Jan Alpenberg, Tomasz Wnuk-Pel, Philip Adamsson and Johannes Petersson
The purpose of this paper is to examine why and how municipal managers and CEOs for municipally owned companies use the environmental performance indicators.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine why and how municipal managers and CEOs for municipally owned companies use the environmental performance indicators.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study approach as a research design was used. In total, 18 semi-structured interviews were conducted among managers for administrative departments and municipal company CEOs.
Findings
This study found that the environmental performance indicators are used by department managers mainly for resource allocation, control and for teaching the employees. The CEOs of the municipal companies use the environmental indicators for communicating with external stakeholders and see the indicators primarily as marketing tools. The main reason why the environmental performance indicators are used in the municipality can be the strong demand from the local politicians to push the “green agenda,” and therefore the managers have to comply.
Research limitations/implications
As in any case study, generalizations from the research should be made with care, but since this is only one municipality, further research is needed to find additional evidence.
Practical implications
The findings of this study have a number of implications for future practice, and it is worth mentioning that clear guidelines for how the information could be made more useful for managers at the managerial level in Växjö municipality (VM) are requested for both the municipal managers and the CEOs.
Social implications
Overall, this study strengthens the idea that environmental performance indicators could be used to a larger extent for communicating with external stakeholders both for municipal departments and companies.
Originality/value
The research adds to the literature by examining different patterns of using environmental performance indicators in a unique setting – in VM, which is called “the greenest city in Europe” and is one of the “pioneers” in environmental work and extensively uses performance indicators.
Details
Keywords
The aim of this study is to investigate ways in which healthcare organisations can successfully maintain operational resilience within intricate and varied engagements during…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this study is to investigate ways in which healthcare organisations can successfully maintain operational resilience within intricate and varied engagements during digital transformation processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The present research applied cultural-historical activity theory as the theoretical framework and the ethnographic account as an approach and strategy to interpret and understand the operational resilience of digital transformation tools in daily practices. Fieldwork was based on the research technique of shadowing, whereby the researcher closely accompanied the participants to record their conduct, activities and exchanges.
Findings
Research results propose that effective operational resilience management in the implementation of digital transformation projects is based on (1) identifying and interpreting internal contradictions in everyday interactions as opportunities for capability developments; (2) navigating through multiple sites in fast and improvised movements, which derives in distributed and emergent practices; (3) interplaying between dyadic interactions and networked dependencies, which is achieved through the articulation of varied interests and (4) implementing novel intermediary tools, roles and regulations that facilitate the reduction of disturbances.
Originality/value
The propositions of the present study indicate that the management of operational resilience extends beyond conventional adaptive and socio-technical models in healthcare services. The study emphasises the significance of expressing and converting differing interests into mutual advantages. It additionally demonstrates the intricacy of this obstacle, as it entails navigating through uncertain information, concealed interpretations and conflicting interests.