Anpassningsbara managementkoncept från privat till offentlig sektor : Översättning av lean från idé till praktik i en statlig myndighet

Sammanfattning: In the context of New Public Management, concepts such as lean have had a major impact among organizations in recent years with efficiency ideas based on customer focus. Moreover, the benefits of lean have served as solutions to the problems and challenges facing the public service. However, previous research is limited in public authority contexts to understand its applicability. The Swedish Social Insurance Agency is a public authority that started implementing lean in 2012 with the aim of streamlining its flow with continuous improvements based on customer value. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to examine how lean is expressed from idea to practice in two departments of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency as a public authority context. This, by illustrating the translation process of the management idea as a strategy based on a strategic and an operational department as an overall level and the everyday work within the core activity at the micro level. Thus, lean is a broad and flexible concept, but the focus of this thesis is on the concepts flow and value. Institutional theory and Scandinavian institutional theory, especially translation theory have been used to apply a model of decontextualization, translation arenas and contextualization, as well as central translators. This to understand how ideas are raised from a practice through various arenas and translated into another practice. To achieve the purpose of this thesis, a two-case study was conducted by the lean introduction of these two departments. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with central managers and employees in the departments as well as with external consultants who have been involved in and influenced introduction of lean. This, in order to understand how the concepts have been translated from arenas and translators at two comparative levels. This thesis also contains internal documents and annual reports as well as observations that have been studied. Results presented in the paper contribute to existing research, with the translation of lean at the strategic and operational level within a public authority context. As such, the results indicate that translation is ongoing everywhere where a link between public and private activities is a way of how ideas are disseminated and translated. In addition, the introduction of lean in the departments had been introduced and tested to a minor extent at the strategic department before the introduction as a top-down process of the entire authority through informal relationships with Scania and Toyota. Analysis shows that the local translation process in both cases is an adaptation between lean and practice. Furthermore, lean did not change the everyday work completely, but was translated in a way that supported how the departments were organized before, rather than radically changing them. Additionally, the analysis shows that the translation of lean was affected by the private sector and other organizations in the area. The various arenas and translators play an important role in how lean is translated into practice. Adaptation to the organizational context is also important for the idea to be successful. However, the thesis shows that a formal actor is required to add energy to maintain the commitment with lean.