Modern Management Tools in Norwegian State Agencies: Regulation Inside Government or Shopping Basket?

Abstract

This paper focuses on the broad package of modern management tools that are used by Norwegian state organizations. These tools are regarded as forms of regulation inside government as well as a shopping basket. We describe the range of different tools and look at how intensively they are used and how they are interrelated. We also examine variations in use of these tools by different state organizations. The database is a survey addressed to all organizations in the Norwegian civil service, apart from the ministries, in 2004. Our theoretical approach is primarily based on neo-institutional theory. Our main empirical findings are that the use of modern management tools is widespread; that some are very common while others are more marginal; that there are different families of tools that supplement each other; that there is significant variation in the use of different tools; and that agency size is the most important factor in explaining the use of different tools.