Sihle Nomdebevana

AbstractThis paper investigates the public-private remuneration patterns in South Africa with time-series methods for the first time since the introduction of an inflation-targeting framework in 2000. Co-integration tests and analysis confirm that there is a stable, long-run relationship between nominal and real remuneration in the public and private sector. The adjustment to the deviations from this long-run relationship is strong and significant for public-sector remuneration, while private-sector wages neither respond to deviations from the long-run relationship nor lagged changes in public-sector remuneration. The causal direction from private- to public-sector remuneration does not change if real earnings are calculated with the gross domestic product deflator. This is confirmed by simple Granger-causality tests.


1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Free

AbstractThis paper provides a critical overview of several strategies and mechanisms that have been employed by the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health over the past decade to address the unmet needs for health technologies in the developing world. Partnerships between public and private-sector organizations are emphasized in order to share risks, encourage efficiency, and ensure the availability of priority products for health care in resource-poor settings. Incentives for the involvement of the commercial sector, the means to protect the interest of the public sector, and the role of bridging organizations are discussed in the light of the shifting goals of the public sector.


2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-45
Author(s):  
Kim Jung In

This paper reviews the historical and institutional backgrounds of public- and private-sector unions, internal and external trends involving public-sector unions, union representation in the public sector, union affiliation with citizens, and the relationship between privatization and public unions. Using these characteristics to reflect on the fundamental rationale of public-sector unions as the negotiators for public employees and as the promoters of political affiliation with citizens, the nature of the labor-management relationship emerges as a key factor in determining the effectiveness of unions in these roles.


2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (29) ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Sergio Armando Prado De Toledo

Abstract Currently, corruption has been so generalized and sophisticated that threatens to undermine the own society structure. Corruption is a problem identified in all the countries. What changes is how we deal with it. Nevertheless, why is there so much corruption? Within the group of factors, it is possible to highlight the high bureaucracy that reduces the efficiency of the public administration; the presence of a slow Judiciary Branch which is very low is terms of efficiency, when reprimanding illicit practices that incite everything ending up in pizza (this sentence was literally translated from Portuguese, it does not exist in English, but it means that impunity prevails in Brazil.); the existence of a corporatist sense among the Administration industries in the public sector in relation to the private sector and so facilitating corruption. The penalty for corruption should be constrained to mechanisms that allow the system of criminal justice to carry out actions of arrest, prosecution, penalty and repair to the country. Combating corruption complies with the republican ideal for the reduction of costs in Brazil. Moralizing the public-private relations offers juridical security to the market. The fact that some countries, especially Brazil, are seriously combating against corruption brings hope, with an eye on a more rigid legislation and less bureaucratic as well, with the end of the corporatist sense and the equivalence of salaries between the public and private sector. We shall provide effective criminal, administrative and civil penalties of inhibiting nature for future action; we shall provide cooperation between the law applicator and the private companies; we shall prevent the conflict of interests; we shall forbid the existence of “black fund” at the companies and we shall encouraged the relief or reduction of taxes to expenses considered as bribery or other conducts related


Author(s):  
Indrajit Kumar ◽  
Mihir Kumar Shome ◽  
Jainendra Kumar Verma ◽  
Arun Kumar

Customer relationship management (CRM) plays a crucial role in any organization because success or failure depends on a company’s relationship with its customers. The objective of this study is to see how CRM can play an important role in the public and private sector banks in Bihar, India. The sample for the study consists of 250 bank managers from both public and private sector banks in Bihar. A CRM questionnaire developed by the researchers was used to measure CRM in the banking sector. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Inferential statistics including t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. The t-test results show that both the public and private sector banks differ significantly in the variables of customer contact by phone/e-mail, customer care, and innovation and quality. The ANOVA results showed that the four groups (public sector males, public sector females, private sector males, and private sector females) differed significantly in the eight variables (commitment; citizenship behavior; customer contact by phone/e-mail; planning; improved retention & better targeting of new customers; top management support; innovation and quality; and technological readiness.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-47
Author(s):  
Cho Tae Jun ◽  
Faerman Sue R.

One hundred thirty on responses from public employees and 154 responses from private employees were analyzed to compare employee attitudes towards individualism-collectivism across public and private sector organizations. The present study provides knowledge to public management by showing that some organizational characteristics of public sector organizations (i.e., goal ambiguity, red tape, and public-service motivation) make the public-private distinction, whereas others do not. Additionally, we found that the distinction has been blurred as New Public Management (NPM) has been adopted recently in the public sector. Finally, we support the two-factor model of organizational collectivism and individualism, as well as report that organizational individualism differentiates public and private sector organizations. The theroretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Urška Milavec ◽  
Maja Klun

Measures to reduce administrative burdens are part of efforts to improve regulation quality. The aim of the research carried out in 2010 in the public and private sector was to determine whether their staff display different levels of familiarity with the measures and whether both sectors define the same groups of regulation as the most burdensome. The results indicated that information provision on measures to reduce administrative burdens in Slovenia is poor, particularly in the private sector, which is intended as the main beneficiary of these measures. Despite this, the private sector reported that regulation for small and medium-sized businesses had improved over the period in which measures to reduce administrative burdens had been implemented. The public sector assessed public procurement regulation as the most burdensome, while the private sector ranked employment regulations as the most burdensome.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document