Customer orientation in a Swedish county council

Abstract

Purpose

The use of the customer concept and ways of interacting with customers in support functions are relatively new areas of interest for public organizations. The purpose of this study is to describe the development toward a stronger customer orientation in a support function in a Swedish county council from a management team perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

A revision of plans and annual reports and individual interviews with the members of a management team was done. The interviews were examined using qualitative content analysis.

Findings

The results are presented in one overarching theme, the double-edged customer concept, and three themes, meeting the customer’s needs, being the customer’s specialist and developing in collaboration with the customer. The development of a customer orientation is illustrated as a spiral involving the concepts of understanding, wanting and acting.

Originality/value

The paper contributes to a new understanding of how customer orientation develops in the context of public organizations’ support functions.

Citation

Karlsson, M., Garvare, R., Zingmark, K. and Nordström, B. (2016), "Customer orientation in a Swedish county council", International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 2-16. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-06-2015-0053